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Thursday, September 29, 2005

Swimmer's Ear Magazine Interview

The current issue of Swimmer's Ear Magazine features an interview with me. Swimmer's Ear is available at select skate shops & record stores in Minnesota and a few venues. (Not yet sure which ones.)

Here's a list of Minneapolis locations where you can find a copy: Fobia, Cal Surf, Extreme Noise, and Treehouse. It will also be available in Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud, and even Iowa.

I haven't seen it yet. And it's been so long since I was interviewed I can't remember what they asked me. I'm sure it's interesting though.

An Evening of Kirtan Chanting with Dave Stringer



As if Sunday, October 2nd weren't already full enough with alternative music-related events -- Pagan Pride takes over the Whole Music Club, The Nordic Roots Festival wraps up at the Cedar, 89.3's Guest Session Sundays kicks off at the Fitzgerald with guests Happy Apple, and Drinking with Ian films a new episode at the 7th Street Entry (see the HWTS calendar for details on show times) -- Dave Stringer brings Kirtan Chanting (an ancient form of Sanskrit singing) to the Yoga Center of Minneapolis.

Kate Galloway of Vamp Music Source, who represents Stringer, says he puts a "definite contemporary edge" on what he does, and pointed out he used to play rock music, for anyone scared by the new-agey sound to it.

Check out some MP3's here. And read more details below:

Dave Stringer has been profiled in Time, Billboard, In Style, and Yoga Journal as a leader of the new American kirtan movement. Kirtan (from the Sanskrit word meaning "to sing") is an ancient practice of mantra chanting that has become popular as a participatory live music experience in hundreds of yoga studios across the U.S. As Dave says, at a kirtan "You’re not just listening to the music, you are the music."

Dave's sound marries the transcendent mysticism of traditional Indian instruments with the exuberant, groove-oriented sound of American gospel music. A spontaneous and articulate public speaker, he probes the dilemmas of the spirit with a sly and unorthodox sense of humor. His work translates the ancient traditions of kirtan and yoga into inspiring and thoroughly modern participatory theatre, open to a multiplicity of interpretations, and accessible to all.

In the past five years Dave and his band have toured all over the United States, Canada and Europe, giving more than 600 performances. He has collaborated on recordings with Vas, Rasa, Donna De Lory, Axiom of Choice, Suzanne Teng, and Sheila Nicholls, and has performed with other noted kirtan singers Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. His voice can also be heard on the soundtracks of the film Matrix Revolutions and the video game Myst.

About Kirtan:

Kirtan is a folk form that arose from the devotional Bhakti yoga movement of 15th century India. The primary musical feature of kirtan is the use of call and response, a figure that also deeply informs Western bluegrass, gospel music and jazz. The form is simple: a lead group calls out the melodies and the mantras. The crowd responds, clapping and dancing as the rhythms build and accelerate.

7th Annual Nordic Roots Festival



The funky characters in all the artist names below will probably wreak havoc on the css in my blog producing characters even stranger than the ones I copied and pasted below, but here's the full schedule for the 7th Annual Nordic Roots Restival at the Cedar.

September 30 - October 2
7th Annual Nordic Roots Festival

Friday, September 30, 8:00pm
Ellika & SoloBill Frisell (U.S.) and Bruce Molsky (U.S.)
Frigg (Finland/Norway)
$22 advance/$25 day of show

Saturday, October 1, 2:00pm
Knut Hamre (Norway) with Tina Quartey, Marc Anderson and Dean Magraw
Annbjørg Lien (Norway)
$15 advance/$18 day of show

Saturday, October 1, 8:00pm
Gåte (Norway)
Hoven Droven (Sweden)
$22 advance/$25 day of show

Sunday, October 2, 2:00pm
Triakel (Sweden)
$15 advance/$18 day of show

Sunday, October 2, 8:00pm
Hurdy Gurdy (Sweden)
Garmarna (Sweden)
$22 advance/$25 day of show

Festival passes are also available for $99
For more info on the Nordic Roots Festival go to: www.nordicroots.org

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Announcing Twin Cities Fashion Weekend



Mark your calendar for the first annual Twin Cities Fashion Weekend, a four-day fashion frenzy taking place in the Twin Cities from October 20th to October 23rd. Local fashion designer and Voltage: Fashion Amplified producer, Anna Lee is promoting the weekend of fashion-related events. Each event on the roster is independently produced.

Kicking off TCFW is Minneapolis Fashionistas, a local designer runway show at the Fine Line, produced by Dahli Langer.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a "Fashion Crawl" will include stops at Local Motion, Cliche, Design Collective, ROBOTlove, Shu Global Footwear, Exile and Wear It, spanning the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Each boutique will showcase work by local designers.

