Tracker Pixel for Entry

Pert Near: Perfect.

Music | November 15th, 2017

Cut a rug and your teeth with these American Roots animals.

Pert Near Sandstone is a musical thunderstorm. The energy held within their music can only be matched by nature. As the melody swells you know you’re watching something amazing and that it’s unique and breathtaking.

This is a band that must be experienced live.

Their most unique asset is their percussion section, or the lack thereof. In lieu of a traditional drum kit, all the demonstratively rhythmic action is produced by their clogger and fiddler, Matt Cartier. He dances through the whole show with such impressive accuracy and fervor that you would think he was a robot designed for such purposes.

My most memorable experience with Pert Near was at an intimate concert sponsored by The Current, a radio station that broadcasts at 89.3 in the Twin Cities.

The opener was Charlie Parr and the event was held at a small auditorium on the campus of Shattuck Saint Mary’s, a small private Catholic high school in Faribault, Minnesota -- a campus that is an amalgam of Hogwarts and Notre Dame.

I was in the second row and the raw power of this musical act washed over me. They soon became one of my favorite bands and I later saw them at First Ave. It was one hell of a party.

The band has played throughout the country at venues like A Prairie Home Companion and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival. They have shared billings with Trampled by Turtles and even shared a fiddler, Ryan Young, with the bluegrass band from Duluth. They have now cemented themselves in the American roots genre and have their own music festival, called Blue Ox, where they have shared the stage with Bela Fleck, Shovels and Ropes, Blitzen Trapper, and many more.

With Nate Snipe on mandolin and fiddle, Kevin Kniebel on banjo, J Lenz on guitar and Justin Bruhn on standup bass, this band will kick you in the face. I wish I had half of their energy on stage in my daily life. It’s a fantastic experience.

Producing six albums in 10 years their chops have been proven. Now the listener has nothing else left to bust other than a dance move.

Their most recent album “Discovery of Honey,” is once again a triumphant work of art, recorded in the basement studio where they did their first album, “Up and Down the River.”

Ryan Young rejoined the band after seven years of traveling with Trampled by Turtles. What they produced is the sound that made them famous all over again: fresh and feverish and oh so lovely.

This is real music that will build a fire in your gut, and make your toes tap. I recommend it paired with strong bourbon whiskey. Everything about this musical experience is tight, the blending of intricately and well-placed notes from the instruments and the fantastic vocal harmonies.

It’s difficult to experience it all, it overwhelms. The best option is to enjoy it and just dance.

Pert Near is playing on Friday at the Aquarium. It’s going to be a rousing experience. I expect to see everyone there stomping their feet and enjoying a cocktail.

IF YOU GO 

Pert Near Sandstone with Kind Country 

Friday, November 17, 9pm-2am 

The Aquarium, 226 Broadway N, 2nd floor, Downtown www.ticketweb.com 701-235-5913

Recently in:

Press release Celebrate Dinosaur Day on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum (612 E Boulevard Ave. in Bismarck). This free, family-friendly program is open to all ages. A…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy…

Sunday, October 19, 10 a.m.Buffalo River State Park, 565 155th St. S., Glyndon, MNHosted by the Red River Valley Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders at Buffalo River State Park for a fun fall day full of flora. (Say that three…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.com Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…

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 Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The multiple meanings of the title location in Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s “Bone Lake” cover the sex and death spectrum that will flummox Diego (Marco Pigossi) and Sage (Maddie Hasson) as…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

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…

Press Release As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Essentia Health is highlighting an innovative — and recently expanded — program that brings early breast cancer detection services to rural communities. Essentia’s mobile…

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@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…