Music of Minnesota

From WDSE
Music of the United States
This article is about the musical culture of Minnesota. For the musical magazine, see Music in Minnesota (magazine).

The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.

Ethnic music has influenced and developed into modern folk music, and American musical genres such as gospel music, blues and jazz also are part of the state's musical fabric. Musicians, such as the Andrews Sisters and Bob Dylan, often started in Minnesota but left the state for the cultural capitals of the east and west coasts, but in recent years the development of an active music industry in Minneapolis has encouraged local talent to produce and record at home. The city's most influential contributions to American popular music happened in the 1980s, when the city's music scene "expanded the state's cultural identity" and launched the careers of acclaimed performers like the multi-platinum pop singer Prince. The Replacements and Hüsker Dü set off the national alternative rock boom of the 1990s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Twin Cities played a role in the national hip hop scene with artists such as Atmosphere and Brother Ali.

The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra was founded in the early 1900s, and by the 1930s it had attained international stature in performance and recording. Since renamed the Minnesota Orchestra, it regained much of its former renown in the first decade of the 21st century. Classical music aficianados also enjoy and support the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the only full-time chamber orchestra in the nation. Choral groups and community ensembles are located in many communities. The state's educational system provides comprehensive programs in music education. The nation's largest public radio network provides classical and other music programming regionally and to the nation, and independent public stations program a variety of college, folk, and new music.

History[edit | edit source]

The music of Minnesota has its roots with the music of Indigenous peoples of the area. Traditional arrangements are generally based around vocal, percussive and dance music; Dakota folk songs can be celebratory, martial or ceremonial. Early European settlers (French and Métis voyageurs) brought French chansons, which they sang while traveling along their fur trade routes. These songs were described by one visitor as "light, airy & graceful", and were often adapted to the rhythm of their paddles while canoeing. Later European settlers also brought with them traditional folk and classical music, especially choral and Christian-themed music, opera, and varieties of ethnic folk music including Slavic and Scandinavian styles. Modern-day traditional dance music is based mostly around schottisches, polkas and waltzes with instrumentation including fiddle, mandola, accordion and banjo.

The first singing school in Minnesota opened in St. Anthony (now part of Minneapolis) in 1851. The Plymouth Congregational Church of Minneapolis began a singing group in 1857, followed by the first such club for women only, the Lorelei Club (later the Ladies' Thursday Musical Chorus), in 1892. and the Norwegian Singers Association of America has met biannually since 1910. Minneapolis' most famous performers were the Norwegian-descended Eleonora and Ethel Olson and Ernest and Clarence Iverson (Slim Jim & the Vagabond Kid), and Swedish immigrant Hjalmar Peterson, whose company dominated the stage for two decades before the Great Depression. During this era, however, the Leikarring movement (song-dances without instrumental accompaniment) began. Leikarring celebrated national Norwegian folk dance and song through musical societies like Minnesota's Norrona Leikarring.

Education[edit | edit source]

Modern building seen from across the street, cyclist out front, snow on the ground. Six story silver tower. Two story entrance. First floor is glass, second floor is high-ceilinged, dark solid with window in front.
MacPhail Center for Music designed by James Dayton, who worked for five years for Frank Gehry

Minnesotan law provides that public elementary and middle schools offer at least three and require at least two courses in the following four arts areas: dance, music, theater and visual arts. Public high schools must offer at least three and require at least one of the following five arts areas: dance, media arts, music, theater or visual arts. Students may take music at the elementary and middle school ages, and many choose to take the subject as an elective in high school, The Perpich Center for Arts Education is a school of choice which draws students from across the state, and has an extensive modern and classical music education program.

The MacPhail Center for Music employs instructors from all over the world, who teach classes on 35 different instruments, the Suzuki method, and art therapy, to more than 7,200 students each year at 45 locations.

Higher education in music is an important part of the programs at several of Minnesota's universities, including the University of Minnesota, which offers the Bachelor of Music degree in music education, therapy or performance, and graduate degrees in education, conducting and musicology. The School of Music also offers masters and doctorate degrees. The Duluth campus offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre. McNally Smith College of Music, a college of contemporary music based in Saint Paul, offered Bachelor of Music degrees in music performance, recording technology, and music business, and Associates Degrees and diploma programs in recording technology as well as the nation's first diploma in hip hop. McNally Smith College of Music closed in December 2017 due to a lack of funds.

