A Rip-Roaring Good Time!
The Skally Line will perform at Evansville Art Center for October’s First Friday Concert on Friday, October 6th at 7:00 p.m.
What is The Skally Line?
The Skally Line was a passenger rail started by the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad. While the ownership changed over the years, the line ran from 1877 to 1967 connecting the Twin Cities with Duluth for nearly 100 years.
But the Skally Line connected older roads. It paralleled the Government Road, a corduroy road finished in 1861 from Point Douglas to Superior. That road followed still older trails up the St. Croix River used by Dakota, Ojibwe, and older peoples going back thousands of years.
The Skally Line Brings the Stories of Old Minnesota to Life
Today, The Skally Line is Bill Cagley and Fred Keller. They are a duo dedicated to creating an experience through old-time music and song with a focus on Minnesota history and story. The Skally Line duo steams its way around the curves and bends of early American music: Stringband blues, Appalachian ballads, fiddle tunes, early Country and Bluegrass, and Tin Pan Alley music. Along the way, they tell you forgotten stories about old Minnesota, play original music rooted in that history, and have a rip-roaring good time!
Fred Keller
Fred Keller is mandolin picker, songwriter, historian, and custodian of odd stories about Minnesota. Fred has played with Irish bands, Bluegrass bands and Old-Time bands going back to 1994. He’s steeped in various traditions (Irish, blues, Bluegrass, Metis, and Appalachian) from time with bands like The Banshees and The Whistlepigs String Band.
Bill Cagley
A veteran of over forty years of picking, Bill Cagley is a full-time musician who bought his first guitar the day he graduated high school. He learned music in Waterloo and Iowa City, Iowa, by listening to recordings and playing with such masters as Al Murphy and Bob Black. He has been a full-time professional musician since 1987, performing at colleges and schools across the United States and many parks, including Yellowstone National Park. You may also catch him playing banjo and limberjack!
Travel Back in Time Together
Come to the Skally Line show on October 6th and time-travel together to strange corners of Minnesota and meet long lost ancestors. You might all wind up becoming voyageurs together singing a paddling song in French. You might learn to speak a few words of Ojibwe. You will all be smiling, tapping your feet, or clapping, we guarantee it! And if there’s enough room, we’ll have ourselves a little bit of dancing like people did long ago. There’s no better way to meet your neighbor.
There is no charge for this event. Donations are always gratefully accepted. Please feel free to bring treats to share at intermission if you wish. Beverages will be provided. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and all the fun will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Evansville Art Center is located at 111 Main Street in Evansville, Minnesota and is handicapped accessible.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Lake Region Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund and in part through a Minnesota State Legislative general fund appropriation.