Wild Horses and Erik Koskinen

with Nicky Diamonds

Tickets | Information

Doors 7pm | Show 7pm | 21+

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The Current is pleased to offer a ticket giveaway to this concert. Enter by noon (CDT) on August 5 for a chance to win a pair of passes to this concert. TWO (2) winners will receive two guest list spots to Wild Horses and Erik Koskinen on Saturday, August 10.

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Wild Horses

Frontman and lead songwriter, Jed LaPlant comes from a family deeply tied into the Minnesota bluegrass community, where storytelling is central to a song. He draws on that background with lyrics that are personal and at times intimate. That intimacy translates to the audience in their live shows, balancing that deep connection with electrifying energy.

Out with their debut album, Runaway, the band has toured the Midwest, the South, and out to the West, gaining a loyal following in nearly every place they’ve played. Their live show is a foot stompin’ and hands wavin’ kind of time with a collective feeling of comradery among those present. For those who have seen them perform, there is intense excitement about what is to come for the Wild Horses.

In 2022, as they were fresh onto the scene of rural Minnesota, their first ticketed show sold out a 700-seat theater. Since then, they have shared the stage with bands like Wilco, Shovels & Rope, Langhorne Slim, Dead Man Winter (Dave Simonett), Charlie Parr, The Lowest Pair, Horseshoes and Handgrenades, among many others.

The rootsy Americana rock band delivers music that has meaning, depth, and ties to the human connection. Featuring band members from very different musical backgrounds, they have landed on a sound that incorporates heartbreaking vocals, standout harmonies between Jed and Ariana, driving beats, and epic jams. Wild Horses taps into their rural American roots with music that sends reverbs down your spine.

Erik Koskinen

Erik Koskinen is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose music is not categorized by sub-genres. Stylistically he is on his own. Influenced by roots music of the Americas and the world, the rhythmic integrity and musical tone are as important as the lyrical content and the artistic intent.

Erik Koskinen’s Burning the Deal (released June 28, 2019 on Real Phonic Records/Tone Tree Music) is steeped in American roots traditions. Born in Fort Collins, Colorado, raised in Northern Michigan and upper New York state, then living in urban Minneapolis and now, rural Minnesota, Koskinen grew up with the rhythms of weather, factory towns, and farmlands. Koskinen worked in construction for years as he developed his music career, and he now resides on a farm near where he owns a recording studio in Cleveland, Minnesota, population 717.

Of Burning the Deal, he says, “It’s not only Americana music. I learned how to play blues music. I learned how to play country music, and how to play folk, bluegrass, jazz, whatever. I learned how to play American music.” The nine songs share a stripped-down, almost naked quality, but complexities lie just under their skin. Part of that depth can be attributed to the top-notch players Koskinen recruited: Greg Leisz (Jackson Browne, Beck, Joni Mitchell) on lap and pedal steel and mandolin, plus the rhythm section of drummer Jay Bellerose (Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Willie Nelson) and bassist Jennifer Condos (Don Henley, Marc Cohn, Ray Lamontagne). As for how he managed to gather them together — twice — for recording sessions in Ojai, California, Koskinen quips, “In the music biz, you’re always one person away from knowing the president.”

Burning the Deal, his fifth album, follows Cruising Paradise (2018), Live at the Real Phonic Radio Hour (2016), America Theatre (2014), and Keep It to Yourself (2010).

Nicky Diamonds

Pulling from old church hymn books, family stories and he’s own unique writing style, Diamonds performs a set that takes you back in time and keeps you hooked like a good book. “Diamonds unloads a heavier sound that soars behind his peaking vocals, but solo, his songs cut with a tender power”, Doug Freeman, Editor of the Austin Chronicle says. Diamonds with he’s clever melodies, seasoned writing style and mesmerizing voice have quickly gained the attention of many in the Country, Americana and Folk industry. And since has been invited to play in 2022’s Americana Fest(who played to a sold out showcase with the Black Opry at the historic Station Inn). He was also invited to 2022 Lucktober Reunion on Willie Nelson’s Ranch in TX, and Pilgrimage Music Festival in TN. Diamonds was also requested by Alicia Keys to perform and sing on stage live with her on her last date of her 2022 world tour. 
 Diamonds has released 2 singles at the end of 2022, one of which titled “Met Her in Bed” has already been praised by acclaimed country and soul artists from Tami Neilson and Adeem the Artist to Durand Jones & The Indications, calling it “ancestral in nature”, “inspirational”, and “music they’ve missed and so glad to hear again”. Diamonds is set to release a catalog of songs in album/video form in March of 2023 titled, Doing Time in the Feel Good Prison. In less than 1 year of his arrival into the Country music scene Nicky Diamonds is well on his way.