Music

​Ready or Knot

February 13th, 2019

The Knotties

By Gary Ussery
usseryg@gmail.com

When Sabrina gets a hold of you and asks you to interview a band as unique as Fargo locals The Knotties you just yell “yes!” Only a few days later I was meeting with Channing Minnema (lead vocals, guitar) and Michael Mooridian (bass, backing vocals). Unfortunately, Jonathan Hunter (drums, backing vocals) couldn’t make it, but he sure was there in spirit!

The guys had a hard time defining their genre but settled on something that sounds like blues…

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​‘Like a moth seduced by a lamp…’

February 13th, 2019

Ghost Wagon - photograph by Brenda Brousseau

When asked what brought the members of the Minneapolis based alt-country band Ghost Wagon together, during a collective email interview they replied, “Most of us met through the music in one way or another. Ghost Wagon is a collective of like-minded musicians who want to create great music and like a moth seduced by a lamp are drawn to the light.”

The band consists of JC Collins, Matt Dittmar, Marc Dockter, Neil Johnson, John Mack, Chuck Nelson, AJ Swenson, and a revolving cast of…

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​Lissie: Queen of her ‘Castles’

February 13th, 2019

Lissie

“I missed the midwest, it feels like home," singer-songwriter Lissie said. "When I come back I’d get this feeling in my chest like--I think this is just where I’m supposed to be. It’s the place that formed me and where a lot of my family is. It feels really good.” 

Lissie, is originally from Rock Island Illinois, after leaving her hometown to go to college at Colorado State, eventually dropping out of college to pursue a music career.

“I realized I wasn’t sure exactly what…

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​Where Hip Hop Grows and Lives

February 12th, 2019

Diane Miller, Kipp G, St. Paul Slim, Chancy York performing in Fargo - photograph by Sean Rider

By Jacques Harvieux
jacquesthejock@gmail.com
Photographs by Sean Rider
seanriderphoto@gmail.com

Diane Miller and Kipp G have been around for sometime whether your recollection is spot on or not, you know them, you really do. On February 1, you had the first opportunity in your life to reminisce, live, artists that have either died unfortunately, or have gone into “retirement.” Specifically, by these artists.

St. Paul Slim, Chance York, Diane Miller, and kipp G, all performed at the…

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​Hip Hop Legends Friday!

January 30th, 2019

Fargo.live Kip G and Diane Miller onstage at the Aquarium - photograph by Fargo.live

By Jacques Harvieux
jacquesthejock@gmail.com

To live in the Fargo-Moorhead area and not have heard of D Mills and The Thrills would be nearly impossible. The rapper and band have been all over town opening up for acts from all over the country and filling venues all around the region.

Diane Miller the frontwoman of the group will be covering such artists as a Tribe Called Quest and Notorious BIG.

“It’s going to be fun, this is definitely a show for hip-hop fans, and to be able to see…

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​FM Symphony Orchestra Gets Fierce and Feminine

January 23rd, 2019

Remember the old schoolyard taunt, “You fight like a girl”? That sort of sentiment seems rather dated now, as in both popular culture and real life we are becoming increasingly reminded that women are perfectly capable of kicking some proverbial rear ends. But even though it is only in recent decades that we have seen just how loudly woman can roar through the societal advancements they’ve made for themselves the motif of the female warrior, the woman taking up arms in the…

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To Broadway and back

January 16th, 2019

Nina Grollman - design by Raul Gomez

By Ryan Janke
ryan.janke78@gmail.com

Celebration of Women and Their Music kicks off this Thursday at the Spirit Room in Fargo, and Nina Grollman will be back in town to light up the stage with a brand-new sound. High Plains Reader caught up with Grollman to check and see what she’s been up to and what lies ahead.

Grollman graduated from Moorhead High in 2013. She moved to New York City after graduation where she began attending The Juilliard School for drama, which is seen as one of the…

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​Staying Courageous with The Brave

January 16th, 2019

The Brave - photograph provided by Joe High at High Photography

I just had the pleasure of being introduced to the newest incarnation of The Brave, which has been around a little over a year, but the band itself has been around for about seven years. It started out with current members Alex Boche on lead guitar, Matt Monson on bass, and Patrick Ryan Hess on rhythm guitar. Their original drummer was named Austin, but after pursuing another opportunity the band went on a hiatus. Their current drummer, Brandon Kuntz, came from Save Me CJ (another…

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​The Fargo-Moorhead DIY Music Scene

January 16th, 2019

Basement show at Grease's house, starring Hangtime - photograph provided by Fargo.live

Gary Ussery

“DIY ‘Til I Die!”
It’s the code that many in the Fargo-Moorhead live by. Music at any cost, under any means, for any one. DIY lives in the basements of our neighbors, the living rooms of our friends, and the backyards of strangers. A lot of people may call it underground music, but that sounds so dark, so archaic, and trust me, there is only light and love when it comes to DIY Music.

The Fargo-Moorhead area has a prolific DIY music scene, but you may have never heard of…

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A Spot of Grime on the North Dakota Music Scene

January 9th, 2019

Grime-photo by fargo.live

Grime is composed of three members: Nick Jensen on guitar and backing vocals, Cale Mogard on drums, and Andrew Wickenheiser on lead vocals and bass guitar. They have a history that goes back at least six years. The band formed in November 2012, when Andrew and Nick (who had previously been in a cover band together) decided they want to write their own music. At first, an old friend of Jensen’s filled rum duty. By the end of 2013, a new drummer named Tim Gray took his place. Gray…

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