Pert Near Sandstone at Turf Club (01 Mar 2025)

 

Pert Near Sandstone Setlist Raleigh & Spencer Just One Day Hell I’d Pay Wish This Was New Orleans Bloom Again His Island Feeding Leroy Animal Instinct Solid Gone Water’s High and Rising Kings and Clowns Dig a Hole Cheek to Cheek Cashes

 

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes Setlist Virginia Gal Can’t Live Without Love Lee Highway Blues Knocking On Your Door The Ride Me and My Uncle Get No Better Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow (Frank Evans cover) Come Together (The Beatles cover) The Wishing Well How Mountain Girls Loose Lucy Open Water Axilla

 

The second, and final, night of Pert Near Sandstone’s Winter Stringband Gathering just concluded last night at the Turf Club, in St Paul, on March 1, 2025.

These annual shows are incredibly popular, as indicated by being sold-out both nights, and there were fans outside the door asking ticket holders if they got an extra ticket.

Like last night’s show, the first band on the bill, Duluth’s Feeding Leroy, actually started in the Clown Lounge (downstairs of the Turf Club), where there is a tiny, tiny stage at the end of the restaurant area. Singing duties were mostly handled by Sonja Bjordal, with Lee Martin mixing between keys and guitar. The two of them have been writing songs together since they met in 2008, but didn’t actually officially form as Feeding Leroy until 2014.

IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year and Grammy winner Bronwyn Keith-Hynes started her one-hour set on the main stage at the Turf Club, right on schedule. Even before she took the stage, there were a few diehard fans in the front of the stage that hyped her up to us. They said that she’s been named Top Five fiddler of all time… and she certainly didn’t disappoint.

She mentioned that they’ve been including a lot more songs from her latest album I Built a World (such as “Can’t Live Without Love”) and they were experimenting with playing some unrecorded songs.

They did an incredible cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together”, which had the whole audience anticipating the next line: “RIGHT NOW! Over me!”

As soon as Bronwyn Keith-Hynes ended her set, some fans went back down to the Clown Lounge to see Feeding Leroy’s second set. The nice thing about this downstairs/upstairs setup is that there was always live music playing starting at 8pm until end of show. While Feeding Leroy plays their 30-min set, it allows the crew upstairs to setup and change sets. The only complaint is that there just isn’t enough room downstairs to accommodate everyone. Also, speaking with fans, most were unaware that there was actually a band playing downstairs…

Pert Near Sandstone closed out the second night with a brand new setlist, much more different than the previous night. This was done to for the band to keep it interesting, playing some more obscure songs. This was also done for the diehard fans who purchased tickets to both nights, so that they get their money’s worth.

I’ve previously mentioned it when I first saw Trampled by Turtles in April 2010, “So, I will tell you one thing: bluegrass is huge here. One look at the very packed First Ave’s main dance floor and there’s no doubt. There was quite a mix of people too, from young to old folks and everything inbetween. The girls were hippies, the boys were bearded. All good.”

Not much have changed, bluegrass is still massive in Minnesota, thanks to such bands as Trampled by Turtles, Pert Near Sandstone, Cactus Blossoms, and Charlie Parr! It is so big that Trampled by Turtles curated their Festival Palomino and Pert Near Sandstone curates the Blue Ox Music Festival. Both are very well attended.

 

We previously saw Pert Near Sandstone in December 2023 and wrote, “The members of Pert Near Sandstone are also from the Twin Cities suburbs, Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove. They first got into music by playing in heavy metal and ska bands. But as their music lessons progressed they too were caught by infectious music of bluegrass. And for almost twenty years they have been playing music that is impossible not to dance to, mainly because their percussionist, Andy Lambert, wears a pair of clogs. He was joined on stage with Nate Sipe on fiddle and mandolin, Kevin Knibel on banjo, J Lenz on guitar, Chris Forsberg on fiddle and Justin Bruhn on bass.”

Based on strong turnout and great enthusiasm from their fans, you bet that they are already thinking about next year’s Winter String Band Gathering shows.

Further reading: Pert Near Sandstone at Turf Club (28 Feb 2025).