The Current presents

Pert Near Sandstone

Winter String Band Gathering & Side by Side Record Release Parties

with Armchair Boogie and Triple Fiddle

Doors: 7:00 p.m. | Performance: 7:30 p.m. | 21+

INFORMATION | TICKETS

Pert Near Sandstone

Crossing Old-time instrumentation with contemporary sensibilities, Pert Near Sandstone emerged twenty years ago from the Minnesota acoustic music scene. With infectious energy and collaborative spirit, they have established themselves as standard-bearers for the vitality of the Midwestern roots music scene, alongside Minnesota brethren Trampled by Turtles and Charlie Parr. They have toured extensively and performed onstage with the likes of Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, earning dates along the way with everyone from Yonder Mountain String Band to Steve Martin. NPR's Mountain Stage praised the band for putting a "Midwestern stamp on Appalachian [sounds]," while A Prairie Home Companion described Pert Near Sandstone as “a force on the Minnesota roots music scene and beyond,” and 89.3 The Current praised their live performances as "a frenzied string shredding spree that takes audiences under its spell."

As festival favorites in both the US and Europe, the band helped to launch the Blue Ox Music Festival in 2015, which they continue to host and curate each June in Eau Claire, WI. For the past decade, the now prestigious music festival has helped bring into the local community a great many nationally treasured artists such as Bela Fleck, Billy Strings, Tyler Childers, Jerry Douglas, Margo Price, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Crockett, The Infamous Stringdusters, Jason Isbell, Greensky Bluegrass, The Drive By Truckers, and so many more.​

“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 (2023) 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.

Armchair Boogie

Jamgrass, newgrass, funkgrass, whatever you want to call it— Armchair Boogie is rapidlybecoming one of the country’s hottest acts. With an unbounded sound, this Wisconsin-basedquartet is known for their powerful harmonies, timeless originals, and choice covers, along withunforgettable live performances. Listed as a “Must-See Roots Artists at Bourbon & Beyond'' byThe Bluegrass Situation who wrote, “We recently caught this jammy Wisconsin outfit at EarlScruggs Music Festival, where they burnt down their late-night set.”

Armchair Boogie is Augie Dougherty on banjo with Ben Majeska on acoustic & electric guitars,backed by tight, driving rhythms of Eli Frieders on electric bass and Denzel Connor on drums.This unconventional lineup enhances their lightning-fast bluegrass, allowing them to freelyventure into the realms of funk or country. A band on the verge, Armchair Boogie is excited toindependently release their fourth studio recording, Hard Times & Deadlines, on March 15, 2024.Composing these songs around the beginning of the pandemic, Majeska and Dougherty—whosing lead on the respective songs they wrote—were experiencing the stresses of entering theirlate 20s.

Majeska says, “Life comes with highs and lows, and Hard Times & Deadlines captures the fleetof emotions that come with it. From broken hearts and fond memories. To broad horizons andthe inevitable end of this human journey.”"Hard Times & Deadlines is a pretty literal explanation of what I felt life was turning into,”Dougherty says. "The fluffy part of college and party life was beginning to fade away and itseemed like it was time to put my head down and work." Once the tunes were drafted, they werebrought to the whole band for collaboration. "This is where the tune truly becomes a Boogiesong. Everyone adds their touch of creative input and we're able to polish it up collectively prettyquickly,” explains Dougherty.

Tripple Fiddle

Three powerhouse Minnesotan fiddlers — Rachel Calvert, Jackie Rae Daniels, and Maura Dunst — join forces to create Triple Fiddle: a collaboration of sensational triple fiddle harmonies and lusciously layered vocals. Backed by guitarist and singer-songwriter Hannah Hendrickson, this fiddle-forward trio presents soaring arrangements of originals and covers from honky tonk, swing, folk, and roots music traditions.