Pert Near Sandstone

Winter String Band Gathering

with Dig Deep and Katey Bellville

Information | Tickets

Doors 7:30 pm | Show 8pm | 21+

Pert Near Sandstone

“Our waiting days are finally over,” the title song decries, echoing the sentiment of a community recently pent up and beyond longing. It’s a strikingly different world than when Pert Near Sandstone first began near the sandstone river bluffs of St Paul. The former latchkey kids who grew up together a few Mississippi miles upstream have been performing and recording this past year in earnest, culminating in their eighth studio album.

Waiting Days has all the merit of maturity and the strengths of its four songwriters, offering responses to each other’s compositions through a long camaraderie. After almost twenty years together, their bond has grown to reflect that of a band of brothers. By contrast to tiktoks, reels, and tweets, this album was formed from the wilderness and carved from the heartwood. The band would say their music and sound come about organically, but under the tall oak trees of the Twin Cities, those wooden instruments may have been antennas drawn to the marrow, like a divination wand used to scratch an itch or soothe a wound, they tapped into this latest collection of songs.

As longtime stewards of the modern stringband revival, Pert Near’s songcraft is informed by the American folk tradition in a delivery of acoustic instrumentation. Their studio efforts have gradually strayed from the reliquary of common string band selections. Instead, Pert Near offers another full album of original songs that meditates on this exact present, rich with context and reference. There are songs that reach into a field that isn't always aglow with sunlight, while finding beauty in the tenderness of relationships. There are traveling songs sung by a band that has hit the pavement hard over their time, simultaneously creating a soundtrack for those all night drives that music festival devotees well know.

This isn’t music reaching for the banality of pop hits - this is fresh air for blades of new grass to grow in. At times there is an almost symphonic string section that lifts the melody, while other times the simplicity of banjo and pedal steel indeed helps us believe the genuine intentions of Pert Near Sandstone’s creative resolve. The interplay of mandolin and fiddle carry much of the music across the songs, but it’s the mixture of guest instrumentalists that gives this album a unique tapestry of sounds and texture, opening a deeper space that has become standard in production for Pert Near Sandstone projects. Trampled By Turtles’ fiddler and original Pert Near member, Ryan Young, recorded and mixed the album, along with his fiddle and other accouterments used to bolster the energy of the songs. The intimacy of collaboration is at the heart of this new project, after all, which spanned several of the harshest weeks of a midwestern winter.

Anyone that knows this band is aware of their humor and levity, and that charm is never far from the surface. It is a central component of their expression and shared experience. The connectedness to community is at the core of Pert Near’s music and philosophy as these songs shine a light upon. We are all here together. As the title track declares, “...I want to take you with me when I go.” Let’s get ready. Now is our time. The waiting days are over.

Dig Deep

Formed in 2015 in the dead center of the thriving Midwest roots music scene in Stevens Point, WI, the four members of Dig Deep drew inspiration from their shared appreciation for traditional bluegrass and country music, their love of rock and roll, and their combined decades of hard gigging in the punk/metal scenes, local bars and roadhouses, and regional festivals. Three releases and 600+ shows later, they have firmly established themselves as an utterly unique and powerful force in the roots world.

With a body of work that showcases their vision, craft, heart, and clout as songwriters and instrumentalists, Dig Deep has earned a reputation for their well-honed and hard-edged sound that goes far beyond bluegrass, as well as their blistering and boisterous live performances that give audiences much more than a string band show.

Katey Belville

With a nostalgic appreciation for old time tunes, Katey Bellville inevitably pines for traditional sounds while composing contemporary songs. Raised both in the rolling hills of the country on horseback and deep in the heart of the city of Minneapolis - she has always stirred a brew of reverse passions. Dedicated listeners describe her original songs as ‘unforgettable’, blending modern pop sensibilities with fundamental bluegrass instrumentation.

Katey Bellville has shared the stage with Alison Krauss at the Ryman Auditorium, yodeled atop Haleakala in Maui at 10,000 feet, performed on live international radio, toured Hutterite colonies through Montana, and the list goes on. Returning to the festival scene after a baby (2) raising hiatus, she sings because 'she needs to'. Like water, like air... music.

Bellville has been honored to play with an incredible group (aka Those Sonsabitches) since 2009. Her band of SOB’s includes Zach Gusa (guitar/vocals), Mike Hedding (banjo/mandolin), Chris O’Brien (slide guitar/vocals), Eric Struve (bass), Eric Larson (mandolin/vocals), and on special occasion Ryan Young (fiddle). This band bellows beautiful 3 part vocal harmonies surrounded by acoustic instrument artistry. SOB’s celebrates the old with the new. Each member shares both originals songs and a passion to perform the old time classics.