Venues[edit | edit source]

Large venues for popular national music acts in Minnesota include the Target Center, Xcel Energy Center, and US Bank Stadium. Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota's main campus has a capacity of about 3,000, and hosts a variety of music and arts events. Among these is the University of Minnesota Marching Band's annual indoor concert series, which have been performed at the venue since 1961. The Armory and Roy Wilkins Auditorium also fill the need for mid-sized arenas at capacities of roughly 8,000 and 5,000 respectively.

Classical music is heard at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, a 2,500-seat auditorium "justly renowned for its rich, lively acoustics", and St. Paul's 1,900-seat Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Older traditional theaters seating about 2,000 include Orpheum Theatre, Pantages Theatre, and State Theatre, all in Minneapolis, and the Ordway Center. The Guthrie Theater holds over 1,000, and The Cedar Cultural Center can seat 465.

After dark, hundreds of silver stars on the walls. In front of tall buildings downtown, cars parked in front.
First Avenue nightclub

First Avenue, an influential music club in downtown Minneapolis, was opened as "The Depot" in 1970, and went through several name changes until it became "First Avenue & 7th Street Entry" in 1980. Its history of launching renowned acts such as Prince solidifies its importance in the current local scene and in Minnesota music history. The owners of First Avenue also operate the Palace Theatre in St. Paul.

Mid-sized clubs also comprise a large part of the Twin Cities music scene. One popular club is the Myth Nightclub (Also referred to as Myth Live) in Maplewood, a suburb of St. Paul. Numerous bands/artists have performed there including Akon, All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, Lifehouse, Maroon 5, and many more renowned bands. Others include the Cabooze and the Amsterdam Bar & Hall, all of which host all-ages shows as long as they meet local curfew laws (Although some may be listed as 15+ or 16+ for legal liability reasons involving hardcore dancing and other forms of moshing). A notable St. Paul venue that serves local musicians is Minnesota Music Cafe; opened in 1997 it continues to offer live music 7 days a week.

Youth music venues, many of which operate as youth centers by day, include The Garage in Burnsville, Depot Coffee House in Hopkins, Enigma Teen Center in Shakopee, and on some occasions the Apple Valley Teen Center. Also, a few venues catering to crowds of all ages, now gone, are remembered as significant to the Twin Cities music scene. These include the Foxfire Coffee Lounge in downtown Minneapolis and the Fireball Espresso Café in Falcon Heights, St. Paul.

Other defunct but historically important venues include the Pence Opera House, the Coffeehouse Extempore or Extemporé, Jay's Longhorn Bar, and the Uptown Bar. The Prom Ballroom and Treasure Inn in Saint Paul and the Marigold Ballroom and the Flame Cafe in Minneapolis featured prominent jazz, rock, country and other bands in the mid-20th century.

Outside of the Twin Cities Metro Area important venues include the NorShor Theatre in Duluth, Chisholm's Ironworld U.S.A. (renamed the Minnesota Discovery Center), the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, the Verizon Center in Mankato, and Ralph's Corner, for many years one of the premier indie rock clubs in the Fargo-Moorhead area. These venues are often played by hard rock bands such as Halestorm and Avenged Sevenfold that tend to draw more in "B-Markets".

Radio[edit | edit source]

Four stories, with mirror-windows. Electric sign above second floor says MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO - AMERICAN.
Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul

AMPERS is a state-wide association of independently-owned noncommercial stations that play music by local artists. These stations include KAXE, KBEM-FM, KFAI, KMOJ, KMSU, KMSK, KQAL, KSRQ, KUMM, KUOM (Radio K), KVSC, WDSE-FM and WTIP.

Minnesota Public Radio's KCMP "The Current" also plays the music of Minnesota artists.

Recording studios and record stores[edit | edit source]

Minneapolis has been home to several important recording studios. The first studio in the state was Kay Bank, established by Amos Heilicher (who with his brother Daniel did "rack jobbing", jukebox distribution, and owned the Musicland chain), Vern Bank, and studio engineer Bruce Swedien in 1955. The studio recorded hits from The Trashmen ("Surfin' Bird"), Dave Dudley ("Six Days on the Road"), The Underbeats, The Chancellors, The High Spirits, and The Castaways ("Liar, Liar" in 1965). Kay Bank helped popularize Soma Records and a distinctive style based on using three-track recording and echo effects.

