“Truth be told, the word ‘icon’ only scratches the surface of what Prince was and what he remains to me.” That’s a statement that could have been made by any number of people, but it happens to have been made by Beyoncé. It’s a sentence from the foreword she wrote to a new book of…

“My first time playing here was in January 2013,” Donna Grantis told the audience on Friday night. At the Dakota, she and 3RDEYEGIRL — Grantis on guitar, Ida Nielsen on bass, and Hannah Welton on drums — made their live debut with Prince. “We were so new we didn’t even have a band name,” Grantis…

When Andrew Bell first opened Twin Town Guitars, his goal was to do everything he could to support local musicians. At the time, Bell says there weren’t a lot of music stores that were accessible for many artists, but Bell wanted to change things and do what he could to make creating music simple and affordable…

Last night at the Palace Theatre, Gary Clark Jr. took the stage for the first of two nights with swagger and confidence. More polished than in previous local shows and with a tight groove, he played with ease and his classic relaxed style, extending into long guitar solos. Clark let the songs gently segue together…

Lulu’s Playground, “Late For A Date” Lulu’s Playground are Adam Meckler (trumpet), Cory Grossman (cello), Steven Hobert (accordion), and Ben Abrahamson (guitar), and they know how to have fun. Recently, the quartet rode a four-person surrey around Como Park while playing “Late For A Date” from Shadow Voices.   Glitteratti, “Ask the Mrs.” A little public dancing never…

“Life is like a hotel, you check in and you check out.” Those were some of the last words rapper Shotty Boo told his cousin and music partner, Joe Cross, before he passed away in late July after suffering from a long-term illness. To those who knew him, Boo was a gentle soul who showed love to…

It’s 11:30 a.m., and Ben Vanden Boogaard has already spent six hours in a coffee shop. From 5-11, he worked as a barista, making drinks behind the counter. But after his shift, he headed to another cafe, having agreed to tell me about his other line of work: music. Vanden Boogaard is an artist at…

Dave Grohl teases mystery contributor on new Foo Fighters album We already know that the new Foo Fighter’s album Concrete And Gold will feature the talents of artists such as Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman, Inara George from the Bird And The Bee and the Kills’ Allison Mosshart, but according to frontman Dave Grohl the…

“Epic” is the word that comes to my mind to describe last night’s Guns N’ Roses: Not in this Lifetime performance at U.S. Bank Stadium. Yes, I said epic. I’ll be honest: My expectations were low. I may have been too quick to judge how age affected the music by watching a few YouTube videos…

Testing a mic at the Duluth Coffee Company on Friday in his best radio-hypeman voice, Brian Oake referred to The Current’s new 104.3 FM frequency as “Duluth’s 100,000 watt flamethrower!” Well, not quite — but it’s great to have a new, stronger signal in the area, one that will soon be supplemented by 94.1 to…