cat sank trio

About Catsank : Our Interview

Trio of four hopes to hit it big

By BRITTA TRYGSTAD Staff Writer - The Advocate - Minnesota State University Moorhead

Originally published Feb 13, 2003

From the Talking Heads to Joni Mitchell, Fargo-Moorhead’s newest quartet, Cat Sank Trio, makes everything sound folk. “We do all sorts of stuff acoustically and in three parts. So, it sounds folk, even if it’s not,” said Terry Ruud, guitarist and vocalist.

Ruud, Crystal Jensen (vocals and penny whistle), and Steve Marquart (vocals and guitar) are graduate students in MSUM’s master of fine arts program.

Ruud and drummer Mike Semanko were in a country band called Back Behind the Barn Boys for nearly 10 years. All the members of Cat Sank Trio have participated in various bands throughout their lives.
Their name is derived from the punch line of a bilingual joke and Jensen’s love for cats.

They remained Cat Sank Trio after Semanko’s arrival.

After forming their group last fall, Cat Sank Trio spent the winter working on original songs and recording demos. Ruud, who spent some time as a songwriter in Nashville, Tenn., said the group hopes to have enough original songs to make an album.

They describe their sound as fun yet nostalgic. “We try to be joking around and poignant at the same time,” said Ruud. “They do a variety of stuff and it doesn’t come off as traditional whiny folk music,” said local poet Kevin Zepper. Last fall, Cat Sank Trio opened for Zepper. “They were a difficult act to follow,” said Zepper.