Music

When asked if he’s played many folk festivals Texas bluesman Scott H Biram flashed a mischievous grin and chuckled as he gave us a quick “Noooo.” As he opened his set on Sunday afternoon he informed the crowd that he was sent to “terrorize folk fest.”  We had the opportunity to chat with Biram backstage at the Bur Oak stage at Winnipeg Folk Fest. 

When asked what his interpretation of folk music was he said, “The traditional way of looking at folk music is looking at…

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Paul Janeway of Saint Paul and the Broken Bones summed it up best during our interview backstage of the Main Stage at Winnipeg Folk Festival when he said “For me, folk music is really supposed to be the music of the common man. I think hip hop is just as much folk music as some dude with a guitar because it’s talking about real issues.” He went on to say, “Folk music is the music of the people trying to share their experiences.”

Needless to say folk music is dynamic and is ever…

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Saint Paul and the Broken Bones is known for their distinct R&B sound, with Paul Janeway’s soulful voice and powerful backing band, he exudes emotion--a true showman. He dresses the part and dominates the stage with an almost effortless grace. 

As we sat down for our interview backstage at the Main stage of the Winnipeg Folk Festival the Birmingham, Alabama native was extremely charismatic, a true example of southern charm as we visited like we’d known each other for years. He shared…

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In the beginning of July our very own KRFF Radio Free Fargo will be having another one of their benefit concerts at The Aquarium. These fun, affordable concerts have been a great way to raise money for the station, to allow local bands and musicians to showcase their talents, and provide a diving board into the Fargo music scene for those who are still unfamiliar with it.

This addition to the series of concerts will be perfect for the hard rockers and metalheads among us, with No…

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Front Street Taproom has struck up a relation with local record shop, Vinyl Giant. There are two events where turntables are set up and people can play their records. Every Wednesday they host Vinyl Night from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. DJ AP plays a huge role in helping organize the DJs and always lays down a killer set. He is a Minneapolis native, and has been DJing for over 15 years.

“DJs usually do about an hour set and we are always looking for new people who are interested in playing…

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Those who were reading our publication last summer may remember when I wrote about a certain individual named Julian Ruck who played the ukulele for 30+ hours continuously in a bid to break the world record. So naturally, when Ruck came back into town with another musical project in mind, I knew I had to write the story.

Almost a year has gone by and a lot has happened, but Ruck is still a man who devotes a lot of time and energy into bringing people together and inspiring musical…

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Nikki Lane is a trailblazer. Her unique voice could be described as a cross between Wanda Jackson’s grit and Neko Case’s hauntingly smoky vocals. It’s classic and it’s fresh. In 2017 she won an Ameripolitan award in the category of best female outlaw country artist.Though she says this year is a slow year, on average she spends approximately nine months of the year on tour. While on the road she finds time to scour the second hand stores and antique shops. In a past life she was…

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When I was 13 the “Big 4” of thrash metal ruled the planet. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax were so cool that my older brother hid their tapes for fear that me becoming a fan would make them instantly uncool.

Charlie Benante is Anthrax’s drummer. I always knew who Charlie was but not really because drummers tend to get relegated to the figurative background as well. When I think of Anthrax, I think of Joey Belladonna and Scott Ian. Joey because he’s the singer and has…

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I felt a little silly opening our interview asking Canadian singer songwriter Corb Lund whether he raised cattle or not.

“I’m not home enough to even have a cat,” Lund said. “My family has cows. That’s kind of the irony -- the more I sing Western music the less time I have to actually live that way.

“That’s how I grew up and that’s what my family ancestry is based off of. Both sides of my family came from Utah and Nevada in the late 1800s and then moved up to Canada around…

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“It’s kind of a fuzzy memory, but basically the fact that we were ‘those American kids’ but also listened to the jukebox at the base cafeteria called the ‘Americana’ and the band Chicago had just come out recently and we thought, well that’s interesting, they named themselves after a city, so what the heck?” Dewey Bunnell said. He was one of the founding members of the 70s folk rock trio America.

“We’ll name ourselves after the whole country,” Bunnell said. “It…

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