In this brave new world of music licensing, the idea of having a song placed in a commercial or film is no longer met with cries of “selling out”—rather, it’s increasingly embraced as both a validation of the artist’s talent and a necessary mechanism for how they will be compensated for their work. In some…

Thursday, January 9 A Tribute to Patti Smith Driftwood Char Bar, Minneapolis 6 p.m., free, 21+ South Minneapolis neighborhood bar the Driftwood has been doing a bang-up job of hosting live music from under-the-radar artists in recent years, and tonight over a dozen singer-songwriters will gather to pay tribute to rock ‘n’ roll underdog-turned-punk icon…

While some music promoters are out there trying to rope in heavy hitters, drum up big ticket sales, and wow the crowds with pyrotechnics, DEMO is quietly plugging away, working to promote new, different and underrepresented musicians. The Naked Songwriter, a 15-episode Web series, is the organization’s newest project. It’s also part of a push…

The Replacements continue to draw a giant circle around their hometown of Minneapolis with their tour schedule. Late last night the band was revealed to be one of the dozens of high-profile acts set to play this year’s Coachella Festival out in Indio, California, which is slated for the weekends of April 11-13 and 18-20,…

Here’s a bit of local music history: before he was touring the globe with the Hold Steady, Craig Finn—who was raised in Edina—spent some of his college career writing music reviews for The Heights at Boston College. While at BC in the early 90s, Finn reviewed the likes of Uncle Tupelo, who are set to reissue…

A lot of musical collaborations happen because of the sales potential the match-up suggests, or perhaps just for collaboration’s sake, but sometimes such a thing occurs because the pieces fit perfectly—they compliment each other in a way that enhances the listening experience. I’d confidently say the latter is the case with K.Raydio and Psymun. The…

Kristoff Krane, I Freestyle Life Over the course of his nearly decade-long career, MC Kristoff Krane has made a lot of fans—and a lot of friends, many of whom he’s collaborated with on record. Eyedea, Slug, Joe Horton, and Sage Francis are just a few of the artists heard on I Freestyle Life, a retrospective collection…

[Update: Since its official release, High Hopes is no longer streaming at the link below; you can hear it on Spotify and elsewhere.] The fact that Bruce Springsteen’s new album is a polished patchwork of old songs—outtakes, covers, studio recordings of songs that have been performed live, and one reworking of a cut from a studio album (“The…

It’s cold outside, as you might have noticed. Astronautalis was among the many Minnesotans who boiled water and threw it into the subzero air to watch the frighteningly pretty results. Other Minnesota musicians settled for screenshots, selfies, and wry comments. Here’s a sampling of the reactions, which we’ll be updating throughout the day. Be careful…

In February of 2012, news of Bob “Slim” Dunlap’s stroke shocked the musical community. Dunlap, who is stable but still frequently hospitalized, according to friend Frank Randall, is the inspiration behind the ongoing Slim Town Singles project. Randall, the project’s musical director, has known Slim since the early 90s; Slim, Randall says, encouraged him as…