Herb Pilhofer and Tom Jung worked at Kay Bank before founding the world's first digital recording studio, Sound 80 in 1969. Orfield lab also achieved the designation for their friends at Sound 80 as "the world's first digital recording studio" in the 2006 Guinness World Records. The two main studios are still fully intact, and they are filed for historic designation by the State and the Federal Government.

Other important studios in Minneapolis include the Dove studio, The facility was also used for commercial production purposes like TV spots and movies, including 1993's Grumpy Old Men. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis founded Flyte Tyme on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis in 1985 and then moved to a 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) complex in Edina, Minnesota before relocating to Santa Monica, California in 2004.

The Twin Cities are home to a few independent record stores, including Treehouse Records (previously known as "Oar Folkjokeopus" and "North Country Music"), the Electric Fetus (also in Duluth and Saint Cloud), Fifth Element, and Cheapo. Let It Be Records, although its storefront has closed, still sells vinyl in occasional public sales and by mail order. The now-defunct Northern Lights Music (and before it, Harpo's/Hot Licks) also carried many local and alternative artists during the 80s and 90s on Hennepin above 6th Street on Block E and at other metro locations in St. Paul's Midway, on White Bear Avenue (St. Paul) and Burnsville. The downtown Minneapolis Northern Lights store later moved to the former location of Music City, another retail music store, at 700 Hennepin. The Midway Northern Lights location survives today as "Urban Lights" under different ownership and specializing in urban/funk/rap.

Genres[edit | edit source]

Classical, choral and opera[edit | edit source]

Modern building, red entrance labeled BOX OFFICE, in front of yellow and blue segments. Trees planted in front. Advertising has images of people's heads painted on building.
Orchestra Hall, Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

The Minnesota Orchestra was founded in 1903 as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Although it was among the first to perform on the radio and to record, it initially was not known as one of the country's great orchestras. In the 1930s, Eugene Ormandy transformed it into an excellent ensemble and expanded its repertory, making it the most-recorded orchestra in the United States, and giving it an international reputation. Other illustrious conductors included Dimitri Mitropoulos and Antal Dorati. Osmo Vänskä, a Finnish conductor, music director since 2003, took the orchestra into its second century. Its live performances and recordings in a program of the complete works of Ludwig van Beethoven have been received with enthusiasm, the group has been called "brilliant", and a critic has stated the musicians are enjoying "their first golden age" since the days of Ormandy and Mitropoulos. Another critic wrote for The New Yorker of a concert in 2010 and its "uncanny, wrenching power, the kind you hear once or twice a decade" and thought that that day the Minnesota Orchestra was "the greatest orchestra in the world". The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is the only full-time professional chamber orchestra in the country, and also tours and records. Professional orchestral ensembles outside the Twin Cities include the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale.

The Twin Cities' oldest major choral society is The Bach Society of Minnesota. The New York Times International Datebook calls the Christmas performance of the St. Olaf College choir "one of the five significant global holiday events". Extending choral work with VocalEssence, Philip Brunelle commissioned more than 100 works for chorus.

For 42 years until 1986, the Metropolitan Opera was in residence at Northrop Auditorium during its spring tour. Opera is now staged by the Minnesota Opera, co-founded as Center Opera by Dominick Argento in 1963, as part of the Walker Art Center. With an early reputation as "progressive (and) 'alternative'",

The Minnesota Boychoir which is the oldest continuously operating Boys Choir in Minnesota and is currently under the leadership of Mark Johnson. The Boychoir has been involved with the Minnesota Orchestra, The Orpheum Theatre, The Zion dance company, as well as other regional and international tours.

Folk[edit | edit source]

Three musicians, left to right: older man with white hair playing drums, middle-aged man looking into camera, older woman with white hair playing accordion. Walls are covered with an American flag and signs.
Ruth Adams and The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band, Nye's Polonaise, voted "The Best Bar in America" by Esquire in 2006

Minnesota is home to many ethnic groups, who brought with them the folk music of their homelands. When these immigrants settled in rural farming areas, their communities retained Old World social and religious patterns that gave a context for music performance. The Norwegian gammeldans tradition, and those of other ancestries, continues in ethnic communities in Minnesota, where waltzes, schottisches or reinlander, and polkas are newer forms of old-time music.

For those whose social life centered on churches where music was prohibited by the Pietist and other movements, music was sometimes done at home or disguised as a game. For others, secular, socialist and temperance halls became the community center where bands could include women. Musical accompaniment includes the accordion, violin, guitar, bass guitar, piano, harmonica, organ, banjo and mandolin.