Though the entire weekend has a festive spirit, it would not be complete without its own official parties. Friday evening, Design Within Reach will host the launch of ODO fashions and website, (Organic Design Operatives is a network of eco-conscious creatives www.themightyodo.com). Saturday includes a Ruby3 "Hats and Cocktails" party featuring live music at Creative Electric Studios from 5 to 8 p.m. Afterwards, from 9 p.m. to the wee hours, head over to Attitude City: Twin Edition, a twin-themed disco party and interactive fashion show. (www.attitudecity.com)

Other events include an electronic styleshow performance by The TV Sound and Jacy McIntosh Friday night at Steven Hutton's studio, Artwear in Motion at the Textile Center Saturday and Sunday, and on Sunday Coffin Candy, a photo exhibit by fashion designer Shannon Schafer, as part of the Fashion as Art/Art as Fashion Exhibit, sponsored by Mplsart.com.

For more information: Anna Lee (annalee@ruby3.com)

Official website: www.mnfashion.com

Zombie Pub Crawl coming October 15th

Look out. The Zombie Pub Crawl is coming October 15th.

Organizer Taylor Carik said part of the idea was "to bring back the dead and bring the dead to the bar."

Sounds reasonable to us for some strange reason. Details at http://www.zombiepubcrawl.com

Thursday, September 22, 2005

2005 MMA Awards



Dan Schultz captured this photo of me and Mark Wheat (above) before Jen Boyles and I made our MMA Awards Presenations Wednesday night.

Ross Raihala
has a full review of the event here. Chris Riemenschneider has his here. You can see Dan Schultz full photo set here, and my humble attempt at photojournalism here.

Below is my favorite photo of the night. Jen in the green room just before we went on to present.

Jen Boyles - in the green room before presenting

Oh, and this just in. Read Lindsay Thomas's great synopsis here. I agree with that the awards ceremony would be improved by being shortened. And it's true, that by about 1:15-1:30 when the event ended, the crowd was about half the size it was at 10 p.m.

And as far as the City Pages vs. HowWasTheShow in the "media" category goes, I couldn't agree more. It is indeed an honor to lose in such a David vs. Goliath contest. But City Pages winning best music media is like Prince winning best guitarist. It's probably a good idea to split out the print from web media in future years as it will also help ensure the nominees list includes more web media that deserve exposure, like DUNation, and Tiny Mix Tapes, and The Big Ticket, none of whom were even nominated in 2005.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Music and Awards Presentation Schedule for Wednesday's MMA Awards at First Avenue



Whether you are musician, a presenter, or just a fan who doesn't want to miss your favorite performer or the announcement of your category's winner, I've posted the complete schedule for Wednesday's Minnesota Music Academy Awards here.

http://www.howwastheshow.com/weblog/mma.html

You may note that I am presenting the award for Best Guitarist again this year. If Prince wins and shows up, that's going to be one hell of a photo opp, so be sure to bring your camera.

Other presenters include Rex Sorgatz of mnspeak.com, Ross Raihala of the Pioneer Press and Lindsay Thomas and Jen Boyles of the City Pages.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Music For Hurricane Relief Benefit at First Avenue, Tonight

This just in from our friends at DUNation.com

Music For Hurricane Relief Benefit


Wednesday, September 14th
5:00-9:00pm
First Avenue (Mainroom)
701 1st Ave N.
Minneapolis, MN
All Ages, $6 (you can give more)

[Performing]
Belles of Skin City (MMA Best New Band)
Big Quarters (City Pages Cover Boys)
Brother and Sister (Ice Rod's Band)
DJ Snuggles
Doomtree (Sims, Dessa, Mictlan)
Green (Jazz Band)
Guardians of Balance
T-Hud (MN Timberwolves)
The C.O.R.E.
Unknown Prophets

Hosted by Sentwali and Sam Soulprano

Sponsored by YO! The Movement, Radio K, Dunation.com, KMOJ, We Win Institute, the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, and others.

The proceeds from this event will go directly to 3 different families.

Vernon Cade - Vernon was on life support in a hospital in Natchez, Mississippi. Natchez is between Biloxi, MS and New Orleans who were both hit. Natchez did not get hit but they had a large influx of people who needed medical service. Vernon was sent home, but when he got home he did not have power so he began dying. His family in MN had to purchase a generator and ship it to him because they could not get to him.

The Larson Family - Scott Larson, his wife and 3 children lost there house, which was destroyed during the floods in Gulfport, MS. They lost everything. Two boys and one girl are being relocated to Minnesota and need gift cards and funds for school. The children are the niece & nephews of Lars Larson who brought you Dunation.com.

Hope For the Cities - They are taking donations for the 3,000 people who are being relocated from the south to Camp Ripley in Northern Minnesota. They need items and money. http://www.hopeforthecities.com/HurricaneReliefFund.htm

Friday, September 09, 2005

Twin Cities Hurricane Katrina Benefit Shows



Pete Scholtes has been doing a terrific job these past couple weeks of posting thought-provoking images and reports about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on his blog, Complicated Fun. Pete also has the latest information on Twin Cities Area Benefits to help the people affected by this disaster, and to help the City of New Orleans rebuild.

