SATURDAY A.M.  >>>

As was noted in this week's Volcano, I'll be in The Middle of Fucking Nowhere for the next three days - better known as the Gorge in George - for the annual indie music extravaganza that is the Sasquatch! Music Festival.

There might be some Crooked Rain, and things could even start to feel Slanted and Enchanted. The weekend will no doubt be wrought with references to Gideon and Charlemagne, townies, tattoos and, of course, parties.

And that's just The Hold Steady and the reunited Pavement - the tip of the Sasquatch! iceberg. Over the next three days, Shabazz Palaces, Vampire Weekend, MGMT (and their disappointing second record), Quasi, Freelance Whales, The Long Winters, Public Enemy, comedians Patton Oswalt and Rory Scovel, Dr. Dog, Temper Trap, Jaguar Love - and about a zillion other equally exciting bands will be battling the elements and taking in the beauty of the Gorge with the rest of us in the sold out crowd - naturally delivering rock-festival-primed sets when they're not relaxing backstage or taking in the majesty that is thousand and thousands of bearded Pitchfork readers.

Later today, at around 5 p.m., legendary Seattle (Bellingham) popsters The Posies will take the stage; they're no strangers to big crowds and massive events. Over a career that started way back in 1987, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer have done just about everything there is to do in rock ‘n roll. The last time I saw them, Auer and Stringfellow were in Austin for SXSW, where they were a part of one of the most memorable shows of the festival - the legitimately-touching tribute to Big Star frontman Alex Chilton, who passed away the day SXSW opened. Auer and Stringfellow, as you probably know, had performed with Chilton off-and-on for years as part of a reunited Big Star, and the band was scheduled to play the SXSW on March 20. Instead, Auer, Stringfellow and anyone else who was anybody at SXSW (basically) crammed into a sweaty Austin club on an unusually cold Austin night, and paid tribute to a true pioneer.  By all accounts, it was truly moving.

Today, in mere hours, Stringfellow and Auer, as the Posies, will play to a much bigger crowd - as part of what's quickly becoming and equally important yearly event in the music world. Planning on drawing heavily from new material, from a record the Posies are currently working on, Stringfellow is looking forward to Sasquatch! 2010 - which somewhat amazingly, will  be his first experience with the festival.

"When I moved away to France, Sasquatch was still all String Cheese Incident," says Stringfellow, who is married to French band manager, Dominique Sassi.

"Sasquatch is part of a network, if you will, of regional hipster festivals like Coachella, Pitchfork, Bonnaroo, etc. that pretty much let Generation Now congregate and revel together in their collective coolness and exquisite taste," he continues. "It's much needed, for sure-these are the kind of things that happen every six blocks in Europe during summer, but I have to give Sasquatch credit for sniffing the wind early and really building up a great lineup and a massive festival in just a few scant years here amongst the gringos."

As for the band's set this afternoon...

"I believe we will be focusing on the next record, which we're working on right now, the songs really show how far we've come over the last years," says Stringfellow. "I think our current material is very much in step with what's going on at Sasquatch, and I would be aghast if all we had to present was a collection of hits from the 90s. Barf."

So, who are you excited to see at Sasquatch! 2010. If you're not going, who are you bummed to be missing?

Follow the Sasquatch 2010! action right here and via Twitter - @weeklyvolcano. I'll be posting tasty tidbits, pictures and recaps throughout the weekend - or as much as the press tent Internet in The Middle of Fucking Nowhere will allow.

And stay connected. Hit me up through Twitter at either @weeklyvolcano or @mattsdriscoll to let me know what I should be checking out.