KRUGER BROTHERS COMING TO MOTT
by Owen Blickensderfer
Southwest North Dakota is in for a rare treat next Tuesday June 17 at 7:00 when Jens (Yens) and Uwe (Oo-va) Kruger along with bass player
Joel Landsberg perform at the Mott Playhouse Theater. This will be their second visit to Mott. To say that Jens plays banjo is like saying Michael Jordan plays basketball.
Let me attempt to give you an idea of the magnitude of the quality of the performance that these men bring with them. This spring they were booked at the Riverfront Theater in Silver Dollar City, the Mecca of quality entertainment in Branson, Missouri. They performed three two-hour concerts every day for a total of eighteen shows. The theater seats six hundred. There were never less than 400 in the audience for any performance. Except for two songs which were requested by the audience, they never repeated a song twice during the entire week.
During the performance in Mott last year Wade Hohertz told me, "My face hurts from grinning!" During the intermission Bruce Kallis said to me, “Wild horses couldn’t drag me out of here.” In the space of two hours these brothers (and their friend) shared their souls through their stringed instruments. From guitar, banjo and base guitar we heard boogie woogie, blues, fiddle tunes (from a banjo), classical, Latin, Jazz, Italian, French and British arrangements. I could have sworn that I was listening to an entire orchestra. We heard familiar scores from Sound of Music, Carmen and Fiddler on the Roof. They even sang “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” which was much appreciated. (Uwe’s voice reminds me of Burl Ives.)
As a special treat before the Kruger Brothers take to the stage this year, New Horizon will warm up the crowd. New Horizon is a local Christian/bluegrass band made up of brothers and sisters from the Waddington family of Regent. The Waddingtons are definitely making a name for themselves, performing concerts all over the U.S. The performance by New Horizon itself is worth the fifteen dollars for advance tickets.
Advance tickets are on sale at the EIDO printing office across the street from the theater in Mott. Or call Deb at 701-260-9465. Burgers in the Park starts at 5:00 at the KC hall across from the theater. Come and have a nice meal and visit with the Kruger Brothers. Your don’t want to miss it!
Authors’ note: Many of the stories featured in this column are included in "Owen’s Pretty
Good Book" which is about growing up in rural North Dakota, leaving to
have adventures and coming back to live and raise a family. They make
terrific presents. You can get copies by calling me at
701-824-2948. I offer volume discounts! They are also available at the
Herald office.
