KNMC sets up virtual live concert with local performers

The local college radio station is providing some live music Oct. 3 starting at 3 p.m. following the concept of social distancing required by the COVID-19 pandemic.

KNMC said in a press release that it has, for the last five years, been working to create opportunities for local musicians to connect and perform. That has been sidelined by the pandemic, so it is taking different routes including teaming with Montana Actors’ Theatre streaming its first live web concert a week from Saturday.

The radio station has offered several activities since the pandemic started.

“Two of KNMC’s annual live music events are more like intramurals for musicians in that they put teams of players together for one-off performances, the release said. “Unable to host such annual intramural music events like Tribute or Rock Lotto due to COVID-19, KNMC started a songwriting challenge back in May. Participants were given an opportunity to write a song in isolation and submit it by the end of the month. With social gathering restrictions still in place, KNMC has opted to continue the songwriting challenge until further notice.”

The Oct. 3 web stream event also will feature an awards ceremony for those who participated in the KNMC Quarantunes songwriting challenge.

“Not everyone wants to be a songwriter, so this has left quite a few musicians without opportunities to perform and connect,” the release added. “To address this, KNMC teamed up with the Montana Actors’ Theatre to start web streaming concerts, the first of which will take place Saturday, Oct. 3. This event will feature some of the Tribute bands scheduled to perform at KNMC’s May Tribute event alongside some fantastic traveling musicians with ties to Havre and the Hi-Line.”

The release listed some of the performers scheduled:

Izaak Opatz has been writing and performing songs for the last 10 years in Montana, Nashville and Los Angeles. He has released albums with his band The Best Westerns, and as a solo artist. Izaak has shared the stage with Jackson Browne, James McMurtry, Jonny Fritz and Taylor Goldsmith of the band Dawes. He has been featured twice in Rolling Stone magazine; once as an “Artist you need to know” in 2018, and as one of the “2019 AmericanaFest: 20 Must-See Shows.” He played his first show in Havre back in 2014 with his band, The Best Westerns, at a retirement party for Dave Martens Sr. 

The Lucky Valentines is a folk/americana  duo out of Fort Benton that have been making music together for the last 11 years. They have released two albums; their most recent, “Horses,” has been featured regularly on KNMC broadcasts since it was released this summer.  They’ve appeared on Montana Public Radio’s Musician’s Spotlight and are slated to be guests on PBS’s acclaimed 11th and Grant in its upcoming season. The Lucky Valentines made their successful performance debut in Havre at the inaugural Havre Trails Summer Brewfest in 2017. Their sound could be bottled up as “Bruce Springsteen and Patty Griffin meet Mandolin Orange in a gypsy junk shop.”

Steeds is a relatively new band from Havre featuring some of the Hi-Line’s best musicians. Most recently, they were the featured house skiffle band during the hit MAT production of “One Man, Two Guvnors”

The tribute acts will be a lot of fun to watch as well, the release added.

• SKIS is a “cold tribute” to the band KISS,

• The Jimi Rednex Experience is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix,

• Fleetwood Supply will be performing the music of Fleetwood Mac.

For more information on where to stream the performances, people can visit http://facebook.com/KNMCHavre .