Crossings brings Michael Perry and the Long Beds to Zumbrota's State Theatre at 7:30 on Friday, April 12. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 the day of the show. To purchase tickets call 732-7616. Doors open at 6:30.
Appearing onstage with his band the Long Beds, Michael Perry will weave stories and humor (including material from The Clodhopper Monologues) throughout a lively concert of original songs, including those on his albums and a couple of tunes fresh out of the pen.
The music of the Long Beds has been called everything from country folk to roughneck folk and folk-twang to good old Americana. The band prefers the description given by an audience member after a benefit concert in Perry’s old high school gym: “You sound just like Gordon Lightfoot… only zippier!”
Perry's songs are a direct reflection of his life growing up in small town Wisconsin. Ranging from straight-up twang to churchly harmonies and populated by characters drawn straight from rural and small town America, they launch from places like the overpass outside Perry’s beloved hometown of New Auburn, Wisconsin (population currently 562), a gospel service in a granary, and the kitchen floor of a woman about to drop a world of hurt on her drunken husband. “I was raised by farmers and preachers and tough country women, and I suppose my songs reflect that,” says Perry. “Then again, certain wisdoms are available only from whistlers, frauds, and sinners, so I try to slide them a line or two as well.”
Band members include backup vocalists and musicians Billy Krause on guitar and banjo, Chuck Roll on bass guitar and autoharp, and Christopher Ramey on guitar and keyboard, and special guests.
Perry is the author of bestselling memoirs "Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time," "Truck: A Love Story," "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting," and "Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road To Roughneck Grace," as well as the essay collection "Off Main Street." He will give a lecture the day after the concert entitled Writing from the Middle of Nowhere. Perry will discuss his book and magazine writing techniques, how to survive the freelance life and the publishing world, and most importantly, how "the middle of nowhere" can be the most powerful writing element of all. The lecture is $35 and takes place at Crossings on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Read more about it here!
The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota.