 |
JEREMY HEGG |
Jeremy Hegg, Music Director for the Hegg Brothers, is the oldest son of two lifelong music educators, grew up in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, and received his music degree from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. He is the staff arranger and composer for the Augustana Brass Choir, Sioux Falls Municipal Band, and many marching band programs nationwide. As a performer, Jeremy is known for his band Spooncat!. Formed in 1996, this original 9-piece horn band has played Sioux Falls' JazzFest five times, as well as Sioux City's "Saturday In The Park". He has performed around the country and throughout Europe with artists ranging from Smokey Robinson to Chuck Berry. In recent years he has been a featured guest pianist and arranger with A South Dakota Acoustic Christmas. Jeremy was the 2003 recipient of the Mayor's Award for the Performing Arts in Sioux Falls, SD. 2008 saw Jeremy starting The Radio Specialists which became the basis of Holiday Jam with the Hegg Brothers (2009) and most recently Choo Choo (2011).
|
|
 |
JONATHON HEGG |
Jonathon Hegg, Recording and Mixing Engineer for the Hegg Brothers, is the youngest son of two lifelong music educators, grew up in Dell Rapids and Madison, South Dakota, and also received his music degree from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Jon has performed with a wide variety of musical groups both local and national including Tommy Roe and The Coasters. His joint efforts with his brother Jeremy began with Spooncat!, moved onto duets (their most frequent configuration), and started The Radio Specialists, a regional superband of sorts. Jon has also arranged music for several collegiate and high school ensembles as well as the farewell tour for A South Dakota Acoustic Christmas. While he maintains he is his own distinct person, he realizes his bio looks a bit too much like his big brother's.
|
|
 |
DEREK HENGEVELD |
| Derek Hengeveld grew up on a farm near Valley Springs, SD. This remote location proved to be an ideal practice spot for an aspiring percussionist. During high school, he became the first four-year South Dakota All-State Band member at Brandon-Valley. After graduation, he attended South Dakota State University (SDSU) earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Engineering. Afterwards, Derek worked for several years at SDSU in the Mechanical Engineering Department as both a researcher and instructor. During this time, he also helped develop BTU Engineering, a successful energy-engineering consulting company based out of Brookings, SD. Recently, Derek has successfully attained a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. He is a member of Spooncat! and The Radio Specialists and was recently inducted into the Brandon Valley High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame. Derek continues to provide energy consulting services at BTU Engineering. In addition, he provides thermal engineering for next-generation satellites. Derek resides and works in Albuquerque, NM. |
|
 |
NOAH HOEHN |
| Noah Hoehn is a fierce performer. His impassioned harmonica performances and sincere dedication to his craft gained him national acclaim as a three-time winner of the prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians. Noah's energetic and distinctive playing has been heard in concert halls, festivals and on national radio programs. In 2007, Hoehn played harmonica in the Minnesota Opera’s world premier production of “The Grapes of Wrath” at the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, MN. Noah recently launched a solo show that combines harmonica, marimba, percussion and his singing with the technologies of live looping, MIDI programming and automated mixing. Saucy harmonica and cool marimba are looped and layered upon a foundation of acoustic grooves freeing him to sing and play at the same time. He has performed at local festivals and auditoriums and was recently featured on the PBS arts program "Minnesota Original". |
|
 |
ALLISON MICKELSON |
