About the Band

Crossing Old-time instrumentation with contemporary sensibilities, Pert Near Sandstone emerged twenty years ago from the Minnesota acoustic music scene. With infectious energy and collaborative spirit, they have established themselves as standard-bearers for the vitality of the Midwestern roots music scene and alongside Minnesota brethren Trampled By Turtles and Charlie Parr. They have toured extensively and performed onstage with the likes of Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, earning dates along the way with everyone from Yonder Mountain String Band to Steve Martin. NPR's Mountain Stage praised the band for putting a "Midwestern stamp on Appalachian [sounds]," while A Prairie Home Companion described Pert Near Sandstone as “a force on the Minnesota roots music scene and beyond,” and 89.3 The Current praised their live performances as "a frenzied string shredding spree that takes audiences under its spell."

As festival favorites in both the US and Europe, the band helped to launch the Blue Ox Music Festival in 2015, which they continue to host and curate each June in Eau Claire, WI. For the past decade, the now prestigious music festival has helped bring into the local community a great many nationally treasured artists such as Bela Fleck, Billy Strings, Tyler Childers, Jerry Douglas, Margo Price, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Crockett, The Infamous Stringdusters, Jason Isbell, Greensky Bluegrass, The Drive By Truckers, and so many more.​

Latest Album, Side by Side (Feb '26)

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Pert Near has always made music their own way. For two decades this multi-voiced group of songwriters has created original music that beguiles their acoustic instrumentation. The bluegrass genre has grown broad since their beginnings in “the heart of the heartland,” as they describe their Minnesota origins. The band continually creates music that's true to their roots while still sonically experimenting in a way that pushes the boundaries of what "old time and bluegrass music" can be. In an industry that discovers and devourers the next pop icon, Pert Near remains steadfast and comfortable in the fringes. Their ethos is more punk than folk, but that shouldn't come to any surprise being that they share a hometown with the likes of The Replacements, Husker Du, and Babes in Toyland. Performing and recording with a determination that keeps the fire lit ‘til morning, they have gracefully become veterans, touring internationally and spreading an influential firebrand–a celebration in every gathering as resistance to modern circumstances.

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Side by Side, like the title indicates, is a testimony to their spirit of forming kinship rather than competition. This is shown both within their artistic vision and dedication toward stewardship of the musical community, unifying individuals into a regional collective. This is highly evident with their involvement co-organizing and curating the Blue Ox Music Festival experience for their corner of the North. At this prestigious and long-running event, as well at all their performances, Pert Near genuinely stands side-by-side with their fans both on and off the stage. 

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Their long standing creative process of combining four individual singer/songwriters into one cohesive project has organically produced a signature style that reaches new heights with this latest recording. There is an emotional intelligence that resonates through these songs courtesy of the diverse writing and vocal stylings. Sometimes playful, at other times raw and unfettered, never trying to trick the listener but instead to entice camaraderie. It’s clear these individual songwriters are at ease making music together. 

Pert Near’s steeped catalog continues to bloom in unexpected directions with this ninth studio album, independently recorded and co-produced by Ryan Young of Trampled By Turtles. Ryan’s history with Pert Near as founding member and frequent engineer gives him the unparalleled expertise to help form their ideas into recordings. “Ryan has a wizard’s ear and command of the console to capture what we’re aiming to do in the studio,” reports Nate Sipe. “He has a great instinct for production and what to add to help complete our vision for each song, either by mixing or in musical accoutrement." 

While the band's songs are primarily arranged for stage performances, they definitely took creative liberty to push past those constraints in the studio for this record. A great example is the accordion added by Patrick Harrison, aka Patty Buttons, in the title track “Side by Side”. Along with Nate on Irish tenor banjo, this unique arrangement provides a fresh anthem to their repertoire while reaffirming the collective spirit of festivals and friendships. Born from a love of the Irish folk tradition, the message is hopeful, both in a personal and broader societal sense. “It's something I feel very strongly about right now in the divisive world we live in today,” Lenz says. "It’s an anthem about overcoming adversity and looking at the world in a new light as a new day dawns."

The opening track, “Pipe Dream”, speaks of relishing traveling and live performances in the community they conjure. “We are social animals. It feels so good to gather,” says songwriter Justin Bruhn. "Maybe that is reason enough to keep on going. This sets the tone for the rest of the album.” A theme of traveling and longing for comfort weaves throughout. 

On “Shooting Star”, songwriter Nate Sipe takes a nostalgic look at the hopefulness of youth. It’s a powerful reflection that still keeps him striving out on the road. It’s a story of faith through celestial contemplation, seeking an auspicious omen, and ultimately trusting the unknown to provide the salvation beyond control, which may or may not become fulfilled. The song emerges from a dynamic instrumental passage to continue the venture forward, hoping for a lucky draw.

In “Quiet Hours”, songwriter Kevin Kniebel is also looking to the stars for signs and guidance, reflecting on what can bring about a more equitable and just world and finding that the drive to become a better person must come from within. “Your heart could burst, but maybe that’s what it takes,” Kniebel tenderly sings. This is the first we hear from the lap steel guitar, which adds a richly reverberant texture throughout this album.

Pert Near takes a break from lyrical pondering in the instrumental tune “Chuck Will’s Widow". This composition “first took flight for us around a campfire while the bird that it was named after sang along from the darkness in a far-off tree,” says Nate Sipe. It's a rollicking piece that fits right into the nest of instrumentals that have long showcased the band’s virtuosity. 

With “Last Call Man”, songwriter J Lenz states, “This is my attempt at writing a good old country song, with the ever talented Chase Rabideau playing Baritone Guitar. The first line of the chorus was written by a dear friend Joe Haessly, and developed on a couple of barstools, over possibly a few too many drinks.” The song feels like a new watering hole for Pert Near with the electric twang that transports listeners into a late night honky tonk. 

“Racin’ to the Grave” captures sentiments of modern life and offers a window into Justin Bruhn’s self described "cynicism regarding the state of the human race. A lament. An apology to those who are younger.” Likewise, “Grace” is Nate Sipe’s “testament to modern America, with concerns for the urban homeless population and future generations adapting to the economic and social realm, along with a plea for tolerance and compassion.” 

Kevin Kniebel offers words of wisdom in the inspiring “Rise and Shine” that emerge “from one of my most important influences: eternal optimism in the promise of a new day—not Pollyanna or naive, but cosmic words of encouragement to get up each day and do it all over again.” These are the words that his mother would speak at day break while opening the shades and they provided the inspiration to his refrain in this song that creates a full circle reality. 

"Sonny Boy" is named after Pert Near's very own Nate "Sonny Boy" Sipe, who is the reason the band started playing old-time music over two decades ago. J Lenz penned this fiddle tune as a nod to Sonny’s fabled origins. Inspired by various elements of traditional old-time music and light-hearted lyricism, this rousing closer features “Sonny Boy” himself on the fiddle.

The album artwork was painted by renowned Minneapolis painter Dan Mason. Dan's original painting, Water and Stone XIII, was selected to represent the natural beauty that shelters within stark and hostile natural landscapes of the great North. Where lakes reflect by shattering into a million skies; where majestic white pines contain secrets and testimony, tales omitted from books that can spark into wildfire. This is the land that Pert Near Sandstone calls home, where they continue to draw inspiration, craft new songs and help inspire tomorrow’s story.