The Current enters adolescence this year, and part one of the celebration kicked off Friday night with a sold-out First Avenue show. “I got really strong when I was 14 carrying those heavy books,” quipped Kerry Alexander of Bad Bad Hats in a sweet deadpan, “and emotionally strong for other reasons.” The first night of The…

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! In honor of the civil rights icon, we're sharing the story of 'Happy Birthday,' the Stevie Wonder song indelibly associated with the push to designate a national holiday in MLK's honor.

In 1987, Jill Riley's childhood home was filled with the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and her dad thus retreated to the garage for about a year. Whether it's punk rock, novelty soundtracks, kiddie bop, or screamo, surely we all played something that irked our dads. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that your dad hated?

Tonight and Saturday, The Current staffers are headed down to First Avenue to celebrate the station’s 14th birthday with hundreds of friends and fans. Saturday’s show is sold out, but some tickets remain for tonight’s party, featuring Scrunchies, Rayland Baxter, Bad Bad Hats, and the Suburbs. To pump us all up for two nights of…

On May 11-12, the Loft Literary Center will stop traffic in the East Town neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis to make way for more than 100 writers and thousands of eager readers at the largest literary festival the Twin Cities has ever seen. “Anybody who thinks of Minnesota should think about books,” said Britt Udesen, the Loft’s…

Help us make a great new funk show for Purple Current.

There are a bumper crop of new releases this week! Jay and Jade spotlight new music from Maggie Rogers, Sharon Van Etten, Alice Merton, Toro y Moi, James Blake, and Deerhunter. Plus, a tribute to the late Germs bassist Lorna Doom.

Ahead of the Suburbs' performance at The Current's 14th Birthday Party, Chan Poling and Hugo Klaers talked with Oake and Riley about the Suburbs' new lineup and revisiting some of the band's earliest songs.

Kerry Alexander of Bad Bad Hats 'steals' the Local Show from Andrea Swensson for a Theft of the Dial. Bad Bad Hats are playing The Current's 14th Birthday Party on Friday, Jan. 18 at First Avenue

Thanks to Loran for writing in with today's theme idea -- songs that are NOT about keeping calm. What songs can you think of for today's 9:30 Coffee Break that mention panic, freaking out, hysteria, etc?