Bands/Artists From Minnesota!

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stocker08

stocker08

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The Twin Cities doesn't match up to Seattle or Chicago....but Minnesota has been a hotbed of musical talent for a really long time. The indie scene here is wild with talented folks. Let's talk about our Gopher State artists here.

I'm more a grunge/alt rock person. But I dig hiphop as well. And Minneapolis has one of the best underground hiphop scenes thanks to Slug and his label, Rhymesayers.


R.I.P. Eyedea. This song is more pertinent today than it was when it was recorded.


One of the few people to beat Slug in a rap battle:

 

Never saw the Honeydogs play in person.


But I have seen Adam Levy play with his current band, Turn Turn Turn.

 

Jeff Crandall is a very impressive musician if anyone knows about the Swallows, or his side project J. Briozo.



 

One of my personal favorites, and really an outstanding person. Give the whole thing a listen.

 




This was as catchy of a hook as any from the Twin Cities sound. The Magnolias, When I'm Not
 


I haven't lived in the Twin Cities area since the 80's. I remember more of the bar scene back in the 70's with groups like Lamont Cranston, Willie and the Bees and so forth - the bands that played the West Bank clubs.
 



Got to see these guys at the Pizza Luce Block Party back in 2015.



And then a lesser-known group that I don't think is around anymore unfortunately.



I'm not familiar with this group. But they're from Duluth. A lot of my friends in college were really into them.

 

Nax5 said:
Got to see these guys at the Pizza Luce Block Party back in 2015.



And then a lesser-known group that I don't think is around anymore unfortunately.



I'm not familiar with this group. But they're from Duluth. A lot of my friends in college were really into them.

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To Stockers point, Minnesota is unbelievably underrated when it comes to music.

To your point, Nax, seeing TbT live at Bayfront in Duluth was an incredible experience.
 


The Suburbs, The Replacements, Husker Du……ah, those were the days.
 





Yeah, I'm with Ted & Ope. Mpls/MN smokes Seattle and Chicago. Especially Chicago, which I don't think of as a music city.

I was digging through old CDs this weekend and rediscovered No Bird Sing. LOVE this song.

 

And you of course can't mention Mpls hip hop without Heiruspecs.

 

Anybody remember Unknown Prophets? This song is a little goofy, but gotta love all the MN references. "Bleed maroon and gold for our beloved Golden Gophers"

 

Nokomis said:
Yeah, I'm with Ted & Ope. Mpls/MN smokes Seattle and Chicago. Especially Chicago, which I don't think of as a music city.
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If the frame of reference is in all of music history, then one would make a case for Chicago with it's deep rich Blues/Gospel history that was performed and recorded there (Buddy Guy, Bo Diddly, Staples Family and on and on...).

In my lifetime (60s-current) going back to Dylan, then Minneapolis/Minnesota does not have to take a backseat to any metropolis.
 


Ope3 said:
If the frame of reference is in all of music history, then one would make a case for Chicago with it's deep rich Blues/Gospel history that was performed and recorded there (Buddy Guy, Bo Diddly, Staples Family and on and on...).

In my lifetime (60s-current) going back to Dylan, then Minneapolis/Minnesota does not have to take a backseat to any metropolis.
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I'll see your Staple Sisters and raise you the Andrews Sisters. :p
 



When you ask, which local group should be HUGE nationally and achieved fame and fortune but hasn't, I'm coming at you all day with Pert Near Sandstone.

 

Bad Gopher said:
When you ask, which local group should be HUGE nationally and achieved fame and fortune but hasn't, I'm coming at you all day with Pert Near Sandstone.
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I always thought of PNS as a low-rent TBT. It's one thing to do that on MPR; it's another thing to do this on Letterman.

 

Nokomis said:
I always thought of PNS as a low-rent TBT. It's one thing to do that on MPR; it's another thing to do this on Letterman.

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I'm torn about this take. On one hand, I ain't gonna argue that TBT have all the trappings of a big-time act. On the other hand, I saw them both at the Fine Line a few years ago, PNS opening for TBT, and for my money I enjoyed Sandstone's performance better.
 
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Bad Gopher said:
I'm torn about this take. On one hand, I ain't gonna argue that TBT have all the trappings of a big-time act. On the other hand, I saw them both at the Fine Line a few years ago, PNS opening for TBT, and for my money I liked Sandstone's performance better.
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As a novice banjo player who has no idea what he's talking about, I am bothered that the TBT banjoist appears to be using a pick.
 


The band Iffy just was a local band that I thought was certain for longevity or popularity, yet they flamed out as rapidly as they arrived. Born out of Run Westy Run it featured a couple Johnson brothers (Kirk & Kraig) that had a really progressive form of punk/pop/funk.

Their live shows were just fantastically fun in support of their lone album, Biota Banda. They also had other stuff they were working on which was performed during their numerous shows circa 2001-02. I thought they were poised for a breakthrough and then...gone.

Twins fans may recognize this as for several years they played it when they were coming up to bat in the bottom of the first.

Double Dutch

 


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