Ragtown
Twin Cities, MN
Sara Hilgers
Sara Hilgers grew up in Norwood Young America, Minnesota. She has been in Choir all through Grade School and High School. From 5th Grade until her senior year of High School, she played the Alto Saxophone. She continued her music education at Mcnally/Smith College of Music where she acquired a degree in Vocal Performance under the instruction of well known Twin Cities singers such as Debbie Duncan, Judy Donaghy, and Jill Holly. When she doesn’t have a mic in front of her, she persues her passion for animals working as a receptionist/assistant at the Veterinarian Clinic in Waconia, MN. She started singing with Tim Jarvis in August of 2009 and the Duo, along with Brian Garrison on the upright bass, shortly became Ragtown and have been a busy with gigs ever since.
Tim Jarvis
Tim grew up in Texas where he began the music journey with violin and piano throughout elementary school. He spent K-12 years singing in Choirs, Show choirs, and Musicals, as well as performing in various theatre productions. He went to high school in a small town called Sugarcreek, OH. Bar Harbor, ME was a very influential summer home for 4 years on his guitar between High School years and beyond. His musical roots go way back to the early days of Bluegrass in West Virginia where the Jarvis family picked their way through the mountains for generations. Glen Jarvis, Ward Jarvis, and his Grandfather Everett Jarvis are some of the well known players from the area. He continued his music career at McNally/Smith College of Music in St. Paul Minnesota, where he studied Guitar Performance and has turned that into 12 years of teaching private music lessons in the southwest metro area. Tim has performed solo acts, acoustic duos, and numerous weddings and special events and private parties over the past 11 years. Tim is mostly known for Ragtown where he has found a professional approach to the music scene here in the Twin Cities. He has no interest in slowing down for anyone or anything and is very determined to be one of the best acts in the Twin Cities with the help of his very talented and motivated crew he has working with him.
Brian Garrison
Brian grew up in southern MN. Throughout Middle School and High School he played trombone in the school band. Around age 15 he started playing guitar and bass guitar. After High School he moved to St. Paul to further his musical studies.
Brian was accepted to McNally Smith College of Music, where he studied bass performance. It was there where he first played and took lessons on the upright bass. His instructors encouraged him to pursue the upright bass due to his good ear and the nice tone he was able to produce on the instrument. He graduated in 2004 and has been holding down the low end ever since
Dave Beattie
Growing up in the city of Duluth, MN, Dave began playing the guitar at the age of 10. After graduating from High School in 1996, he moved to Minneapolis where he earned a diploma in guitar performance at McNally/Smith College Of Music (known as Music Tech at the time). Since then he has met and worked with many talented musicians in the Minneapolis metro area over the years. Some of the bands he has been hired to play for include Renee Austin, The Inside Out Band, Sam Kuusisto, Dr. Mambo’s Combo, Ipso Facto, Mick Sterling & The Stud Brothers, The S.O.B.S., The Eagle River Band, The Killibrews, and The Naked Cowboys to name a few. Today Dave can be seen playing regularly on the weekends with either The Shalo Lee Band or The Chad Edwards Band, as well as the 1st Sunday of every month with Who Nu at Fitz’s Bar & Grill in Eagan (3pm-7pm), and every 3rd Thursday of every month with Erin’s Alibi at Neumann’s Bar in N. St. Paul (7pm-11pm). He has occasionally filled in with other notable bands in the area such as Ragtown, Jennifer Grimm, Copperhead Creek, Elijah Adam, Devon Worley, and Shane Martin to name a few. He also plays with the worship band at Salem Covenant Church located in New Brighton during their Sunday contemporary service.
"I try to play as many different styles of music as I can. To be able to play as appropriately to the style I'm playing at the time is my goal. If I'm playing Blues, I'm trying to be the best Blues player I can be. If I'm playing Rock, I will rock out as best I can. If I'm playing Country, then I will try to make that guitar twang as best I can. And If I'm playing Funk, I will always search to find the dirtiest, greasiest, nastiest, most funkiest guitar comp I can think of. I'm always learning something new on guitar and that's why I love doing it. It never ends and there's always something better there for me to find. But not only that, the greatest joy I get out of playing is all of the different people I get to play with, or have had the privilege of playing with in the past. It never ceases to amaze me how many talented musicians playing a wide variety of musical genres there are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul and surrounding metro area. It’s no wonder to me why someone like Prince made his home here. Even after 20 years there are still new amazing and incredible musicians in this town that I’m meeting, discovering, and getting the chance to play with. That’s what ultimately makes playing music so much fun!”
Tony "Flip" Filippi
Tony “Flip” Filippi has been performing throughout the Twin Cities since the age of 16. He has played in numerous groups over the years, and has held various roles including Drummer, Percussionist and Lead Vocalist.
Flip brings high energy grooves and truly enjoys performing on stage. Some of his major influences include: Tony Royster JR, Carter Beauford, Chad Smith, John Bonham, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Wonder, The Doobie Brothers, The Temptations and more! When not performing music, he spends time with family and friends, and enjoys playing sports and riding his Harley.