The Earthquakes

In the early 60’s there wasn’t much around central North Dakota for live rock music. One of the bands that traveled a lot in Central and Western North Dakota was a Band called The Earthquakes from Bismarck.

Members included Sam Wangler (Guitar), Bob Feist, (Guitar) Terry Jones (Drums) and Dennis Schloss, (Bass Guitar). The band lasted through high school with some members joining other bands after they graduated.

They played at public dances, school hops, proms and anywhere else that they were asked. Traveling then was done with two cars that carried their equipment and friends. The Earthquakes would go to a small town and rent a public hall, then the members would put up posters in other towns, when they returned to play the engagement a few weeks later, they would bring their own ticket sellers and door security. According to Sam Wangler, The Earthquakes learned early on that if you brought girls with and they started dancing when the band started playing, people outside would look in and see that people were already dancing and tickets would sell a lot faster. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were young entrepreneurs.

Most of the members still stay in touch today. Some still play in bands or in church groups. One of the original members, Sam Wangler, went on to make music his life long career by opening up Guitarland, a music store in Bismarck ND which he operated for thirty five years.

Although The Earthquakes never recorded any of their music (recording equipment was expensive and rare) all the members will tell you that this was probably one of the best times of their lives.