Treefort returns for its 14th iteration next week and several East Idaho bands are days away from cutting it up in the Gem State’s capital city.

Local residents still on the fence about traveling to Boise for the City of Trees’ eponymous five-day festival better act fast before their plans see the woodchipper because full-length festival and single-day passes are nearly sold out.

Perhaps knowing Pocatello mainstays SpudMother and Hot Pursuit and Idaho Falls’ punk powerhouses Zap Pack and Blood Cannery are among the more than 500 musical acts, including 14 with regional ties, scheduled to perform might light the match under those dancing shoes.

Running March 25-29 across downtown Boise’s interconnected web of bars, breweries and intimate venues, Treefort sprawls from the main hub at Julia Davis Park — where performers take the stage in Boise’s oldest historic park — out to the industrial edges of Payette Brewing, the concrete bowls of Rhodes Skate Park, and the cozy taprooms of the Lusk District.

For the uninitiated, getting there is half the fun. Festivalgoers can hop the free Treeline bus circulator, pedal the Boise Greenbelt, or simply meander on foot through a downtown flat enough that no venue is more than a few minutes from the next. And for those anxious about the price of a full festival pass, many shows are accessible at the door if the venue isn’t yet at capacity.

SpudMother

The four-piece that grew out of Pocatello’s open mic scene is back at Treefort for the second year in a row, and this time they arrive with a new single, an upgrade in venue and what drummer Tyler Scheibenpflug promises is a very Southeast Idaho surprise tucked into their set.

“We play a variety of genres — everything from rock, funk, reggae, disco — and then kind of mash it all up into a sort of jam-esque kind of thing,” Scheibenpflug said.

SpudMother— Scheibenpflug on drums, Costa Savarikas on guitar, Erik Sobeck on bass and Katie Buschhorn on vocals and keys, the latter having recently added tickling the ivories to her arsenal — spent years expanding and contracting before settling into its current form about a year and a half ago. At their largest it was a group of seven. And the name, don’t look for more meaning than you have to.

“It was the most Idaho thing we could really think of. There isn’t a whole lot of depth to it, Scheibenpflug said. “I think when we settled on that name, we really weren’t expecting the band to be what it is today. But I think it’s a name that is unique enough that it’s actually kind of played to our success a little bit. People love it. We’re trying to really lean into it and have the potato theme in full swing.”

Today, leaner and locked in, they’re something more potent and an early-day quote from an audience member has stuck with them as a kind of north star ever since.

“Pretty early on we overheard somebody say, ‘I never knew hippie music could be so damn heavy,” Scheibenpflug said. “That describes us perfectly. We get heavy at times and we get funky and jammy at times. You never really know what’s next when you come and see us live.”

Last year’s Treefort slot at Payette Brewing brought weather challenges and the group are looking forward to their 8:50 p.m. opening night gig on Wednesday, March 25, at The Reef. They just played a show at The Olympic in Boise. Joining its 2024 EP “Electrified” they are releasing a brand new single, “Disco Love,” at noon on Friday on all streaming platforms meaning Treeforters get it live before anyone else. Time for a cover? If so, Scheibenpflug offered one tantalizing crumb: “It’s a Southeast Idaho special. Straight out of Preston.”

Hot Pursuit

Caleb Rosenkrance will tell you Hot Pursuit is a Southeast Idaho funk band, and that’s true enough. But the fuller picture — 10 years deep, a lineup that’s cycled from a three-piece to a seven-piece and back down again, songs written about friends and family and the particular texture of life in Pocatello — is something more personal than a genre tag can hold.

“We’re just your residential funky monks,” Rosenkrance said with a chuckle.

The current lineup is arguably the best version of the band yet. J.C. Ruminski, back for his second stint with Hot Pursuit after a stretch playing keys in Portland, John Hunt on lead guitar, Stephen McMichael on the kit and bassist James Breker have given Rosenkrance room to breathe as a frontman and lyricist.

“It really gives me a chance to focus on that,” he said. “I don’t have to worry so much about playing rhythm — JC can play all those damn riffs.”

This will be Hot Pursuit’s fourth Treefort, but their first as the band they are now. Their previous three appearances, somewhere in the 2015-2017 window, featured a different singer. The band submitted live performance videos for their 2026 application rather than studio recordings — a testament to where their energy lives. They’re currently in the middle of a recording session and hope to have new material out by summer, with five or six new originals waiting in the wings alongside their inaugural album “LIV/DIY,” available on Bandcamp.

