Williston Community Library hosts "Songs & Stories of the American West" Concert

Williston, ND – Two troubadours are coming to Williston for an evening of contemporary folk and western music at the Williston Community Library on Tuesday, October 3.

Award-winning songwriters Kerry Grombacher and Aspen Black will perform their "Songs & Stories of the American West" concert at 6:30 p.m. They are both multi-instrumentalists, and their works draw vivid portraits and tell fascinating stories that they accompany with guitars, bass, and mandolin.

"This will be our duo's second concert in North Dakota," said Kerry Grombacher recently. "We were in the southeast corner of the state, last fall, and we're looking forward to exploring the western portion of the state on this tour. The geography, and the stories we hear from the people we meet, fascinate us!"

Aspen Black added, "I'm really looking forward to performing at the Williston Community Library. I'm a Southwest Virginia cowgirl, and it's awesome for me to spend time on the great plains, with the big sky and long horizons that signify the west. I'm excited to see more of this beautiful and inspiring landscape!"

Kerry Grombacher and Aspen Black, both successful solo artists, have worked together as a duo since 2014, performing nationwide for arts councils, house concerts, festivals, museums, and libraries. Their songs are influenced by the english ballad tradition, the string-band music of Aspen's Appalachian home, and the corridos of the desert Southwest, where Kerry has lived and worked.

Kerry Grombacher plays guitar and mandolin. The title track of his 2021 CD, "Range of the Buffalo," was named Song of the Year by the International Western Music Association, and the CD is a top five nominee for the 2022 Album of the Year award from the Academy of Western Artists. His songs have been featured on the ABC-TV adventure travel show, "Born to Explore," and on the Putumayo World Records CD "Cowboy Playground," which was released in over 60 countries. He has released five albums of original songs, and his songs have been recorded by a list of artists that includes Jim Jones, Belinda Gail, The Texas Trailhands, Gary Prescott, and Trails & Rails. He notes, proudly, that there is a room named for him at the Sands Motel in Grants, New Mexico, on Historic Route 66.

Aspen Black plays guitar and bass. She received a 2019 Will Rogers Medallion award for cowboy poetry for her CD of cowboy poetry, "Tales from the Road." Aspen's "Lovin' the West" won the Rural Roots Music Commission's 2017 Classic Western CD of the Year award, and her "Eastern-Western Cowgirl" was the 2015 Female Country-Western CD of the Year. She was a top five finalist for the International Western Music Association's Female Poet of the Year in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and her poetry CD, "Invisibility," was a top five finalist for Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year in both 2015 and 2016.

The concert is on Tuesday, October 3, and will begin at 6:30 p.m.

For more information on this story, please contact Andrea Placher, Library Director, at 701.774.8805 or [email protected].

For more information on the Williston Community Library, please visit http://www.willistonndlibrary.com. Follow the Williston Community Library on Facebook and Instagram (@willistoncommunitylibrary), and YouTube (@Williston Community Library – Williston, ND).