Music | December 5th, 2023
The Aquarium, 226 Broadway North upstairs, Downtown Fargo
Friday, December 8, 7:30-11pm
Doors 7:30 pm // Music 8 pm
21+ // $10 advance // $12 DOS
Over two decades, Christmas songs have appeared throughout Owen Ashworth’s recorded output, from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s 2016 fan favorite “Cold White Christmas” to Advance Base’s latest Christmas single, “Christmas Steve.” There have been enough Advance Base and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Christmas songs to necessitate a Christmas Mixtape (available as a free download from Advance Base’s Bandcamp). The album’s worth of songs that make up Christmas Mixtape don’t celebrate Christmas but merely acknowledge the emotional weight of the holiday season & its sometimes dreary realities. Over sparkling electric piano & warm electronic drones, Ashworth sings of lonely Midwesterners negotiating complicated family dynamics while trudging past storefront Christmas displays on their way to dead-end jobs. The songs are funny as often as they’re sad, but always full of the rich humanity that fans have come to expect from Ashworth’s bruised balladry.
Every December, Owen Ashworth tours the Advance Base & Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Christmas Mixtape songs through different corners of the US and Canada. He performs his melancholic acknowledgements of Christmas to holiday lovers and haters alike.
“As both Advance Base and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Ashworth has traversed America, carefully detailing the coldest Christmases imaginable ... It's all strangely comforting." - Alex Robert Ross, Vice
"Listeners won’t find reindeer, glad tidings, or piping cups of hot cocoa in Ashworth’s lyrics. Rather, his songs follow aimless twentysomethings, lonely housewives, and troubled siblings as they trudge through the slush, undone by the weight of expectation and the hope for a better year ahead. Anchoring it all is Ashworth’s instrument of choice: a Rhodes electric piano that often rings with the cold, clanging sound of church bells on Christmas eve, a sound that, like the holiday itself, carries certain connotations." - Randall Colburn, AV Club
IF YOU GO
Tickets: holdmyticket.com/event/422161
PublicAnyone on or off Facebook
February 18th 2025
November 13th 2024
October 17th 2024
September 19th 2024
August 3rd 2024
__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.comIt’s been eight years since the Water Protectors were cleared off the banks of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers. It was a bitter ending to a battle to protect the water; and for most of us…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Rodeo is a family tradition for sisters Kate and Tera Flitton. The duo performs under the moniker Stellar Trick Riding Cowgirls. The Utah natives will be performing along with bareback riders,…
On view through March 31215 N. 3rd St, Grand ForksThe Equal Rights Association (ERA NOW), Arts for Vets, and the Women’s Fund have joined forces in hosting an art exhibition in celebration of International Women’s Day. The 2025…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com I feel like reading a newspaper is the equivalent of listening to music on vinyl. Not only is it analog, it’s an experience. I might be a little biased, but there's something about the rustling…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comA description of “Big Boss” King Donald and his Trumplican mobOur new Health and Human Services Dictator Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has sold and been addicted to heroin and other drugs and…
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 Photos by Rick GionLiving in downtown Fargo has its perks. One of them is taking walks along Broadway and peeking into the restaurants and shops for a glimpse of what’s new. Sometimes this makes a…
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 Some of the conversations surrounding the theatrical release of “The Day the Earth Blew Up” (tagged offscreen in promotional material with the subtitle “A Looney Tunes Movie”) address…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comTelling Queer History is an LGBTQIA+ organization that utilizes oral storytelling and community building to educate, honor and collect oral histories. To honor its final year in operation, 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 Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…
By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com Somewhere lost in the cultural scuffle of what it means to be transgender is that it is an absolute joy to experience the world in such a way. When you take away the societal prejudice and…
By Gilbert Kuipersgilbertkuipers@outlook.com I live in North Dakota District 24 and have been challenging the district Republicans about their understanding of climate science for years. There has been no serious response to my…