H.D. Harmsen is a lot of things. He’s a genuinely nice guy. A handsome devil. A snappy dresser. He’s also quite possibly the best local entertainer you haven’t seen. Harmsen’s a musician who’s cut from the Chris Ford/Nate Logsdon/Maximum Ames bolt of cloth, but, in some ways, he’s a more
Read More →It’s been a busy year already for Superchief. For starters, the band nearly lost its drummer, when Ryan Marcum was offered the chance to be the touring drummer for Collective Soul. (He turned them down.) Meanwhile, the band has been putting the finishing touches on a new record deal with
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Posted July 02, 2014in Sound Circuit
It’s a big, busy year for Brother Trucker. The band is a mainstay in the Des Moines landscape, and its members — front man Andrew Fleming, guitarist Mike Fitzpatrick, bassist Lyle Hogue, keyboardist Matt Jesson and drummer Jim Viner — are some of the most respected musicians in town. But
Read More →Dead Horse Trauma is not a band to rest on its laurels. Even among people who aren’t fans of the band’s sound, DHT is generally regarded as one of the hardest working bands in the state. Even as they released last year’s excellent “ViOps” album, they were already working on
Read More →She doesn’t want to call it vindication, but Bonne Finken is starting to see the payoff of trusting in herself. After years of doing things her own way — often to what others perceived as her detriment—Bonne’s newest album, “Fairytails/LoveAffairs” is taking her to the ever elusive next step. “I
Read More →I’m not what you would readily describe as a religious man. But it’s impossible to be in the presence of Tina Haase Findlay, to hear that singular voice, and not feel as if you’re basking in something bigger than yourself. She’s always been singing. Since the age of 3, she
Read More →Patresa Hartman is so good, it’s nearly impossible to convince yourself that she hasn’t been doing this her whole life. “I call last summer ‘my internship,’ where I booked my first actual gigs,” she said, sitting in Royal Mile sipping a beer. “Before that, I’d just done open mics.” Everything
Read More →Mary McAdams is always pushing someone. McAdams, an elegant musician and tireless worker, is also co-host of Ritual Cafe’s monthly “Women Writers in the Round” series, along with Patresa Hartman. Each month, those two search out new, local female songwriters and showcase them, and McAdams considers each show to be
Read More →This is, to borrow a cliche, a “local girl makes good” story. Sara Darling, who was born in Mitchellville and graduated from Southeast Polk, has gone on to be featured in reality and late-night talk shows, see her name listed on the Billboard Country charts and tour the country to
Read More →There must be something in the water over at the Sires farm. First, Waterloo-born Dylan Sires and his act, Dylan Sires & Neighbors, won last year’s 80/35 play-in and kicked off the Saturday main-stage festivities. Meanwhile, cousins Luke, Harper and Joel Sires were diligently working on their second full-length release,
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