About Blind Pilot: Social networking sites such as MySpace allow bands to promote their music from the comfort of their own homes. But Blind Pilot, a sextet from Portland, Ore., decided to put a little muscle into its efforts. The indie-folk bandmates — Israel Nebeker (lead vocals), 29, Luke Ydstie (bass), 24, Dave Jorgenson (keyboards), 31, Kati Claborn (banjo), 32, Ian Krist (vibraphone), 29, and Ryan Dobrowki (drums), 28 — hitched little trailers to their bicycles and rode up and down the West Coast, playing everywhere from nightclubs to a grocery store parking lot.

"We played in some seedy places, where we were sure that we weren't going to win anyone over," Nebeker says. "But we always seemed to get people's attention and made some great connections."

Nebeker and Dobrowski started the band together in 2007 as a reason to tour the coastline. Their trip to Mexico City was cut short when their bikes were stolen in San Francisco.

"If it rained, we'd just pitch a tent on the side of the road and wait it out," Nebeker says. Wouldn't it have been easier to just load their gear in a van like everybody else does? "When you're exposed to the elements for extended periods of time, you have to accept that being uncomfortable is a part of life," Nebeker says. "And it's a really great thing to accept that."

Their tireless pedaling paid off. By March 2009, the band's music (and story) got the attention of The Decemberists, and Blind Pilot joined that group's tour in June. Blind Pilot has also been busy touring the country (by van) and traveled to Europe (by plane) to open for Counting Crows and the Hold Steady in May. Of course, this means putting the bikes in storage for a while.

This is Blind Pilot's first appearance at Lollapalooza.