If you think Labor Day weekend marks the final hurrah of summer fun, think again. For those reluctant to usher in the back-to-school season, take a trip up the North Shore over the following two weekends: Grand Marais will be hosting its annual Radio Waves and Unplugged music festivals. From Sept. 5-7, the talents of over 30…

There are some great tribute artists and fun celebrity impersonators out there, but Jason Michael Hurley has put them all to shame: he took his Scott Weiland impersonation to such lengths that he actually sat in jail as the singer for four weeks—completely fooling the cops, who issued a press release bragging that they had arrested…

After dropping hints for months, Prince has finally announced expected release dates for PLECTRUMELECTRUM—his album with his band 3RDEYEGIRL—and a record under his own name, ART OFFICIAL AGE. Both are now available for pre-order on iTunes and are expected on Sept. 30. Each pre-order also includes an entry for a chance to win a trip to see Prince at…

Happy Friday! As the workin’ week winds down, take a look back at some of the best Minnesota-made music videos to emerge this week—including a few from Adam J. Dunn’s ongoing Lights and a Backdrop series, the latest of which he filmed at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Before we get into this week’s goods, I…

Nearly 14 years after playing their final show, Babes in Toyland have quietly reassembled and started rehearsing in North Hollywood, California—and this week we got our first look at the reunited group. Founder and lead singer Kat Bjelland, drummer Lori Barbero, and bassist Maureen Herman (who joined the group after Michelle Leon’s departure in 1992) started discussing…

This past spring, Molly Kate Kestner—an 18-year-old high school senior in Austin, Minnesota—captured the hearts of millions of people with a wildly popular video, recorded off the cuff with a cracked iPhone, of herself singing and playing her original song “His Daughter.” The song, about a young girl who transcends a turbulent family situation thanks…

No matter what your interests are, there is something for everyone at the Minnesota State Fair. That goes for music fans, as well. In addition to plenty of free shows that take place throughout the fairgrounds every year, high profile acts and entertainers have been performing at the Grandstand since 1962. Even though the Grandstand…

“Now Amy will oversee the comings and goings of her home town forever,” says Mitch Winehouse, father of the late Amy Winehouse, in reference to a bronze sculpture of the songstress that will be unveiled in Camden Town, London on Sept. 14: the date that would have been Amy’s 31st birthday. (Billboard) The pathbreaking Swedish experimental dance-pop…

Even under the fuzz of a speakerphone, the voice of Zachary Scot Johnson was clear as a bell, full of more pep than I would except from someone who woke up at a hotel somewhere in Door County. He was there because because it was the weekend, and for Johnson, weekends are for touring. “I graduated…

Fans of Minneapolis singer-songwriter Jeremy Messersmith know him not only as a gifted craftsman and performer, but also as a thoughtful participant in larger discussions about politics, sociology, current events, and one of his favorite topics, “nerd culture.” So when he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman last night to play a song…