​No limits

Fargo country band Redline talks WE Fest, Windbreak, social media and more

In the two years that Redline has been a band, it has performed at WE Fest, Ribfest and Red River Valley Fair in support of national acts like Joe Nichols, Hunter Hayes and Phil Vassar.

Although the band is young, the players are veterans. Bassist Nathan Stang is a former member of 32 Below and Fat Daddys. Guitarist/vocalist Joe Dretsch played in the band 8th Hour and is also currently in the Lars and Joe Pony Show. Brett Pauly was a member of Fat Daddys and also won Fargo Star, a local singing competition, in 2010. Drummer Ben Luckason played in the rock band Face For Radio. Lead guitarist Mike Anderson, previously of The Roosters, has played in bands for more than 30 years.

“Being able to get that carry over where you know there’s people that knew Mike in The Roosters -- well they’ll now follow him in pretty much whatever band he is going to be in,” Pauly said. “Same with Joe, same with Nate, same with Ben.”

These well-versed performers came together to form a country band that would take the genre “to the limit.” Their intention was to have the band play the most popular current country hits with high amounts of energy – appropriate for a rowdy, fun night out.

“With new country you can throw a rock song in here and there and it still fits with what we are doing because new country has taken so much of a turn towards newer pop-rock type stuff,” Dretsch said.

The band name stems from Pauly’s cheap old microphone that would “redline,” or peak, if the singer’s voice got too loud.

“I was telling him, ‘Dude, you got to stop singing or we got to get you a better mic because you are just redlining it,’ Stang said. “And he just goes, ‘You can’t contain awesome (laughs) … so then we worked that to ‘country to the limit.’”

Redline’s boldness, strong musicianship and openness to playing fast-paced crowd-pleasing music have helped them swiftly grow a following. Though it was having a great online presence that helped them get a spot in one of the biggest country music festivals in the world.

“It’s our social media,” Pauly said. “It’s the first thing (WE Fest promoters) told us: ‘Your social media – no one really compares to it.’”

Whether it’s regularly posting videos, photos or other promotional material, the members said staying active on the band’s Facebook page is their way of staying engaged with their audience.

“Social media is kind of our way to stay connected with people during the week,” Pauly said, especially considering they can only play on the weekends.

“We all have day jobs so it’s like on Friday, we can go anywhere within three hours,” Stang said. “If I can get off at 5 p.m. and still have time to play, we’re golden.”

Redline performs usually within about a 300-mile radius of Fargo, including Bismarck, Grand Forks and lakes country. However, they guys said performing at festivals like WE Fest are some of the most rewarding shows because of the crowd size and prestige of the event.

“When you are standing on that stage, with that huge system and everything else, you just look out and it just a sea of people,” Stang said, adding that having the name Redline on the ubiquitous WE Fest poster adds to the fulfillment.

Anderson remembers WE Fest in the ‘80s and has seen firsthand how far the festival has come.

“Everything has gotten better,” the veteran guitarist said. “WE Fest in general has gotten better, everything has gotten way more professional.”

In addition, the guys of Redline said Fargo’s music venues have stepped up, citing the Windbreak Saloon and Shotgun Sallys as two standout places to perform.

“I think both of those places have kind of devoted themselves to live music,” Dretsch said. “They both have really good production.”

Anderson added, “We’d like to thank the local bars that keep the music going – that bands have place to play. If there’s no clubs to play, the music scene dies.”

YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Visit Redlinelive.com for the band’s full list of upcoming show