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The Chart Show: Minnesota musicians and local connections dominate the chart

  Play Now [1:04:00]

by Mark Wheat

November 12, 2015

Hippo Campus
Locals Hippo Campus reach No.1 ahead of their sold out hometown show at First Avenue
Courtesy of the artist

A big week for the locals, with Hippo Campus reaching the top for the first time! They're on tour right now with the No.5 band, Bad Bad Hats. Not only have they sold out First Avenue, but also their gigs in Philly and Columbus!

Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win you way into a private Ben Folds show at the Turf Club on Thursday, Nov. 19!

Other local artists doing well this week include Lizzo, up 12 places to No.8. The Current's Andrea Swensson has already reviewed her new album, Big Grrrl Small World, which doesn't drop until Dec. 11: "It's a carefully executed, thoughtfully delivered mission statement from a complex artist whose personal philosophies are evolving just as quickly as her craft."

And Duluth's Low are brand new at No.10 with "What Part of Me," just in time for their show tonight at First Avenue. Interestingly they worked with BJ Burton, the same producer as Lizzo. They performed the No.10 song for their recent in-studio session.

Brandi Carlile has family in Minnesota and a huge local following, too, so it's appropriate that she joins the list with another track from her Firewatcher's Daughter, which is her best selling album to date, according to CBS This Morning who hosted her last weekend.

Not sure there's any local connection for Big Grams, a new collaboration between Big Boi of Outkast and Phantogram. Not sure if we'll ever get a chance to see them perform live either, but they played a few festival dates this summer and just announced they'll be part of Okeechobee, a huge new festival in Florida this spring. The headliners, Mumford and Sons, just announced a show at Xcel Energy Center on April 21, 2016. Sign up for The Current's e-newsletter to receive the password in time for the pre-sale on Thursday at 10 a.m. CT, or enter for a chance to win tickets!

The Staves, who do have a local connection, having recorded in Eau Claire, Wisc., just finished supporting Florence and the Machine on a U.K. tour and are now headlining their own. To celebrate, they added a five new tracks to their album, and return to our chart at the all important No.20.

Atmosphere are in at No.19 with their buddy deM atlaS. They're playing some sold out shows together on the West Coast this week, getting ready for the massive Rhymesayers 20th Anniversary Concert at the Target Center on Dec. 4.