The Chart Show Ballot August 21, 2019 Vote every week for your top five tracks (and enter our weekly ticket giveaway while you're at it), then tune in Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. CT to see if your favorites make the Chart Show, hosted by Mark Wheat! Read More ›
Contact us with general questions and comments about programming August 16, 2019 You can reach MPR Member & Audience Services: 800-228-7123 (Weekdays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT) or click through to use our online form. Read More ›
Across Borders, Across Generations: Hmong music in Minnesota August 21, 2019 Ever watched your grandma spit verses for a crowd? Tou SaiK Lee has. He's one of several younger Hmong-Minnesotans who have collaborated with elders in the last decade, combining folk traditions and newer sounds. In this episode, we follow him to the fields of Thailand and through an internal journey; Tou SaiK continues to learn who he is, how to enrich his community, and how to process the loss of his grandma. This episode also features conversations with Lis Pos, Shawn Mouacheupao, Ernest and Missy Whiteman, and more. Read More ›
Rock and Roll Book Club: Ani DiFranco's 'No Walls and the Recurring Dream' August 21, 2019 Ani DiFranco's new memoir is as proudly idiosyncratic as her entire career has been. Read More ›
Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy' is the new No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 August 21, 2019 Billie Eilish hits No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 with her song 'bad guy,' making her the first artist born in this century to top the chart. Read More ›
Hear 'Sing Along,' from Sturgill Simpson's new album (and anime film) August 20, 2019 On Sept. 27, Simpson will simultaneously release a new album and an anime film on Netflix, both titled 'Sound & Fury.' Each promises to showcase the Kentuckian's louder, looser side. Read More ›
Amanda Shires performs in The Current studio August 18, 2019 The constantly busy singer-songwriter, violinist and ukulele player Amanda Shires visited The Current studio to play songs from her acclaimed album 'To The Sunset' and to talk about how she and her friends are working to change that Nashville sound. Read More ›
Tuxedo perform a cool, funky set in The Current studio August 14, 2019 'I think people know if they're coming to a Tuxedo show, they're coming to dance,' says Mayer Hawthorne of Tuxedo. The same could be said of their session in The Current studio. Read More ›
Across Borders, Across Generations: Hmong music in Minnesota August 21, 2019 Ever watched your grandma spit verses for a crowd? Tou SaiK Lee has. He's one of several younger Hmong-Minnesotans who have collaborated with elders in the last decade, combining folk traditions and newer sounds. In this episode, we follow him to the fields of Thailand and through an internal journey; Tou SaiK continues to learn who he is, how to enrich his community, and how to process the loss of his grandma. This episode also features conversations with Lis Pos, Shawn Mouacheupao, Ernest and Missy Whiteman, and more. Read More ›
The Current Rewind: 25 Years of Low August 07, 2019 Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, married founding members of Low, have been experimenting with rock music since the early '90s. In this episode, we join them for an interview and a walking tour of Duluth, Minn.; we explore their quarter-century of a musical career; and we meet their "road nanny" (along with several other Duluthian characters). All with a dose of dry, dark humor. Read More ›
Inside Minneapolis's Palmer's Bar, where Bonnie Raitt was once a regular July 24, 2019 During the West Bank's beatnik era, Palmer's was a watering hole where musicians like Bonnie Raitt, "Spider" John Koerner, and Willie Murphy would cross paths, and the bar remains an integral part of the neighborhood's music scene today. Since opening its doors in 1906, Palmer's has survived Prohibition, bootlegging, and two World Wars, and become an integral part of the West Bank's music scene. Read More ›
Download The Current app January 29, 2018 Download The Current's app to hear a crisp, high-fidelity stream of our station (and our additional streams) wherever you go! Read More ›
Listen to The Current via Smart Speakers July 23, 2018 Listen to The Current on Google Home and Amazon's Echo devices, and get enhanced functionality -- song names, requests, song of the day -- with our Alexa Skill. Read More ›
Coffee Break Suggestions and Archive November 08, 2016 Got an idea for a Coffee Break? Want to see what we did a while back? Read More ›