There’s just something about Dave Simonett’s voice, isn’t there? Whether he’s leading the charge in his breakneck string band, Trampled by Turtles, rocking the night away in his side project Dead Man Winter, or staking out some space to perform solo, Simonett has the ability to turn simple syllables into soliloquies and breathe so much…

Tragedy struck the West Bank in Minneapolis on New Year’s Day as one of Cedar-Riverside’s historic buildings burst into flames. The fire took the lives of three apartment residents, and also destroyed a grocery store. This Friday, January 24, Augsburg College, the Cedar Cultural Center, and KFAI Radio will host a benefit concert that will…

What do you say, let's put together another set of songs with organ intros for the 9:30 Coffee Break.

“I have been singing professionally since I was five,” PaviElle French says, laughing and sighing nonchalantly. And after hearing some of the tracks off her forthcoming solo debut, Fear Not, it should come as no surprise—with skills honed over the years in church choirs, slam poetry groups and spoken-word collectives, the 29-year-old soul singer is stepping into the spotlight with a…

Infinite Religions: Duality The multimedia creation of artist and musician Neal Calvin Peterson, Infinite Religions’ forthcoming Duality is more than just an album. Funded by Kickstarter, Duality is part high-tech shoegaze pop, part conceptual undertaking, part sculptural experimentation, and part space travel. Intrigued? The digital album is available today, and will also be released on 99 limited-edition records…

'Wig Out at Jagbags' is a refreshing reminder of an indie-rock era when lyrics mattered, and is everything you'd expect from the man often called the smart guy of indie rock.

My favorite Fancy Ray McCloney story is from last month’s Replacements tribute at First Avenue. Fancy Ray was on hand for an onstage cameo singing “Buck Hill” (the title also contains the song’s complete lyrics), and someone, spotting the comedian, asked, “Hey, Fancy Ray! How you doing?” Without missing a beat, Fancy Ray replied, “Sexy, sexy,…

It was a relatively quiet week for music happenings here in the Twin Cities—we are deep into “hunkering down” season around these parts, after all—but we still managed to get a new Lizzo song out of the deal, plus a handful of fresh music videos. Happy Friday! And hope to see you out at one…

Let's put together a set of songs with organ intros for the 9:30 Coffee Break.

Though an established artist in New York, Doug Keith has roots that run deep in the Minnesota music scene. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, he moved to Lakeville when he was six. His late uncle Tom Keith worked for Minnesota Public Radio—best known for his sound work on A Prairie Home Companion—and Doug’s brother would bring…