Monthly Archives: February 2011

Choosing the right coffee shop

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Story and videos by Matthew Beckman

MSUM Journalism

Two cities full of tired and groggy college students warrants a high concentration of coffee shops, particularly for the students themselves and the community that has to endure them.

With around a dozen shops in downtown Fargo and Moorhead alone, deciding on one can be quite a conundrum. Here is a mini-guide of several caffeine-dealing superstores for your consideration.

Interact with the video to get the low down on each coffee shop

Just click the link to the appropriate shop to bring up their video.
Moxie Java seems to draw a much older crowd in comparison to Atomic Coffee and Teaberry.

Paul Luthi, who was quoted at the end of the Moxie Java video was on his way out with a group of four who spend every Thursday at a local jail, preaching to inmates, and giving them fellowship. They follow up with their own fellowship at Moxie. Customers older than the average age of patrons of Atomic or Teaberry were settled in around the shop working on laptops and conversing with colleagues.

Atomic Coffee seemed to have a much more varied crowd in age, due to its proximity to NDSU and having a location in the middle of Broadway Drive. The baristas pointed out they had “regulars” young and old, due to the many students who hunkered down for the night for studying, and others who found the site perfect for relaxing after a day’s work.
Teaberry seemed to be the most concentrated with patron age, drawing mainly college and high school students. High schooler Darian Hiemer said a large draw for others her age are the semi-regular live shows held inside the shop. Nikki Hunsicker said she enjoyed the Asian design and aesthetic, which gives Teaberry a unique atmosphere in relation to other area coffee shops.
Babb’s Coffee House was contacted for a video shoot and interviews in their store, but did not respond in time for posting.
With many other shops out there, Fargo and Moorhead has something for everyone (especially those who love coffee).

Edited by Ryan Kartes, MSUM journalism
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Pink is in—Local musician Michael Pink gains attention from coast to coast

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Text and Photos by Shane Maland

MSUM Journalism

Michael Pink

Turn up your radios. Michael Pink is about to blow up the airwaves.

“Another one of those stupidly talented pop guys,” said music critic and author John Borack.

“Anytime a guy who has written a book on John Lennon puts me in their top 20, I’m a happy man for an open-ended amount of time,” said Pink.

Going Coast to Coast

Michael Pink, the preeminent pop/rock musician of North Dakota, has a growing following of loyal listeners, and not just in the Valley. From New York City to Eugene, Oregon, Pink’s songs are reaching an audience of ears he could only dream of playing for. It wasn’t a long road that he had to take for his music to bloom, but it was a winding one that took him out of living rooms and into venues as historic as the Fargo Theatre. He even earned himself a trip to a Grammy winning producer’s studio.

The Recording Environment

Pink has been used to recording his albums in various houses across the Midwest, working the knobs and mixer boards himself. He won’t have to do that anymore.

Monthly, Pink has been traveling to Minneapolis to record with Kevin Bowe, writer and producer. Bowe is the producer that discovered Fargo’s own Jonny Lang, and has written with the likes of Leo Kottke, Robben Ford, The Rembrandts and Peter Case (just to name a few).

"When Grammy award winning people take notice, it’s definitely settling. I’m doing something right."

“There is a confirmation there. He is associated with some of my heroes. When Grammy award winning people take notice, it’s definitely settling. I’m doing something right,” said Pink.

But don’t think that the golden roads of the music business can steer Pink away from the rural dirt roads of his home state.

A Wagon Full of Vagabonds

Michael’s favorite guitar is his grandfather’s 1961 Gretsch Tennessean.

“He took out a loan at the bank in Enderlin to get it. He played in a band with my grandmother and played this guitar at my parents wedding dance in 1976. He was a hard working farmer. He did a fine job of raising my mother and played a fine guitar, although I never got the chance to hear him play it.”

His grandparents, Bernerd and Marilyn Stangler, were in a band called The Vagabonds.

“They were actually kind of a big deal, back in the day. They had a wagon that they would hook up to the pickup with the band’s name on it, and they’d come pull in to your town and play in some un-air-conditioned town hall. They always encouraged me,” said Pink.

“Anytime a guy who has written a book on John Lennon puts me in their top 20, I'm a happy man for an open-ended amount of time.”

