18 local artists have recently come together to release a series of largely a capella songs to fight sex trafficking in Minnesota. A fundraising effort by the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, this project includes a CD and a release show at Bedlam Lowertown on May 10. The release show will feature artists including Chris Koza, the Ericksons, We Are the Willows,…

When Jack White announced—between his two headlining Coachella performances—that he’d embark on a short acoustic tour of the five U.S. states he had yet to play (and before “taking a break from performing live for a long period of time”), I knew I’d soon be making a trip to my home state of North Dakota.…

The Replacements are now a year-and-a-half into their unexpected reunion, and the rally doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Billboard reports that the band have recorded several songs and that they’re planning to head back into the studio when their “Back by Unpopular Demand” tour wraps up. Also in the works for the band are a…

“My knees shake a lot. People don’t notice it, but I notice it.” Sitting a room away from her second-ever live show, Nissy, an emerging artist from Hopkins, projected joy and nervous energy. Her first performance took place at her junior high’s annual talent show—Nissy is actually a ninth-grader at Hopkins West. Since then, the…

Happy Friday! Here’s your weekly look at the latest Minnesota music videos—including a brand new one from Birthday Suits, which we are pleased to debut at the top of the order today. Birthday Suits With a highly anticipated new album Spin the Bottle: Adult Party due out next month, Birthday Suits sent over this video for the single…

Last week, which included Record Store Day, independent music retailers accounted for 22% of overall physical album sales, which meant 12% of overall music sales when digital downloads are included. That’s the highest share of the market that independent record stores have held in any week since 2003. (Billboard) It’s not official yet, but Alabama…

Winona was recently called (on this blog) a town where “music and adventure [are] undoubtedly akin,” where “a day-long trek through the woods [is] incomplete without Bob Dylan’s ramblings, Frank Ocean’s crooning, or Jimi Hendrix’s electric wails played on a mobile-phone speaker.” Then writer Alex Miller talks about a pass-the-err-guitar session out on the beach while…

If buying Kurt Cobain‘s childhood home ($400,000) is a bit more of a purchase than you can afford to make as a Nirvana fan, instead consider crashing for a night in the L.A. apartment Cobain shared with Courtney Love in 1991 and 1992. It’s on Airbnb, and as you can see, it was truly well-used by the grunge power…

The Esquire Network’s Best Bars in America show has comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton drinking their way “through neighborhood dives and swanky bars alike” in cities across America. Tonight (April 22), the show spotlights Minneapolis, with Larson and Patton visiting bars including that will include Palmer’s, the Sample Room, the 1029 Bar, Nye’s, the Butcher and…

Los Angeles music blog Grimy Goods has recently compiled a list of the 20 best female drummers. On the list—along with such notables as Dee Plakas of L7 and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney—is Babes in Toyland’s Lori Barbero, who’s been hitting the skins since 1987. “I think there’s a lot of drummers that have been…