06/11/2023
SCENE Minneapolis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pert Near Sandstone Album Release at Park West Jam Productions Presents
Friday, November 24 w/ The Henhouse Prowlers, Miles Over Mountains and with special guest The Sullivan Sisters
Jam Productions Presents
322 W Armitage Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614
6:30pm Doors/7:30pm show; 18+
www.jamusa.com/events/detail/henhouse-prowlers-501690
Click for Tickets
Our Waiting Days Are Over:
Pert Near Sandstone Independently Released 8th Studio Album
Curators of Blue Ox Music Festival Offer a Vibrant Album with Inventive Lyrics
Waiting Days Out Now → li.sten.to/t2sthw1c
Pert Near Sandstone
Photo by Tony Nelson
ST. PAUL/ MINNEAPOLIS, Minn —
Pert Near Sandstone independently release Waiting Days Oct 20. Longtime stewards of the modern stringband resurgence, Pert Near Sandstone are known for their contemporary appeal and collaborative spirit with their vibrant music, intricate pickin,’ and inventive lyrics.
“The band seems to forever seize the importance — and sound — of being earnest, while never fearing the somewhat strange. It's a winning combination, and one worth waiting to hear,” writes Aarik Danielsen in the Columbia Daily Tribune.
It’s a strikingly different world than when Pert Near Sandstone first began nearly two decades ago near the sandstone river bluffs of St. Paul. The former latchkey kids who grew up together a few Mississippi-miles upstream have grown into a band of brothers, bonded together as family.
Pert Near’s four songwriters/vocalists—also all instrumentalists: Justin Bruhn (bass), Kevin Kniebel (banjo), J Lenz (guitar), and Nate Sipe (mandolin, steel guitars, fiddle)—write songs that speak to the present and are rife with allusions—spanning a breadth of content including traveling songs, concerns of the modern era, and surrealistic scenarios.
Chris Forsberg, a recent inclusion to the outfit, puts his fiddle stamp on the overall sound with turnbuckle solos and harmonious response to the melodies. Trampled By Turtles’ fiddler and original Pert Near member, Ryan Young, recorded and mixed the album during several of the harshest weeks of a midwestern winter in Ryan’s NeonBrown Recording Studio in Crystal, Minnesota. Ryan also added his fiddle and other accouterments to bolster the energy of the songs.
Ryan says, “I’ve been recording Pert Near Sandstone since 2004 when I’d set up some mics to record our practices. I feel like we know each other really well and I know what kind of sounds they are going for. Some songs call for a stripped down feel of friends playing folk music together in a living room, and others are more elaborate with influences from metal to electronic music to rock and more.”
The intimacy of collaboration is at the heart of this album. The interplay of mandolin and fiddle carries much of the music across the songs, and the mixture of guest instrumentalists gives this album a unique tapestry of sounds and texture—with accents of piano, trumpet, choral vocalists, steel guitar, and percussion.
“I think the voice of all the songs on Waiting Days is clearly written from a post-pandemic reality,” says Nate Sipe in an interview with Music Mecca. “There is a lot of searching for a new way to belong from a distance beyond an old way of understanding. I also hear a lot of hope throughout the songs, which I believe is as important, or even more important, than identifying the obstacles that we face in life.”
“Our waiting days are finally over,” the title track from Pert Near Sandstone’s new album decries, echoing the sentiment of a community recently pent up and beyond longing. What can develop from the turbulence of a still dwindling global pandemic and also respond to the noise of prattling politics? Art has its purpose in this exact hour.
“Out of Time,” the album's heaviest hitting song, is a gazette of concerns that we face in troubled times. The explicit itemization is an alarm for movement; the singer’s vocals singe of desperation is motivation to confront the things most feared and to hold on to what is most dear. Pert Near’s Nate Sipe created an intricate and vintage-looking video collage (with his original artwork) for "Out of Time" → https://youtu.be/7Qpi3y20jxc.
Lest we get lost in despair, we can find rejuvenation in one of the strongest songs, and first radio single, “All Waves Break,” which gestures with surrealism to offset the bleakness of a just-as-wacky reality. The Current, Minnesota Public Radio, NPR listed "All Waves Break" as the Song of the Day (9/29) and it was premiered by JamBase who called the song “poignant.”
“I’ve Been Traveling,” “Soo Line,” and “On To Dawn” 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.
