Each week on the Local Show, we dive into a release from Minnesota’s past and explore its origins in the Music History Spotlight. This week, Jackie Renzetti digs into the backstory of a mysterious release from Georgia Clay, which will be played on the Local Show this Sunday night between 6-8 p.m. Released in 1969,…

Unless you’re a pro athlete, it’s not typical to be interviewed by mulptiple news outlets immediately after applying for a job — but then, this was no typical job interview for Kat Dady of Brooklyn Park. She was one of the first people to apply for a job working at Prince’s house: Paisley Park. “I have a…

Sometimes it feels like Midwestern musicians could do anything. Some can uplift everyone’s day no matter where they go. Some invent a new instrument with the help of a few of their friends. Or, in Catsax’s case, some take their already packed musical schedules, plus a day job or two among the three, and pile on an…

Bob Dylan is building a 26-foot iron gate for a new casino in Maryland. Why, Bob? “I’ve been around iron all my life ever since I was a kid,” said Dylan in 2013 when he first displayed his iron work. “I was born and raised in iron ore country, where you could breathe it and smell…

If you listen to the lyrics of the 4onthefloor’s “Small Towns,” you’ll get an accurate depiction of the town I grew up in: one grocery store, no stoplights and yes, if you look hard enough in the right direction, a water-tower skyline. Perhaps it is the simplicity associated with these things that draws visitors to…

We may, one day, look back on these as halcyon days in Minneapolis music: days when, for the price of a Jenny Lewis ticket, you could get a complete album performance, a Staves guest appearance, the Cactus Blossoms doing Ben Gibbard doing Roy Orbison, and a Conor Oberst/Har Mar Superstar soul kiss. A day after Frankie Lee…

If you’ve always dreamed of working at Paisley Park, you might just get your chance: the former studio and home of Prince is opening jobs for staff members to help shepherd the public tours that begin Oct. 6. There will be a job fair at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres this coming Thursday and Friday. “Positions include general…

Last night, a caravan of special guests — including Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst — performed surprise sets at the Clown Lounge (in the basement of St. Paul’s Turf Club). Frankie Lee & Friends headlined the literally underground show; the bill’s “& Friends” turned out to include Lewis, the Watson Twins, Oberst, Har Mar Superstar, the Cactus Blossoms, the Pines, and more. Last…

Asteroid 17473, which orbits the sun in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, has been named for Freddie Mercury on what would have been the late Queen frontman’s 70th birthday. “It’s just a dot of light,” said bandmate Brian May, “but it’s a very special dot of light and maybe one day we’ll get there.” (Rolling Stone) Remembering two…

Several months ago, I wondered, what would it be like to go with a local musician to a touring artist’s show? In music journalism, we spend a lot of time talking about influences. But could we take that conversation one step further, opening the door to an experience that refreshes or sustains inspiration? Cut to last…