The Beat
Stories, news & culture from around the Black Hills
Local voices. Big stories. The people, places, and moments shaping our creative community.
Welcome to our little corner of the Black Hills where we keep our finger on the pulse, our ear to the ground and our eyes on the stage. The shows, the openings, the late-night sets, the tucked-away venues, and the artists shaping the culture of our community. We’ll be out there taking notes so you don’t miss what matters. If it’s unfolding locally and worth talking about, you’ll find it here.
Backstage
Hank Harris releases his fourteenth album, Hank Harris 2.0
Hank Harris 2.0 releases online May 25, adding ten new songs to a catalog that has stretched across decades of Black Hills music. The ten-song record includes tracks titled “Breathe,” “Liar,” “Down…
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Backstage
Take Me To Your Moon: Journeys into the World of Dementia
Works by Yoko “Tenyoh” Sugawara Voices rise and fall, a murmur from neighboring galleries, distant in every way. Here, in Yoko’s world, the silence flows deep, rings in the heart, and whispers…
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Backstage
Black Hills Soul: Album Releases at Murphy’s Pub
“What is Peace?” drops May 1. The release show is Saturday night in downtown Rapid City. All four members of Black Hills Soul spent time chasing music somewhere else before settling in…
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Backstage
Heart of the Rebellion (A Star Wars fan film 23 years in the making) premieres May the 4th at the Elks Theatre
In 2003, Marc Linn read a line in Entertainment Weekly that said no one could make a feature-length Star Wars fan film and actually keep an audience. He saw that as a…
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Backstage
The Scene Shows Up for Joel Adams
Local musicians gather Saturday afternoonto support one of their own Spearfish Public House / Saturday, April 25 / 3:00–6:00 p.m. Joel Adams has spent years holding down the low end for Black…
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Backstage
Nerds Assemble: Fandom, Fun, and Film Come Together in Lead this Weekend.
LeadCON is setting up inside the Homestake Opera House this weekend, filling the space with tabletop games, cosplay, tournaments, and a full day of panels and screenings. The event is being put…
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Backstage
Michael Winslow: the Human Jukebox
Michael Winslow & Friends @ the 707 Sports Bar & Nightlife, March 27, 2026 By Bonny Fleming Think about the movie Police Academy for a second. What’s the first thing that comes…
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Backstage
Prairie Dog Taproom Kicks Off Year Two with a party
First anniversary Bash Featuring MoonCats and Dakota Shivers Brewing March 28, 2026 • 2:00 pm @ The Prairie Dog Taproom The whole thing started over bourbon in Spearfish. A buddy asked Michael Chidiac what…
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Humbletown
Humbletown is a Black Hills-based Americana and folk group known for harmony-centered songwriting, acoustic instrumentation, and a sound that blends…
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