North Dakota Musician and Columnist Jessie Veeder to Perform in New Rockford
November 1, 2012 - It sounds like dirt roads and dust, wind and wheat fields, hope and home.
It sounds like North Dakota singer/songwriter Jessie Veeder is making her first appearance in the area to celebrate the release of her third album “Nothing’s Forever.” One of Veeder’s first stops on her statewide tour is on Friday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Opera House Theatre in downtown New Rockford. Dakota Prairie Regional Center for the Arts is sponsoring the event as part of their new concert series. Happy hour begins at 7:00 p.m. and following the performance there will be a cd signing and social. There will be an $8 cover charge.
Original music and storytelling, Veeder’s performance is steeped in North Dakota nostalgia and the changes seen across the state, “The music is alternative-country with a heartbeat,” said Jessie of the original tracks rooted in the acoustic guitar, dobro, and steele work of Watford City musician Mike Endrud, bass licks from Watford City native Adam Taylor and harmonies and harmonica woven in by Jessie’s father, Gene Veeder. “My love for music with life and character was sparked by listening to my dad and Mike play. They have always been huge supporters of mine,” says Veeder.
Veeder has been a symbol of folk music in the badlands of Western North Dakota since she released her first original album when she was only sixteen years old.
Since then Veeder has gone on to have a successful career in the music industry, traveling the country with a booking agency out of Nashville, recording her second original album A Place to Belong with the Fargo-based label Barking Dog Records in 2005 and then bringing it all home to record Jessie Veeder Live in Watford City in 2007.
Today Veeder lives and writes from her family’s ranch thirty miles southeast of Watford City, a place that inspired her latest 13-song anthem to the landscape and people who make up her changing home.
It’s the truth in the lyrics and honesty in Jessie’s voice that has grabbed the attention of international media outlets looking to tell Western North Dakota’s story. Jessie’s song “Boomtown,” an homage to the people working to make a living in oil country, has put her in the spotlight as a feature in various news programs, national documentaries as well as programming in Germany and Paris.
But beyond the music it’s Jessie’s story that has gained her a global following. Her popular blog “Meanwhile, back at the ranch…” chronicles life on the Veeder Ranch with stories, photos, humor and the occasional recipe. The success of her blog has landed her a job as a weekly columnist in the Fargo Forum and as a commentator on Prairie Public Radio.
“Jessie tells the story of us,” said David Swenson of Makoche Studios out of Bismarck who worked with Jessie to produce an album that he describes as one of the best to come out of their studio. “Jessie is one of the most intuitive and instinctual artists I have ever worked with. She’s prolific. And her songs are great.”
For more information on Jessie Veeder, visit her website at www.jessieveedermusic.com and www.veederranch.com.