Once again it's time for bands to hit the road on their Spring tours! And there are a lot of good ones out there. Obviously I have biased towards certain genres and musicians because everyone does. Most of the music that I listen to is based on local tastes of where I have lived in the past and present and is roots based, eg not mainstream. So here are a few shows that I would recommend people attend in and around Park and Gallatin Counties in Montana.
Charlie Parr 4/2/16 @ The Filling Station
First up is the immortal Charlie Parr! Charlie will be headlining the Filling Station on Saturday, April 2nd with Russ Chapman opening the show. The Filling Station is the quintessential Bozeman music venue. The décor is a reminder of past oil changes and neon signs. The place is ragged and dirty and the crowd eclectic.
Click the link below for a taste of Charlie from 2014 at The Filling Station.
Pert Near Sandstone and Head For The Hills
4/14/16 @ The Filling Station
Next up on the agenda is Pert Near Sandstone and Head For The Hills. These bands both rock! Pert Near Sandstone hails from Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota with an outlier that lives in Los Angeles (Hey Nate!). They have been playing together for over 10 years and have been here there and everywhere. This past year they threw one hell of a festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin dubbed the Blue Ox Festival, very fitting for the north woods of the Midwest. Pert Near Sandstone has always focused on old time and bluegrass music, playing standards and their own originals as well as DEEP tracks.
Head For The Hills is a great Colorado group that is also super fun! They definitely throw down in yo town. I'm not as familiar with H4TH but they never disappoint!
Click the link below for my recording of Pert Near Sandstone from last fall in Bozeman.
Click the link below for my recording of Head For The Hills from Ed's(no name)Bar in Winona, Minnesota.
The Last Revel and Lil Smokies @ The Filling Station 4/28/16
The Last Revel became an instant smash in Montana when they won the Best New Band title at the Red Ants Pants Festival a couple years back. They have been gaining steam in the Midwest as a new band on the scene and we hope they keep gaining and gaining and gaining. They will be playing with The Lil Smokies from Missoula who won an even more prestigious title of Best New Band at Telluride Bluegrass Festival last summer. This is one not to miss!
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| The Last Revel! |
Here is a recording of The Last Revel from The Turf Club in Saint Paul from Tommy The Beard
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| The Lil Smokies are HOT! |
Here is a recording of The Lil Smokies from Seattle.
The Lowest Pair 5/11/16 @ Live From The Divide
Some of my favorite people are playing at Live From The Divide on May 11th. The Lowest Pair consists of Kendl Winter and Palmer T Lee are who I would consider the second family of the banjo (behind Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn and little Juno Fleck) These two are an amazing duo and should not be missed with dual banjo action and amazing harmonies. The Lowest Pair's debut album 36cents was produced by the one and only Dave Simonett, front man of Trampled By Turtles. There is super limited seating for this show so get your tickets early.
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| How could you not trust a man with morels on his hat? |
Here's a link to my recording of The Lowest Pair when they played The Filling Station from 4/7/14:
Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 6/2/16 @ The Eagles Club
w/Special Guests TBA
If there was ever a show in Bozeman not to miss it's this one! Horseshoes and Hand Grenades have been on one hell of a roll. They have recently toured with Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass and are about to jump on with Yonder Mountain String Band for a series of shows. These fellas hail from Stevens Point, Wisconsin and WOW do they have some fun. Just last year they released their third album Middle Western which pretty much sums them up! One thing you might want to beware of is they like to run around topless in the middle of winter.
Here is a link to my recording from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades first show in Bozeman!
Last but definitely least we have our good friends Joe and Vicki Price!
Joe and Vicki Price @ The Murray Bar 6/9/16
Joe and Vicki Price hail from Decorah, Iowa and they have definitely made a name for themselves. Joe had been on the circuit for many years when he was picked up by Vicki and they became this immortal duo. Joe and Vicki are some of the most genuine people you will ever meet, and they will rock your socks off! Joe has been called Little Buddha by the legendary Greg Brown who also hails from Iowa. If you love the blues then make sure not to miss this one, as Joe reiterates, "I just came to play the blues!"
Here is a copy of Joe and Vicki live at Weber's Deck in French Lake, Minnesota recorded by Tommy The Beard and transferred by yours truly.
If you are from the Midwest and have a hankering for a taste of home here are a few options to cure the blues. All of these bands and musicians are world class artists and people so come on out and support them and the culture that they are a part of! Midwest music is on the horizon so get some while you can!
