What's Up! Magazine

by Abbie Glick

Pert Near Sandstone is one of those bands that you can imagine yourself being friends with. Known for their high-energy shows and ability to summon crowds into a dancing frenzy, their music also posses an approachable small-town quality that is both endearing and lively.

This makes sense when dissecting the band’s name. “Pert” an old rural saying for “almost there” or “pretty close” is a term that each member can recall hearing from childhood. And then there’s Sandstone, which serves as a reference to the Mississippi river, a great influence on the band’s sound, which hails from Minneapolis, MN.

It only seems appropriate that Pert near Sandstone’s music sounds like the kind you’d hear around a campfire, or in a dancehall or saloon—it channels an old time feel, one that lets you go back to the roots music before it was all synthesizers and auto tune.

Described as “a modern American string band,” Pert near Sandstone includes a plethora of string instruments, including the fiddle, mandolin, clawhammer banjo, acoustic guitar, clogs, washboard, and “Boom-Stick Brigade,” which include an array of bassists. The compilation of string instruments further compliment twang-y bluegrass tradition.

The men of Pert Near Sandstone have been playing together for years. Kevin Kniebel, the band’s clawhammer banjo player, describes the band’s connection almost as a brotherhood.

“The reason we wanted to become a band is because of our deep and longstanding friendships with each other. The bands’ been together about six years, but we grew up together and have been friends for almost 20 years. We just had so much fun together that it happened pretty organically,” said Kniebel.

Part wild folk, and part soulful bluegrass, Pert Near Sandstone produces the kind of music that has your heart jumping and feet tapping. It just feels good.

Popular songs like “Fly Around” make it hard not to feel chipper when you hear the bouncing beats and fast-tempo string sounds. Kniebel says that the traditional around-the-mic way in which they perform has something to do with it.

“We do all play around a single mic in the old-time style which does have its own impact on us really locking in together and having fun around that mic.”

With three albums under their belts, “On a Spree”, “Needle & Thread”, and “Up & Down the River”, the boys of Pert Near Sandstone are well-versed in the ways of recording live, and playing live. After six years of touring, Kniebel says that they’re still cranking out feel-good music.

“The music has definitely evolved but I can’t say exactly how, because for me it seems like we’re on the same set of track we started on, the train has just moved further down the line,” said Kniebel.

Traveling the country with a slew of your best friends, playing nightly shows and doing what you love – Pert Meets Sandstone is indeed the high life. When asked the rewarding part of being musician, Kniebel says,

“Playing music and traveling. Just nothing like it, with all the trials and triumphs of being an independent musician.”

Pert Near Sandstone will be playing at the Wild Buffalo on Monday, April 11^th, 2011. The cover will be $7.00. Show starts at 9:30 PM. Doors Open at 8:00 PM