The line starts to crackle as soon as Alan Sparhawk picks up the phone. As he greets me from his home in Duluth, Minnesota, the Low frontman’s voice booms and sizzles, as if it’s bristling against the wires in the phone line and wrestling to break free. Although I could easily adjust the volume, I…

When the Minneapolis-based indie folk-poppers We Are The Willows finished recording their latest album Picture (Portrait) in summer 2014, they had no idea what to do with it. The choice for members Peter Miller, Jeremiah Satterthwaite, and Travis Collins to release the record themselves under the label The Homestead Records came easily. Like a folksy…

Jessica Hopper, a writer who got her start in Minnesota as a teenager in the ’90s, has become one of the most well-known and best respected music journalists in America. She recently published her first book, The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic (which Andrea Swensson wrote about for The Current’s Rock…

Prince isn’t finished with his meme-inspired song “This Could B Us,” which first appeared on last year’s ART OFFICIAL AGE album. On Tidal, Prince has released a sultry, reimagined version of the song; the new version will appear on his forthcoming album HITNRUN, which is due for release September 7 on Tidal and later in physical formats. Listen to…

Many very well-known musicians held a variety of jobs until they were able to rely on their work in the music industry to pay the bills. For today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear by artists who have held surprising or unexpected day jobs? Send us your request, and along with it, the job held by the artists you're requesting.

Eric Mayson: Detail Eric Mayson (Crunchy Kids) has played with a variety of artists all over the Twin Cities scene, most notably Caroline Smith, Big Cats, Lizzo, Toki Wright, and P.O.S. He’s now going solo with his Detail release. Mayson’s bright wavering voice will be familiar to some, though it’s a whole new musical world from…

When people around the world can’t stop praising a certain band, it’s best to let curiosity take control. Listen to some tracks and maybe buy a concert ticket—the artists could be worth the hype. If all else fails, at least you’ll get a dose of another country’s culture. Or at least, that was the logic…

Invisible Boy is a new solo project by Chris Bierden. Best-known as the bass player for Poliça, Bierden has also played with Vampire Hands (formerly), Heavy Deeds, Pony Trash, Har Mar Superstar, and Bones and Beeker, among numerous other local artists. Invisible Boy’s first release is a song called “Darling”; you heard it Sunday night on…

Billboard’s analysis of data from two recent surveys shows that adults currently aged 35 to 54—in other words, members of Generation X—attend way more live music concerts per capita than either younger (millennials) or older (baby boomers) generations. The Gen X age group makes up just 17% of the U.S. population, but 43% of concert attendees.…

Kids in Minneapolis start school today; other kids will be back in school soon enough. To help everyone get ready for that first day, for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that mention school supplies? Send us your requests.