Annual Winter Solstice Celebration of Local Musicians + Community Connections
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Begins @ 7pm
FREE to attend & open to ALL!
All are welcome to join us for our winter solstice celebration of local musicians and community connections held annually on the LONGEST NIGHT of the year! This concert is FREE to attend and ALL are welcome!
An eclectic group of local, beloved artists will share their gifts of musical talent with the community. This year’s line-up currently includes:
Amanda Standalone
Amanda Standalone is a writer and folk musician from Minnesota. Standalone has released two albums, Millions of Blackbirds (2010), which bears the Title track Bird flew Hard for the HBO documentary “Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert,” and Trouble (2014), funded in part by a grant from the Lakes Region Arts Council. Amanda Standalone’s music is a soulful blend of acoustic folk/blues strongly influenced by American Roots music. She currently is recording her third album, a concept album based on real life paranormal stories.
Ben Ranson
Ben Ranson is a guitarist and singer from Sebeka, MN. He writes amusing, sarcastic, scatological and irreverent songs, often about local happenings and history. You can hear blues, rock and roll, and American folk music in his work. Ben is a master of both the six and seven string guitars. He has toured from Boston, MA, to Austin, TX, and is a regular on the Fargo music scene and at the best bars from Bismarck to Duluth.
Blue Red Roses (Mary & Dan Olson)
Songwriting and life partners Mary and Dan Olson craft melody laden hooks with an organic groove and nostalgic sound. Learn more at blueredrosesmusic.com, on Instagram @blueredrosesmusic or on Facebook at @blueredrosesmusic
Dave Virnala
Dave Virnala began playing guitar at the age of eight. His influences include John Prine and Guy Clark. Dave has performed at every Longest Night Music Festival held at the Cultural Center over the years.
Katie Baker
After familiarizing herself with a plethora of instruments, Katie fell hard for the guitar sound. With lyrics to accompany the strings, her solo performances grew in college, and she formed a band named Barricade. The Whiskey Business band came shortly after. Experimenting with other musicians and friends of the family in nearly every genre, this OTC native’s voice and dynamics became one that “sends chills” and captures music-lovers’ hearts in Minnesota.
Links:
https://sites.google.com/view/whiskey-business-live/about
https://www.facebook.com/Whiskey.business.live.music
Kevin Mastel
Music has always been a part of Kevin’s life. He started piano lessons at 8 years old, and at 9 years old he taught himself how to play guitar. Kevin loves most styles of music including blues, folk, bluegrass, pop, rock, Christian and musicals. He plays guitar and sings at St. Lawrence Catholic church, and he is always happy to share his talents.
Lisa Winters, Lea Snyder & Laura Spilman Trio
Lisa Winter, Lea Snyder and Laura Spilman, on vocals, piano and flute, plan to share 2 songs during the Longest Night: “In the Bleak Midwinter” and “Beyond the Moon and Stars.”
Day Gun (Michael Dagen)
Michael Day Gun is an unruly artist who resides in Hewitt, MN.
You can find Day Gun’s work at abandonedscoutcamp.com/news.
We hope you can join us for this free community event, the last Cultural Center concert of 2021, and a wonderful chance to PAUSE + CONNECT with neighbors and friends amidst the flurry of holiday activities.
This event is our way of celebrating local artists and community, and saying THANKS for all the support all year long. We are so grateful for all of our donors, volunteers and supporters that make our work possible!
The night begins at 7:00. Doors open at 6:30. Light refreshments and cash bar available. ALL are welcome!
COVID safety guidelines observed. For this final month of 2021, in the midst of the holiday season, our board and staff respectfully request that all attendees wear masks, in order to keep us all safe and healthy. Please stay home if ill. Thank you for helping keep our communities healthy and safe! Call 218-385-3339 with questions.
NOTE: The letterpress print image pictured in this post is designed by local artist and print-maker, Nikki Thompson. Thanks to Nikki for creating several years of Longest Night designs!
