Minneapolis synth rockers Enemy Planes advanced to the final round of Hard Rock Rising, an international rock band competition. The group is flying to Barcelona for the live band championship on Thursday, July 23. More than 13,000 bands entered the competition with an A-list of judges: the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt, Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon…

An all-star group of musicians will perform a special orchestrated rendition of Big Star‘s 1978 album Third (later reissued as Sister Lovers) at First Avenue on Sept. 30. The musicians—including Big Star member Jody Stephens, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), and Chris Stamey (the dB’s)—first reconstructed the album’s intricate arrangements in 2010, and have been performing the album at venues around…

On an On:  And The Wave Has Two Sides The swelling ambience that On an On produce on their new And The Wave Has Two Sides is something to engross yourself in. The band’s sophomore release gets personal on “Behind The Gun.” It’s dreary gray clouds drifting over a slow-moving crescendo that drifts away from…

Country, folk and bluegrass fans are promised an “immersive music camp” atmosphere this September in “the land of Dylan.” The first two Arrowhead Music Experiences will feature workshops led by renowned singer-songwriters in northern Minnesota near Virginia and Biwabik, an area that influenced Dylan songs like “North Country Blues.” Minneapolis-based organizers Scott Schuler and Molly Maher say the camp is modeled after other…

On July 31 and Aug. 1, Cobey Rouse of batteryboy will be curating a final set of special sessions at the Southern Theater. The third annual sessions will feature intimate, one-of-a-kind performances from batteryboy, Chris Koza, Al Church, Jillian Rae, Joey Ryan, Erik Koskinen, and Moon and Pollution. These sessions are a distinctive experience for listeners…

There were two big music festivals in the midwest this past weekend: Justin Vernon and Bryce Dessner’s inaugural Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival and the 10th anniversary Pitchfork Music Festival. Ultimately, I decided to attend Pitchfork for the third time. It is consistently one of the best music festivals year after year. The diverse…

Josh Greenberg, a co-founder of Grooveshark, died of unknown causes at his home in Florida this weekend. He was 28. An autopsy was performed on Monday morning, and authorities are saying there is no evidence of suicide or foul play. Grooveshark, formerly a popular music listening service, was shut down in April after extensive litigation with record…

Why do we go to music festivals? Why do we agree to slog through the mud and stand for hours and hours in the blazing sun? Why do we agree to get sweaty and press our sticky bodies against each other and stand in line for water and stand in line for beer and stand…

Bruce Springsteen jumped on stage with longtime friend and collaborator Joe Grushecky on Saturday night at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey—and stayed onstage for two hours and 15 songs that began with Grushecky’s “There’ll Never Be Enough Time” and ended with Springsteen’s “Light of Day.” (Rolling Stone) It was a big weekend for…

Happy Friday! I’m filing this week’s video roundup from beautiful Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where the inaugural Eaux Claire Music & Art Festival is about to get underway. Before the music begins, I wanted to take a minute to share the latest crop of videos to emerge from local artists around the state, including a documentary…