Pert Near Sandstone

bluegrass

Pert Near Sandstone is a string band from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota, formed in 2004. The current four-piece is J Lenz on acoustic guitar, Kevin Kniebel on clawhammer banjo, Nate Sipe on mandolin and fiddle and Justin Bruhn on upright bass, with all four writing material for the group. Their music is rooted in old-time string band playing rather than conventional bluegrass, and the live show has included a full-time clogger dancing alongside the band. A Prairie Home Companion, which the group has played, called them a force on the Minnesota roots music scene, while NPR's Mountain Stage characterised their sound as a Midwestern stamp on Appalachian material. Their albums include Paradise Hop (2011), Discovery of Honey (2016) and Rising Tide (2020), which American Songwriter rated four stars out of five for a set ranging across old-time, rock and roll, jazz and country and taking in mariachi horns on one track. Side by Side, released in February 2026, is their ninth studio album, recorded independently and co-produced with Ryan Young of Trampled by Turtles. Since 2015 the band has curated and hosted the Blue Ox Music Festival, a camping event held each June in Eau Claire, Wisconsin that caps attendance at 5,000 and has featured Bela Fleck, Billy Strings, Tyler Childers and Jason Isbell. They have shared stages with Ralph Stanley, Del McCoury and Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers, appeared at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and tour Europe as well as the United States, with dates across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark scheduled for November 2026.

Official site

Past shows