Back to my theme of women’s music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44eaMdnjDM0 Ahem, that’s my daughter, Chelsea, singing. I’m so grateful I was able to attend her performances, etc. Goodness knows, I attended countless school programs and recitals and lessons.
Bob Dylan was having none of it as he rode with my colleague’s uncle from the Iron Range back to the University of Minnesota one Sunday night in 1959. “Bobby, don’t you think you should go to class once in a while?” Dylan’s concerned classmate asked. As we all learned after watching the Oscar-nominated Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” Bobby, …
Cat Stevens and Eddie Vedder 2016 And the late great B.B. King (who grew up in the same area in Mississippi as my late father). If you are in the Indianola area, I highly recommend a visit to the B.B. King Museum. And because I was young in the 1970s, there is always the epic Eagles “Hotel California.” Yes, I have watched the …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axVmpvz6VcQ Chelsea Sorenson, Senior Solo for Vocal Performance Degree at Dickinson State University, 2009 (above). Shot by me, her proud mother (the little coughs are her twin sister sitting next to me in Dorothy Stickney Auditorium). And this is why I describe Chelsea as a bit of a “piano snob” — I’ve known she had perfect pitch since she was …
The Good Intent Essays
The Parting Glass Martin Kerr Curious Heart
“Battlefield” by Nanci Griffith
My friend, Chuck Suchy. Lay You Down In a Cattail Bed
Penance Playlist 2025 Mother Maybelle Carter. Nanci Griffith (everything she ever wrote and sang and recorded and performed). Sara Watkins. Lucinda Williams. Brandi Carlisle. Gillian Welch. Phoebe Snow. Carly Simon. Tanya Savory. Joni Mitchell. Patty Loveless. Katie Lee. Celeste Krenz. Lucy Kaplansky. Sarah Jarosz. Janis Ian. Tanya Tucker. Billie Holiday. Loretta Lynn. Tish Hinojosa. Iris DeMent. Shawn Colvin. Dolly Parton. …
Fifty years ago almost to the day, I rode my bike from our neighborhood, down the hill, past the courthouse to the only record store in Crookston, Minnesota, population 8,000. I had just been paid for my summer job, hoeing sugar beets, and would use my very modest salary, (a dollar for a mile-long row, as I recall) to buy …
This post is from 2016, from the late Eric Bergeson, the Country Scribe, who plays “Gladiolus Rag,”a middle-period classic rag by Scott Joplin, considered by many to be Joplin’s best.
Ukrainians are much on our minds right now, with the Last World War apparently beginning in their country. North Dakota has a smattering of them. I’m going to tell you the best Ukrainian story ever, but first a little background. Where I grew up in Hettinger, in extreme southwest North Dakota, there were no Ukrainians. We were Germans and Norwegians, …
People seem to start thinking about decorating their homes for the holidays earlier and earlier every year. Some in October or sooner, and a few even like to have their Christmas decorations up all year. In a way, Ginny and I may fall into that latter category. That’s because one reminder of Christmas hangs on our wall year-round, too. It’s …
It would be one thing to be on a cruise ship in some sunny locale during the holidays if you wanted to be, but quite another thing to be working on a cruise ship if you’d rather be celebrating the holidays at home in the Midwest with your family and friends. If it’s Dec. 24 and you’re longing to be …
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things When the dog bites When the bee stings When I’m feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things And then I don’t feel so bad There’s so much bad news these …
Twenty or so MORE questions because we’ve asked Doug Allen Nash to play along with this silly, little exercise once before. It was two years ago, just before he performed in front of a sold-out audience for the first time at the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks. Lucky for us he’s on his way back. Doug will be bringing …
Today some of us will take a moment to celebrate the centennial of singer/songwriter/North Dakota native Peggy Lee, born on this date in 1920. One of her most popular albums is called “Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown North Dakota.” It’s front cover is a typical Peggy Lee glamour shot. The back cover, an image of a map of North Dakota. She was …
This morning, I used a long walk to catch up with Gary Kelly, my good friend and co-founder of our classic rock cover band called the Love Starved Dogs. Gary and I hadn’t talked since social isolation began about a month ago, and after sharing news of our families, (everyone healthy, thankfully) we discussed the future of the band. I …
You may remember the television series, “The Waltons,” a Depression-era slice of Americana based on Earl Hamner’s experiences in the Virginia hills. The series reflected one family’s good-natured resilience and resourcefulness in hard times. Every evening when the lights were turned off, the stillness was broken by voices saying good night. I imagine it in these times: “Good night, Grandpa.” …
Although we have greatly anticipated its airing, at Red Oak House we mostly watched “Country Music” in delay, recording it for playback at our convenience, and we finished it Sunday afternoon. Every moment took me back to my many days in my father’s homeland, Mississippi, and my time in Nashville, when I was attending graduate school at Vanderbilt University, where …
The Purple Xperience, a five-piece Prince tribute band from Minneapolis, headlined Hugo’s Third Street Dance on Saturday night in downtown Grand Forks. Opening for Purple Xperience was Someday Heroes and Another One Night Stand. Photographer Russ Hons was there and shares these images. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
As lake weather approaches, it’s a little sad to learn that city leaders continue to have problems with the Detroit Lakes (Minn.) Pavilion. The Pavilion is old, more than a hundred years old. With age, come problems, not the least of which has been continuing drainage issues for the building, which in 1915 was set just a little too close …
I turned 60 in December, a season in life when, for hobbies, a more sensible person might have turned to watercolors or growing orchids. I have turned to Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Credence, Pink Floyd and REO Speedwagon. I’m not talking about the oldies station on the radio, or air guitar when no one is looking or belting …
For over 37 years, the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus has built a large following, this past year attracting over 12,000 fans, to its concerts. Attendees have come to expect “adventuresome programming” (as their playbill promises) from this award-winning group of 150 singers. The spring concert was no exception as evidenced by rousing standing ovations. No one left disappointed Saturday …
My close friends and husband know that the musician Lucinda Williams rocks my world. Has since I first listened to her decades ago. I have all of her recordings, and I’m currently listening to “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone” in my car. She is the daughter of the late poet Miller Williams and a fierce songwriter. I’ve been …
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert took in Happy Harry’s Blues on the Red on Saturday in downtown Grand Forks. Check out his crowd photos as well as the those of the entertainers — Mud from the Twin Cities and Laura Rain and the Caesars from Detroit.
