Dirty Word Dad and Daughter
Music runs in this family. Dirty Word is a fun talented regional bar band. Well, actually a cut above most bar bands because even though their music is mostly covers, they put their own twists to the songs they do, their own arrangements if you will. 
That tells me the band members are talented. More so, to see the lead singer and his daughter together on the stage tells me the talent is in their DNA. For just a couple songs at Burnt Creek, a dance bar north of Bismarck, dad and daughter entertained the crowd. She not only has talent, but has poise and confidence — enough to stand alone to sing to a building full of respectful and admiring adults.
After a couple of songs, off she went, out the back door — I assume to the motel where her mother or other caretaker was waiting. After all, though it was 9 p.m. when she was on stage, it’s still late for a girl of her age. From then on, the crowd danced to and was entertained by the good music of Dirty Word. 
It’s a Minneapolis band that is too good for little smokey bars and clubs, but probably not good enough to hold the stage at a festival or other music event such as 10K lakes. If you get the chance however, pay the cover charge and check out Dirty Word. I endorse the band on a cold winter night. It will get you out of the cabin, down the trail, in to humanity for an evening.
Bands seem to flourish in the winter in Bismarck. Take Midnight Noise Orchestra. These guys have been parts of other bands and they’ve come together for a year or two now, entertaining at local venues, usually free. No cover charge. They play at street festivals and other artistic and open venues. They hold your attention and keep you coming back for their own tunes. They’re a little bit of a jam band, folk, reggae, rock, jazz, blues band. Each song does not sound like the next song, the next song, the next song…. They’re original and entertaining.
On this night, I caught Midnight Noise Orchestra at Captain Freddie’s in Mandan. The bar caters to a young crowd and the river crowd — even has it’s own dock for Missouri River boaters to stop for a brew. Since there’s not much of a boat crowd in the winter, music brings in the patrons. Midnight Noise does it well.
I like shooting bands. I hope to put together an entire portfolio of my photographs of local musicians. They’re talented, but don’t have much marketing to take them up the ladder of success. I can, however, provide them with a few good shots for their own portfolio. In the mean time, I get stretched as a photographer. It’s not easy working with low light situations — changing colors of the stage lights, and fast moving people. I’ve found that setting my white balance to “auto,” cranking up the ISO to about 1,200 and opening up my aperture as far as it will go allows me to use a slightly faster shutter speed to freeze the players.
Not only that, I get to enjoy the good music, connect with band members — and get a break from cabin fever. Bismarck-Mandan has an abundance of talented musicians, so cabin fever will have an abundance of opportunity for relief. What about you? Are you more likely to catch a good musical group in the winter or the summer?
North Dakota 365 