{"id":77182,"date":"2022-10-25T16:59:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T21:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aberdeenmag.com\/?p=77182"},"modified":"2022-12-21T10:17:57","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T16:17:57","slug":"let-the-good-times-roll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aberdeenmag.com\/2022\/10\/let-the-good-times-roll\/","title":{"rendered":"Let The Good Times Roll"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>alking into the newly relocated Haggerty\u2019s Music store on its opening weekend, a quote from Dave Clark came to mind: \u201cMusic is the soundtrack of your life.\u201d For starters, the store is gorgeous, tasteful, and a tribute to the thriving community that keeps the music scene alive in the Aberdeen area. Rows of guitars stacked invitingly on an interior exposed brick wall inspired me to ponder how significant a local music scene is for a community. Behind each one of those instruments beautifully displayed in the cavernous new space might be a musician making lifetime memories for someone in this town.<\/p>\n

Wandering through the store, it also occurred to me that if the owner was willing to make the investment to relocate to a retail space three times the size of the previous location, there must be a story here about the local music scene. I set out to find it.<\/p>\n

Aberdeen has always had a vibrant, local music scene. According to several people I spoke to, there is a good reason for that. Aberdeen is unique \u2013 not only among cities in South Dakota \u2013 but unique among the continental United States in one way: it\u2019s isolated and self-contained.<\/p>\n

Mike Levsen, who served as Aberdeen\u2019s mayor for 15 years, explains it this way: \u201cWe are 200 miles from Sioux Falls, almost the same distance from Bismarck or Fargo. If we go west, there’s nothing. If we go east, past Watertown, which is smaller than us, the next biggest city is Minneapolis. So if you look at the map of the country, there is no other city between 20,000 and 40,000 people that is as isolated from a bigger city than we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paris Briscoe, local business owner and record collector, recalls Levsen making this observation one evening speaking at the historic Capitol Theatre. \u201cBecause of that [isolation] we have to make our own form of entertainment here. I think that inspires a lot of musicians to hone their craft here in Aberdeen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Aberdeen brought big-name acts to town. The Aberdeen Civic Arena and the Brown County Fair hosted dozens of shows including Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Doobie Brothers, Three Dog Night, Neil Diamond, The Carpenters, The Grass Roots, The Monkees, John Denver, and Willie Nelson. In fact, according to Dave Swain, after Willie Nelson\u2019s 1968 performance, he went down to the local Club 23 on Main Street and sat in the audience where Bob Styles\u2019 country band was playing. Willie asked him that night to join his band. Styles, a cattle farmer, politely declined, but continues to play today. You can catch him at the Aberdeen Elks Club once a month.<\/p>\n

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