Music

VII-VII-VII: The Neighborhood of the Beast

March 7th, 2016

It’s been five years since guitarist Gary Holt joined Slayer, but their latest album “Repentless” is the first time he’s had the chance to appear on one of their albums and he gave it his all, shredding so hard he blew out his left wrist. Yet even with tendinitis, he kept playing.

“I fought through it ’cause it was hurting when I was doing it, but it felt like I was in the flow and I would just keep going,” says Holt the afternoon before the start of their North American…

DylanFest to revisit Broadway

February 25th, 2016

Merrill Piepkorn isn’t the biggest Bob Dylan fan. He finds Dylan’s trademark nasally voice difficult to understand and as a harmonica player himself, he dislikes Dylan’s handling of the instrument, which he admits are limited by the harness Dylan wears.

“I always looked at Bob Dylan and his talent from kind of tunnel vision as a harmonica player and it’s not that great,” says Piepkorn, who has played in country western and blues groups since about 1972.

But it was through…

Rogue Valley Moves on to the Next Season

February 22nd, 2016

It’s been almost five years since Minneapolis band Rogue Valley released their last album “False Floors,” which marked the end of a yearlong effort to release four concept albums based on the seasons of the year.

The success of the albums and their live performances can be measured by the number of songs they’ve had featured in television shows and movies, with their song “The Wolves and the Raven” being featured in the Ben Stiller-starring drama “The Secret Life of Walter…

Still: Beautiful noise

February 19th, 2016

by Ben Rheault

Fargo has a bit of a reputation for noise. Whether it’s the bands of yesteryear like GodheadSilo and Hammerhead or more recent projects such as Manchester Buldge and Monowolf. Still falls in between both extremes. On one end of the spectrum, there is this distorted albeit beautiful music, and on the other a cacophony of noise that threatens to obscure it, but winds up highlighting it. There has never been anything like it here before.

I sat down with Chris Marteny…

19 Years of Celebrating Women and their Music

February 18th, 2016

By David McCoy

Following their successful showcase in December, Deborah Jenkins’ brainchild The Celebration of Women and their Music, is back for their 19th year of inspiring and entertaining the Fargo community. This year they have three days dedicated to the musical celebration that honors women in the performing arts.

The Celebration of Women and their Music was founded by chef and renowned blues singer, Deborah Jenkins. The show was made to recognize the creative passion and…

A Step in the Right Direction

February 17th, 2016

Since its inception in 2011, The New Direction has played an important role in the FM music scene. It’s a community-minded, all-ages venue with a strong DIY aesthetic. New Direction Fest started as a way to stay open during a slow month in their inaugural year. Since then the three-day extravaganza gained the moniker New Direction Fest. HPR had the opportunity to speak with Jack Stenerson, the man behind the venue.

High Plains Reader: How did the New Direction come to be and how has it…

Wrekmeister Harmonies and Bell Witch bring the noise

February 16th, 2016

Since their first recording in 2009, drone band Wrekmeister Harmonies has offered an ever-growing collaboration between musicians from numerous bands. Their latest release, “Night of Your Ascension,” has a cast of over 30 musicians with members coming from bands such as Indian, Cave and The Body.

The Chicago collective will play the Aquarium along with Seattle doom band Bell Witch on Feb. 19. Unlike the large ensemble which plays on their records, this will be a lighter version of…

A little sugar for those blues

February 3rd, 2016

Grammy Award-winning harmonica player Sugar Blue headlines Saturday’s Fargo Winter Blues Festival

Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Willie Dixon, The Rolling Stones: these are just a few of the bands Sugar Blue recorded with in a career spanning forty years. It’s a career that’s led to high praise for his skilled harmonica playing and earned him a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Saturday, Blue will perform with his band, the Sugar Blue Band, at the 16th annual Fargo Winter…

Metal pioneers Black Sabbath rock Minneapolis one last time

January 30th, 2016

There comes a time when every musician needs to hang up their axe and succumb to the darkness ... of retirement. Some don’t always choose when that time comes, as we’ve seen with a few big name musicians dying lately, but Black Sabbath has. And for the Godfathers of Heavy Metal, the end is nigh.

In the third concert of their appropriately-named The End tour, Sabbath filled the Target Center in Minneapolis on Monday night with the slow, sludgy doom metal they created. The band,…

Rock ‘n roll music and you

January 30th, 2016

Bobby Vee and Robby Vee performing at the Surf Ballroom

February 3, 1959 marks the day that the music died. Rock ‘n roll icons Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17), and J.P. Richardson, a.k.a. “the Big Bopper”(28) lost their lives in a plane crash outside of Clear Lake Iowa that fateful night, while on their “Winter Dance Party Tour” en route to play the next stop of their tour at the Armory in Moorhead Minnesota.

A young man from Fargo North Dakota named Bobby Vee reached unexpected stardom that night as his career was launched.…