Full length portrait of young woman wearing a sleeveless dress on left, blond hair pulled back into ponytail, and middle aged male wearing a brown tuxedo on right, in brown longish hair, singing into microphones. Three people seated at right listening, guitar player visible in band at left.
A Prairie Home Companion in 2005

Bob Dylan, a Duluth native, became the first major mainstream solo star from Minnesota in the 1960s, known for his unique lyricism and folk-rock style. He spent a brief period in Minneapolis during 1959–1961, attending the University of Minnesota, where he played shows at the Ten O'Clock Scholar on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus. Bob Dylan the "King of Folk-Rock" had 5 #1 albums on the Billboard 200 from 1974 to 2009, including Planet Waves in '74.

The city's local folk scene produced a few well-known performers in the 1960s, besides Dylan who spent much of his early career based in New York, including the guitarist Leo Kottke and the trio Koerner, Ray & Glover. Folk music continues to be a major part of the Minnesota music scene, and is broadcast by the Prairie Home Companion, a radio show hosted by author Garrison Keillor; the Red House record label is the most influential local label for folk, and releases records by Ostroushko and Greg Brown, among others.

Gospel[edit | edit source]

Minnesota is a creative center of the gospel music tradition. Robert Robinson, a musical treasure who has been called "the Pavarotti of Gospel" is the executive and artistic director of the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir, which Minnesota Monthly said is the state’s most-decorated gospel group.

Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Sounds of Blackness won three Grammy Awards for their music and have performed three times for audiences of 1 billion: at the 1994 World Cup, the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships. Former Sounds of Blackness lead Ann Nesby has top-five hits on Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs charts and is the grandmother of American Idol finalist Paris Bennett. Willie Murphy, who replaced Willie Walker in Willie & The Bees was named "one of the three charter members of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, along with Bob Dylan and Prince," according to Blues on Stage, who added, "the Minnesota Music Association has given more nominations and awards to Willie and his groups than anyone else".

Other players gained loyal fans. Called "The Voice" by Tony Glover, Doug Maynard and his band backed Bonnie Raitt in 1982. Until he died at age 40, Maynard could "break a note into two and three parts simultaneously so that it sounded like he was harmonizing with himself". Larry Hayes, formerly of the Lamont Cranston Band, wrote "Excusez Moi Mon Cheri" which The Blues Brothers recorded. James Samuel "Cornbread" Harris, who collaborated with Augie Garcia and is the father of Jimmy Jam, is one of the area's senior players.

Jazz[edit | edit source]

Stage with three musicians in their thirties. Left to right, man in a suit next to a Steinway grand piano, man in jeans holding a bass fiddle, man in jeans playing drums. Heads of audience visible in front.
The Bad Plus in Amsterdam in 2005

Jazz has been alive in the state since World War II when the Andrews Sisters from Minneapolis recorded the song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" which Bette Midler covered decades later. Local radio host Leigh Kamman covered jazz for more than sixty years, with vintage recordings and interviews with jazz artists.

Pamela Espeland of MinnPost.com has chronicled many of the 3,500 live jazz performances in the Twin Cities during 2009. Pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist Reid Anderson join Happy Apple drummer David King in The Bad Plus, who have performed during Christmas for ten years at the Dakota Jazz Club, a well-known local jazz venue. Composer and pianist Carei Thomas recently celebrated his 70th birthday at the Walker Art Center.

"No list of Minnesota music would be complete without mention of jazz great Jeanne Arland Peterson and her five children, Linda, Billy, Ricky, Patty, and Paul, as well as grandson Jason, who recently celebrated 22 years of performing their holiday shows." Dave Koz said, "There is no family in the world quite like the Petersons. First of all, there's like 700 of 'em, and each one is more talented than the rest."

Born, raised and residing in Minnesota, guitarist Reynold Philipsek performs gypsy jazz music as a solo artist, and with Minnesota gypsy jazz acts East Side, The Twin Cities Hot Club, and Sidewalk Café.

Maria Schneider, born in Windom, is a composer and bandleader who studied music theory and composition at the University of Minnesota.

Other musicians that live and play in Minnesota:

Soul/R&B[edit | edit source]

Waist high portrait of thirty-year-old male, wearing longish hair and short beard, and a black jumpsuit over one shoulder, right hand extended to hold microphone stand. Shirt has unnamed "Prince" symbol on it. Guitar visible behind him.
Prince invented the Minneapolis sound during the 1980s.

