Yes, you read that headline right. Communist Daughter and jeremy messersmith are among eight artists having singles cut on picnic plates this week at SXSW. It’s part of the day parties co-presented by The Current at the Blackheart on Rainey Street. Clif Bar has brought Seattle-based Mobile Vinyl Recorders to the party to create limited-edition…

Phantogram are one of those rare duos who fit perfectly into the diverse Twin Cities music scene. Their advanced, electronic production combined with the soul of a punk rock band makes their sound speak to listeners of every type of music. They were an obvious choice to round out the Palace’s opening weekend. Phantogram’s set…

For the second night in a row, the Palace Theatre was packed with fans eager to see a lineup of all-local artists. They definitely drew an older demographic than Atmosphere on opening night, but the venue still felt like a perfect fit. The Cloak Ox opened the show, with Jake Hanson (Halloween, Alaska; Mason Jennings)…

It was one year ago today that 236 people attending a sold-out tribute to Ray Charles at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres got the surprise of a lifetime: Midway through the song “Let the Good Times Roll,” the city’s most famous resident, Prince, stepped out of the wings and onto the side of the stage to…

As the first show announcements rolled out, it seemed unclear what the very first public performance at the reopened Palace Theatre would be. It wasn’t a certainty that the first performer would be local, particularly with the room’s 2,800 capacity. Atmosphere, though, were a perfect choice for the first act to headline the stage: their local pedigree can’t…

The 48th annual NAACP Image Awards took place last month, and in the audience in Los Angeles were some very special nominees from the state of Minnesota. Going up against artists such as Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, and Common were students from St. Paul’s High School for Recording Arts (HSRA) — for their collaboration with Sounds…

Gaelynn Lea, “Watch the World Unfold” Since winning last year’s NPR Tiny Desk Contest, violinist/songwriter Gaelynn Lea has toured non-stop. But her newest video, a stop-motion piece by New Jersey’s Melanie Schantz, breathes tranquility. Lea and guitarist Al Church, along with a couple dozen other Minnesota artists, are headed to South by Southwest this week.  P.O.S,…

SXSW is one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world, celebrating film, music and interactive media in a whirlwind of events spanning several days. Among the hundreds of artists who will be performing at this year’s music festival are a few Minnesota musicians who will be making the trek to Austin to play…

The first time I watched the music video for the Happy Children of Normal Parents’ single, “Honest Boy,” I was immediately hit with a nostalgia for memories that I didn’t even have. Amidst the screaming and dancing and clips of established friends flashing by, there’s something about it that makes you long for your teenage…

Like a punk-poet beacon shining a bright light for all of us on this particularly kinetic International Women’s Day, Patti Smith spoke, sung, spat, screamed, swore, swooned, and swayed through two hours of fiery performance that kept the Northrop Auditorium in a nearly continuous state of standing ovation. For a show that began with the…