The Canyon Acoustic Series Has One More Night in It
The Canyon Acoustic Series closes its 2026 season Aug. 26 with three returning bands, one free show and a shared route toward Montana.
Spread the Tunes started the Canyon Acoustic Series in 2015 with two goals: bring more live music to Spearfish and raise money for the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery and Archives. The Spearfish nonprofit is run entirely by volunteers and organizes music events to support local organizations.
“We want people to see music that isn’t around here and see something new and different every time,” Kliewer said.
That approach carried the 2026 park series through eight Wednesday concerts beginning June 10. The lineup included Taylor Scott Band, Humbletown, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs, Hot Dawg, Earl Nelson & The Company, Deltaphonic, North Fork Crossing and Joseph Huber Band.
The concerts remain free and family-friendly. Tips and proceeds from Crow Peak Brewing Company beer sales support D.C. Booth, while a weekly 50/50 drawing raises money for a different nonprofit. Eight additional organizations received a Wednesday in the park this summer.
Kliewer said the connection to D.C. Booth is personal for the group.
“We’ve been enjoying the fish hatchery our whole lives,” he said. “It’s such a huge part of Spearfish and something we want to see people enjoy for our lifetimes.”
The other nonprofit partners are selected during Spread the Tunes meetings. Members bring forward organizations they know and believe in, and the group chooses eight for the summer.
That structure gives each concert two beneficiaries. D.C. Booth receives support throughout the series, while the 50/50 drawings spread additional money and attention among organizations working across the Northern Hills.
Building the Lineup Around the Road
Booking the Canyon Acoustic Series begins long before the first lawn chairs arrive at the bandshell.
By the time Spread the Tunes starts planning a season, Kliewer said agents and bands have often reached out to ask about an open Wednesday. The organizers listen to the music before making any offers.
“We don’t book bands unless it’s something we like,” he said.
Spearfish’s location also shapes who can appear. Bands traveling between Colorado, Minnesota, Wyoming and Montana can use a Wednesday performance as a stop between larger weekend dates. That routing can bring musicians into town who might otherwise pass the Northern Hills without playing a show.
Spread the Tunes members also attend the Blue Ox Music Festival in Wisconsin, where they discover bands they may later invite to Spearfish. Other bookings grow from direct outreach, recommendations and relationships formed during previous performances.
Over time, some of those professional connections have become friendships. Kliewer said bands now call the group when they are passing through the area, sometimes even during personal trips. Several acts return to the Canyon Acoustic Series because they know the organizers, enjoy playing Spearfish and appreciate that the concerts raise money for local organizations.
The same routing that brings bands into town can also pull them away. A booking may look solid during early planning, only to fall apart when the rest of a tour changes.
Kliewer said audiences rarely see the meetings, messages and restarts behind each summer. This year, Spread the Tunes believed it had several bands booked before changing tour plans forced the organizers to begin again. In other cases, a routing conflict delayed a band’s Spearfish appearance by an entire year.
A New Stage for the Series
The physical setting has changed along with the series.
The former McClung Memorial Theater was built in the 1960s. By the time plans for its replacement developed, the foundation was sinking, the concrete was cracking, the wiring was outdated and the stage did not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
Spread the Tunes spent years fundraising and working with the City of Spearfish on a replacement. The new McClung Bandshell was completed in 2025 through a partnership between the organization and the city.
The Canyon Acoustic Series now fills the lawn in front of a stage Spread the Tunes helped bring into existence. The work behind the series is visible before a band plays its first note.
Three Bands Find the Same Wednesday
Armchair Boogie, High Country Hustle and Front Porch were all headed to Creekside Revival at Pine Creek Lodge in Livingston, Montana. Each band had played for Spread the Tunes before, and each contacted the organization about another Spearfish show.
“All three bands hit us up to play, so we called it an encore,” Kliewer said. “People can expect three amazing bands who all love Spearfish and like what we do at Spread the Tunes.”
The resulting Canyon Acoustic Encore brings all three bands to Crow Peak Brewing Company on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
LISTEN BEFORE YOU GO
Front Porch
From Arkansas with clawhammer banjo, mandolin, guitar and fiddle at the center of a sound that pulls from bluegrass, old-time music, jazz and post-punk. Each member contributed songs to the quartet’s second album, Toolbox, allowing one track to lean traditional while the next takes a darker or more experimental turn. The band has also shared stages with Béla Fleck, Sierra Hull, the Infamous Stringdusters and Del McCoury.
High Country Hustle
A four-piece bluegrass band from Durango, Colorado. Guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass give the group a traditional acoustic frame, but its music also draws from modern jamgrass and classic Western sounds. The band released its third album, New Old Roads, in 2026, leaning further into hook-driven melodies, powerful solos and the energy of its festival sets.
Armchair Boogie
A Wisconsin quartet that pairs Augie Dougherty’s banjo and Ben Majeska’s acoustic and electric guitars with Eli Frieders’ electric bass and Denzel Connor’s drums. That lineup allows the group to move between fast bluegrass picking, funk grooves and country. Its Live at Pine Creek Lodge recording captures the longer jams and improvisation audiences can expect from the band, recorded at the same Montana venue hosting Creekside Revival.
For a free Wednesday show in Spearfish, it is an unusually deep bill. The three bands will appear at Creekside Revival between Aug. 28 and 30, but Northern Hills listeners can hear all of them in one evening without driving to Montana or buying a festival ticket.
Spread the Tunes will continue booking when the right opportunity comes along. Arkansauce is scheduled to play Spearfish Public House on Sept. 2 after returning from Creekside Revival. This winter, Spread the Tunes also plans to bring JAM-uary back to The Matthews Opera House on Fridays in January.
“If a band we think will be fun hits us up to play and we can make it happen, we will,” Kliewer said.
On Aug. 26, three of those bands will take turns on the Crow Peak stage before continuing north toward Livingston.
Know Before You Go
What: Canyon Acoustic Encore with Armchair Boogie, High Country Hustle and Front Porch
When: Wednesday, Aug. 26, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Crow Peak Brewing Company, 125 W. Highway 14, Spearfish
Admission: Free
Ages: Family-friendly