| Allison Mickelson, born and raised in Pierre, South Dakota, makes her home in New York City where she is a teacher, clinician, and performer. She is the Field Supervisor for Education Through Music , a nonprofit that places music teachers in disadvantaged schools throughout the city where there are no music programs. She conducts the ETM Summer Academy Choir and mentors the music teachers in the program. Allison is currently preparing two New York performances; her cabaret entitled "It Takes A Village To Raise an Allison" and a collaboration with Job Christenson on the original show "Sing Out." She comes home to work with the Hegg Brothers and cohorts on their musical adventures any chance she gets. She sings with the Middle Collegiate Church Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir and is an inaugural member of the Middle Project; an institute that prepares ethical leaders for a just society. She studies various forms of dance at the Alvin Ailey Extension, teaches Zumba at the Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Center, and waits tables at her home-away-from-home, Pisticci Restaurant, on the upper west side. She is honored to take the stage with these gentlemen and is excited to perform at home for family and friends! |
|
 |
ANDREW REINARTZ |
| Andrew Reinartz is an area musician, educator, and conductor, and has been a member of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra bass section since 2001. He is also currently the Executive Director of the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival, a summer Festival in Sioux Falls which features performances and a wide range educational opportunities. Additionally, he currently serves as the President of the Symphony Players' Board and as a member of the Board of Directors. Reinartz is heavily involved in the local Jazz community, playing bass with a variety of ensembles including the Dakota Jazz Collective, Polyphase, and Main Avenue Warehouse. He is also a member of the Jazz Diversity Project which, through the auspices of the Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Society, gives performances and presentations on the musical, social, and historical aspects of the music in schools throughout South Dakota. |
|
 |
XOPHER SMITH |
| Xopher Smith is a native of Dell Rapids, South Dakota. Classically trained in choral singing and French horn, he took up the guitar while attending Moorhead State University, and subsequently quit school. Since then he has spent the better part of two decades playing in rock bands with silly animal names (Spooncat!, Prozac Rat, Wombat Negligence, etc.). He is a frequent sideman for the Hegg Bros., and a regular member of their annual Holiday Jam tour. Minneapolis is his current home, and there he dabbles at writing tunes and producing records with his friends, into the wee hours. |
|
 |
JIM SPEIRS |
Jim Speirs plays trumpet throughout the region and resides in Sioux Falls. He is a graduate of South Dakota State University and works for the marketing firm, Fresh Produce. Performance credits include multiple performances on the main stage at the Sioux Falls JazzFest, two live state-wide broadcasts on South Dakota Public Radio, web broadcasts for the Argus Leader, regular gigs at South Dakotaʼs premier jazz club Touch of Europe, and performances around the region with Dakota Jazz Collective. Jim also performs with the Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Societyʼs touring jazz education program the Jazz Diversity Project, the Sioux Empire Brass Society, Main Avenue Warehouse, and several jazz ensembles. He is a member of the SFJBʼs education
committee, teaches trumpet, is on the board of directors for the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival, and was recently appointed by Governor Rounds to the South Dakota Arts Council. |
|
 |
MATT WALLACE |
| Omaha native Matt Wallace has been called the "premier sax man in the Midwest" (Aberdeen Summer Jam 2005). From 1987 to 1998, Wallace toured the world with jazz legend Maynard Ferguson. He has performed with the likes of Arturo Sandoval, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Hirt, Willie Nelson, Gregg Allman, Herbie Hancock, Paul Shaffer, Diane Shuur, Billy Eckstine, Chick Corea, George Benson, and Chuck Mangione, as well as performing on TV and radio and the national anthem at NBA, MLB, and NCAA games across the country and in Canada. |
|
| ARTISTS FROM PREVIOUS TOURS |
|
 |
HANK HARRIS |
| Hank Harris made his musical impression on the region as a founding member of The Red Willow Band. Currently Hank plays in three different musical configurations about 150 nights a year. Anything from weddings and bars to opening up for Merle Haggard, Alice Cooper or The Temptations. Along with Bay Area producer Jimmy Goings and a small army of musicians, Hank has recorded four solo CDs (the newest of which has just been finished) and produced another (Christy Lee Anderson's "Awakening"), scored and recorded two documentaries for South Dakota Public Television, all while continuing to write music at an dizzying pace. The Black Hills of South Dakota is home and a constant source of his inspiration. Hank was a member of the inaugural Holiday Jam tour in 2009. |
|
|
|
