Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines earlier this month, causing $1.36 billion of damage and killing more than 5,000 people while leaving thousands more homeless. In the last few weeks, calls to support the relief effort have been ubiquitous and help has poured in from around the globe. It was one of the simplest calls to…

If one needed any further proof of concert promoter Sue McLean’s impact on our community, they needn’t look any further than First Avenue’s big black stage on Saturday night, which served as a rotating door for many of the pillars of the live music scene. It says something that some of the evening’s highlights came…

Get ready for a chorus of screams from old school Minneapolis rock fans: beloved under-the-radar quintet Run Westy Run are reuniting, and they’ll play their first show in over a decade on Friday, December 27 in the First Avenue Mainroom. Run Westy Run were regular performers at the 400 Bar back in its 1980s heyday…

William Joseph “Billy” Sverkerson, a longtime behind-the-scenes fixture of the Twin Cities music scene who got his start managing the 400 Bar and recently worked backstage at First Avenue, passed away early Sunday morning. He was 60 years old. Billy came from a large family—he was the fifth of 10 children in the Sverkerson clan—and…

If 2013 has taught us anything about Prince, it’s that there’s no way to predict what he might do next. He could release a new song without warning; invite fans to Paisley Park for a last-minute pajama party, complete with pancakes; Livestream a rehearsal at Paisley for the world to see; or simply show up…

It’s Friday! What better excuse is there to bug off of work for a little while and catch up on some of the best new Minnesota music videos? We have a lot of great ones on deck this week, starting with a fiery (literally) new video from Haley Bonar… Haley Bonar We already knew Haley…

By now we’ve all heard plenty about the vinyl resurgence, and how the sale of vinyl albums have skyrocketed past CD sales in recent years despite the challenges plaguing the music industry. And we’ve seen this play out on the local level as well, with vinyl manufacturer Noiseland Industries continuing to press more and more LPs.…

Northrop Auditorium, the University of Minnesota venue that’s hosted innumerable performances in all genres—including, most notably in recent years, the 2008 election-night show at which Bob Dylan said something not entirely decipherable but unmistakably positive about the forthcoming presidency of Barack Obama—will reopen on April 4 after over three years of construction that are radically…

Mark Gehring and musician Martin Dosh stopped by the Current’s Morning Show today to share the details for the fifth volume of Minnesota Beatle Project, an annual covers compilation that raises money for music education in Minnesota schools. Gehring, who launched the project back in 2009 with his nonprofit Vega Productions, says that they’ve managed…

Thursday, November 21 Dave Boquist and Friends Turf Club, St. Paul 8 p.m., $5, 21+ A founding member of alt-country group Son Volt, Dave Boquist is a master of the lap steel, banjo, fiddle, guitar, and dobro, and has recorded with big-name roots artists like Joe Henry and Peter Bruntnell. It’s anyone’s guess which of…