These days, it seems like if you really want to push your song out into the world, you have to have some sort of visual accompaniment to go along with it. It’s a big reason why I wanted to start up this weekly Friday Five post when I came to the Current—there are so many…

Minnesota country rock pioneers the Daisy Dillman Band are taking the reins once again to release their first album in 34 years. The album is titled Radio, and the band will be playing a CD release party in its honor on Jan. 10 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The Daisy Dillman Band comprises Dan Flaherty on…

On New Year’s Eve, Kanye West released a new single, “Only One.” Collaborating on the track is none other than Paul McCartney, who plays keyboard. The tender track, a tribute to both Kanye’s daughter and his late mother, is what a spokesperson calls the first “publicly available recording from what has become a prolific musical collaboration between…

From our ninth birthday party in January to a momentous two-day Rock the Garden all the way to December’s final Doomtree blowout, 2014 was a banner year for The Current and for Minnesota’s thriving music scene—and our photographers worked to capture it all. Here are some of the year’s most memorable photos, with titles linking to each…

Happy New Year and welcome to 2015! If you just can’t shake that nagging feeling like the world is about to end and we’re all about to die, then this Atmosphere video might be for you. In the gorgeous new video for the song “January on Lake Street” from last year’s Southsiders, director Braden Lee…

Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile describes her Collings custom guitar, a guitar make she starting playing based on the recommendation of a songwriting legend.

We want to put together a playlist of bubbly songs.

1. Hello, I’m David C. and I’m an alcoholic and an addict (or: How I learned to stop worrying and love myself). Host David Campbell bravely shares his story of addiction, alcoholism, and recovery with blogger Andrea Swensson. 2. Nye’s Polonaise will close next year. The owners of Nye’s Polonaise, a Northeast Minneapolis landmark that’s…

Earlier this month, Minneapolis expat Paul Thompson took to Pitchfork’s blog The Pitch to sum up our hyperactive hip-hop community, declaring that, “Minnesota Nice is well established, but 2014 was the year for Minnesota Weird in the Minneapolis-St. Paul hip-hop scene.” His assessment—and the artists he chose to highlight—got a lot of people talking here…

2014 has been a year to remember in the Minnesota music scene, and we’ve covered as much of it as we possibly could on our Local Current blog. Below, I’ve chosen a few notable quotes from people who we’ve covered on the blog this year. Click on each image to go to the story where…