Skamokawa Swamp Opera

Band leader Andrew Emlen, founded folk ensemble Willapa Hills, in 2003, running for 11 years, before the creation of Skamokawa Swamp Opera (SSO.) While Willapa Hills was predominantly folk, SSO veers into the uncharted territory of new wave rock covers produced acoustically, and genres on the other end of the spectrum. Band member Kyleen Austin’s classical opera chops, Jillian Raye’s contemporary underground rock sensibilities, and the pop punk rhythm’s of drummer Erik Friend have dished out a smorgasbord of quirky lovable music, making SSO a household favorite on the banks of the Columbia. And to his great credit, post-pandemic, Emlen now leads SSO into further uncharted territories.

The band now features Andrew Emlen on cello, guitar, mandocello, banjo, and vocals; Kyleen Austin on guitar and vocals; Erik Friend on percussion, mandolin, and vocals; and Wren Hendricks on guitar and vocals. This band is known for their vocal harmonies and unique arrangements for guitar, cello, banjo, mandolin, percussion and voice. 

No genre left unturned, well maybe a few— they’ve been a favorite act at the Finnish American Folk Festival of Naselle, and their performance history includes Oregon’s premier music festival, The Pickathon, and their tenure as house band for Portland’s highly popular storytelling stage show, The Seven Deadly Sins. You’ll hear many of their tunes on KMUN radio from their latest album release, Foxglove Streets, with tunes penned by all of the band members.