Seven rows away from the stage last night, I sat munching on my chocolate chip cookie, not knowing quite what to expect. I was about to see Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — the Indigo Girls — perform with the Minnesota Orchestra. As conductor Sarah Hicks and the folk duo walked on stage, a roaring…

The Cactus Blossoms – “Got A Lotta Love” This month, the Cactus Blossoms set up shop in Minneapolis’s Bockley Gallery and performed “Got A Lotta Love,” a tender song co-written with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, from their upcoming album Easy Way (out March 1). WXPN has more info here. Inside Voice – “Do You Remember When Your…

Ska music in the Twin Cities has long had a passionate — if underappreciated — community. Tonight at the Turf Club, ska veterans the Prizefighters will perform in celebration of the band’s second full-length album, Firewalk, alongside other mainstays in the network of local ska bands including Umbrella Bed and Down ‘N’ Dirty Dancehall. In an e-mail,…

Sheila E. lit up Target Center last night with a high-energy halftime performance during the Minnesota Timberwolves’ close victory over the Houston Rockets. The long-time Prince collaborator and friend was enlisted by the Timberwolves to perform as part of the NBA’s 2018-19 City Edition initiative, which highlights each team’s hometown history. Naturally, the Minneapolis team…

In high school, he was known as Doughty. In adulthood, he went by Hollywood. And from now until eternity, he will be known as an underappreciated architect of the Minneapolis Sound and one of the members of the legendary Grand Central band, who ruled the North Side of Minneapolis in the mid-1970s with members that…

Rainbow Kitten Surprise have been to Minneapolis three times in the last two years; first at the 7th St Entry, next First Ave, and then the Palace Theatre last night. Every show was sold out. The success story of RKS (how fans refer to them) is one that many bands hope for and few bands…

Just minutes before consuming some local spirits and lighting up Twitter with his annual hours-long virtual Grammys viewing party, Minneapolis singer/songwriter jeremy messersmith officially dropped a newly-minted single and accompanying video. Since the week of January’s polar vortex, messersmith had been hinting on Twitter that he was taking to the director’s chair. “Okay tweeps- anybody in the…

Baby Boys – “Kinky Toe” Here’s a cool new band for you: Baby Boys, aka Jake Luppen and Nathan Stocker from Hippo Campus plus Caleb Hinz of the Happy Children. In writing and recording their five-song EP I’m Set (out March 1), the trio sought a low-pressure environment and the freedom to have fun. “Kinky Toe” is their…

Perhaps every day should be International Clash Day, but today in particular marks a special installment in KEXP’s annual celebration of “the only band that matters.” 2019 is the 40th anniversary of the band’s seminal release London Calling, and, as the Seattle station puts it, “all across the globe, we’re celebrating music as a tool for social…

Lizzo is on. a. roll. The Minneapolis-based rapper and singer brought the party to The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week. This week, Lizzo literally “lit up like a crystal ball” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after Fallon introduced her as one of his favorite new artists. While Lizzo outshone the disco ball that hung…