AN EVENING with SIX MILE GROVE

It all started in Lyle, MN (pop. 500) with a skid loader and a fence post. Six Mile Grove frontman Brandon Sampson was 7 years old when he injured his hand while helping his dad on the family farm. Guitar playing was prescribed for rehab, and Sampson went from the hospital to the music store to buy a new guitar. To keep things fair, younger brother Brian was awarded a shiny new drum set, and the seeds of Six Mile Grove were planted.

Six Mile Grove has weathered 20 years of the tumultuous music scene as a self-managed, self-produced, and self-recorded band. Its music continues to evolve, as an organic, honest voice untinkered with and untainted by the lure of record labels or flashy music producers.

Six Mile Grove honors its roots; you’ll catch the influences of MN music’s best - from Bob Dylan to the Jayhawks - but has also forged its own sound and space on a stage. Their longtime friendship and touring with legendary Johnny Cash guitarist Bob Wootton affirmed their uncompromising commitment to their Americana artistry and musicianship.

Six Mile Grove is releasing their seventh album “Million Birds.” In this album, the band contemplates the humble human challenges of work, family, life and love; when to take risks, when to play it safe, when to fight, and when to surrender.

As Wootton states, “There’s nothing fancy about them and they don’t try to be something they’re not. And that’s what I like about them.”