After sunset on a Tuesday evening, purple lights shine on the white tiles that line Paisley Park and there are only a few cars left in the rear parking lot. The building’s public tours have shut down for the day, and the merch booths and cash registers are shrouded in purple fabric, all the lights…

Bob Dylan was raised Jewish in Duluth and Hibbing, Minnesota — but in his 30s, he found a new religion. From the late 1970s through the early 1980s, Dylan was a practicing born-again Christian, and that became a central fact animating his songwriting for three albums that have since become known among fans as “the…

In the wake of Grant Hart’s recent death, many have been wondering about plans for a memorial service or tribute concert. Although Hart didn’t expect such a tribute, one will take place, says his widow — but not for a few months. The delay is, in part, to allow for the organization of a charity…

Your prized Bob Dylan vinyl suffers a fatal scratch. You clean out your childhood closet and uncover all your NSYNC and Hanson CDs. Before you toss them, here’s one thing to consider: Mother Nature doesn’t want your music junk, either. The EPA has estimated that 100,000 pounds of CDs become unwanted by consumers each month…

Love Sequence, “Cigarette” Cheerless boys in dress shirts recline on the couch — until their TV screen shows them a whole new world (the Walker Art Center’s Sculpture Garden may look familiar to Twin Cities residents). Bobby Rethwisch (vocals, guitar, keys), Marcus Findley (bass/vocals), Grant Gabriel (drums), Nolan Sawyer Watts (guitar/keys/vocals) are Love Sequence, a…

Last night, Minnesota singer-songwriter Grant Hart — best known as a member of Hüsker Dü — died at age 56. While the legendary band’s three members have had ups and downs since the group dissolved in the late 1980s, they were recently in touch to support the upcoming release of a box set chronicling the…

Producer Steve Albini is selling three microphones used by Nirvana during the 1993 recording sessions for In Utero at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. One Electro-Voice PL20 and two Lomo 19A9s used to record Kurt Cobain’s vocals and Dave Grohl’s drums are going up for auction at Reverb.com next Thursday, Sept. 21 — the 24th anniversary…

He co-founded, wrote songs for, and drummed in the influential St. Paul trio Hüsker Dü, inspiring legions of bands with his raw and poetic charm. He went on to form the alternative rock band Nova Mob, and would write and record several criminally under-appreciated and beautiful solo albums. And he was held in the softest…

There’s no doubt Prince is best known for his contributions to the music industry, but there’s another side to his career. While Prince released countless music videos, filmed many of his live concerts and composed music for TV shows and movies, he also did some acting of his own, guest-starring in a couple of shows…

Having released 38 studio albums and dozens of other projects (live albums, singles, box sets, etc.), Bob Dylan doesn’t make it easy on the casual listener. Like Prince and Neil Young, he maintains an oeuvre so dense newcomers hardly know where to start. It’s worth trying to scratch the surface, though, especially if you’d like to…