Music

The man in black

November 2nd, 2016

By Ben Haugmo

benhaugmo@yahoo.com

Join artists from the Fargo-Moorhead area and the surrounding region this weekend to celebrating the work of legendary musician Johnny Cash. “Hear That Train A’ Comin’” takes place on Saturday at the Fargo Theatre.

Merrill Piepkorn helped organize the event, and will also be performing during the show alongside his band ,The Radio Stars. He sees the show as an opportunity to not only enjoy popular Cash songs, but also to highlight lesser-known…

Touché Amoré - Stage Four

October 26th, 2016

By Jack Stenerson

jackstenerson@gmail.com

California hardcore band Touché Amoré have never followed the trends when it comes to their genre. They have carved out their own niche in the scene through deeply emotional records with instrumentation that draws influences from genres beyond their own.

Their fourth album, Stage Four, was released September 16. This new collection of songs deals exclusively with the death of frontman Jeremy Bolm’s mother, who lost her battle with cancer on…

Andrew WK and “The Power of Partying”

October 19th, 2016

Andrew WK is a man of parts: musician, music producer, nightclub owner, motivational speaker, and now, party guru. He’s back on tour but this time he’ll be behind a podium on a 50 state speaking tour called “The Power of Partying”.

Earlier this spring, on a separate endeavor, WK filled out the necessary paperwork and collected signatures in order to start his own political organization called the Party Party. Unfortunately these efforts were cancelled due to a pre-existing…

A family tradition

October 19th, 2016

By Jack Stenerson

jackstenerson@gmail.com

My dad first saw them in 1971. I first saw them in 1997. This will be his 11th time and my 5th time. The Moody Blues return to Fargo Thursday, October 20th at the Scheels Arena.

For a band that started in the mid-60s, still touring regularly in 2016 is impressive. I remember my dad and I driving to see them in 2007 at Moondance Jam and saying “This will be the last time we see them.” We got the chance to meet them at that show (my second…

Drew Danburry: two new EPs

October 5th, 2016

By Jack Stenerson

jackstenerson@gmail.com

Drew Danburry hasn’t toured in a while. After playing shows around the country almost nonstop from 2004-2010, he settled down in quiet Provo, Utah, to open a barber shop. This fall, however, he is out on the road again promoting one (or maybe two??) new records.

The first is a collection of over 100 songs, few of which reach the one minute mark, called Writin’ Songs, released under the moniker “The Funny Uncles.” These short songs are…

Eliot Sumner: singer, songwriter, DJ

September 28th, 2016

By Jeannette Chapman

Photo by Nicholas Alan Cope

How do you review a musician with a famous father whose music bears both her stamp and his? I am referring to Eliot Sumner, whose show I previously caught at St. Paul's iconic Turf Club Friday September 25, 2015, and who is coming back Minneapolis, this time at the Skyway Theatre on Tuesday, October 4th.

Sumner is the daughter of Sting (yes, that Sting) a/k/a Gordon Sumner and his wife Trudie Styler. There are distinctions between Sumner's…

From Minneapolis with love

September 28th, 2016

Photo by Dan Monick

The High Plains Reader had an opportunity to catch up with Sean Daley, also known as Slug, the voice of Twin Cities-based hip hop duo Atmosphere and and co-founder of rap label Rhymesayers, before their upcoming gig at The Fargo Civic Memorial Auditorium this coming Wednesday.

High Plains Reader: What keeps you in Minneapolis?

Sean Daley: Family, familiarity--it’s funny how those two words are so similar.. It’s still relatively cheap and convenient--you know?…

Playing to the beat of a different drum

September 21st, 2016

By Sabrina Hornung

sabrina@hpr1.com

The 4onthefloor frontman Gabriel Douglas describes their sound as, “Breathtakingly urgent with passion-consumed delivery, connective and raw.” Their influences stem from the sounds of the Delta Blues, roots rock and folk. Their high-energy shows have packed houses across the Midwest and beyond. The Minneapolis four-piece rock and roll band is known for each of their members playing a bass drum and writing their songs in 4/4 time--hence the name.

The…

Evolution and experimentation

September 21st, 2016

“I don’t know if we’re really evolving, but always experimenting--because we’re all the same players and we still do the same thing.” says Korn bassist Reggie “Fieldy” Arvizu, “So we’ll try different directions or different things. We’ve found out no matter what we do, we still end up sounding like Korn when all of us do something together. We could cover a country song and it will still sound like Korn.”

The ultra dynamic Nu Rock pioneers Korn have been together…

A new direction for The New Direction

September 21st, 2016

High Plains Reader: What-all is planned for the last show at TND?

Jack Stenerson: For the last show, we’re having 14 bands play over two days. We knew we couldn’t fit all of the bands in one day so it made the most sense to split it up. The first day is more of a mixed genre show, ranging from acoustic, to pop punk, to indie, to hardcore.

Day two is an all-hardcore show. We thought that would be fitting because that’s the genre that is most deeply rooted in the venue. Our first…