Cultivating a Listening Culture

Jun 13, 2018

Mike Linderman and Jami Lynn record the third installment of Dakota Duets.

Mike Linderman was growing up in Greybull, Wyoming when he and his friends — soon to be seniors in high school — ordered instruments from a Montgomery Ward catalog and started a band. “We learned ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and played those two songs like a hundred times,” Linderman says.

It’s safe to say Linderman’s songbook has grown substantially since then. He’s established himself as one of the Southern Hills’ most recognizable musicians, and is featured in the third installment of Dakota Duets, a statewide tour featuring folk singer Jami Lynn and an assortment of South Dakota singers and songwriters.

Linderman fell in love with the landscape around Wind Cave National Park following a stay at a friend’s cabin and hiking adventures around Custer and Fall River counties. That led to his move to Hot Springs. He used his musical talents by performing and booking other artists at venues like The Songbird Cafe in Custer. The bi-weekly concerts and open mic nights were modeled after similar events at The Bluebird Cafe, a 90-seat music club in Nashville that features acoustic performances by nationally known artists and receives more than 70,000 visitors annually.

“Cultivating a listening culture as a music organizer is no small feat,” Jami Lynn says. “It doesn't surprise me, however, that such a driven and focused individual as Mike could accomplish this.

“One of the first things I learned about Mike is that not only does he keep his guitar in a high quality hard case, but that case then goes inside a guitar cooler, or thermal case. I imagined someone who valued their instrument so much must also have mastery of it. I was not disappointed. His melodic finger-style accompaniment to carefully chosen or written songs not only thrills me, but brings me to a more focused listening space than usual.”

Linderman chose “One Lone Rowan Tree,” for this installment of Dakota Duets. The song by Kim McKee tells of the Celtic tradition of the burial of lost souls. “During a certain period of time in Ireland, if an individual was cast out of the church for any reason, a churchyard burial was also forbidden,” Jami Lynn says. “People started burying these loved ones under lone standing trees, believing the trees would watch over them. The story and song have a haunting quality that highlights Mike’s delicate finger-style arrangement and unadorned vocals. It was a pleasure to lend my voice to a carefully crafted arrangement of this beautiful song.”

Click below for previous Dakota Duets

Paul Larson

Thomas Hentges aka The Burlap Wolf King