Though summer is winding down, there’s still lots of live music in River City and the region this month. Festivals are winding down, but live music venues are hopping with a new college term starting. We have listed some special events below to make sure you don’t miss out.

Also, at Refrain, we’d like to apologize for things being a wee bit behind schedule. We had a death in the family and were away at the end of last month when we usually do our planning for the next issue. We also have been playing with some new ways to get music news out to you. A 7+-story monthly upload just didn’t seem to cover all that was happening, and a great many events didn’t get the full coverage they deserved (though those events were on our calendar). We also tried dribbling in content as it we got to it.

Currently, we are trying to tweak our vision to bring you not only weekly calendar updates, but also stories about artists and events in a more timely fashion. We still will have correspondents on the ground, covering events here and out of the area, and I’ll do my best to cover as many local events as possible.

We are also launching a new section called Downloads that will offer links to free music on the Internet; some are full albums, some are singles, some are videos or trailers.

And, we will have a new section called Touring News that will post newsbits about bands coming into the region that you may or may not know about.

Finally, we will be offering another section that will have a music-related book review.

We will continue to have in-depth features about touring bands, local bands, venues, and live music events. We also will offer a CD review or two, as time and space allow.

So, instead of a big upload at the first of the month. Look for new stories every Friday. I’ll be posting reminders on Facebook.

Live Events in Grand Forks ND/East Grand Forks MN:

Sept 16 Julia Ann Smith (harpist), Immanuel Lutheran Church, Grand Forks, 7:30 pm

Sept 17 Jazz on Tap, Whitey’s, East Grand Forks, 8:30-11:30 pm

Sept 18 Erica Zaun (Fargo), Adam Nygard (Grand Forks), The Ember, in the Freedom Church building (formerly Scott’s Music) on N. 3rd St., Grand Forks, 8:30 – 11:30 pm

Sept 18 Rhyme or Reason, Big Daddy’s Lounge, Grand Forks ND, 9 pm

Sept 19 Stompin’ Tom, Town Square Farmers Market, Grand Forks, ND, 11am -1pm

Sept 19 Art & Wine Walk, Grand Forks ND various locations, 1-5 pm Starting locations are the Blue Moose Bar & Grill in East Grand Forks and the Town House/Muddy Rivers in Grand Forks. $10 for map.

Sept 20 Sumunar Gamelan and Dance Ensemble, North Dakota Museum of Art (UND), Grand Forks ND, 2 pm. Member’s tickets: $60 for the Season, $13 per concert at the door. Non- member tickets are: $70 for the season, $15 per concert at the door. Student and Military tickets are $20 for the season, $5 per concert at the door.

Sept 23 Heatbox, Crosstown Lounge, Grand Forks ND, 10 pm

Sept 24 Jazz on Tap, Whitey’s, East Grand Forks MN, 8:30-11:30 pm

Sept 24 The Quartery (members of the Legionnaires do Grateful Dead covers), Crosstown Lounge, Grand Forks ND, 10 pm

Sept 25 Pat and Donna Surface & The Boundary Water Boys, Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks ND, 7 pm, $15. Tickets at Chester Fritz Box Office 777-4090 or www.ticketmaster.com OR $18 at the door.

Sept 25 Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (gospel), Chester Fritz Auditorium (UND), Grand Forks, 7 PM, Tickets are $27 and $22.

Sept 25-26 CODA, Long Haul, Grand Forks ND

Sept 25 FIRE, Southgate, Grand Forks ND

Sept 30-Oct 3 Bethany and the Bandits, Diamond Lounge, Grand Forks ND, 9:30pm

Oct 3 Jon Wayne & The Pain, Crosstown, Grand Forks ND, 10pm, $5 and a free beer

Oct 2 Carmen the Cactus, Long Haul, Grand Forks ND, 9:30 pm

Oct 2-3 J. Bobby Hamilton, Charlie Brown’s, Grand Forks ND, 9:30 pm

Oct 3 Michael Chapdelaine (fingerstyle guitarist), Masters of Guitar Series, Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks ND, 7:30 pm, $15 at the door or at the Chester Fritz Box Office 701-777-4090

Oct 3 Johnny Holm, Alerus Center, Grand Forks ND, 9 pm

Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/Johnny-Holm-Band-tickets/artist/1348132

Live Events Out of Town:

Sept18 Ani DiFranco, Fargo Theatre, Fargo ND

Sept 18 Legionnaires, Dempsey’s Public House, Fargo ND, 10 pm

Sept 19 Histronic, Nestor, Fargo ND

Sept 24 Kinetix, Cabooze, Minneapolis MN, 10:30 pm

Sept 25 Public Property, Nestor, Fargo ND, 10 pm

Sept 30 Gordon Lightfoot, Fargo Civic Auditorium, Fargo ND, 8 pm

Oct 1 The Kusun Ensemble (live music and dance from Ghana), The Historic Holmes Theatre, Detroit Lakes MN, 7:30 pm, Adults $20, Students $10. Tickets: 218-844-7469 or www.dlccc.org

Oct 2 Boiled in Lead, Carleton College, Northfield MN

and looking ahead

Oct 23 Ben Folds with Kate Miller-Heidke, The Venue, Fargo ND, 6:30 pm. General admission, all ages welcome, doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 on the day of the show, and are available at: 300 Broadway in Fargo 12 noon-6pm.

Festivals:

September 17 – 20 PrairieJam (Walnut Grove, MN) [Note: Refrain hasn't been able to get much info about this festival.]

September 25 – 27 2nd Annual Fall Frolic Music & Camping Festival (Laurens IA)

October 1 – 4 Festin’ In The Fall (Fox Valley WI)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.