Big names coming to St. Peter for Banjo Hour

Big names are coming to the St. Peter Treaty Center for the upcoming installments of “Banjo Hour with Captain Gravitone and the String Theory Orchestra” and they are –drumroll… –Dean Magraw on Jan. 21 and Lehto and Wright on Feb. 4.

Dean Magraw has been in the music scene for over twenty years and has worked with some of the best musicians in the world. His collaboration list is just as impressive as it is extensive, and it seems he is nowhere near slowing down. Magraw describes his sound as “heavy meadow,” a lyrically pleasing phrase that encapsulates his skills and conceptual drive toward music. His flawless rhythmic technique spreads across the room as easily as room temperature butter on burnt toast. It’s the type of music that makes you think, “holy crap, how can two hands do that?!”

Magraw has upwards of fifteen albums; some solely contain Magraw’s own guitar work such as his 2004 album Heavy Meadow, while others are incredible collaborations, such as his most recent album, Fire on the Nile, which features expert percussionist Eric Kamau Gravatt. Magraw’s first solo album, Broken Silence, earned him the NAIRD award, a prestigious honor from the American Association of Independent Music.

With strong recognition spanning over two decades, it’s no wonder how Magraw has continued to impress the masses. However, despite his universal understanding and extent of music performed with world-renowned musicians, Magraw has spent his past year playing music around Minnesota and its neighboring states. The fact that he will be performing in St. Peter should not be ignored. If you live around the St. Peter area and even if you don’t, try not to miss this guy on Saturday, Jan. 21.

Two weeks later, the powerful duo Lehto and Wright will be coming to the St. Peter Treaty Center on Saturday, Feb. 4. To try to describe the musical stylings of John Lehto and Steve Wright succinctly would be mistake, because it constantly changes in fantastic ways. Planting their roots in Celtic and American folk rock, the duo takes simple progressions and transforms them into cosmic adventures, vampy arias, and wisdom-filled lessons.

A considerable chunk of Lehto and Wright’s music is classic mariner and folk songs from bygone days, successfully modified, by the duo, into transient renditions that reshape the contextual and lyrical reach of the songs.