The Star Tribune today also has a fairly comprehensive list of benefits that you can attend to help do your part.

The size of this mess is such that it really will take all of us to help start setting things right again. HowWasTheShow will do its best to get all these events posted on the Recommended Events Calendar as soon as possible. We will also be reporting from some of the shows, including Sunday's show at the Fine Line that features Leroy Smokes, New Congress, Skywynd, Fitzgerald, Romantica, Booka B and more. Proceeds go to the Red Cross. (6 p.m. Sun., Fine Line Music Café, 318 1st Av. N., Mpls. 18 & older.)

Visit the Red Cross Website and donate today. (The online site can accept donations of as little as $5, and every bit helps.)

Thursday, September 01, 2005

I'll be the guest on 89.3's "The Local Show" with Chris Roberts this Sunday at 5PM



I'll be the guest host of The Local Show with Chris Roberts on 89.3 "The Current" on Sunday, September 4th at 5PM. Don't worry. If you miss it, the show will be archived till doomsday on the show's homepage.

Chris Roberts is a friendly but challenging interviewer, which made for a little more formal and less folksy discussion than the ones I've had on Homegrown with Mei Young and Dave Campbell, Jason Nagel's Minnesota Music or Radio K's Music Lover's Club. Additionally, we taped the show at the end of a full workday for me, so I was feeling a little tired and zoned out, and I missed being able to look up dates and names on the CD covers (they were in the control room with Chris) or confirm information on the internet before opening my mouth. But overall, it think it went pretty well and I don't think I spread any more misinformation than usual.

Most importantly, I think the music I picked out makes for a good listen. 4 out of 5 songs I selected were from bands Chris had not previously played on his show. And I think a few of them may have even been 89.3 debuts.

Here's what you'll hear Sunday, interspersed with probably a bit too much babbling on my part:

  1. Dwindle (http://www.dwindleband.com/) - "someone else" (History is Easy) - Chris had played "alone deserved" on his show July 24th. I recently got this CD from Guilt Ridden Pop and have really enjoyed it.
  2. Murzik (http://www.murzikmusic.com/) - "Bluebird"
  3. Fort Wilson Riot (http://www.fortwilsonriot.com/) "Heir to a Throne" - On the drive home from the studio I started to wonder if this is actually the song we played. It's the one we planned on playing, and the one we announced. I guess we'll find out Sunday.
  4. Autobody Experience (http://www.autobodyexperience.com/) - "A Cave Beneath My Cube" (Forgotten Lots) - Autobody Experience is still going strong. They were one of the first local bands I recall seeing after moving to Minneapolis in the late 80's. Look for a live review on howwastheshow.com one of these days, as soon as I can get my schedule to jive with the band's erratic performance schedule.
  5. Wes Burdine and the Librarians (http://www.wesburdine.com/) - "A Sense of Duty" (This is How I Discovered Gold) - Wes Burdine is not only a thought-provoking songwriter, but a feisty and prolific political and music blogger as well. (http://pandasthatwontscrewtosavetheirspecies.blogspot.com/)

As an alternate song I had selected Free Range Pickin's "The Waiting," but we didn’t have time to play it. And I really wanted to play Lily Liver's "Movie Star," but neither Chris or I had a copy.

OPERATION BRASS AID - Rebirth Birth Brass Band Show to Raise Funds for New Orleans Storm Relief Efforts



On Saturday, September 10th, local music fans will gather at The Cabooze on The West Bank and contribute donations for the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund to aid victims of Katrina. The Southern Baptist Convention's Tennessee state unit is currently on site in New Orleans providing mobile kitchens, shower units, clean up and recovery to residents of the city. Southern Baptists are the third largest disaster relief force in the country.

Members of local act Jack Brass Band and The Cabooze will accept donations for OPERATION BRASS AID on behalf of the SBC. Jack Brass and The Cabooze have hosted many well-known acts from New Orleans and are committed to helping out their hometown in this time of need. We would like to show our friends from Orleans and The Rebirth Brass Band what a charitable group of music fans we have in the Twin Cities. Last time Rebirth came thru Minneapolis, over a dozen fans from the 6th & 7th wards and the Treme neighborhood followed them to the Cabooze bringing the crescent city's brass band party atmosphere. Now we want to give a little something back to these good people.

Tickets $12. 18+ Doors 8:30, show 9:30

Links for more info:

Ticket Available at:
  • www.cabooze.com
  • The Joint: 913 Cedar Ave Mpls
  • Electric Fetus: 2000 4th Ave So. Mpls.
  • Know Name: 1309 SE 4TH St Mpls
  • Treehouse Records: 2557 Lyndale Ave., S. Mpls
  • O'gara's: Snelling & Dale in St Paul
  • All Ticket Master Outlets & www.ticketmaster.com & by calling 651.989.5151