What song, or songs, do you think we should play for today's 9:30 Coffee Break?

When Doomtree said that they were going to bring their A+ game to December’s Last Blowout Ever, they weren’t joking. “I wanted to do some special costuming for the Icehouse Blowout set,” writes Dessa on Doomtree’s blog, “something with lights. Something beautiful and spooky. I wanted our sternums to glow, and I wanted lights in…

Lizzo and Toki Wright (with producer/collaborator Big Cats) will headline a show Jan. 10 at the Varsity Theater to benefit To The Bridge Foundation. To The Bridge supports individuals struggling with addiction on their way to recovery. Proceeds from the show will go toward helping people working through chemical dependency build bridges to the next stage of their lives. Lizzo…

While he was at the Consumer Electronics Show promoting his new Pono music player, Neil Young happened to mention that he’s working on a new album with Willie Nelson‘s sons Lukas and Micah Nelson. He joked that the album is going to be about his change-of-heart regarding an agribusiness giant he’s been protesting for years. The Monsanto Years, Young said, will…

The locally-made documentary Legends of Ska will be screened Sunday at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, one of a growing number of movies to be shown at the restaurant/bowling alley/theater. Created by Minneapolis director Brad Klein, the film chronicles the history of the Jamaican art form and its roots in music culture — both in its native Jamaica and around the world. “One of my…

What songs do you want to hear from Elvis or Bowie for today's Coffee Break?

After being flooded off of Harriet Island and spending a year at the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia, the music and food festival A Taste of Minnesota is again searching for a home—but it won’t find it at the Washington County Fairgrounds in 2015. Organizers of the festival that featured Soul Asylum, Halestorm, the Castaways and Starship…

A lot can be said about those who hustle. Hustle, you might ask? You know, the kind of energy and drive that pushes some folks past the rest of us. Those who cut their teeth and cut them again and again because settling for good enough is never, well, enough. Motion City Soundtrack (MCS) embody this…

Neil Young‘s high-end Pono music player, backed by the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever (measured in terms of number of supporters), hits select retailers this week at a price of $399. Young appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show to talk the player up. He dismissed questions about whether there will be room for the new…

The Strat just turned 60, but the guitar born at the dawn of rock 'n' roll has barely aged a day. NPR Music Librarian Robert Goldstein has more about this iconic instrument.