The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
Local Current Blog

A Taste of Minnesota 2014: Music lineup ranges from Soul Asylum to Starship to the Castaways

by Mallory Guinee

May 12, 2014

Update 6/25/14: Due to flooding on Harriet Island, A Taste of Minnesota is moving to the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia.

After a four-year hiatus, A Taste of Minnesota—St. Paul's popular 4th of July family festival—is back. The event, which brought good food and music to thousands every year for over 26 years, abruptly ended in 2010 when its management company filed for bankruptcy. This year, 10K Lakes Incorporated collaborated with former festival leader Linda Maddox and many original staff members to bring the celebration back to Harriet Island.

In past years, the festival featured prominent groups such as Ringo Starr; Earth, Wind, & Fire; and the Jayhawks. This year, Taste of Minnesota will feature 28 bands, including local favorites Soul Asylum. The lineup will also include hard rock band Halestorm; country class-act Joe "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" Nichols; and Starship. The Jefferson Airplane descendants have recently released a new album titled Loveless Fascination, which singer Mickey Thomas—the only member remaining from the band's mid-80s "We Built This City" heyday—claims is “organic” and has “a real edge to it.”

Under-the-radar treats for local music fans include the Castaways—the band responsible for one of Minnesota's most indelible singles, "Liar, Liar" (1965)—and New Primitives, the Afro-Caribbean jam band who well-known to Thursday night patrons of Nye's Polonaise Room.

The event will take place from July 3-6 at Harriet Island Regional Park. Admission is free until 3 p.m., after which admission costs $10 and includes $5 in tickets that can be redeemed for food and drink from the festival's many local vendors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXy6JElmgHU

Here's the complete music lineup:

July 3

Pioneer Press Main Stage

2:30: Owl (featuring Chris Wyse)

4:30: Tim Mahoney

6:30: Tina and the B-Sides

8:30: Soul Asylum

Taste Stage

11:30: Killcode

2:00: The Undergroove

4:30: Corey Stevens

July 4

Pioneer Press Main Stage

12:00: Vic Tedesco

2:30: Cowboy Mouth

4:30: Badfinger (featuring Joey Molland)

6:30: Marshall Tucker Band

8:30: Starship (featuring Mickey Thomas)

Taste Stage

11:30: Backseat Boogie Band

2:00: Electric Eye

4:30: New Primitives

July 5

Pioneer Press Main Stage

2:30: Crow

4:30: Gypsy

6:30: Tom Keifer

8:30: Halestorm

Taste Stage

11:30: Oddfathers

2:00: Flamin' Oh's

4:30: Ipso Facto

July 6

Pioneer Press Main Stage

2:30: Maiden Dixie

4:30: Devon Worley Band

6:30: Tim Sigler Band

8:30: Joe Nichols

Taste Stage

11:30: The Castaways

2:00: Free Fallin'

4:30: Arch Allies

Mallory Guinee is a blogger, a harpist, and a French major at Carleton College. She loves traveling, long chats over tea, and listening to great music while lying on the living room floor.

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.