Catching up with …
Tom Peschges, THS class of 1977
home is still very much where his heart is
Now a consistent presence on the bluegrass scene in Minnesota, Tom Peschges’ inspiration is no secret; in fact, it’s written all over his music
TO MANY, CURRIE IS JUST ANOTHER DOT ON THE MAP, A QUIET HAMLET THEY MIGHT MAKE A PIT STOP AT on the way to their destination, if the price of a gallon of gas is to their liking.
But to people like Tom Peschges, it is — and always will be — home, even if he now lives more than three hours away.
“You can leave Currie, but Currie never really leaves you,” Peschges said. “It’s just the way it is; I suspect that you could probably say the same thing about any small town in rural Minnesota.”
No matter the distance, Currie will always be close to Peschges’ heart, and if you need proof, look no further than the bluegrass album he recently released called “Born at the End of the Line.” Yes, it’s a reference to Currie’s End-O-Line Railroad Park & Museum, a distinguishable play on words that surely strikes a chord with locals.
A lot of Peschges’ lyrics are based on his experiences growing up in a small town, whether it’s a reference to the railroad in Currie, or the Doghouse Bar and Grill in Parkers Prairie.
The following is a verse from “Born at the End of the Line,” which was released on April 9 — Peschges’ 67th birthday:
I was born at the end of the line in a little prairie town, in a much simpler time When the trains came in, they’d turn ’em around and send ’em back down the line But the trains don’t run out here these days, the tracks are pulled up and gone And the depot is a museum now like a lot of my old hometown
“That song has been around maybe five of six years,” Peschges said. “I finally got around to putting alloy songs together and putting them into an album.”
As a youngster, Peschges was inspired to play guitar by the late Larry Cote, a musical icon in Slayton. Peschges actually wrote a song about his mentor titled “The Ballad of Larry Lee,” which introduces listeners to a teenage moment he had that musically tells the story of how Cote inspired him to learn how to play the guitar.
“I was really happy that I got to play that song for him before he passed,” Peschges said.
Peschges’ earliest memory of Cote was at the gravel pit outside of Currie where the then-15-year-old Peschges attended a keg party. His father not only knew of the party — he worked at the liquor store and sold the keg — he even gave him the keys to the family car to go there on the promise he would bring it back in one piece.
“I knew there was no point in lying to him, so I told him I figured I’d stop there for a little bit,” Peschges said. “He knew that I would not want to disappoint him; by doing what he did, he made sure I wouldn’t drink. I didn’t have any fun at all that night!”
But partying aside, Peschges did take something special away from the kegger — the start of a relationship with Cote, who Peschges said was the life of that party.
“That’s where I met Larry and how I got started on the whole guitar thing,” Peschges said.
Peschges would go on to play guitar in Cote’s band, Touch of Silver, before going off to college. He had taken a gap year after graduating from THS and worked at Campbell’s Soup in Worthington, then studied for two years at Worthington Community College.
Following his interest in the radio industry, Peschges, who credits Mylan Ray for steering him toward radio, attended the Brown Institute in Minneapolis. He did radio at KHOL Radio in Beulah, ND, for about seven years, then for a short time at KZ102 in Fargo before ending up at KWNG FM in his current hometown of Red Wing.
Peschges worked mostly in sales at those radio stations, but also did weekend on-air shifts and commercial voice-overs. He left the radio business and took a couple odd jobs before going into real estate, retiring after about a decade in the business.
In North Dakota, he remembers not having any real musical influence like he had with Cote, so his guitar sat mostly silent for more that two decades, even after leaving a busy professional life behind. It wasn’t until his late 40s, with those cowboy chords still on his mind and in his heart, that he decided to get serious about music once again.
His goal was to see if he “was good enough to get back on stage,” he said. “That was more than 20 years ago now, and I have not stopped.”
To this day, Peschges, a 1977 graduate of Tracy High School, gets together about once a month with friends who make up what he calls the “Scrappers Lunch,” yet another homespun reference to his past in the area. It’s a time for reflection and laughs with his buddies amidst an otherwise busy lifestyle that sees Peschges performing more than 70 shows a year with his six-piece bluegrass band that he founded called Doubledown Daredevils.
The Daredevils have been performing for about 11 years, or “about 150 in bluegrass band years,” Peschges laughs. “It keeps my pretty busy. We’re pretty tight. We do a lot of my original songs, which is nice.”
Peschges said his parents, John and Norma, were instrumental in raising him the right way. And while he might have gotten himself in trouble every now and then, he turned out just fine. And they trusted that he would make good decisions as a teenager spreading his wings in the ’70s.
“It’s funny, I talk to my ‘Scrappers Lunch’ guys, and they all remember me as being quiet and withdrawn … I don’t really remember it that way,” Peschges said. “I got into my share of trouble, let’s put it that way.”
Peschges says his math teacher in high school, Keith Stanton, played a big role in his educational upbringing. His math skills weren’t good enough to advance him to the algebra level, but he said Stanton knew that people learn differently and at a different pace and not to worry too much about his math struggles. As it turns out, Stanton knew what he was talking about.
“Some years later, I’m in college in Worthington and had to take algebra and was dreading it, and got straight A’s through three semesters,” Peschges said. “I was in a different point in my life and (Stanton) was right about that.”
Another special blast from Peschges’ path is high school shop under John Garrett. He remembers a class assignment that had the students build foldable oak lawn chairs.
“I’ve kept that, and it’s not been treated well over the years,” Peschges said. “I completely disassembled it and I’m in the process of sanding it down and refinishing the whole thing.”
Peschges has returned with his band to southwest Minnesota a few times to perform and plans on coming back at the end of July for a concert at the Dinehart-Holt House in Slayton. That July 31 performance will be preceded by a solo appearance at Painted Prairie on July 30.
