With the most spice this end of the Mississippi, seasoned soul group the Butanes remain alive and well in the Twin Cities blues scene. Their latest album 12 Favorites from the Upper Bayou was just released in February, and lead guitarist/vocalist Curtis Obeda was recently inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame for his…

Happy Friday! I’m going to start things off this week with one of my favorite “new to me” artists—who has actually been making music in the Twin Cities for a while now, and already had a full-length album to his name by the time I came around to him—before moving on to some other more…

Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit, comprising sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg, have played to bigger venues and audiences with each visit to the Twin Cities. Their third album, Stay Gold, dropped in June and they are just finishing up another tour of the United States and Canada. Bursting onto the scene in 2008 after posting a cover of Fleet Foxes’…

In a new interview, country star Ty Herndon came out as a “proud and happy gay man,” saying he remained closeted for decades because he would afraid that being openly gay would doom his career in country music; he even went so far as to marry twice, to women he says knew he was gay and were…

They make music. They make art. They make apps. The spontaneous formation of their band was livestreamed, and their entire debut EP was improvised. They’re the Band Famous, and they’d like your support. The musicians who perform under the names Norell, Zander, and Terry met in Minnesota in summer 2013. A mutual friend suggested that the…

When Steve McClellan sits down to spin a yarn, there’s no telling where you might end up. He might start off reminiscing about a show that he booked during his 30-year tenure as the general manager of First Avenue, then tell you a story about a documentary filmmaker who is inspiring him or a hip-hop…

As you’ve probably heard, there is some extremely intense snow coming down right now in upstate New York. Interpol, who were riding through the area en route to play a show in Toronto, have been stuck in their bus for over two days—and are live-tweeting the whole thing. Fortunately, they tweeted, the bus was well-stocked with “dry goods…

Apple Valley native Aria Stiles, a violinist, has traveled far and fast in the music world: at 20, she’s a regular member of Pam Tillis’s touring band as well as a full-time student at Nashville’s Belmont University. As if that wasn’t enough evidence that she’s been embraced by the capital of country music, she’s also…

It was about three years ago now that I decided with absolute certainty that my home would not be complete without the addition of a piano. It had been years since I’d played regularly, and almost a decade had passed since a college music professor had treated me with such disdain that I swore I…

With the blessing of Bob Marley‘s family, the reggae icon will be the face of Marley Natural, “a premium cannabis brand rooted in the life and legacy” of the late musician. In addition to loose-packed “heirloom Jamaican” cannabis buds, oil, and concentrate, Marley Natural will sell items including pot-infused creams. “As Daddy would say,” said Marley’s…