Pert Near Sandstone
The Top Hat
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| Photo by: Kevin Kenly |
12-1-11
Bluegrass has become a genre that I have only recently ventured into, and when I say recently I mean I have started listen to it pretty heavily for the past six months. It has seemed to be a genre that has grown on me very steadily, the more and more I listen to it and hear it; I start to distinguish different bluegrass sounds and styles because for me bluegrass was always the same. I say this cause after watching Pert Near Sandstone stomp down the Top Hat Lounge 12-1-11 (Thursday Night) I realized I am eons away from understanding bluegrass as well as the rest of Missoula does. Missoula has its own secret society of bluegrass followers that come in large groups. It is an absolute sight to see if you attend a lot of shows around the area and see some of the same faces, and then on one random night you hardly recognize anyone out of the 200 plus people there. They all of course love the music, love Missoula, and love the Top Hat it is just they are insanely passionate about one style of music that style being true honest traditional get down bluegrass, which is what Pert Near Sandstone brought to a town that would make them a statue.
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| Photo by: Kevin Kenly |
Pert Near as people love to call them hails from Minnesota, which makes sense cause if you watch them play you can easily visualize this group of men drinking beer in the backyard by one of the 10,000 lakes with friends all around having one hell of a good time. It is four piece string band put together by Nate Sipe (Fiddle & Mandolin), Kevin Kniebel (Clawhammer Banjo), J Lenz (Acoustic Guitar), and Adam Kiesling (stand-up bass), and each of them seem to be at the top of their game playing their musical sound makers as well as all contributing vocally which was seen throughout the whole show. Pert Near took no time coming on stage saying hello to Missoula once again (was here earlier April 7th, 2011) and getting everybody movin’, hootin’, stompin’, and smilin’. The biggest difference between this show and the show before was Pert Near having their new cd just released in November, and they started that right off with playing what could be called their first hit off the new album “Solid Gone” the second song into the set. This song seemed to set the mood for what was going to be a non-stop night. Song after song in the first hour of the set the crowd was not allowed to stop moving, and the pickin’ was as crystal clear as your mind could imagine. One thing that I love about this band that you notice right away in the show is that all members contribute to the vocals, all bringing a different twang as well as lead singing for certain songs that seemed to fit each musician. Nate for example sang what might have been my song of the night “The Great Bridge” a song that Nate personally wrote that refers to the Minneapolis I-35W Mississippi Bridge collapse. Songs were played from all of the albums, with focus on the new album and every song from the new album just seemed to be their best stuff. Songs such as “Crossroads”, “20 Cups of Coffee”, “All Night Long”, “Okanagan Valley”, and “Appalachian Sky” were the songs that I thought were performed at the highest level as well as the cleanest sounding. The moment of the show occurred after the much needed set break, when Andy Dunigan & Cameron Wilson of Missoula’s favorite bluegrass band Lil Smokies were both invited on stage where Cameron played the mandolin and Andy played the dobro. They jammed the next two songs with them both getting their fair sure of string pickin’ breakdown magic. The character shown by Pert Near doing this just makes you realize this band still cares about small towns, small venues, and all fans. The end of the show saw a happy birthday sang to Cameron as well, which seems to be an ongoing trend at Missoula shows, and two ultimate Pert Near classics “Needle in Thread” & “Ain’t No Liquor”. It was a double set of pure bluegrass, and it was the finest bluegrass the type of grass that was so clean, twangy, and healthy for the soul that you would only feed it to million dollar race horses.
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| Photo by: Kevin Kenly |
Pert Near plays an absolute hell of a show, and if you even like their albums a little bit you must go to one of their shows. They play their live sets as well as any band I have ever seen with a sound that does not compare to their albums. It is almost two different bands and the live one really will put you in awe. Their stage presence is fun & loving as well as watching them get into each other’s space, smiles all around, when a member is doing a little solo jam. Take this band into your town with open arms because that is how they will play their show for you. It is a feeling of being home & happy when those strings are plucked. Well Played Pert Near, well played!
New Album: Paradise Hops
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Big Thanks go out to:
Kevin Kenly with video & photos
You really captured the energy that these guys bring night-in and night-out. Go Pert Near!
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