Music News: The story of Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' MLK tribute January 18, 2019 Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! In honor of the civil rights icon, we're dedicating today's episode to the story of 'Happy Birthday,' the Stevie Wonder song indelibly associated with the push to designate a national holiday in MLK's honor. Read More ›
Music on TV this week: 'RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World'; Death Cab for Cutie; Maggie Rogers; possible Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst project; Willie Nelson January 21, 2019 Artists heard on The Current are frequently featured on TV programs, and we've gathered the listings in one convenient place for you. See the complete listings and find performance videos as the week progresses. You can also subscribe to receive the week's schedule in your inbox to plan your TV viewing around music. Read More ›
Album of the Week: Pedro The Lion, 'Phoenix' January 21, 2019 The new record from Pedro The Lion is a sober look at the idiosyncrasies of youth and the indignities of aging with bravery and self-confidence. Read More ›
Listen to Looch: talking about J.S. Ondara January 15, 2019 This week on Listen to Looch, Mary Lucia is joined by Andrea Swensson for a conversation about the career and music of J.S. Ondara. Born in Kenya, Ondara moved to Minneapolis to launch his music career. This Saturday, J.S. Ondara plays at night two of The Current's 14th Birthday Party, and in February, his debut full-length album comes out on Verve Records. Read More ›
Cloud Cult, J.S. Ondara, Annie Mack, and Porcupine gift The Current’s 14th Birthday Party with their music January 20, 2019 For the second night in a row, a crowd streamed through First Avenue’s doors for a sold-out celebration of The Current’s 14th birthday. Four local acts helped The Current usher in its second teenage year on Saturday night: Cloud Cult, J.S. Ondara, Annie Mack, and Porcupine. While the temperature outside hovered in the single digits,… Read More ›
The Suburbs, Bad Bad Hats, Rayland Baxter, and Scrunchies light the candles on night one of the Current’s 14th Birthday Party January 19, 2019 The Current enters adolescence this year, and part one of the celebration kicked off Friday night with a sold-out First Avenue show. “I got really strong when I was 14 carrying those heavy books,” quipped Kerry Alexander of Bad Bad Hats in a sweet deadpan, “and emotionally strong for other reasons.” The first night of The… Read More ›
Friday Five: The Current’s Birthday Party edition! January 18, 2019 Tonight and Saturday, The Current staffers are headed down to First Avenue to celebrate the station’s 14th birthday with hundreds of friends and fans. Saturday’s show is sold out, but some tickets remain for tonight’s party, featuring Scrunchies, Rayland Baxter, Bad Bad Hats, and the Suburbs. To pump us all up for two nights of… Read More ›
Wordplay literary festival will kick off with Rock Bottom Remainders performance at First Avenue January 18, 2019 On May 11-12, the Loft Literary Center will stop traffic in the East Town neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis to make way for more than 100 writers and thousands of eager readers at the largest literary festival the Twin Cities has ever seen. “Anybody who thinks of Minnesota should think about books,” said Britt Udesen, the Loft’s… Read More ›
Music News: Maggie Rogers, Sharon Van Etten, Alice Merton lead new releases January 17, 2019 There are a bumper crop of new releases this week! Jay and Jade spotlight new music from Maggie Rogers, Sharon Van Etten, Alice Merton, Toro y Moi, James Blake, and Deerhunter. Plus, a tribute to the late Germs bassist Lorna Doom. Read More ›
The Suburbs' Chan Poling and Hugo Klaers talk with Oake and Riley about performing with new members and re-recording classic songs January 17, 2019 Ahead of the Suburbs' performance at The Current's 14th Birthday Party, Chan Poling and Hugo Klaers talked with Oake and Riley about the Suburbs' new lineup and revisiting some of the band's earliest songs. Read More ›
Radio Heartland Giveaway: Frances Luke Accord and Syvers at The Warming House January 10, 2019 Enter for a chance to win tickets to the Warming House to see Frances Luke Accord on January 31, 2019. Read More ›
Music News: The story of Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' MLK tribute January 18, 2019 Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! In honor of the civil rights icon, we're dedicating today's episode to the story of 'Happy Birthday,' the Stevie Wonder song indelibly associated with the push to designate a national holiday in MLK's honor. 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 ›
Watch Pedro the Lion's #Microshow performance, featuring new songs from 'Phoenix' January 11, 2019 Pedro the Lion's new album 'Phoenix' is out January 18 on Polyvinyl Records, but we're giving you a special live performance preview of their new material. Watch live January 11 at 4 p.m. CST. Read More ›
Larkin Poe perform in The Current studio December 30, 2018 Sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell are the nucleus of Larkin Poe. They perform powerful songs with a rootsy Southern underpinning. Their latest album, 'Venom & Faith,' was released on Nov. 9, 2018, and was self-produced. Larkin Poe stopped at The Current to talk about their songwriting process and to perform a couple tracks from the album, as well as one of their favorite Lead Belly tunes. Read More ›
Kurt Vile performs a solo acoustic set at The Current December 19, 2018 Ahead of a show with his band the Violators in the First Avenue Mainroom, Kurt Vile stopped at The Current for a session hosted by Mary Lucia. Vile played solo acoustic versions of a couple songs from his latest album, 'Bottle It In,' and one from his 2011 release, 'Smoke Ring for My Halo.' Read More ›
John Grant performs in The Current studio December 07, 2018 Michigan-born, Reykjavik-based musician John Grant is a fascinating individual even before he starts performing songs. Ahead of a show at the Fine Line in Minneapolis, Grant stopped at The Current studio to play songs and to engage in lively and thoughtful conversation with host Mac Wilson. Read More ›
Haley performs instrumentals from 'Pleasureland' in The Current studio December 06, 2018 Although Haley has composed instrumental music before, her 2018 release 'Pleasureland' is her first all-instrumental full-length. 'This was so much more satisfying when I wasn't trying to say something with words,' Haley says. 'It was how I felt and what I connected to.' Haley, along with Jeremy Ylvisaker, visited The Current studio to play music from 'Pleasureland.' Read More ›
Coffee Break: Songs your dad hates January 18, 2019 In 1987, Jill Riley's childhood home was filled with the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and her dad thus retreated to the garage for about a year. Whether it's punk rock, novelty soundtracks, kiddie bop, or screamo, surely we all played something that irked our dads. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that your dad hated? Read More ›
Today in Music History: Stevie Wonder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame January 18, 2019 Glenn Frey passed away, Stevie Wonder became the youngest inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Rolling Stones hung out with Phil Spector and The Beatles put out a hand. 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 ›