Recounting the past months part 1 - Cinco De Mayo

This summer has come on hard and fast.  I have long since shaved off the winter beard I had for it's warmth, wind blocking, and easily cleanable functionality.  I apologize to my readership for having taken such a long time off from writing. Sadly, I realize and lament how vital a link my blog is to the music community.  I have neglected to cover quite a few shows in this last few months and I should do justice for those hard working bands out there.  I will try my best to continue covering the music scene.  I truly wish that I had the income to support attending, reviewing, and acknowledging all the daily activity of shows the Twin Cities music scene has to offer.  Hopefully one day my efforts, along with those of others in the local scene, will help foster the audience and interest in local music that this area deserves.

So yeah, that was a fun little diatribe.  In lieu of the posts I didn't write over the last few months, I will endeavor to arrange the major highlights from the spring and early summer months into a few posts to keep from making one overwhelmingly long post.  i.e. CD release parties and the like. 

Despite the fact that I haven't been blogging as much these last few months, to my credit I have not been entirely inactive in the online music scene. I've posted quite a few sets of local music on my MNlocalmusic Soundcloud account over the last few months.  So far the list amounts to over three and a half hours of play time with 10 sets of Local Gems from artists around the twin cities area.  Many of the bands I included in those sets I have blogged about already, and the others deserve exposure too so check them out. 


Way back on Friday April 26th 2013, as the snow was finally dissolving into obscurity, I headed to the Driftwood Char Bar in south Minneapolis to see the Space Monster CD release show.  Their groovy, funky, psychedelic, galactic, jazz inspired rock combination got the crowd dancing.  http://spacemonsterband.wix.com/main 

The other bands on the bill that night were Sticky Smash, who's set I missed, and Brice Plays Drums, who played some interesting technical jazz rock groves.

The following day Saturday April 27th was the Saint Paul Art Crawl.  As a local music supporter I recieved an invite to the artists lofts on University Avenue where an impressive new band of recently graduated students from the McNally Smith College of Music called Step Rockets played for an intimate gathering of art enthusiasts and friends in their loft.  It was a beautiful spring day and the music complemented that perfectly.  Their musical talent and originality is impressive and fun to move and groove to.  I added their single If You Tried as the first song on the MNlocalmusic Soundcloud set Local Gems 6. 

On May 1st I biked through the reluctantly receding wintery weather to the Fine Line music Cafe to see the first ever show by a band a new band called Snowbank.  I had bumped into the lead singer and guitarist for the band at the Cause Spirit and Sound Bar during a show in April.  I was happily obliged to join them for their first show ever.  Additionally, I added their single as the first song for my Local Gems 5 set on the MNlocalmusic soundcloud. Their first show went well and sounded good despite a lackluster weekday crowd, a somewhat odd mixture of bands on the bill, and the understandably shaky presence of their nascent band experience. 

The following Saturday May 4th was Sabastian Love of Bad Medicine Productions' birthday celebration at the Sound Gallery.  He called it the first annual Dark 13 celebration.  It was an epic lineup of bands, rappers, and artists all coming out to celebrate one of the most influential music promoters in the Twin Cities area.  This was my second time attending a show at the Sound Gallery.  Like my first experience it was a diverse crowd of people from all walks of life who appreciate local music.  The two room venue was set up for two simultaneous stages: one in the bar area, and another in the main room.  Along with the musical festivities and featured bar room DJ Naughty Wood, there was a photo booth provided by Patrick McCutchan (www.StudioMcCutch.com), visual projections by VJ Mach FoX (www.MachFox.com), and live art by Angela Bird, Jon Andersen, and Paul Solem.  The full list of bands was as follows:

Voodoo — (www.facebook.com/TheVoodooPage)
PENNYROYAL — (www.PennyroyalMusic.bandcamp.com)
Hᴏᴛ Dᴀᴍɴ! — (www.facebook.com/HotDamnBandMN) 
The Japhies — (www.facebook.com/TheJaphies)
Dem Atlas — (www.facebook.com/DemAtlas)
The Set — (www.TheSetMusic.com)   
Danger Ron & The Spins — (www.DangerRonTheSpins.bandcamp.com)
Patrick Callan — (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZh6Iq_7sQk)
The Wives — (www.facebook.com/The.Wives.Band)
Big Dylan, Chantz, Taylor, and Unfuh Qwittable of Audio Perm — (www.facebook.com/AudioPerm)  
KiDs LiKe Us — (www.KidsLikeUs.bandcamp.com)
Space Cats — (www.facebook.com/SpaceCatsMN)  

Although I would love to have been able to get pictures of all the bands and artists, I was only able to get pictures of a few groups because the libations, along with the conversation and entertainment, were flowing freely .  None the less, it was definitely one of the most impressive and entertaining shows I have ever been to.  Not only is The Sound Gallery a unique and interesting venue, but the people who attended truly made the night a success.  

Patrick Callan

The Wives

 

Space Cats

Hot Damn!

