Bring on the Pain

A Minneapolis-based reggae band with North Dakota connections is returning to the Crosstown Lounge on Saturday night.

Jon Wayne, 27, lead singer and guitarist for Jon Wayne and The Pain and a native of Jamestown, N.D., originally wanted to give the band a single-word name, such as Thriller or Fish. But at the group's first show, drummer Chris Hicks suggested they call it Jon Wayne and "the something."

"So, we just picked a name that rhymed," he said.

Jon Wayne and The Pain stuck and sounded cool, but it gained a more personal meaning.

"Later on, it ended up being that with all the struggles that I put myself through with addiction, that (name) ended up being extremely fitting," he said.

Wayne spent several years dealing with his addictions and now has been sober for about 13 months. But his past demons still are a big part of the music.

"The music is a direct reflection of struggling through addiction," he said. "The lyrics are about that, and the songs are inspired by that and also are about finding a way to move past that too."

Jon Wayne and The Pain will play Saturday night at the Crosstown Lounge, one of Wayne's favorite venues. The music starts about 10 p.m., and there is a $5 cover charge.

Finding the groove

Bassist and backing vocalist Chuckie Torgerson, formerly of Grand Forks and graduate of Central High School, started playing acoustic guitar when he was 13. One day, he heard a friend playing bass and was intrigued.

"I didn't even know, to be honest with you, what it was until I bought one and played around on it," he said.

Torgerson has played mostly bass since he was 16 but still plays other instruments as well. His musical tastes have changed over the years, though.

He was into the punk scene while growing up but became a diehard Les Claypool fan because "his style was so wild." That helped him adapt to a new genre -- funk -- and he eventually joined the band Punk Funk and Junk after moving to Minneapolis at 19.

More changes were in store when he became interested in reggae (because it seemed similar to another favorite genre, ska) about 10 years ago. Reggae appealed because it is a heavy bass-driven music, he said.

Then, Torgerson met up with Jon Wayne and The Pain. The groups he was playing with then didn't want to play the style of music he was into. Torgerson had seen Wayne's band perform; it had even opened for his former band.

"I think we just kind of knew it was just a good fit, and it kind of actually took off," he said. "We've been rocking pretty hard since."

He officially joined the group in early 2008.

Live goals

Wayne said his addictions caused pain in his life, but the songs he has written since becoming sober have been more meaningful and fun to play. The music has given him more reasons to remain sober and keep his life in order.

"It's been like a rebirth, a big driving force behind our music," he said. "The fact is that if I don't keep doing what I'm doing, we don't get to have the success we've had."

But the biggest gift has been inspiring people who have had similar problems.

"The most meaningful thing I've heard is that it helped them quit destroying their lives," he said. "It's kind of mind-blowing really -- the songs that I wrote could actually help somebody."

The lyrics and stories may be serious and painful, but Wayne still wants his tunes to be fun.

"I want (the people) to dance," Wayne said. "And it seems like if people dance first, they'll listen to the lyrics later. If we can get in front of a new crowd and they dance, then we've done our job."

Johnson covers local music events and runs a music blog at www.areavoices.com/valleysound . Reach him at (701) 780-1105; (800) 477-6572, ext. 105; or send e-mail to rjohnson@gfherald.com .