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… |
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…
February 3rd, 2016
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…
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,…
January 30th, 2016
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.…
January 29th, 2016
Iowa-based singer songwriter William Elliott Whitmore plays sold-out shows throughout the Midwest, including his upcoming sold out show at The Fargo Brewing Company on January 31. HPR had the opportunity to catch up with him and discuss his musical beginnings as well as his latest album
HPR: Where did you find your musical beginnings?
William Elliott Whitmore: I grew up in a household with a lot of music around. My folks had a great record collection. My old man played guitar and my mom…
January 24th, 2016
By Ben Rheault
Coming from Minneapolis and consisting of three lads from Fargo and one from Grand Rapids, Minn., is a debut album from the collective We/Ours. Will Simon, Bill Rohla and Justin Nelles are no strangers to the Fargo music scene, having played in such notable acts as Cut and Run, Gumbi, and F*ck Detector to name a few. The lone Minnesotan, Justin “Jub” Houser still does stints with Apocalypse Meow and, occasionally, Sundowners. The merging of these four personalities and…
January 21st, 2016
By John Showalter
When you think of the great figures of English literature, it’s very possible that the first name that comes to your mind is William Shakespeare. Arguably no other writer has had a greater influence on subsequent English-speaking artistic culture than the Bard of Avon.
So far reaching has been his legacy, in fact, that even artists of other languages and other mediums have been inspired by him, from films by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, to operas by the…
January 14th, 2016
Jamie Hutchinson
There are numerous Grateful Dead tribute acts around the world and the Fargo-Moorhead area is lucky to be home to one of them. While the Quarterly doesn’t play often (or even make it out of city limits), that’s all part of the appeal.
“It’s not the weekly, it’s the Quarterly,” says Pat Lenertz, who sings and plays guitar in the band. “It’s kind of more of an event than if it was just all the time.” They use this mentality with each of their shows by…
December 25th, 2015
By: David McCoy
Coming back for its third year to support local upcoming performing artists, the third Annual Holiday showcase begins 6:30pm Tuesday, December 29th at The Stage at Island Park. This year’s performances will be hosted by musicians Peggy Bartunek and Nita Velo and will showcase winners of the Celebrating Women and Their Music award spanning the last decade.
The Celebrating Women and Their Music show was founded in 1998 by renowned blue singer, chef, and caterer, Deborah…
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By Alicia Underlee NelsonMore than 1,000 pro-worker events are planned for Thursday, May 1 across the country, including rallies in Fargo-Moorhead, Grand Forks, Minot and Jamestown. East Grand Forks and Bismarck will host protests…
From concerts and car shows to Japanese art and Juneteenth celebrations, there's so much going on around the region this summer. This year's High Plains Reader Summer Events Calendar is back and bigger than ever. It's packed with…
June 21, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.Fargo Theatre, 314 Broadway N., Fargo“We Watch Shudder,” Fargo’s favorite horror podcasters, bring on the darkness during the longest day of the year. The Darkest Day of Horror Film Festival features…
By John Strandjas@hpr1.com One description that perhaps aptly describes the mental state of many lately is that they feel they are attached to a string. Or several strings. Call it the notion that people are played like puppets,…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comFor sale: White House in D.C. housing dung beetles and giant leechesI suspect someone close to Donald Trump has read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,”because the Trump administration is…
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 Gionrickgion@gmail.com After a very inspiring conversation with Kayla Houchin of Sonder Bakehouse a few weeks ago, I decided that it’s an appropriate time to write a column about some of the sweet people who are involved…
Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThe MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The writing/directing partnership of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck has to be one of the most curious cases of crazy connect-the-dots career moves in recent cinema. From short documentaries and…
By Raul Gomezraul@hpr1.com Minutes before Modern’s Celebration of Life opened its door at the Sons of Norway, I was fiddling with the bar computer, trying to pull up the playlists of Modern’s work I had set aside for the…
By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…
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 There appear to be differences in the incidence of mental illnesses between men and women. For example, women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress…
By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…
By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson.nd7@gmail.com Our trucking business has me driving almost daily from gas plants in western North Dakota's oil patch to Canada. I haul natural gas liquids (NGLs) products we used to see flared off at…