Kids Like Us

Kids Like Us (DJ)

Part of Audio Perm Packing the bar stage

Part of Audio Perm

Audio Perm DJ

The Japhies

Voodoo

Starting in earnest on Cinco De Mayo (May 5th), Minnesotans finally received consistent relief from the cold.  People started flocking to the streets to walk, bike, socialize, and relax.  As an avid year-long biker, the large number of people biking made me especially happy.  Just one week prior to to then we received inches of snow accumulation as the oppressive and seemingly never ending winter lingered on with cold temperatures and frustratingly cold precipitation unable to figure out exactly whether it wanted to be snow or rain.  Our hearts and minds thoroughly enjoyed the catharsis of spirit that finally came from the soft spring rains, greening trees, and budding flowers.  Though the late winter weather had constrained the spring effervescence of spirit we longed for much longer than usual, the trees finally showed the end of the cold season with an explosion of buds on every branch and the cacophony of sound resulting from spring twitterpation.

Comfort Food

Super Normal

Black Diet

On Cinco De Mayo there were a couple of fun events.  Every year there is a mayday parade and festival at Pouderhorn Park in Minneapolis, MN.  The parade is well known for featuring masterful puppetry by In The Heart Of The Beast Puppet and Mask Theater.  Although I missed the parade this year, I did catch a couple of the musical acts on the stage in Pouderhorn Park before heading to a nearby house party to see my friends perform.  It was the first outdoor house party with music I went to this year.  It was also the first time I got to see an impressive band called Black Diet.  The show also featured the return of my friend Cassidy Anderson's band MeMeMe, my first time seeing Noah Itman of Itmusic.us's project called Super Normal, and another unique project by some friends called Comfort Food. 

MeMeMe

With that I will draw this to a close for now.  Like I said earlier, there are still a couple months of backlogged events to cover.  I will work diligently to get those posted soon.  I once again apologize to my readership for procrastinating.  Please make sure to check out the MNlocalmusic Soundcloud channel to hear sets of great local music. 

Last Weekend's Events and Those to Come Soon

Today is Tuesday April 9, 2013.  Tonight I plan to go to a Kareoke contest at Tailgate Sports Cafe right by my apartment in south Minneapolis next to the intersection of highway 62 and 35 W.  Though spring is still silently stalking us somewhere in the future, the music season here is really starting to ramp up as band after band announce new CD's and shows.  I'm really excited to enjoy this year.

Last night I went to a show at Honey in Northeast Minneapolis, MN.  I missed the opening act, but the bands I saw were Moving Parts and Air Taiwan.  I came with a couple friends who I had run into earlier and whom suggested to me the show at Honey for the dancy music that would ensue. 

Moving Parts were an incredible new local band just fresh out of college at The Institute of Production and Recording (IPR).  Their music was fantastic dancy groves to keep me moving.  The bartender even doubed me fantastic dancing Matt, I was very fond of his compliment.  Although I was the only person dancing most of the night, I enjoyed it thoroughly.  I'm not like most people who feel awkward to be alone, or close to it, on the dance floor.  So ironically though it's kinda unfortunate for the bands who would love people to move with them, I actually thrive and like when that happens even though it would be fun if other people joined in.  None the less it was incredibly fun and entertaining music.  Additionally, their new album just came in.  Though the show was not billed as their official release party, which will happen soon I imagine, I got myself a copy of their new album and I must say it is thoroughly as lively and dancy as the show!  These guys will be a fun band to follow and see in the future.  I'm sure to be making it out to more of their shows in the future. http://movingparts.bandcamp.com/

After The Moving parts came Air Taiwan.  They kept the mood just as lively and energetic again in spite of most everyone not dancing.  I used all the space that wasn't being used and had a ball dancing around to their awesome groves.  Along with some excellently chosen covers from several decades of popular music, they had excellent new music of their own to bring their energy into the world.  I know my fellow Minnesotans, while mostly not dancing, save a couple here and there, were none the less soaking up the music in their own ways and enjoying the vibes as they washed over them.  http://www.reverbnation.com/airtaiwan

This last Sunday I had a fun game of Munchkin Fu, a table top card game, with my family.  http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/munchkinfu/  Wondering why this is relevant?  It's not to music.  But it was fun none the less =P  It also shows a little of my inner nerdyness.  I LOVE music.  But I appreciate a lot of things other people feel awkward acknowledging, like watching the TV shows Glee, Smash, and Nashville.  I like all forms of musical entertainment, wheither it be an A Capella group, a ska band, musical theater, the opera, some local funk metal, a garage band with aspirations of being something more than what anyone expects of them, and everyone in between.  The world is full of people searching for meaning, but so few realize that everyone's searching in their own way and sometimes get bogged down in the silly little things in life that tie us up from day to day instead of fully enjoying the moment like we feel compelled somewhere deep inside to.  That's why I dance, I'm not afraid of people judging me.  I'm not doing it for the people who are going to be negative to me, I'm doing it for myself, the band, and the people who are feeling the vibes like I am.  It's so much fun.

