White Iron Band to bring Minnesota pride to Fargo

Music | December 17th, 2015

By Jamie Hutchinson

With a love for their home state and plaid-and-lumberjack beards that would make Charlie Daniels proud, Twin Cities’ White Iron Band will bring their original bluesy country-rock songs across state lines. Just don’t expect them to play sappy, watered-down country. This blend is 80 proof.

“Our live show isn’t sitting up there playing Hank Williams,” says Matt Pudas, lead singer and guitarist. “We’re pretty up tempo.” It’s that energy and love of entertaining that’s kept them going since their first show at a house party off White Iron Lake near Ely, Minnesota, where they earned their name 17 years ago.

Since then, the band has released five albums, performed at countless bars and festivals, opened for acts such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and David Allen Coe, and has gained a knack for snagging talented musicians. Former member Nicholas David became a finalist in the third season of “The Voice”, and Pudas’ younger brother Mark Andrew, who played guitar and sang backup vocals for the band, became a contestant on both “The Voice” and “American Idol” just two years later.

But you won’t find White Iron Band playing pop music you’d find on competitive music shows. They offer their own form of reality.

“Minnesota Song” sees the band offering a more laid-back, humorous approach than other songs, with references to things the state is famous for - ice fishing, hockey, and being anti- Green Bay Packers - while “Nashville Horror” is the kind of jam they’re known for. The song offers a “Bringing It All Back Home”-era Bob Dylan sound, no surprise as Dylan is one of their biggest influences.

“I damn near have everything or heard everything he’s done,” Pudas says. “When other people were listening to Dr. Dre in high school, I was listening to Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.” Post high school, Pudas found himself at Vermilion Community College in Ely, just over an hour from where Dylan grew up and where the basis of White Iron Band was formed. Aside from Dylan, Pudas sites Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, and Little Feat as big influences on their sound.

While known for their Minnesota pride, they’re also legendary for their drunken mischief. But things have calmed down a bit after nearly two decades of playing music and becoming a family man. “They naturally have to otherwise you’re dead,” Pudas says with a laugh.

Yet crazy antics won’t stop this band from doing what they love.

“We’ve had our fair share of wild nights, but we still try to put on a pretty good show these days,” he says.

IF YOU GO:

White Iron Band with Trees At Sea

Saturday, Dec. 19, 9:30 p.m.

The Aquarium (Dempsey’s Upstairs), 226 Broadway N., Fargo

Advance tickets at Orange Records and http://www.ticketweb.com