The Dead Pigeons: Even if I Knew Tuesday night fixtures at Harriet Brewing, West Bank folk rockers the Dead Pigeons specialize in a back-to-basics breed of Americana. The group is led by Drew Peterson, formerly of 40WattBulb, who has historically been a supporter of big-time Minnesota folk and bluegrass acts like Charlie Parr and Trampled by…

After decades in dormancy, Johnny Rey is eager to reenter the Minnesota music scene with a bang. Rey’s previous bands Flamingo and Johnny Rey and the Reaction were standbys at Jay’s Longhorn Bar (1978-1980) in downtown Minneapolis. I recently sat down with Rey, his wife Sharon, and their spunky Maltese Murphy to discuss his reasons…

On Monday night at Intermedia Arts, 140 passionate representatives from the Twin Cities hip-hop community came out to discuss the upcoming event that MN Original and the Current are planning for May 10 at the Fitzgerald Theater. As is the nature of many open meetings, the conversation bounced around quite a bit and touched on everything…

In 2011, just after the release of their album Days, Real Estate played the (now defunct) 400 Bar with Big Troubles and a (now defunct) Macalester student band called the Muskies. Tickets were $5 and there were no more than 150 people in attendance. Last night, Real Estate played a sold-out show at the Fine Line…

From basement jam sessions to big theatre performances, Pert Near Sandstone live for the inspiration gained from other musicians. The band grew out of jam sessions at a house in St. Paul. “We didn’t get together as a band necessarily,” said mandolin and fiddle player Nate Sipe. Trying different instruments, and collaborating among themselves, led…

Howler: World of Joy From the sound of their second full-length album, you’d think that Howler spent the last two years—since their debut America Give Up—locked in a one-room apartment in England, subsisting on nothing but records by the Replacements and the Smiths. Appropriate, considering Howler’s Twin Cities roots (despite their ambiguous feelings about those roots) and the…

It’s hard to believe that six years have passed since indie rock band the Plastic Constellations released their final album, We Appreciate You, and went on an indefinite hiatus—it was long enough ago, in fact, that the term “indie rock band” could still be used to describe a particular style of music rather than a…

It’s getting to be that time of the week again. With the weekend creeping up ever so slowly on us and the snow slowly melting away outside, let’s slip on the ol’ headphones and take a break from our work to catch up on some of the latest videos to emerge out of the Minnesota…

Friday, March 21 Johnny Questionmark Album-Release Show Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis 8 p.m., $7 adv/$10 door, 18+ Johnny Questionmark combines hip-hop with a hard rock sensibility on his new album, Falling in Like. He’ll be joined at this release show by PLC, Out of Bounds, MC Rentz, Professor Fresh, and Imperious Rex. Apollo Quad…

Twitter celebrated its eighth birthday by making it easy for users to find their first tweets. We found the #FirstTweets of some of our favorite local musicians. I'm hating my mobile phone right now. — Jeremy Messersmith (@jmessersmith) February 18, 2009 Hey there, Twitterers. I still don't really understand what this site is for, but…