In the closing weeks of a year that saw her land a record-setting number one single with “Truth Hurts” and lead the Grammy nominations, Lizzo has earned yet another well-earned honor: Time magazine has named her Entertainer of the Year for 2019. “With the Internet a scary toilet, measles somehow making a comeback, and everyone…

Friday Five is back after last week’s Thanksgiving break! Here are five music videos that caught my eye over the last couple of weeks. And if you’re interested in submitting a video for next week, send a link to our new associate blogger Emma Manley (emanley@mpr.org), who’ll be handling this post on Dec. 13. Solid…

“2019 is all about the experiences,” read a e-mail I recently received from a publicist. “Consumers are shifting their gift lists from products to experiences/memories that will last a lifetime. This year, you can get your loved one a personalized shout out from a favorite musician.” The publicist was writing about Cameo, a service that sells…

Michael Stipe just released his first single as a solo artist. You might remember when Stipe was the singer for R.E.M. — but Craig Franklin remembers when he wasn’t a singer at all. “His hair was all curly, like Roger Daltrey. That was the main reason, when we needed a singer I asked him to…

As the coldest months of winter take their hold on Minneapolis, concerts begin to hold a different sort of power over the city’s music fans. Far from the carefree sticky summer evenings’ confetti-filled festival fields, live music becomes a deliberate escape from the frigid weather and the moods that can too often accompany it. As…

As always, this year saw a lot of remarkable music come out of Minnesota, and you probably didn’t catch all of it. We’ve rounded up 10 local albums released in 2019 that you should definitely queue up. Find all these albums on our Spotify playlist, and tune in to our Local Current stream to be…

It’s good to be back at the wheel for Friday Five! I’ve been out for a couple of weeks and would like to thank Jay Gabler for filling in admirably. In fact, I’m on the road again this week — coming at you from Wisconsin, where I’m emotionally preparing to attend Eaux Claires Hiver this…

Fiona Boler reads “You Need To Know: FPA” I had butterflies in my stomach as I walked down the stairs into the lobby of the MPR building. Of course I was prepared for my first interview for The Current — but all that preparation may have led to extra butterflies, because the more I learned…

Videographer Tyler Aug started posting to YouTube as the Local Experiment in 2014. Each episode (there were 75 in total) follows an artist, musician, business owner or other creative type and blends interviews with B-roll footage of southeastern Minnesota. “I just wanted to have my own version of MTV, but before MTV went to sh*t,”…

Lizzo, a Detroit-born artist who rose to prominence during her years in Minneapolis; and Bon Iver, the band of nearby Eau Claire’s Justin Vernon, were among the big honorees when this year’s Grammy nominations were announced. As had been widely expected, Lizzo was nominated for Best New Artist; her hit “Truth Hurts,” though, also landed…