Mitch Miller had a No. 1 single with a song written in 1853; Ringo returned to the Beatles after a little time off; Fats Domino was rescued from post-Katrina New Orleans; and Donovan went to No. 1 with a song that became one of the first examples of psychedelia, Today in Music History.

If the long lines inside the Minnesota State Fairground’s Agriculture Horticulture Building are evidence enough, then it is safe to say that Minnesotans love to look at crop art. If you plan to hop in line and take a peek for yourself, bring some cheese curds: the line moves slowly. People move step-by-step to get…

Despite having grown up in Minnesota, I only started going to the State Fair three years ago. The Fair is full of music — but it can be hard to even get Minnesotans to clap along to a song, much less get up and dance. When it came to Tropical Zone Orchestra’s performance on Friday,…

The Miracle of Birth center is easily one of my favorite parts of the fair; baby animals are irresistibly cute. This year as I was visiting the barn for the second time I noticed that nearly all of the babies had little name plaques on their pens. Many of the babies had been given names that…

'Be the Cowboy' is one of the strongest releases of 2018 and further cements Mistki as one of the most exciting talents in music.

Minnesota band Now Now stopped at the MPR booth at the Minnesota State Fair to perform a live set as part of Oake and Riley in the Afternoon. Between songs, the band members talked about their upcoming tour plans and bonded with Brian Oake over their shared roots in the Twin Cities area's northern suburbs.

This year, the State Fair debuted a new venue on the north end: the Hangar. The building, which used to be the Pet Center, has been transformed into a hub for food, craft beer, and live entertainment. The Hangar also nods to the building’s history as the location of the State Fair Aircraft Shows in…

“How the hell can a person go to work in the morning and come home in the evening and have nothing to say?” That’s singer/songwriter John Prine. Well, that’s Mike Lewis quoting Prine’s song “Angel From Montgomery” while sitting next to me at a countertop. We’re nearing the end of an hour-long conversation, and I’ve…

Unannounced, Eminem has released a new album called 'Kamizaze.' Announced, there are also new albums from Troye Sivan and Tash Sultana. In other news, Frightened Rabbit have announced their first show without Scott Hutchison; Michelle Branch and Patrick Carney have welcomed a son; and there's yet another crazy Sia video featuring Maddy Ziegler.

For Gipson Shoemaker, owner of Lucky Devil Cigar Box Guitars, his passion for cigar-box guitars all started with seeing Jack White in the 2008 documentary, It Might Get Loud. In that film, White built a diddley bow — an instrument similar to the cigar-box guitar. When Shoemaker first saw the diddley bow, he became curious…