The Way Music Should Be

“There’s something about the downtown feel. It’s where music lives. It doesn’t live out in Rose Creek. I love how you can just walk off the street and there is music. The next place has more music. That’s the way it should be. People can knock on the local music scene, but there is still music going on. It could be better, but it could be worse,” said Pink.

No matter what your music scene, it’s time to turn up your stereos and help Michael paint this town Pink.

Edited by Isabella Cody, MSUM journalism

Red Raven gets a new look

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Story and photos by Brianna Brickweg

MSUM English/Mass Communications

A sign for the new Red Raven

The Red Raven Espresso Parlor is moving to become “part of the community.”

The Red Raven moved from 14 Roberts Street to 916 Main Avenue. The new location opened on December 1, 2010.

The front entryway of The Red Raven

Makeover, Makeover

The parlor is still in the progress of aesthetically becoming “The Red Raven,” with repaints, fixing booths and removing the snow to make its outdoor seating useable, but the progress is going smoothly.

“Now it’s starting to look like a straight-up coffee shop,” Erik Meyer, an employee at the employee-owned Red Raven, said. Meyer has worked at The Red Raven for about three years and also works as a substitute teacher for Fargo Public Schools.

Coffee Outdoors

The Red Raven now has outdoor seating with the new location – a courtyard is located directly behind the building with occupancy of 49 people.

“Our goal is to have some outside events,” Meyer said, “be it music, poetry readings, or what have you and to put a bunch of tables there so that people can sit outside on a nice spring or summer day, enjoy a latte and have that space to enjoy.”

The courtyard outside The Red Raven. It is currently filled with snow but will be ready for outdoor seating in the spring.

This alley leads from the courtyard to the indoor seating

Red Raven United

The building layout is more open at The Red Raven. The old location was divided into three rooms: the front room with the drink counter and a few tables, the book room in the middle and the back room where concerts were held. Now The Red Raven is one continuous room. The books are located on bookshelves in the entryway of the store.

The layout has changed the sound for its concert performances.

Part of the new stage area

“Having a really, really loud band who doesn’t really respect the fact that it’s a long room with lots of reverb, who just wants to play and thrash,” Meyer said, “doesn’t really work here.”

A piano in the concert space

How to get to the new place

The building The Red Raven occupies also houses Sea Grave artist studios in the basement and living space in the upper level occupied by Meyer, fellow owner/employee Joe Curry and his wife and the owners of Sea Grave.

A street view on Main Avenue of the building The Red Raven inhabits

Parking seems difficult at the new location, being that it’s on the corner of Main Avenue and 10th Street, but The Red Raven has parking behind its building. Customers can take 9th Street and take an alley that runs between 1st Avenue South and Main Avenue to a parking lot directly behind Red Raven.

Why Red Raven needed a re-vamp

Red Raven moved due to a few factors:

  • Rent at the old location was going up
  • The kitchen in the new space is bigger
  • The new location is on the main floor and is more handicap-accessible. The former basement location was not.

The old Red Raven location and the treacherous stairs

“It makes it much more of a community place when everybody has access to it,” Meyer said. “It’s a space that we get to make our own.”

The Red Raven has wanted to expand its market by offering soups and sandwiches, which was impossible with the size of the old kitchen, but will now be working to add these items to their menu.

How the change is working

Customers have seemed welcome to the new change; they like the look of the new location and the continuous, open layout.

“I would say most of it [customer feedback] has been positive,” Meyer said.

Robert Sanford, one of the owners of Section 9 Cyber Café and The Red raven’s former neighbor, feels the move was a good thing for The Red Raven.

“I think they seem pretty happy with the move,” Sanford said. “I went in there… and it looks like it was doing alright and it looks like they made the necessary steps to attract everyone back.”

What to expect when you visit

The Red Raven hosts events such as comedy, poetry readings and music performances. Click here for updates and upcoming events at The Red Raven.

“For us, this [event hosting] is about being an established part of the community,” Meyer said.

Customers can approach The Red Raven with events they would like to plan at the parlor – if it’s an event the parlor can make happen with the space, they’re happy to host it.

“There’s no way it hurts us for people to come in and have a good time in our shop,” Meyer said. “We have a lot of different events and I’m glad to enable [them]. That’s what being a part of the community is, I think.”

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