Sat Jan 31 2026

8:00 PM (Doors 7:00 PM)

Showdown Saloon

1195 SE Powell Blvd Portland, OR 97202

Showdown Saloon

1195 SE Powell Blvd Portland, OR 97202

$20.01

Ages 21+

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Pickathon Presents
MAITA and LASKA

  • MAITA

    Folk Rock

    When Maria Maita-Keppeler was in college, she studied the ancient art of Japanese woodblock printmaking. “By the nature of the medium, you have to be bold,” she says — but, you also have to be delicate, deliberate, exacting. All those little cuts on their own add up to the whole — to a picture, a story, a life. The Japanese-American singer-songwriter applies that same approach to her band, MAITA; she only writes songs she intends to finish. She only makes cuts in service of the whole. And once the debris has been blown away, the melodies remain — vibrant, sharp, and often heartbreaking. The band’s latest LP, want, which was released in 2024 via Fluff & Gravy Records, is all of the above. A razor’s edge look at a relationship in turmoil, the record serves to strip away everything undesired in Maita-Keppeler’s life, leaving behind only that titular word: want.

    “The album allowed me this opportunity to be a little more courageous about my feelings,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I grew up feeling very much like the peacekeeper. Now, I have to be really assertive about what I want for myself.” 

    MAITA's first record, Best Wishes, was released via Kill Rock Stars in May 2020 — but it was bittersweet, according to Maita-Keppeler. The album came out peak-pandemic and they were unable to tour. And since COVID threw a wrench in the works, the band felt a bit like they had to reintroduce themselves with 2022’s I Just Want to Be Wild for You, which they recorded back in 2020. “This record was about how people can lose connection — whether with yourself, a partner or the world around you,” Maita-Keppeler says. “There’s this disillusionment that can happen in our modern world. But there’s this wealth of passion that lies underneath those moments — a desperation that's not being fulfilled.”

    As restrictions loosened MAITA began to see the benefit of rave reviews from KEXP, SPIN, FLOOD Magazine, and NPR’s Bob Boilen. They toured the US and Europe and played shows opening for the likes of Mirah, Blind Pilot, Horse Feathers, Typhoon, and garnered featured slots at SXSW and Treefort as well. Meanwhile, the band was working on polishing up their third LP, want, which Maita-Keppeler penned during the isolation of the pandemic. A fiercely private songwriter who draws mostly on her own experience for song fodder, Maita-Keppeler dug deeper than ever into her heart. “This album feels like the most cohesive of any batch of songs that I'd written, because the slate was pretty blank in terms of what was going on around me,” she recalls. “I had the chance to feel all these feelings without a lot of distractions from the outside world.”

    Recorded at Echo Echo in Portland, Oregon in the winter of 2022, the record serves as the most crystallized of MAITA’s works thus far; like Maita-Keppeler’s screen prints, which she does for each song she writes, it’s a stark, arresting image of a place in lost time. “We felt like the songwriting had a kind of visceral quality to it,” she says. “I love high highs and low lows.” Through it all, though, runs the theme of wanting. “These songs all explore desire within the framework of a long-term relationship where you're just trying to push and dig deeper,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I feel like not a lot of songs really get to the core of those struggles and how nuanced they actually are.”

  • LASKA

    Indie Pop

    The songwriters in question are Hannah and Mookie Morton. The band, LASKA, is the sweet spot between heavy and soft - a gentle bruise on a crisp apple. Their mixture of distorted guitars, delicate vocals, and wailing violin encapsulate the dynamic qualities of life itself. Sometimes their work presents as harmonies and melodies meticulously placing themselves like the careful legs of a balletic spider in awe of its own symmetry. Other times, their work arrives as an overdue outpouring. Starting somewhere in the body - ecstatic as the seed of a pure and wordless truth, then erupting as a cathartic yelp. Bonded by blood, forged in psychic battle, sisters Hannah and Mookie channel their lived experiences into music that glides through genres like a canoe on a quiet lake. LASKA is the sound you hear when you're inside of an indelible memory. They are currently based in Portland, Oregon and are backed by Max Johnson on bass and Kai Nealis on drums.

    Imagine a dreamlike long hallway with many doors - behind each door is a look into a different corner of your psyche. LASKA’s upcoming full length album, long long hallway (due summer 2025) is not one coherent thread, but celebrates two sides of one hallway, similar to the partnership of two minds drawing their individual experiences in pursuit of artistic expression. Recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and a bedroom closet in Portland, OR long long hallway captures both depth and intimacy. “Not even you can bury yourself / gonna need another pair of hands” the second single, 10 & 2 (out May 15, 2025) is sung to fictional Bella, a well meaning control freak with a perpetual to-do list. The lyrics highlight the neverending need for other people, even after death. In the same way, LASKA intends to emphasize community by letting you know they cry too. 

Please correct the information below.

Select ticket quantity.

Select Tickets

limit 10 per person
General Admission

$20.01 ($15.00 + $5.01 fees)

Delivery Method

eTickets
Will Call

Terms & Conditions

This event is 21 and over. Any ticket holder unable to present valid identification indicating that they are at least 21 years of age will not be admitted to this event, and will not be eligible for a refund.

