On June 8th, Minnesota-based Americana band Romantica will release their new album Outlaws, a very personal collection of songs that reinforce the idea that hope, indeed, springs eternal. Born from recording sessions and live shows captured over the last ten years, Outlaws was put together during songwriter and frontman Ben Kyle’s two-year recovery from a... Continue Reading →
Pew Playlist: Christmas on the Lam and Other Songs From The Season
Even though the Christmas season doesn't officially begin until after Turkey Day, we have decided to go full-tilt-boogie with the holidays this year, and thought y'all could use a little jumpstart on Christmas cheer too. Our friends at Red House Records, based in the nation’s icebox of Minnesota, have a lot of experience with below-zero temperatures... Continue Reading →
Interview: Pert Near Sandstone
Long winters spent cozied up indoors lend themselves to fruitful periods of creativity in the Land of 10,000 Lakes; in the last fifteen years, there have been a plethora of phenomenal string bands born in Minnesota. “I think it’s called the ‘O Brother Effect’,” says mandolin player Nate Sipe of Minneapolis-based newgrass collective Pert Near Sandstone,... Continue Reading →
Preview: Charlie Parr at 12th & Porter on 4/11/16
Bluesy roots music revivalist Charlie Parr can play anything with strings like it ain’t nobody’s business, holler and howl like a Mississippi Delta blues originator, and looks like one of my family members who grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Interestingly enough, Parr actually hails from the Land of 10,000 Lakes (for those... Continue Reading →