Arts Council awards local legends, rising star

By Esther Noe

 

On March 18 the Hill City Arts Council (HCAC) hosted its last Live On Stage (LOS) event of the season. According to HCAC president Kristie Van Bogart, they had a good turnout this year. 

Over a hundred people came to High Country Guest Ranch for the last night to find out who would win the 2023 Steve Thorpe Award. The Steve Thorpe Award, which is a bronze harmonica, was created in 2014 by Bonnie and Dave Guerre to honor Thorpe. 

Thorpe made a living as a street musician playing for tips in Hill City during the summers. As people walked by, he would give children harmonicas and teach them how to play a song. He was also known for the way he promoted the underdog and the arts in his column in the Rapid City newspaper. 

As a special treat, Thorpe himself performed at LOS March 18 for one of the first times since COVID-19. 

Host Paul Larson referred to Thorpe as “a Black Hills icon” and said the award “represents everything that you want somebody to be. You want them to be kind and gentle. You want them to be promoting the arts. You want them to make sure that everything is going great, and it starts with kids. 

“It was really neat for this arts council, a few years back, to get together and do an award with Steve’s name on it because he’s the epitome of kindness, goodness and wants to make people happy.”

Van Bogart added that when choosing a winner, “It is based on how they give back to the community, how they mentor other artists and it’s also based on their appearance (at LOS).” 

“This award goes out to somebody that actually takes care of the arts, promotes the arts, promotes music and entertainment,” said Larson.

The 2023 Steve Thorpe Award was presented to Allen and Jill Kirkham. 

The Kirkhams are Academy of Western Artists 2019 Western Group of the Year Award Recipients and Legends of Dakota Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees. This is their third year performing at LOS, and this year they were featured performers for one of the dances. 

As Custer locals, Allen said, “It’s neat to get recognized at home so we’re very excited.”

Jill added that as they play across the area, state and country, “A lot of times we don’t know anybody in our audiences. When we come here, we know most of the people. So that makes it fun.”

The Kirkhams are contracted to play cowboy and western music for bus tours in Rapid City and Spearfish. 

“We also do what’s called A History of Traditional Western Music,” said Jill. “We give a history of each song and interesting little facts that you might not know, and then we sing the song.”

This is done through the South Dakota Humanities Council. They perform at museums, heritage centers and libraries as well as state and national parks.

Music has always been part of their lives.

“We both grew up with guitars in our hands, and we met over guitars,” Jill said. 

That was 44 years ago, and the Kirkhams are now celebrating 42 years of marriage. 

Jill started her musical career by learning piano in second grade after lots of begging. Then around junior high, Jill decided she wanted to learn guitar because piano was no longer cool. Her dad gave her an old guitar and a book and told her to teach herself. So she did. Later she taught herself bass as well, and she is now a national award-winning bass player. 

Meanwhile, Allen’s first musical influence was his grandma. He said that in the early 1900s his grandma played classical guitar, organ and accordion for silent movies in downtown St. Louis. 

“I saw my grandma playing, and I said, ‘Grandma, can you show me how to do that?’” said Allen. He was about 10 years old when he learned his first guitar chords. 

However, if you had asked Jill early on if she would ever be an entertainer, the answer would have been no. Allen, too, did not consider it and instead served in the military for 34 years both in the air force and the army. Instead, they played music on the weekends and for special events. 

Now the Kirkhams have a Western Gospel Radio Show called Circuit Rider Roundup with Allen & Jill that airs out of Guthrie, Texas via AmericanCowboyRadio.com.  

For the first time in the history of the Steve Thorpe Award, the HCAC awarded a second bronze harmonica. This time the award was presented to Bodhi Linde, an up-and-coming musician in the Black Hills. 

“Bodhi, he’s just so talented that we just felt we needed to recognize him as a new up-and-coming artist because he has talent like not many,” said Van Bogart.

At 14 years old, Linde is the youngest to ever receive the Steve Thorpe Award and is believed to be the youngest to ever perform at LOS. 

“The award was really special to me because I’ve played with Steve Thorpe a few times. We played at the Rally together, and we played at this place called the Moonshine Gulch a few times together,” said Linde. “He’s really a joy to be around. He’s always kind to everyone that he meets.”

Although Linde was familiar with the award since his uncle, Steve Linde, won it in 2019, he had no idea he would be receiving it. 

 Linde has been coming from Rapid City to perform at LOS for the last two years. 

“I enjoy performing at Live On Stage because it’s a great opportunity for artists around the Hills to get their voices out. There’s a lot of good music, and that's always really fun to listen to,” said Linde. “It’s also a big deal for me because it raises money for scholarships and various organizations, and I think it’s important that we support things like that.” 

Linde started by playing mandolin and banjo because he liked the way they sounded. Then three to four years ago Linde decided to learn guitar for its versatility. 

“I’m completely self-taught with guitar,” said Linde. He learned by watching bluegrass jams and studying the fingering as well as by listing to music. Linde considers James Van Nuys to be his main mentor for guitar. 

In the future, Linde would love to go on a United States tour playing his music. 

To the HCAC he said, “Thank you so much for the opportunities that you've provided me with, with Live On Stage and the Steve Thorpe Award, and I really appreciate all the work you’ve done for me and all the artists in the area.” 

Of both the Kirkhams and Linde, Van Bogart said, “We’re just so proud to have them as part of our events. They just add so much value.”