Minneapolis became noted as a center for rhythm and blues (R&B) in the 1980s, when the multi-talented star Prince (d. 2016) rose to fame. The city had little history in African American popular music, such as R&B, until Prince made his debut in 1978, eventually achieving five #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy," "Kiss," "Batdance" and "Cream." Prince also had eight #1 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart from 1979 to 1991. He became the architect of the Minneapolis sound, a funk, rock and disco-influenced style of R&B, and inspired a legion of subsequent performers, including the Prince-related acts The Time, Wendy & Lisa and Vanity 6. Curtiss A, who opened for Prince the first time Prince played First Avenue in 1980, at first thought that it was nice of Prince to let him open and then later realized: "You know: 'You guys think this is the top thing in town? Well, here: Minneapolis got a brand new bag.'" Their Flyte Tyme Productions began to gain national attention, and excelled at mainstream urban contemporary music, which had often been shunned by critics. which propelled her career and spawned numerous projects seeing the writing/production team work with artists as varied as Twin Cities acts Mint Condition, Alexander O'Neal and Sounds of Blackness, to internationally-established acts Michael Jackson, New Edition, Boyz II Men, Patti LaBelle, and Human League. Also in 1985, Jesse Johnson's Revue had R&B hits "Be Your Man" and "Can You Help Me" and Johnson produced Ta Mara & the Seen's "Everybody Dance" that same year.

In 1980, Steven Greenberg and Cynthia Johnson, recording as Lipps Inc. at Sound 80, recorded "Funkytown," The song became a cultural touchstone; Homer Simpson of "The Simpsons" said the song moved him like few others, and the song turned into the biggest seller in the history of the PolyGram label. During the mid-1980s, eight children of the Wolfgramm family became The Jets, who enjoyed eight top 10 hits. In 1998, Minneapolis R&B group Next had a #1 Hot 100 hit with "Too Close".

Rock[edit | edit source]

Shoulder high portrait wearing red polka dot shirt and blue sunglasses, sweating, singing into microphone which partly hides his face.
Paul Westerberg, at one time of The Replacements, in 2006

Rock and roll has a long history in the state. Garcia is remembered from the 1950s as the godfather of Minnesota rock 'n' roll. Called by Billboard "one of the top 10 most consistent chartmakers ever", Bobby Vee, who had 38 songs in the Hot 100 charts, still tours with his sons, The Vees. From the 1960s, a series of psychedelic and garage rock singles have become collector's items, including work of Mankato, Minnesota's The Gestures, The Litter's "Action Woman", "Faces" by T. C. Atlantic and Trip Thru Hell by the C. A. Quintet. "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, "Liar, Liar" by The Castaways charted at number 12 in 1965, and the song "Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)" by the Minneapolis hard rock band Crow made the Billboard Top 20 in 1969.

While attending the University of Minnesota in the late 1970s, Yanni played keyboards and synthesizers in several Twin Cities rock bands. He joined the band Chameleon in the early 1980s and enjoyed moderate regional commercial success before embarking on his solo new-age music career.

Largely only known locally for new wave, The Suburbs were released under the local Twin/Tone Records label in 1978, and opened shows for Iggy Pop and The B-52's. The Suicide Commandos helped to galvanize a punk, new-wave community based at first out of Jay's Longhorn Bar.

Prior to the evolution of punk in the 1970s, there was little rock and roll tradition from Minneapolis, which author Steven Blush attributed to a lack of anything to "rebel against", noting that it was Minneapolis' friendly atmosphere that made future hardcore punk musicians "crazy and rebellious". "Every A&R person in New York was present at CBs while The Replacements joyously flushed the set down the toilet, doing nothing but fractions of other people's songs," said Peter Jesperson who recorded them for Twin/Tone.

Six dark haired women sitting at a table in a black room
Têtes Noires, Minneapolis' first all-female rock band, backstage at First Avenue

In the mid-1970s, local musicians in the Minneapolis area began producing popular and innovative acts. Many signed to major record labels, and by the mid-1980s, some had achieved national prominence. and from Minneapolis, Têtes Noires released three albums. The hardcore punk scene grew with The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, who started too early to profit from, but were pivotal in, the development of alternative rock. The Replacements, who "might be the most legendary" Minnesota rock musicians, eventually achieved some limited mainstream success, which led to member Paul Westerberg's solo career, while Hüsker Dü started on local Reflex Records and became the first hardcore outfit to sign to a major label. Soul Asylum was originally a Minneapolis hardcore band called Loud Fast Rules, who played with bands like Willful Neglect, Man Sized Action, Rifle Sport and Breaking Circus; they mixed funk and thrash metal with other influences. The Twin Cities rock scene came to national prominence by 1984, when the Village Voice's critics poll, Pazz and Jop, named three Minneapolis recordings among the top ten of the year: Prince's Purple Rain, The Replacements' Let It Be, and Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade.

