The MoonCats have landed:

Music | February 18th, 2025

Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire Theatre

By Sabrina Hornung

The MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think Roger Miller meets John Prine meets Old Crow Medicine show —with more toe tapping, sing-along, North Dakota charm than you can shake a stick at. They’re a three piece Americana band hailing from Bismarck to Pick City, but their origin story reaches back to Beulah, North Dakota where band members Danny Savage and Jordan Esslinger grew up and where the band was formed in 2018.

“Skye (Froelich) was in Mandan, so we would kind of drive back and forth for practice,” Savage said. “But we found a band house out near Pick City, and we all moved in, I think around 2020, or so? We all lived out there for a little while.”

The house is situated near Lake Sakakawea and became home to MoonFest, a small festival where the musicians would invite other fellow North Dakota musicians and bandmates to play, jam and collaborate. Each member plays in a number of bands, which just adds to the family reunion atmosphere at MoonFest. Needless to say, the MoonCats have strong North Dakota roots and have since become a familiar name playing throughout the region. But last year they had a game changing gig at Blue Ox Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

“Last year, we played Blue Ox, and we were at the backwoods stage — it was a really cool experience,” Savage said. “We watched slowly as it sold out. It was a 5,000 person music festival with some really big name headliners and yeah, just an incredible experience to meet some really cool folks and make a lot of new fans.”

The MoonCats started a friendship with Twin Cities Americana band Pert Near Sandstone. MoonCats opened for them in Custer, South Dakota a few years back and eventually their managers connected. You see, Pert Near has had a role in co-curating and hosting the Blue Ox Music Festival since its inception in 2015, according to the Blue Ox website. Now the MoonCats’ biggest venture at the moment is returning the hospitality by independently booking the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks for the North Country Hootenanny on February 22.

“It's our first major production that we're doing all the production on as a band,” explained MoonCats manager Scott Balliet. “So it's marketing, the artwork, the name of it, the rental of the theater, accommodations for the band, contracts, all that type of stuff.”

“Coming from North Dakota to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to a sold out music festival with world-traveling headliners like Sierra Ferrell and the Del McCoury Band and The Devil Makes Three, it kind of showed us, you know, there's a higher ceiling than you realize,” Savage said. “It's just been cool seeing our momentum change and, you know, the seriousness change in everyone. We're all putting a lot more in than we used to. It used to just kind of be a fun side hobby, and now we’re taking it a little more seriously.”

MoonCats currently have two albums available, “Mooncats” (2018) and “Hot Tea” (2021). Stay tuned to their socials and website for new releases. https://mooncatsmusic.com.

IF YOU GO:

North Country Hootenanny: A Celebration of Regional Bluegrass Music

Saturday, February 22, 7 p.m.

Empire Arts Center, 415 Demers Avenue, Grand Forks

https://www.empireartscenter.com/calendar/2025/2/22/north-country-hootnanny-pert-near-sandstone-amp-mooncats