In “Clouds Are Gathering,” the story and images reach into a field that isn't always aglow with sunlight, while finding beauty in the tenderness of relationships. “Lay Down Your Burdens” has a simplicity that indeed helps us believe the genuine intentions of Pert Near Sandstone’s creative resolve.
Adventures in Americana premiered the symphonic “Believe,” and wrote, “It’s a beautiful contemplative ballad perfect for early fall… [it] opens gently with only banjo, soon joined by fiddle and gradually the other instruments and vocals. While this often boisterous band is able to reach the stratosphere with their layered sound and blazing fast solos, their interplay throughout this track is soft and tender, highlighting the beauty of each instrument’s individual sound.”
“Who To Choose” gives permission to an indeterminate personality to decide their own path in this human condition. The railroad laden album cover looks as though it could be an illustration, “End of The Line,” wherein a conversation between a hobo and railroad brakeman confront the possible obsolescence of their livelihoods. A distant whistle is heard as a token of hope with Sipe’s electric steel guitar sliding into the conversation with a nod to early country music.
Well known for their humor and levity, with charm that is never far from the surface, the connectedness to community is at the core of Pert Near’s music and philosophy. Nobody on earth is having a singular experience, 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.
Stream/buy Waiting Days here → https://li.sten.to/t2sthw1c.
Or purchase a physical copy on vinyl or CD HERE.
Kind Words About Waiting Days
“Produced by Pert Near Sandstone the 41-minute CD continues in the tradition of music that was ignited by the likes of Old and In the Way with Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, a little of Seatrain, lots of John Hartford, a swipe at Goose Creek Symphony & if Alison Krauss ever chooses to use a different band other than Union Station this is my choice... it’s all delightful to listen to… ” —Americana Highways, John Apice
“This mighty Minnesota bluegrass group is working to… use their music to charm and connect with its listeners while providing them with a welcome break from the tense and fast-paced world we live in today.” —Music Mecca, Mikayla McGrory
“What sets Pert Near Sandstone apart is its ability to breathe fresh life into folk and bluegrass tunes while staying true to the genre's timeless spirit. With heartfelt lyrics, this band has continued to make waves in the modern folk and bluegrass scene.”
—Bend Source Weekly, Armando Borrego
“Where Pert Near Sandstone differ from many other string bands is that their focus is not on the past, they are definitely in the here and now… ‘Out of Time‘ exemplifies this aspect of the band as they riff on the short-sightedness of mankind... Is it a message of despair and doom? Yeah, that is exactly what it is.” —AmericanaUK, Jonathan Aird
“Overall, this is an album on which each of the act’s songwriters offers their own individual perspective; each musician adds in their own rhythmic reciprocity to audibly illustrate their train of thought. They offer infectious energy without pushing the pop on an album that includes songs often honest as dirt, pertinent, and pert near perfect for anyone who likes prog bluegrass.” —Something In Music, Will Phoenix, Track by Track Review
ABOUT BLUE OX MUSIC FESTIVAL
Pert Near Sandstone helped to launch the Blue Ox Music Festival in 2015. Acting as curators and hosts for this prestigious and eclectic roots music event, they have brought in a slew of their favorite performers including Bela Fleck, Tyler Childers, Jerry Douglas, Margo Price, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Billy Strings, The Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and more!
The waiting days for Blue Ox Music Festival 2024 are over as well! The 10th anniversary edition of the festival will take place at The Pines Music Park in Eau Claire, WI, June 27-29!
Tickets are on sale at → https://aftontickets.com/BlueOxMusicFestival2024
“As the curators and hosts of Blue Ox, Pert Near certainly has a presence at the Eau Claire, Wisconsin festival, but being a couple of kids from Colorado, we had yet to see or hear them," writes Festy GoNuts. “By the end of that epic weekend [at the inaugural event], we were fully on board and proudly sporting Pert Near stickers, singing their praises and humming their tunes in our heads. So here we are, 10 years later… Pert Near Sandstone is continuing to make incredible new music.”
”We’re very proud of (Blue Ox Music Festival). We’re really thrilled to be a part of it. It's really ejecting a lot of life into the midwestern acoustic groups. It’s kind of developed a life of its own at this point, ” says Nate Sipe to Volume One.
Stay up to date with Pert Near Sandstone at www.pertnearsandstone.com, facebook.com/pertnearsandstone and instagram.com/pertnearsandstone.
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