Full length portrait, wearing gray T-shirt and blue jeans, no hair, short gray beard, playing electric guitar.
Bob Mould, formerly of Hüsker Dü and Sugar, in 2007

The late 1980s saw new sounds coming out of the state, when two singles from electronic band Information Society, "What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)" and "Walking Away", were MTV favorites. Another group to form about the same time was Babes in Toyland, an early quasi-riot grrl band. Many groups of the 1980s and 1990s eventually split up, and a number of other bands formed from the remnants. Bob Mould left Hüsker Dü after it imploded in 1988, to head Sugar and do solo projects. Trip Shakespeare eventually transformed into Semisonic, who gained popularity in the late 1990s with the song "Closing Time". Other prominent, recent rock acts from Minnesota include slowcore band Low and indie folk/bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles, both from Duluth, experimental rock band Cloud Cult and indie rockers Tapes 'n Tapes, both from Minneapolis. In the 2000s, Minnesota produced a number of acts such as Motion City Soundtrack, Owl City, Quietdrive, Sing It Loud and some metal and hardcore acts such as For All Those Sleeping, After the Burial, Write This Down and Four Letter Lie. Some of these acts like Motion City Soundtrack and Owl City went on to have minor mainstream success, Owl City gained a #1 Hot 100 hit with "Fireflies" in 2009. Emo pop-punk acts, such as Tiny Moving Parts, have been published in Alternative Press.

Hip hop[edit | edit source]

Main article: Twin Cities hip hop
Knee high portrait of male in his twenties, facing right wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, singing into microphone. Young man covering his ears and three people listening in background behind him.
Slug of underground hip hop group Atmosphere, in 2003

The Twin Cities region is home to a thriving underground hip hop scene, due largely to the presence of Rhymesayers Entertainment. Rhymesayers' artists, including Eyedea & Abilities, Brother Ali, Los Nativos, Musab, and, most notably, Atmosphere, began to receive national attention in the late 1990s.

Heiruspecs won City Pages "Best Live Artist" in 2004, and in the same year Doomtree won "Best Hip Hop Artist". For the past several years, through 2008, the scene owed some of its success to the annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop sponsored by Yo! The Movement and the website D. U. Nation. In 2014 Manny Phesto was given "Best MN Releases" title by Pitchfork Media and was credited by XXL with getting Ghosface Killah and Action Bronson to agree on something. In 2019, Lizzo had a #1 Hot 100 hit with "Truth Hurts". "

Electronic dance music[edit | edit source]

Two locally and internationally-recognized Minneapolis electronic dance music artists are Woody McBride and Freddy Fresh (who walks a line with hip hop).

Music about Minnesota[edit | edit source]

Several composers and performers have featured the state in their works. Classical composer Ferde Grofe depicted Minnesota in his Mississippi Suite. John Philip Sousa wrote "Foshay Tower-Washington Memorial March" for the dedication of the Foshay Tower in 1929. Sonja Thompson recorded "Dan Patch Two-Step", and Vern Sutton, Charlie Maguire, Peter Ostroushko and Ann Reed have recorded songs celebrating the Minnesota State Fair. Tom Waits released two songs about Minneapolis, "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" (Blue Valentine 1978) and "9th & Hennepin" (Rain Dogs 1985). In 1987, The Silencers released A Letter from St. Paul. In 1997, The Mountain Goats released a song entitled "Minnesota" on their album Full Force Galesburg. Lucinda Williams recorded "Minneapolis" (World Without Tears 2003). In 1975, Northern Light reached the Billboard charts when they released a song titled "Minnesota" that sang the praises of the state's natural beauty. In 2012, Ben Kyle released a song titled "Minneapolis" that illustrates the close relationship between St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Notes[edit | edit source]

Azerrad, Michael (2002). Our Band Could Be Your Life. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-78753-1.

External links[edit | edit source]

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