When talking to omnipresent Minneapolis drummer JT Bates about the myriad musical projects he’s involved in, you get the sense that, musically speaking, the guy is up for just about anything. On a sparkling weekday afternoon at Icehouse, where Bates has held down a Monday night residency (JT’s Jazz Implosion) since the club opened, the…

  Still buzzing off of last week’s surprise shows at the Dakota Jazz Club, Prince’s new rock ‘n’ roll trio—guitarist Donna Grantis, drummer Hannah Ford, and bassist Ida Nielsen—stopped by the Current to share a new track and chat about how they got together with the Purple Yoda. There has been speculation from fans that…

Last summer, we put on the first installment of Local Current Live at the Cedar Cultural Center, a showcase of three local bands that we thought were poised for a break-out in Minnesota and abroad. Good things happened after that night for the bands on the bill: The Chalice sold out their EP release show,…

It was a night of many thanks as Minnesota musicians new and established paid homage to the Current, even singing the station “Happy Birthday” more than once in honor of the 8th anniversary of its launch. The Chalice started the evening off on a dramatic note, singing “The time / Is here / The moment…

Steve Kramer, the onetime frontman of ’80s punk-polka band the Wallets who went on to pursue a decades-long career in the commercial music business, passed away in his sleep yesterday in Park City, Utah, where he was attending the Sundance Film Festival. He was 59. Kramer began his music career in the early ’80s in…

A parade of special guests and fiery, soulful music kept party guests on their toes at the first of two 8th birthday parties for the Current at First Avenue on Friday night, setting the stage for what is sure to be another memorable celebration of Minnesota music and community togetherness tonight. Of the two birthday…

  Prince’s residency at the Dakota Jazz Club may not be over — he is planning to host a lounge-y dance party/DJ night tomorrow, and still has a hold on the venue for Sunday and Monday nights — but Friday marked the end of the a three-night run of intimate and wildly different rehearsal concerts…

This weekend we’re celebrating the eighth anniversary of the Current, the station that has introduced me to more new artists than I can count and was kind enough to offer me a job around this time last year. And what better way to sprint through the finish line of this crazy, Minnesota music news-filled week…

For his second of three consecutive nights at the Dakota, Prince delivered a crowd-pleasing set that included a few lengthy, funky medleys of covers and some satisfying hits. The show was so electrifying, in fact, that after several years of purple-hued gossip, sightings, and speculation cluttering up the Prince dialog in the Twin Cities, it…

  I’ll admit, I’ve been a little burnt out on lists ever since the Great Year-End Listicle Explosion of 2012, so it took me a few weeks to work up the gumption to compile another bullet pointed collection of highlights. But 2013 is already off to such bang (Bowie! Timberlake! That weird Yeah Yeah Yeahs…