The results are in: Minneapolis shoegaze quintet she’s green received the most votes and support in the very first Minnesota Music Month Scouting Report.

How did we get here? Quick catch-up: Gov. Walz proclaimed April to be Minnesota Music Month five years ago, and The Current has been celebrating this year with a series of events in different St. Paul venues. Since July of 2022, The Current’s digital team and The Local Show Host Diane have published a monthly digital feature called The Scouting Report featuring new music by local artists.

So, for Minnesota Music Month, we decided to do something special and extend an invitation out to the local music community for April’s edition of The Scouting Report.

In March, we sent a write-in ballot to 270 people around the state. Their task: choose five new Minnesota bands/artists who put their first project out after Jan. 1, 2022. We reached folks who are witnessing new artist development every day in their careers: arts journalism, venues, promotion, music retail, artist representation, manufacturing, and more. The goal was to represent a broad, community-sourced snapshot of Minnesota’s up-and-coming local music talent. (Similar past “best new bands” ventures include Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages’ Picked to Click and Star Tribune/Vita.mn’s Are You Local?)

The response we got back for our first Minnesota Music Month Scouting Report was inspiring. As you’ll see below, there were some clear favorites, but 253 unique artists were chosen overall.

The Minnesota Music Month Scouting Report 2024’s top vote-getters

More than 90 people filled out this year’s Minnesota Music Month Scouting Report ballot. Each voter named up to five new bands/artists and could either rank their picks (5 points for their No. 1 choice, 4 points for No. 2, etc.) or leave their picks unranked (3 points for each choice). It was pretty evenly divided: 46 people ranked their picks, and 47 left theirs unranked.

Here are the top 10 artists — well, 11 because of a tie — who received the highest point totals.

she’s green (19 mentions, 64 points): Read Diane’s interview

Clare Doyle (10 mentions, 30 points): Read Luke Taylor’s interview

Ber (6 mentions, 22 points): Read John Kueppers’ interview

Laamar (6 mentions, 20 points): Read Youa Vang’s interview

Prize Horse (5 mentions, 19 points): Read Joel Swenson’s interview

Molly Brandt (7 mentions, 17 points): Read Youa Vang’s interview

Chutes (4 mentions, 16 points): Read Anna Devine’s interview

Zora (5 mentions, 16 points): Read Sanni Brown’s interview

Ricki Monique (5 mentions, 15 points): Read Maria Gonzalez-Grimes’ interview

Riotgrrrldarko (4 mentions, 15 points): Read Cat Grimm’s interview

sahn (4 mentions, 15 points): Read Natalia Toledo’s interview

A list of all Minnesota Music Month Scouting Report ballots cast is right here. Thanks and gratitude to everyone who submitted a ballot! Didn’t vote this year, but want to in 2025? Drop an email to digitalmusic [at] mpr.org, and tell us a tiny bit about your connection to the Minnesota music industry.