McNasty Brass Band, “Boyfriend Can’t Dance (Live)” McNasty Brass Band sing and play their hearts out to “Boyfriend Can’t Dance” from King Size Life (2017). The music was recorded and mixed by Jason McGlone (remember that name) at the Hideaway Studios, while Rob Schlette did the mastering. Sleeping Jesus, “Cigarette Skies” Director Nathaniel Nelson toys with…

Sometimes SXSW is about making new friends, and sometimes it’s about reconnecting with old ones. Last night, The Current crew did a little of both. After wrapping up day two of the Pledge House party (which continues today and tomorrow), we walked up to Stubb’s — first to share some BBQ with our colleagues at…

One chapter in the long and complicated history of Duluth’s NorShor Theatre is the role it played as a rock venue and casual hangout for the city’s burgeoning music scene of the late ’90s and early 2000s when heavy hitters like Low, Trampled By Turtles, and Charlie Parr were just starting their careers. Following that…

A new book from the Minnesota Historical Society highlights the vital efforts of photographer Charles Chamblis to document African-American communities in the Twin Cities in the 1970s and the 1980s. There are a few familiar faces music fans might recognize - including Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Morris Day, and Prince.

Bob Dylan had already moved to New York by the time he released his debut album in 1962, but he spent his entire childhood and youth in his native state of Minnesota. That’s more connection than most places have to the most influential songwriter of the rock era, and the first rocker ever to win…

It’s not that we really needed an excuse to celebrate our vibrant and history-making music scene in Minnesota, but the Super Bowl provided a pretty great one. Over the next week, hundreds of thousands of visitors will flood the Twin Cities in search of football, entertainment, and nightlife, and a very bright spotlight will be shined on…

Echo Helstrom, the Duluth native known to Bob Dylan fans as likely the prime inspiration for the 1963 song “Girl from the North Country,” has died at age 75, reports the Star Tribune. Helstrom grew up with Dylan — then known as Bobby Zimmerman — in Hibbing, where the two had a high school romance…

Conor McPherson's play 'Girl from the North Country,' now published in book form, tells the story of a desperate group of characters in a Duluth guesthouse during the Great Depression. It incorporates 17 songs by Bob Dylan.

Following its successful debut at The Old Vic, the production of 'Girl from the North Country' has transferred to London's West End, where the 21-strong cast of actors and musicians continue bringing to life Bob Dylan's songs for a further 12 weeks. Contributor Eugenia Sestini has a review of the Dylan-based musical by playwright Conor McPherson.

Welcome to the residency bonanza of January 2018! We made it to the New Year, and with its first month comes a slew of residencies: weekly shows helmed by locals Metasota, jeremy messersmith, Charlie Parr, the Cactus Blossoms, and Andrew Broder. We’ll be posting photos and a brief recap of several of the series’ first nights.…