October 31st, 2018
When asked if Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton was ever formally trained to play an instrument he admitted to playing the tuba for seven years. Though during his senior year in high school he found his calling and it wasn’t the tuba. When asked when he realized he could use his mouth as an instrument he said, “I performed at the high school pep rally and everyone went crazy about it and it was the best. So I thought huh… maybe I should do that more.”
Heaton aka “Heatbox” is a…
October 31st, 2018
The 2018-2019 season of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra’s Masterworks series is underway. After a breathtaking first concert of the season featuring not one but two world-renowned soloists, the second will be bringing in one of its own. What makes this particular concert and soloist interesting is that it marks a first for the FMSO. “To my knowledge we have not had an internationally renowned harpist as a guest artist before,” said Linda Boyd, executive director of FMSO. …
October 24th, 2018
by Jacques Harvieux
jacquesthejock@gmail.com
A few steps above Dempsey’s downtown Fargo is the place where locals go to pack themselves in like fish in a bowl. To swim about in an atmosphere, at least for as long as the show lasts, seems hedonistic in nature. Pleasured often by sounds that are a mix of new and old, exotic and local. You get your ticket to the left and get your drink to the right. The Aquarium floats above most, often including acts that are a mix of older prominent…
October 17th, 2018
We started our interview with JBOT, Captured! By Robots front man, captive and creator by playing a small bout of phone tag. You see, his internet went out and that sent his mind racing. Once we touched base, he said, “For a second I thought the whole world went out. Wouldn’t that be something? People would lose their damn minds.” Our conversation started out with thoughts of our own destruction which wound up being the perfect segue to our interview.
“That’s what my whole…
October 3rd, 2018
When asked what attracted Brandon Wald, noise musician and force behind the independent Fargo based record label Black Ring Rituals, to noise music, he said, “That it’s different. When I first heard noise music it was the sound I had been trying to find my whole life but couldn’t find.” He went on to say, “ I like the sonic extremism that it brings, the harshness, the inaccessibility...it makes me like it more. The more uncomfortable it makes me the more I like it.”
Why…
October 1st, 2018
It wasn’t until about three questions into this interview that I realized I was talking to the wrong person. Swingin’ Utters singer Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel was kindly answering a question about New Jersey or something when I realized he wasn’t one of the dudes from the Bouncing Souls. I quickly checked the email from the Fat Wreck Chords publicist and sure enough. I didn’t just misread the band’s name in the email, I’ve been conflating the Bouncing Souls and the…
September 26th, 2018
Fall has come around again, which of course means the beginning of a new season of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Masterworks’ series sponsored by Sanford Health. These concerts bring in a large number of listeners both old and new and never cease to amaze, and this season is gearing up to be no different in that sense. However, this year’s concert season does not have a particular theme, according to executive director Linda Boyd, “Other than emphasizing that…
September 19th, 2018
After a long hiatus members of Teenage Lobotomy reunited for the first time in 22 years at Center Fest in Robinson North Dakota this summer. With influences such as Husker Du and the Circle Jerks their high energy immediately had the crowd’s attention. Now they’re bringing that sound and energy to the Sidestreet this Friday. We had a chance to catch up with guitarist Jim Kennedy on the history and the future of the band.
High Plains Reader: How Long since Teenage Lobotomy last…
September 5th, 2018
It’s only been a little more than a month since former Jamestown/Fargo/Minneapolis musician Jon Wayne uprooted his wife and life and boarded a plane to move to Thailand. At what some might call the pinnacle of his career, touring over 200 dates a year throughout the United States and sharing stages with some of his scene’s most established artists, he made the unexpected decision to take a bit of a break from the madness that is the road and focus a bit more on family, relaxation,…
August 21st, 2018
Last time we chatted with Trampled by Turtles frontman Dave Simonett, he was on a hiatus from the band and working on a different more personal project with Old Man Winter. Now, a year later, Trampled is back together and they’ve released their first studio album in four years. We had the opportunity to catch up with him and chat about the band reuniting and a fresh perspective on touring.
High Plains Reader: So what got everybody back together?
Dave Simonett: Oh I don’t know, it was…
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By Bryce Vincent Haugen More than 300 people gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church in central Moorhead on Jan. 27 for “constitutional observer” training. Led by the Immigrant Defense Network and supported locally by the West Area…
By Kooper Shagena Just off of I-94 and Highway 83 on State Street in Bismarck, an abandoned Kmart sits behind an empty parking lot, watching the cars roll on and off the interstate exchange. It has been standing there quietly since…
Saturday, January 31, mingling at 6:15 p.m. and program at 7 p.m.Fine Arts Club, 601 4th St. S., FargoThe FM Symphony is getting intimate by launching a “Small Stages” chamber music series and it's bringing folks together via…
By John Strand If you are reading this editorial and you too are worried sick about the state of our country, keep reading. Maybe we can inspire each other. It was near closing time. We were discussing our values crisis. So this…
By Ed RaymondA mind that snapped, cracked, and popped at one hundredI wasn’t going to read a long column called “Centenarian: A Diary of a Hundredth Year” by Calvin Tomkins celebrating his birthday on December 17 of 2025…
By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…
By Rick GionSince the much-dreaded Covid years, there has been much ebb and flow in the Fargo-Moorhead restaurant scene. In 2025, that trend continued with some major additions and closings. Let’s start the New Year on a positive…
Saturday, January 17, doors at 7:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe Slow Death is a punk supergroup led by Jesse Thorson, with members and collaborators that include members of The Ergs!, Dillinger…
By Greg Carlson The versatile Nia DaCosta follows her underseen and underappreciated “Hedda” (one of my 2025 favorites) with the first female-helmed entry in the 28 Days/Weeks/Years Later series, a fascinating and grisly…
By Jacinta ZensThe Guerrilla Girls, an internationally renowned anonymous feminist art collective, have been bringing attention to the gender and racial imbalances in contemporary art institutions for the last 40 years. They have…
Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…
By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…
By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com At the beginning of the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Grinch is introduced as having a smaller than average heart, but as the movie progresses, his heart increases three…
January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…
By Vern Thompson Benjamin Franklin offered one of the most sobering warnings in American history. When asked what kind of government the framers had created in 1787, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Few words…
