September 8 is International Literacy Day, a day for schools, communities and organizations to unite around the world to raise awareness in the hope that it will enable increased accessibility to education in developing nations. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that reference reading and writing?

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…

Today is Chrissie Hynde's birthday, but she's the one giving us a gift: The Pretenders have announced 'Alone,' their first album since 2008, produced by Dan Auerbach.

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…

Last night Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins opened their Rabbit Fur Coat tenth-anniversary fall tour at the State Theatre in Minneapolis. So for today's Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear from Jenny Lewis' various projects?

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…