Get ready for Oktoberfest Oct. 9 at 7 p.m., as the Northeastern Arts Network (NAN) and the MonDak Heritage Center (MDHC) raise the roof with a great time! Performing live will be Andre’ Floyd, along with David Griffith & Company from the Flathead Valley, right here in Montana. The duo will provide progressive original blues.

Andre’ Floyd

Taken from the Snoring Hound Studio website, Andre’ Floyd has been all around the world playing his special brand of original rockin’ blues and ballads. Floyd has worked with such greats as Taj Mahal, Edgar Winter, Corky Siegel (of the legendary Siegel - Schwall blues band) and many more. Not only has Andre performed for 41 of his 51 years, but Andre is also a renowned promoter of concerts and has produced over 30 CDs for other regional artists. In short, Floyd is the quintessential musician and businessman. In the studio currently working on his fourth CD on his self-owned Tapas record label, Floyd is also currently touring and pleasing audiences all over the northwest with his original brand of powerful blues and having fun. David Griffith

Multi-instrumentalist David Griffith is a man who we’re sure you’ve seen before. Formerly with Michael Martin Murphey, Griffith now splits his musical duties between Rob Quist, Jack Gladstone and Andre’ Floyd. Griffith is owner of Snoring Hound Studio in Somers. He plays nearly everything including, sax, keyboards, pedal steel, guitar, mandolin and more, often at the same time!

Oktoberfest is sponsored in part by Wells Fargo Bank, M3 Meats, Bayern Brewing, the Regal Eagle and Blue Rock Distributing. Tickets for this event come two ways - $35/person for members of Northeastern Arts Network and the MonDak Heritage Center or $45/person for nonmembers. If you are a member of either of these organizations, you may get your ticket beginning Monday. These tickets sell quickly, so be at the top of your game by visiting the heritage center to reserve one early! Ticket sales for the general public will begin Sept. 20. (You must be 21 years of age to purchase a ticket.)

If you’re one that enjoys great live music in Sidney, then continue to support these events. “This (Oktoberfest) is a fundraiser to continue to provide live music in Sidney by both organizations,” Jill Hill, Oktoberfest committee member, said.

Tickets may also be purchased by contacting any of the Northeastern Arts Network committee members including Jill Hill, Mo O’Mara, Benjamin Clark, Candy Markwald, Dave Branson or Sandy Turner.

If you’ve never been to Oktoberfest, you just gotta try it! As this event is not a sit-down concert, you will want to mingle with friends and listen to Floyd and Griffith & Company and check out some of the great German gourmet brews from Bayern Brewing out of Missoula (the only German brewery in the Rocky Mountains) and great German sausages from M3 Meats of Sidney, along with other finger foods.

You will even get to take home a Bayern Brewing beer glass as a souvenir, but fill it up with one of these featured brews: Bayern Oktoberfest (only brewed in October); not too sweet yet malty with a nice hop flavor, St. Wilbur Weizen; unfiltered Hefeweizen, Schwarzbier; German Black Lager brewed with four types of malt (the dark side) and Dragon’s Breath; Hefeweizen or a Dunkelweizen (dark wheat).

The Okotberfest committee is excited to host this event again after the successful 2010 event which featured music by “The Gruff” and tasty micro brews,” Hill said. “We are thrilled that Bayern Brewing donated the beer glasses for our fundraiser this year. This year’s Oktoberfest will be a fun ‘mingle’ night – meet your friends, taste some great German beers, enjoy the artwork on display at the center, groove to the ‘blues’ and most importantly, have a great time!”

If you are not able to attend Oktoberfest to see Andre’ Floyd and David Griffith, there is another opportunity for you to see the duo in concert. They will perform Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Sidney Middle School auditorium as part of the 2010/2011 Big Sky Concert Series. The first of the concert series is The Real Legend of Sleepy Hollow Sept. 22, 7 p.m., at the Sidney Middle School.

“Haben Sie eine große Zeit am Okotberfest – which means have a great time at the Oktoberfest,” Hill said.

homespun@sidneyherald.com