For a relatively small town, Roberts has some big-time bands with extensive resumes that feature a lot of variety and draw from various decades, when it puts on Good Neighbor Days from June 2-5.
The main thrust behind the annual festival in the middle of St. Croix County is the Roberts Lions Club, which has celebrated its 50th anniversary of service.
The bands in order of their performance are: The marching band from St. Croix Central High School starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Maiden Dixie at 7 p.m. Friday, The Drop at 7 p.m. Saturday, Rock Godz at 9 p.m. Saturday, and Thorns and Roses at 3 p.m. Sunday.
– Minneapolis-based Maiden Dixie has toured for a year in support of UNSAFE & SOUND, their critically acclaimed sophomore studio project that spent two weeks on the featured release list for iTunes New and Noteworthy Contemporary Country. Notable tracks Honest Man’s Wage, Bullets In The Gun and The Road became programmers’ favorites on radio outlets across the U.S. and Europe.
In addition to a full slate of YouTube videos, the band released two music videos. The Road, Maiden Dixie’s first full-length concept video, was directed by Zack Dyer, programmed on multiple music video channels and outlets across the country and viewed more than 100,000 times on the Maiden Dixie YouTube channel.
Maiden Dixie performed over 100 live concerts on their UNSAFE & SOUND Tour, and even got praise for the regular guy appeal of having a man on a garden tractor happen into their video shoot and shoot the breeze.
The band’s first Christmas single, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, got extensive country radio airplay and accolades, including a DisCovery Award from Robert K. Oermann in his Music Row Magazine DISClaimer column.
Maiden Dixie still found the time to return to the studio for their latest release, Wrecked (NAV10026). Working with producer Makoa Johnson and engineer Eric Blomquist, the EP again highlights the songwriting of Channing Himes and Jonathan Krentz, the vocals of Jesse Becker and the musicianship of Zachary Scanlan, Tyler Kloewer and Andrew “Tank” Sherman. Wrecked takes the “signature kinetic blend” of country, pop and rock that Maiden Dixie unveiled on UNSAFE & SOUND and packs it with new songs.
It begins with Freedom Feels Like, then ventures into the first notes of the haunting The Whiskey’ll Miss Me, then moves into the lighthearted commentary on surrendering to the addiction of love in Today Ain’t It, and at last slides into the searing guitar and soaring vocals of Wildcard. Wrecked takes the fans of real music on a ride through the human condition. And they ask, what other country band gives you songs with bongos and a theremin?
– As co-headliners, the group Rock Godz are dressed like ’80s glam rockers, and their all ages show is billed as taking the audience “on an over-the-top, wildly fun trip through the best eras of rock and pop music.” The ’80s-focused production, which is combined with classic and current rock and pop, lets listeners sing along to Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Journey, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Poison, Prince, Bryan Adams, Led Zeppelin, Theory of a Deadman, Quiet Riot, Buck Cherry, Steel Panther and more.
Rock Godz is made up of veteran musicians who have toured regionally and nationally with acts such as Jonah and the Wales, Wild Side, Mortal Chaos, Shameless Desire, Hollywood Blvd, 13th Step, Si6ks, A:POD, 80-D and Driven By Design. Their extensive experience as rockers has let them share the stage with national acts including Dokken, Great White, Ratt, Slaughter, Firehouse, Jackyl, Saliva, Joey Belladona, Sevendust, Candle Box, Seether, Skid Row, Alice In Chains, Shinedown, Vince Neil, Brett Michaels, Krokus, American Head Charge out of Minneapolis and others. Members have rocked some of the biggest stages around including Target Center, The Myth, First Avenue and Whiskey a Go-Go in L.A.
– As essentially their warm-up band, all the young dudes in The Drop look a little grungier and steer more toward modern rock.
– Rose ‘N Thorns also is a sextet and also is known for Eagles songs, just like Maiden Dixie. What started as a laid back trio of acoustic pop has grown into a six-piece high energy band that mixes up genre styling from rock and blues, to country and folk. Rose n’ Thorns covers the music of their generation (Baby Boomers) with a blend of humor and enthusiasm that even excites those who can’t name the four Beatles, they say.
The members come from backgrounds so diverse, and cover so many genres, that it’s impossible to fit Rose n’ Thorns into a single style. Whether it’s the soul needed for a Lucinda Williams ballad or the throaty wailings to pull off Neil Young, someone in RNT rises to the challenge, they say. In addition to over 100 cover songs, the group has produced many originals that are now as readily requested as the old standards. But names you might recognize are Jimmy Buffett, Van Morrison, The Band, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Grateful Dead.
Among the other events you can check out at the fest include the Friday evening tractor pull, the Saturday 5K and fun run, as well as the car show, truck pull and coronation pageant, and the Sunday demo derby and parade through the middle of town, which has a new starting time of 11 a.m.
But its not all music and fun. The Lions invite listeners to stop by the park building and drop off used eye glasses and hearing aids so they can be refurbished and donated to those in need.
For more information, visit the Good Neighbor Days and Lions online sites and their Facebook page.