Rosenkrance, who also co-organizes Pocatello’s own grassroots music festival Shady Grove Music Camp, has watched Treefort grow from the same vantage point as someone building their own festival from scratch.

“Our tenacity — I learned that from Treefort,” he said. “I’ve seen how much it’s grown, and I’ve seen a little bit of growth in Shady Grove.”

His pitch to fence-sitters at home is simple and direct. “You don’t have to go 1,500 miles to go to a legit five-day festival,” he said. “You will find a new band, venue, friendship, something that you will absolutely love, because I do every year.” He credits a set by a band called Rubblebucket — one he’d never heard of before wandering into their show — as last year’s revelation.

Catch Hot Pursuit at Lost Grove Brewery on Thursday, March 26, at 5:30 p.m.

Zap Pack

Tabitha Foster doesn’t just play shows. She performs them — and, to her there’s a meaningful difference, one she articulates with the conviction of someone who has given the distinction serious thought.

“When I see bands and they just stand there and they don’t have energy, that’s very boring to me,” she said. “It’s like, why would I see that when I could just listen to the record and it would be the same.”

Foster fronts Zap Pack, an Idaho Falls band that traffics in high-energy Devo punk and doubles as performance art. Shows are loud and aggressive, but also fun and “very dancy,” she said. The crowd is part of the act — or at least, Foster is part of the crowd. She’s known to leap off the stage and get in people’s faces, which means audiences are advised that things could go sideways in the most entertaining of ways.

Case in point — the first time Zap Pack played Treefort, Foster jumped into the crowd at the Shredder and found herself briefly outmaneuvered when a woman in a dress responded to Foster’s in-your-face energy by lifting said dress completely. “That’s the only time I think I’ve been stumped,” Foster said. “I just didn’t know what to do.”

At another show in Portland Foster was running through the crowd in her underwear before stopping in front of her oldest brother — attending his first-ever Zap Pack show — staring him dead in the eye and slapping him hard across the face. She then sprinted away.

“After, he was like, ‘That’s the first time my sister slapped me,’” she recalled.

This is Zap Pack’s second Treefort, and Foster said she still feels lucky to be back. Their music, including the 2023 EP “Songs to Deliver Pizza To” and 2024 album “FRENZIED” is available on all streaming platforms and on Bandcamp. They play The Shrine Social Club basement Thursday, March 26, at 6:50 p.m.

Blood Cannery

Cole Foster — husband of Tabitha, guitarist in Zap Pack and a man pulling double duty at this year’s festival — also happens to be the sole creative engine behind Blood Cannery, a garage punk solo project that began taking shape during the pandemic when his previous band dissolved and he found himself with nothing but time and a need to keep making noise.

“I just started writing stuff,” he said.

Blood Cannery performs as a trio, with Cole on guitar and vocals flanked by a bass player and drummer. The sound is lean and raw — garage rock shot through with punk urgency — and the project operates on Cole’s own terms, writing and recording at will, playing shows when the mood strikes.

Cole has been plugged into the Idaho Falls scene long enough to watch a generation of young musicians come up through it, and he and Tabitha occasionally throw house shows in their garage to feed that pipeline. The sight of high schoolers starting bands and figuring out who they are through music is one of the things that keeps him going.

“It’s fun just kind of being part of the scene here,” he said. “Inspiring young people to get out there and write their own music.”

His message to fellow East Idahoans eyeing Treefort from a comfortable distance is essentially a dare.

“Start your own band,” he said. “Get into Treefort. Represent this corner of Idaho.”

This is Blood Cannery’s Treefort debut. Catch them at the Shredder on Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. Fans can follow Cole on Instagram and Bandcamp for new music and upcoming shows. On Spotify you can find their 2022 self-titled album, and the 2025 albums“Olympic Blood” and “Cannery not Canary.”

Other bands from the area or ties to the region include Carston Kottraba (Pocatello), Khorvai (Pocatello/Boise), The Ben Graham Group (Pocatello), SOJOURN (Boise via Idaho Falls) Dahlia, Dahlia (Boise/Rexburg), Gwen Good (Rexburg), The Stone Popes (Rexburg) and Anyone Awake (Rigby).

For full lineup information, the festival schedule, transportation options and ticketing, visit treefortmusicfest.com.