A national music tour focused on rural community organizing stopped in Henderson, Minnesota, on Wednesday, June 17.
The Backroads Tour, led by the coalition Rural Progress, features regional and national artists and bills itself as a spark for community organizing in smaller towns. Henderson is about an hour south of Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Songwriter Sanctuary, which has a studio in Henderson that serves regional songwriters at little or no cost, helped with the show.
Executive Director Ezra Crowley said music can bring together people with different political beliefs.
“They’re upset about a lot of the same things. They want a lot of the same things out of life, and they’re just speaking a different language,” Crowley said. “And music unifies people because it’s a language that we all speak.”
Organizers say the tour is intended as a more honest cultural expression of rural life as the nation celebrates America’s 250th anniversary, rather than relying on stereotypes or political talking points.
Community groups also will be on hand. Organizers say rural areas facing population challenges often lack spaces where people can gather and share ideas.
Scheduled performers include regional artists such as Duluth funk-jam band Saltydog and national acts such as Joe Troop, who blends bluegrass with Latin American styles.
Matt Hildreth, executive director of Rural Progress, said the lineup varies by stop to show that rural areas are not all the same.
“We’re looking for artists that can capture the regional identity of an area and then also bring along artists that can share their regional identity, from places like Appalachia, for example, to places like rural Minnesota,” Hildreth said.
Crowley said the festival also will serve as a launch point for his nonprofit to share a mobile stage with other small towns across Minnesota for future events. He said providing badly needed arts infrastructure is a nod to the state’s creative and civic-minded spirit, which he feels has become overlooked.
“That’s one thing that I really appreciate about Minnesota, is that there are just so many great nonprofits doing meaningful work — in the arts in general, and in rural placemaking across the state,” Crowley said.
