Pert Near Sandstone at Turf Club (February 28, 2025)

It was the first of two nights night, and a sold out one at that, at Turf Club for headlining bluegrass band Pert Near Sandstone.

Katey Bellville kicked things off. The sextet actually performed in the Clown Lounge, in the downstairs of the Turf Club. Fast paced Americana included banjo, mandolin and a stand up bass. Bellville was clearly enjoying herself and the band followed her lead throughout. Guest vocalist Chris O’Brien took over for a SteelDrivers cover Heaven Sent, with Bellville on harmonies. A different backing member, Zach, had written the next song, a very country song with a bit of spiritual framing in its call and response. Bellville noted that it had been a long time since they had performed, and had pulled the amateur move of not having a drink. You know the audience loves the band when multiple people jump up to get a drink to her. The next song, Walking, was a song Bellville wrote for her father and was a classic country song, including a bit of yodeling. Winter’s Coming, “which is fitting for the weather right now”, gave us three vocalists and a lovely guitar riff. A final song had an almost gospel intro before moving into its country dance feel, and gave most of the backing band an opportunity at a solo.

We moved upstairs to the main Turf Club stage for Dig Deep, a band out of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Decked out in various shades of black, this band is in the Outlaw Country vein, with the second song explicitly about marijuana with a chorus lyric of “that hippie crack is just too f-ing strong”. The quartet featured stand up bass, mandolin, banjo and guitar with several backing vocalists. A joke about having just come out of hibernation this morning got a great crowd reaction. Swinging got audience involvement and the lead singer noting it, “what a f-ing crowd”. Bad Egg got more quick paced string work and a mandolin solo that could barely be followed, as it was moving that fast. A cheers from the band and a quick tuning brought a slower paced number, with the banjo player taking lead vocals. Them it was straight back into high octane bluegrass. Just One Man continued the humorous lyrics and instrumental solos. It’s always fun to see a band laughing with each other while keeping the music central. A late song Heavy Heart had a great blusey, country intro from all four stringed instruments and a spin of the stand up bass. We were told we had a jig band champion in our midst (the banjo player), before launching into an instrumental number that led to On the Road and started to head towards the end of this raucous set, including an epic prior to the final song which was performed in the audience.

It was back downstairs for Katey Belleville’s second set. It had become very crowded, but they continued their sound while the headliner got set up to play. I got the chance to talk with Bellville after her second set, and asked about the relationship with the headliner. She has known them for 15 years and is pleased any time she gets the chance to work with them. As a part time artist, she is happy to get these opportunities and is grateful to be able to participate.

Pert Near Sandstone has been doing an annual show at various First Avenue venues for a number of years (we were told by the band it was the 14th or 15th year). If you know anything about the history of this band, it’s the story of their pivot from a metal and ska background into a killer bluegrass band. We had all the same traditional instruments (yet another stand up bass!), but also had a tap dancer providing s very different percussion style at various numbers. The band started out with the banger Can’t Hardly Wait, getting tremendous applause from the sold out crowd. A pair of violins and tap dancer led into the second song, Okanagan Valley. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a tap dance solo to help finish off a song. There’s a real vibrancy to this band and that energy was reciprocated by the crowd.

A slower number, Appalachian Girl, traded singers, and you quickly understand this band can and will shift focus often. That takes a skilled and unselfish band and that seemed to be in abundance. Every band member got their turn to shine in this one and it was really a microcosm of the whole show. Over the course of the first few songs, each band member would move from the front of the stage back to a more supporting role. The End of the Line followed as a more upbeat hoedown style song, with three vocalists and the harmonizing of the two violins. Pert Near Sandstone did a masterful job with their setlist, rapidly moving between differently paced songs with some having more vocals and others with more instrumental focus. Katey Bellville came up to sing vocals on a cover of 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up. The band mentioned there’s new music in the mix and proceeded to play one of the new pieces, with the bassist back on lead vocals. Banter with the audience was effective and allowed the band time to quickly tune. Out of Time was a bit of a darker sound, highlighting the mandolin solos. This was also the first time I’ve heard a band announce that there would be more music at a different location (within walking distance), and that the band Barefoot Bluegrass would be playing at the Midway Saloon immediately after this show.

While advertising other things, the band also continued to rock out songs, including a cover of Grateful Dead’s Ramble On Rose. After a few more originals, we got a great cover of Woody Guthrie’s All You Fascists, played with members of Dig Deep. While still needing to be prepared for another show tomorrow, Pert Near Sandstone left everything on the table with a performance that ended with a cover of Ween’s I’ll Be Your Johnny on the Spot (also with Dig Deep).

I spoke with guitarist J Lenz afterwards. Asked about the fact that they have to be ready to go 24 hours after this gig energy show, J said that at this point, they know what they are doing and how to pace themselves. They will have different sets and opening bands and it feels more like a music festival in that regard. Asked about the specific covers, J said that they work with the openers a few days ahead of time to make sure it works well, and it’s a give and take thing. The Woody Guthrie number was Dig Deep’s idea for instance, while the Ween song was selected as a classic jam song. The band members were spreading out through Turf Club to meet with friends and family, but were also planning to head down the street to support more live music. They will be back at Turf Club tonight (March 1) finishing off their winter string band gathering.