'Blues on the Red' returns to Town Square with headliner Lamont Cranston Band
May 10—GRAND FORKS — Tickets are on sale for the "Blues on the Red" concert, featuring the headliner, The Lamont Cranston Band. The concert is set for June 17 at Town Square, the Downtown Development Association has announced. Gates will open at 5 p.m.
Presented by the DDA and The Olive Ann Hotel, the show will include a performance by Vivian Hayes and the Hi-Praise, which opens the event at 6 p.m.
The Lamont Cranston Band, set to take the stage at 8 p.m., has played in venues ranging from clubs to concert halls, sharing the bill with notable artists such as The Blues Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mighty Joe Young, Percy Sledge, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and others.
The Minneapolis-based band has a rich history in the music scene, having recorded 14 albums and written and produced a number of hit songs including "Upper Mississippi Shakedown."
The band cited their performance opening for The Rolling Stones, on a leg of their North American tour in 1981, as one of their biggest thrills, according to the DDA announcement. The band also made history as the first to play the grand opening of the Chicago House of Blues.
At the June 17 event here, food and drinks will be available for purchase from food trucks and beverage vendors. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
Tickets, $7.70 each, can be purchased in advance at
and on the DDA social media pages, or at the gate. Children ages 12 and younger will be admitted free of charge.
The concert has also been made possible with support from Visit Greater Grand Forks and Leighton Broadcasting.
Eliot Fisk, world-renowned guitarist and the last direct student of the late Andres Segovia, will perform in concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 14, at the North Dakota Museum of Art on the UND campus.
Fisk will be joined on stage by cellist Erik Anderson, member of the Minot State University music faculty.
During the final concert of the 2022-23 Myra Presents: Sunday Concerts in the Galleries series, the program will include works for guitar and cello by Schubert, de Falla and Villa-Lobos and solo works for guitar by Bach, Morena-Torroba and Barrios-Mangore'.
Fisk, known worldwide as a charismatic guitarist, has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and The American Composers Orchestra. He's also known for bringing his music to unusual venues, such as schools, senior centers, logging camps and prisons, according to the NDMOA news release announcing the concert.
In 2006, King Juan Carlos of Spain awarded Fisk the "Cruz de Isabel la Catolica" for his service to the cause of Spanish music. Earlier recipients of the honor included Segovia, widely acclaimed as the father of classical guitar, and Yehudi Mehuhin.
Tickets are: $30 for NDMOA members, $35 for non-members, and $10 for students and military. Admission is free for K-12 teachers and children ages 12 and younger. Tickets are available at
and at the door.
The North Dakota Museum of Art is located at 261 Centennial Drive.
For more information, email
or call (701) 777-4195.
"Retail Therapy: 700 Years of Mental Health 'Care' " opens Thursday, May 11, at the Empire Arts Center in downtown Grand Forks.
Written and directed by local playwright Kathy Coudle-King, the play explores how mental illness has been treated in the past, as revealed by historical figures including Joan of Arc, Virginia Wolff, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald and Helen Keller, Coudle-King said.
The playwright turned her research on mental health care into an immersive theater piece that weaves "gallows humor" through the admittedly "dark topic," she said. "We never laugh at the patient, of course, but we do poke fun at some of the ridiculous theories and remedies doctors have proposed through the years."
"The long, dark history of mental health care is brought to life through the doctors who advocated for their therapies, including Benjamin Rush, S. Weir Mitchell, Egaz Moniz, Walter Freeman, Sigmund Freud and others," she said.
The actors, who play various roles, are: Walter Criswell, Hannah Diers, Ashley Fredricksen and Meghan Perry. Voiceover actors are: Becca Cruger, Kim Forness Wilson, Ruby Lamb-Castle, Meghan Perry, Julia Harris, Kate Preszler and Chris Gable.
Stage manager is Jace Erickson, with lights and video production by David Kuznicki, sound design by Owen Skroch, costumes by Caiden Kirby-Gable, and set design by Kirby-Gable, Eric Castle and Heidi Lamb Castle.
Performances of the show, produced by Theatre without Walls, LLC, begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, May 11-13; Wednesday-Friday, May 17-19; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 14 and 21.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors, students, active military and veterans with ID. To reserve seats, call (701) 746-5500 or go to
.
Any available seats will be sold 30 minutes before curtain.
An opening reception for an exhibit of local artist Dyan Rey's artwork is set for 5-7 p.m. Friday, May 12, at the Arts for Vets gallery, 215 N. Third St. The exhibit will be on display through June 30.
This show, which includes artworks Rey created over many years, reflects a variety of subject matter, such as still life, figure, landscape and abstract art, with assorted mediums ranging from oil and acrylic paint to collage and prints.
Rey is planning to relocate to Columbus, Ohio, this summer, said Kim Forness Wilson, executive director of Arts for Vets.
"We hope lots of folks will come out and celebrate Dyan's legacy of creative talent and community service ..." Wilson said. "(She) has contributed much to our art community and the community at large for many years."
Another exhibit of Rey's artwork is displayed at the North Dakota Museum of Art on the UND campus. The exhibit, titled "My Artistic Journey with the History of Women Artists," consists of painted portraits of female artists who have inspired her throughout her 35-year career.
Rey will be a guest speaker at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, at the North Dakota Museum of Art, where her exhibition will continue through May 26.
The Minnkota Genealogical Society is offering a Beginning Family History Class from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at the East Grand Forks Campbell Library. The class is free.
Family groups and individuals will learn how to search for ancestors, said Robyn Johnson Benda, public service librarian.
Participants will also learn how to create a family tree and to search sources for family history records, said Lenore Anderson, Crookston, who will teach the class. Anderson is a member of the Minnkota Genealogical Society, which meets monthly at the Campbell Library.
Devices will be available for hands-on learning. Participants are encouraged to bring their personal devices.
For more information, or to RSVP, contact
or call (218) 207-8375.
