In November, entertainer Rascal Martinez bought the former bank building in downtown Sutherland, and he has converted it into a recording studio and stage for concerts by traveling entertainers.

On Friday night, April 11, Rascal’s “Stolen Vault Records” will present comedian Zach Peterson of Omaha. Peterson has traveled the country making people laugh.

It will be the fourth show at the Stolen Vault Records studio, where a portrait of Johnny Cash overlooks the stage.

Rascal is happy to have the 1910 Bank building, which was a hair salon until a few years ago. He said it was vacant for 5-6 years. He the restoration in early winter and had made impressive progress. He plans to create a bed and breakfast upstairs.

Kris Lager was one of the first performers. Acts are booked when Rascal can work them into his schedule. His performances include shows at corporate conventions around the country.

He said the mailing list for the studio now includes more than 100 people, and the shows have attracted people from towns such as Ogallala, Ravenna and Norfolk.

On March 22, the studio was the stage for Shawn Hess, a Wyoming singer-songwriter.

Hess mixed poignant observations with wry humor in songs about bad love, good love and other topics. He entertained about 25 people for nearly two hours with tender country blues, punctuated by strong notes and snappy guitar riffs. The sound quality was nearly perfect.

One of Hess’s songs was a moving number for the preservation of public lands.

“There are no walls where I go to pray/No walls could hold all this love anyway,” he sang.

One of Hess’s first numbers was about a time when he lived alone, being a single father with himself as the only child, sleeping on the couch, neglecting to turn off the TV and waking with the leftover taste of a TV dinner in his mouth. The audience chuckled with recognition.

He said his positive love songs are “about those times before you know it’s going to turn bad.” And in one of his negative love songs, he told his significant other, “Don’t call me baby whey you’re breaking my heart.”

Hess praised small towns and sang of the open plains, where the silver sage shines and the wild onions bloom.

His calm but spirited sound that night would have been totally perfect but for a broken guitar string and a forgotten lyric, but he and the audience laughed off the interruptions. Rascal provided a new string, and Hess moved on to another song, of which he seems to have plenty.

You’ll find Hess on Facebook.

Rascal is planning two more shows in May.

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