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons took in Happy Harry’s Blues on the Red on Saturday in downtown Grand Forks. The opening act was Squishy Mud from the Twin Cities, followed by headliner Laura Rain and the Caesars from Detroit.
Gentle reader, you might recall that we just attended the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colo., with some of our best chums. It was a fabulous sojourn, filled with the anticipation of the total solar eclipse. By and large, these festivals, particularly the ones hosted by Planet Bluegrass, are filled with blissful vibes and fascinating diversity — oh, and …
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert gets around. Enjoy these shots from the latest Blues on the Red and North Dakota Museum of Arts concerts and bird antics in Minnesota lake country, among others.
After a long struggle with Alzheimers disease, Glen Campbell died this week at the age of 81. Of all the celebrity interviews I’ve done, the two I did with Glen Campbell are among my very favorite. For openers, it’s always as surprise that a star of his caliber was willing to talk with little, old me. For some reason, the …
A visit to Medora, N.D., can be memorable. Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons was there this past weekend, taking in the Medora Musical, a Tigirlily concert and the awesome sights of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Here are just a few of the images that caught his eye. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
Usually during Fourth of July week, there isn’t a lack of outdoor things to do in Grand Forks. Here are a couple of events — the Christopher Paul Stelling concert at the outside garden at North Dakota Museum of Art and the annual downtown fireworks display — that caught the eye of Grand Fork photographer Michael Bogert.
While digging through a box in my basement this week, I made a discovery that pleased me to no end: my old CD of Shawn Colvin’s “A Few Small Repairs,” something that I thought was long lost. It is the 20th anniversary of the release of this Grammy winner, and I’d seen the announcements on Colvin’s Facebook, so this was …
Saturday was quite the day. If you follow my blogs, you read my take on the re-opening of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden with a couple of dozen photos. From the Walker event, I went to Westminster Presbyterian Church and continued my artful day with songs in an inaugural event that I hope will multiply throughout this great land of ours. Song: …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons and his wife, Paulette, attended the Happy Harry’s Ribfest in Fargo on Thursday night at the Fargodome. There were over a dozen different places to eat, all serving their own flavor of barbecue. Ribfest is a people watchers’ dream as Russ found out. Here are some of the shots he took of the crowd and the …
Leonard Slatkin is one of the world’s most famous conductors, but for the last several weeks, he’s taken on a much different role in the music world, as jury chairman for the Cliburn International Piano Competition. Part of his duties have been to announce which of the 30 pianists would advance from each round and which young musicians would not. Late …
Hazen, N.D.’s Tigirlily performed Thursday night in the Brick and Barley Bar and Restaurant in downtown Grand Forks. They had a guest appearance by Jozy Bernadette (Grand Forks native) who recently was a contestant on the NBC’s “The Voice.” (Bernadette is the daughter of Bridgie and Glenn Hanson of Grand Forks.) (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
I recently took a solo two-way road trip from Bloomington, Minn., to Grand Forks, N.D. It’s 323 miles each way via Interstate 94 and I-29. I celebrated my daughter Kristi’s birthday one day and headed back the next. To say this drive can be monotonous is a gross understatement. So as usual, I brought along a handful of music CDs …
I look forward to it every year. What has become for me an annual visit to the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences. This year was my first time in the school’s beautiful, new building, which opened last summer. Also invited was Dr. Brent Williams. He’s a Sanford Health urologist in Fargo, a UND Med School graduate and a native of Cavalier, …
Chopin’s “Waltz In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2” was etched into Eric Bergeson’s subconscious by his father, who learned it when Eric was 3 years old. Eric recalls his dD put masking tape on the keys to learn the last run.
Are you up for some uplifting music this Christmas morn? How about a little “Gladiolus Rag,”a middle-period classic rag by Scott Joplin, considered by many to be his best. Here it is performed by The Country Scribe, Eric Bergeson.
Forget show business, Bobby Vee was simply one of the nicest people on the planet. That is not an opinion. It is simply a fact. Bobby died today at the age of 73. He had lived with Alzheimer’s disease for several years. His wife, Karen, died in August of last year. They were married for 51 years. I was a Bobby Vee …