Pickathon Presents

MAITA and LASKA

Sat Jan 31 2026 8:00 PM

(Doors 7:00 PM)

Showdown Saloon Portland OR

$20.01 Ages 21+

When Maria Maita-Keppeler was in college, she studied the ancient art of Japanese woodblock printmaking. “By the nature of the medium, you have to be bold,” she says — but, you also have to be delicate, deliberate, exacting. All those little cuts on their own add up to the whole — to a picture, a story, a life. The Japanese-American singer-songwriter applies that same approach to her band, MAITA; she only writes songs she intends to finish. She only makes cuts in service of the whole. And once the debris has been blown away, the melodies remain — vibrant, sharp, and often heartbreaking. The band’s latest LP, want, which was released in 2024 via Fluff & Gravy Records, is all of the above. A razor’s edge look at a relationship in turmoil, the record serves to strip away everything undesired in Maita-Keppeler’s life, leaving behind only that titular word: want.

“The album allowed me this opportunity to be a little more courageous about my feelings,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I grew up feeling very much like the peacekeeper. Now, I have to be really assertive about what I want for myself.” 

MAITA's first record, Best Wishes, was released via Kill Rock Stars in May 2020 — but it was bittersweet, according to Maita-Keppeler. The album came out peak-pandemic and they were unable to tour. And since COVID threw a wrench in the works, the band felt a bit like they had to reintroduce themselves with 2022’s I Just Want to Be Wild for You, which they recorded back in 2020. “This record was about how people can lose connection — whether with yourself, a partner or the world around you,” Maita-Keppeler says. “There’s this disillusionment that can happen in our modern world. But there’s this wealth of passion that lies underneath those moments — a desperation that's not being fulfilled.”

As restrictions loosened MAITA began to see the benefit of rave reviews from KEXP, SPIN, FLOOD Magazine, and NPR’s Bob Boilen. They toured the US and Europe and played shows opening for the likes of Mirah, Blind Pilot, Horse Feathers, Typhoon, and garnered featured slots at SXSW and Treefort as well. Meanwhile, the band was working on polishing up their third LP, want, which Maita-Keppeler penned during the isolation of the pandemic. A fiercely private songwriter who draws mostly on her own experience for song fodder, Maita-Keppeler dug deeper than ever into her heart. “This album feels like the most cohesive of any batch of songs that I'd written, because the slate was pretty blank in terms of what was going on around me,” she recalls. “I had the chance to feel all these feelings without a lot of distractions from the outside world.”

Recorded at Echo Echo in Portland, Oregon in the winter of 2022, the record serves as the most crystallized of MAITA’s works thus far; like Maita-Keppeler’s screen prints, which she does for each song she writes, it’s a stark, arresting image of a place in lost time. “We felt like the songwriting had a kind of visceral quality to it,” she says. “I love high highs and low lows.” Through it all, though, runs the theme of wanting. “These songs all explore desire within the framework of a long-term relationship where you're just trying to push and dig deeper,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I feel like not a lot of songs really get to the core of those struggles and how nuanced they actually are.”

The songwriters in question are Hannah and Mookie Morton. The band, LASKA, is the sweet spot between heavy and soft - a gentle bruise on a crisp apple. Their mixture of distorted guitars, delicate vocals, and wailing violin encapsulate the dynamic qualities of life itself. Sometimes their work presents as harmonies and melodies meticulously placing themselves like the careful legs of a balletic spider in awe of its own symmetry. Other times, their work arrives as an overdue outpouring. Starting somewhere in the body - ecstatic as the seed of a pure and wordless truth, then erupting as a cathartic yelp. Bonded by blood, forged in psychic battle, sisters Hannah and Mookie channel their lived experiences into music that glides through genres like a canoe on a quiet lake. LASKA is the sound you hear when you're inside of an indelible memory. They are currently based in Portland, Oregon and are backed by Max Johnson on bass and Kai Nealis on drums.

Imagine a dreamlike long hallway with many doors - behind each door is a look into a different corner of your psyche. LASKA’s upcoming full length album, long long hallway (due summer 2025) is not one coherent thread, but celebrates two sides of one hallway, similar to the partnership of two minds drawing their individual experiences in pursuit of artistic expression. Recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and a bedroom closet in Portland, OR long long hallway captures both depth and intimacy. “Not even you can bury yourself / gonna need another pair of hands” the second single, 10 & 2 (out May 15, 2025) is sung to fictional Bella, a well meaning control freak with a perpetual to-do list. The lyrics highlight the neverending need for other people, even after death. In the same way, LASKA intends to emphasize community by letting you know they cry too. 

Please correct the information below.

Select ticket quantity.

Select Tickets

Ages 21+
limit 10 per person
General Admission
$20.01 ($15.00 + $5.01 fees)

Delivery Method

eTickets
Will Call

Terms & Conditions

This event is 21 and over. Any ticket holder unable to present valid identification indicating that they are at least 21 years of age will not be admitted to this event, and will not be eligible for a refund.