Download a photo of Honky-Tonk Jump.
Download a photo of The Platte Valley Boys.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Honky-Tonk Jump and The Platte Valley Boys will be the featured acts on an upcoming broadcast of Grassland Jam — the bluegrass and Americana music program produced by Pioneer PBS. The program will air on Saturday, March 28 at 7 p.m. CST and will be available for online viewing at 7:30 that night at www.pioneer.org/grasslandjam. The broadcast will be repeated on Monday, March 30 at noon.
Honky-Tonk Jump plays swingin' Texas dance hall music in the tradition of Bob Wills, Milton Brown, Ernest Tubb and Spade Cooley with a sprinkling of Hank Williams and other early honky-tonk legends. This band rustles up a rhythm roundup with accordion, twin fiddles, guitar, pedal steel, mando, bass, drums and vocals. Their music features signature twin and triple leads on accordion, fiddle, pedal steel and guitar with soulful vocals, all backed by a hard-swingin’ rhythm section. Band members include Richard Kriehn on fiddle, Joe Savage on pedal steel and vocals, Dan Lowinger on guitar, Dan Newton on accordion and vocals, Dehl Gallagher on drums, Tom Schaefer on fiddle and Vaughn Asselstine on bass.
The Platte Valley Boys have existed as a band in one form or another since 1975 and they are celebrating playing bluegrass in the Upper Midwest for 45 years in 2020. The current configuration includes founding member Ron Colby on banjo, Scott Stebbins on mandolin, Tony Andreason on guitar, Catie Jo Pidel on fiddle and Ross Willits on bass. Tony Andreason is known to many as the lead singer and guitarist with the legendary rock ‘n’ roll group The Trashmen who toured extensively in the 60s with the hit “Surfin Bird.” In 2007 the Platte Valley Boys became the first bluegrass band to be inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
Grassland Jam is produced and edited by Matthew Johnson. The program is made possible by contributions from the voters of Minnesota through a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.
