MMC: Minnesota Music Celebration Featuring Cassandra Cole, Jiilian Rae and Mayda at The Hook and Ladder Theater.

Tickets | Information

Doors open at 7pm | Show starts at 7:30pm

Cassandra Cole

Californian turned Minnesotan, Cassandra Cole is a songwriter, visual artist, actor, athlete, and mother. Cole specializes in songwriting that showcases life’s rich tapestry – and refines each thread, creating a canvas that gives us a look into her soul. In her latest release, Steps, she writes about the human experience.  

Steps dives into some heavy subjects in Cole’s life – including years of depression, anxiety, heartache, and how she has found her own way through it all by being grounded in faith..  Inspired by her favorite songwriters, such as Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, and ZZ Ward, she uses her songwriting to tell stories. The album ebbs and flows – the last track, “Mornings High”, is about taking emotional, mental, and physical steps out of the darkness. 

Recorded during the COVID-19 crisis, Steps was produced by Jason Hafer at his studio in Portland Oregon. Due to health and travel restrictions, the musicians that are featured on the album recorded their parts separately, and were later masterfully woven together.

Cassandra’s songwriting is a blend of raw energetic passion with an eclectic modern edge. Her sound is a reflection of her own experiences and stylistic inspirations like “…Annie Lennox, Tori Amos, and even Janet Jackson.”-Erica Rivera

Born to a musical family, Cassandra began songwriting at the early age of six, and soon after learned to command the stage. Since then, she has become an accomplished vocalist, songwriter, and performer. Looking for a personal outlet, music allows Cassandra to share her own stories, a contrast to performing roles as an actor on the stage. 

As life inspires art, a close-up view of Cassandra’s music gives listeners a peek into her experiences as a mother of two sets of twins, wife, lover of painting and appreciation for art, and a strong woman that wants to share her story. 

In 2019, Cole wanted to create a local space for artists to collaborate and perform – Thus, “The Hive” was born. “The Hive” is an ever-changing group of all female and non-binary artists. Founded with Laurel Hay, this group is meant to focus on the creative songwriting, instrumental prowess, vivid vocal harmonies, and community effort and power of artists from the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. The group features at least two new musicians for each live show. Genres and sounds vary depending on the current collaboration of songwriters and musicians.

Jillian Rae

Jillian Rae is a fiercely unique spirit— a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who cares more about making authentic music than about fitting into a tidy box. A classically trained violinist, she has become a commanding international presence, heading up her own critically acclaimed rock/pop band and creating powerful, genre-bending songs. She also performs regularly with her traditional folk band Corpse Reviver and has toured extensively, backing up Grammy-winning acts like The Okee Dokee Brothers.

Although she got her start playing with folk and country bands, Rae’s latest album I Can’t Be the One You Want Me to Be (2019) took a decided turn into pop and rock with unflinching, hard-hitting songs. It also showcased her orchestration abilities with layered violin tracks saturated in heavy grooves and moody arrangements. The album’s final track “Wayward One” was featured prominently in the hit Chinese film The White Storm 2 and has catapulted her into near stardom in China.

Lauded as a “triple threat on vocals, fiddle, and composition” (Star Tribune), Jillian Rae has become known for her soaring pop orchestrations and is an in-demand producer and session player. Along with her partner/co-producer Eric Martin, she runs a home studio in Minneapolis. During the pandemic, the studio became the hub for her weekly livestream performances and a space for her to write and record tracks for her next album. Never one to back down or give up, Rae is a natural-born performer who has always found a way to make music.

Raised in Minnesota’s Iron Range, Rae grew up playing in orchestras but fell in love early on with the traditional Scandinavian music she learned from her Finnish violin teacher. Equally influenced by her parent’s Jimi Hendrix record collection and polka music she inherited from her grandparents, she quickly learned how to adapt a variety of music to the instrument— putting her own spin on rock, folk, and classical music. Unsurprisingly, she studied music in college, touring with ensembles and performing in Vienna and London. After college, Rae relocated to Minneapolis where she became the go-to fiddler for a variety of folk and rock acts— joining The Brass Kings and backing up artists like Brian Just and Adam Levy (The Honeydogs, Turn Turn Turn). While making a name for herself as a top-notch fiddler and a singer with a powerful stage presence, she formed her own band and started performing her original mix of Americana, rock, and pop.

In 2013, Rae released her debut album Heartbeat— a confident pop-rock record with subtle nods to her folk and classical pedigrees. A glimmer of what was to come on her wide-ranging recordings, the album showed her playing country fiddle on one tune, rock guitar on the next, and driving violin through synthy guitar effects on another. The album garnered much praise and made artists and promoters take notice. She became so busy touring and recording with various projects that she wasn’t able to get back into the studio to make her own music until 2016 when she recorded her EP Wanderlust (2017). More of a stripped-down Americana record, it showcased Rae’s dynamic vocals and serious songwriting chops that served as a portend of what was to come. 

In addition to writing, recording, and performing, Rae is an experienced music educator. She has kept a studio of private students for more than two decades, something she has continued online during the pandemic. Although music takes up most of her time, she always makes time to cook, hang out with her handsome dog Ernie, and keep tabs on the latest Bigfoot sightings and paranormal activity.

Mayda

MAYDA is an Internationally touring singer, musician and lyricist from St. Paul, MN. With a music career that spans the last decade, MAYDA is more than just a singer. She is a powerful force in the theater scene, collaborating with artists and advocating for social justice. She has performed through out Europe, Asia, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam. MAYDA’s music is a bridge between different parts of the world, creating something new that merges both her different musical influence and theatrical approach to performance that leaves audiences feeling like they have taken a journey.

MAYDA performed a one woman show at The Guthrie and has been cast with Theater Latte da and The Jungle Theater. She has shared stages with Bone Thugs n Harmony, LIZZO, Peaches, Next, Dead Prez, Tom Morello, Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey, Soul Asylum, Doomtree, Dessa, Brother Ali, Cory Wong, Toki Wright and Chastity Brown.

MAYDA is an artist that continuously experiments with new sounds and traditional influences that combined with her fantastic vocals create an evocative listening experience. Her sound is big and bold and her lyrics are biting quips of reality and raw emotion.