BFS welcomes another touring band to Bozeman on Fri., July 17, 2026, as we host The Gated Community at the Gallatin Labor Temple.
In 2006 South Asian-American Yale graduate and political activist Sumanth Gopinath started a country/bluegrass band in Minneapolis called The Gated Community. Influenced by his dad’s classic country record collection and modern Americana bands like The Flatlanders, the band mixes folk, bluegrass and country music with a raw, rock edge.
In 2005, Sumanth moved from New Haven to Minneapolis to begin working as a professor of music theory at the University of Minnesota. There he would meet fellow faculty members and grad students with whom he would form The Gated Community – a delightfully raucous country band whose lively shows and pointed social commentary quickly gained a cult following in the Twin Cities. Although the band began as a vehicle for Sumanth’s frequently political songs, the band has evolved over the last 19 years, expanding in size and scope to include many roots music styles and more personal songwriting. Now featuring six singers, the band combines professors like Sumanth (vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards) and Beth Hartman (vocals, percussion), and artists from various parts of the Twin Cities scene like Rosie Harris (vocals, banjo, cello), Paul Hatlelid (vocals, drums, acoustic guitar), Cody Johnson (vocals, bass), and Nate Knutson (vocals, guitars, mandolin). This current lineup has been featured on their last two albums – The Honor and Glory of The Gated Community (2023) and Goodbye Work (2025) – showing the band “stepping out of their Marxist bluegrass novelty band box to create emotionally complex songs” (Dispatch).
Summing up the band’s commitment to being a band of and for the people, The Gated Community continues to stay true to its mission – to pursue the ideals of the American dream as expressed and embodied in the form of country music.
You can find more information about The Gated Community and sample their music at https://thegatedcommunityband.com/.
Doors open at 7:00 PM, show starts at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available here for $20, with any additional tickets available at the door. Children $12 and under free.
The Gallatin Labor Temple is not easily accessible for people with mobility difficulties.