I should also mention I had a great night at The Sound Gallery again this last Saturday night April 6th 2013.  I got to see Sean Anonymous Spit some sick lyrics.  I enjoy his high speed and interestingly rhythmic rapping poetic stories.  He is certainly one of my favorite local rappers in the cities who goes somewhat under-appreciated but performs impressively.  It also helps that hes a really nice dude too.  http://seananonymous.bandcamp.com/

Saturday was the center peak for the weekend's awesomeness with a great group of people gathering to listen to music and socialize into the early hours of the morning.  The DJ for the music in the bar was an awesome guy I recent met who happens to be founder and CEO for a new music website built on a philosophy of meritocracy and interactivity based influence rather than pay for play influence.  It's an interesting concept and I think it's worth reiterating from my earlier post, since the site is currently in development so it's invite only.  However, if you want to get in on the ground level you can go to the website and request an invitation by entering your e-mail at http://itmusic.us/invite/

So what's to come in the near future?  This Saturday April 13th I am planning to go to the 21st art exhibit opening show at Cause Spirit and Sound Bar at Lyn-Lake in Minneapolis.  I bumped into Tony Rydell, the Curator of the exhibit for Cause, while I was at The Sound Gallery this last Saturday.  They always have an impressive array of local art they display, it's something equally to be appreciated in my eyes just as music, or dance, or any other form of entertainment. https://www.facebook.com/events/549791068374953/?ref=2

Beyond that, on April 22 my friend who is the great musician that is the lead singer and one of the two guitar players for the band The Lone Crows will be turning 21 years old.  He also plays in a band called Hot Damn!, who will also be playing that night.  Oh, and the exclamation point is part of the band name, so yes that was intentionally awkward looking grammar.  To top off the nights festivities The Jelly Project will also be playing.  So essentially, two of the bands from the last show I posted a blog about and the additional band from the birthday man will be rocking the house with their awesome blues, rocking bass riffs, shredding guitar licks, killer drum beats, and clear ringing vocal energies.  https://www.facebook.com/events/430371873700255/?ref=2

Later still on Saturday April 27th The Jelly Project will be playing with Fuzzy Machete, Up Jumped the Devil, and I Am Fuzz.  Fuzzy Machete are another epic rock and roll band of girls who kick that rock up a notch and make me dance.  https://www.facebook.com/events/353136248119320/?ref=2

May 4th 2013 will be Sabastian Love' Birthday party. He is the force behind Bad Medicine Productions.  https://www.facebook.com/BadMedicineProductions  There will be 13 bands playing on two stages at The Sound Gallery.  This will certainly be an epic fun night of music to remember.  The list of bands from Voodoo, The Japhies, The Wives, and Francecamp for certain I know already.  I am excited to hear and see all the bands at this epic music gathering.  21+ https://www.facebook.com/events/545979038769248/?ref=2

MAIN STAGE

★ Voodoo — ≈ 10:00pm
(www.facebook.com/TheVoodooPage)

★ PENNYROYAL — ≈ 11:00pm
(www.PennyroyalMusic.bandcamp.com)

✤ Hᴏᴛ Dᴀᴍɴ! — ≈ 12:00am
(www.facebook.com/HotDamnBandMN)

★ The Japhies — ≈ 1:30am
(www.facebook.com/TheJaphies)

★ Dem Atlas — ≈ 2:30am
(www.facebook.com/DemAtlas)

★ The Set — ≈ 3:30am
(www.TheSetMusic.com)

★ Danger Ron & The Spins — ≈ 4:30am
(www.DangerRonTheSpins.bandcamp.com)

BAR STAGE featuring DJ Naughty Wood all night! (www.NaughtyWoodMusic.com)

★ Patrick Callan — ≈ 10:30pm
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZh6Iq_7sQk)

★ The Wives — ≈ 11:30pm
(www.facebook.com/The.Wives.Band)

★ Big Dylan, Chantz, Taylor and Unfuh Qwittable of Audio Perm — ≈ 1:00am
(www.facebook.com/AudioPerm)

★ KiDs LiKe Us — ≈ 2:00am
(www.KidsLikeUs.bandcamp.com)

★ France Camp [solo] — ≈ 3:00am
(www.facebook.com/FranceCamp)

★ Chants & Seas — ≈ 4:00am
(www.facebook.com/ChantsAndSeas)

▼
♆ Photo Booth by Patrick McCutchan (www.StudioMcCutch.com)
♆ Visual Projections by VJ Mach FoX (www.MachFox.com)
♆ Live Art! (details to come)
▲

☆☆☆For A Complete List Of Shows☆☆☆
www.facebook.com/BadMedicineProductions

Of course those are simply the ones I have invites for this early on.  I will likely be going to many more shows, and blogging about those experiences as well.  So look forward to more musical musings from me Dancing Matt Sudduth in the future.

There is one last thing I would like to add, although it is not related to music.  A former coworker and friend of mine Celine Kitzenberg is preparing for a half marathon run on Sunday June 2, 2013 and she is looking for support to help raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  She has been blogging about her progress as she prepares to take on the task of running 13.1 miles for a race.  Please donate to a worthy cause, it is always a good thing to be charitable.  http://pages.teamintraining.org/mn/minneapo13/ckitzenber

As The Snow Slowly Melts

Despite the fact that winter seems unwilling to depart this chilly climate even a week after the official start of spring, the local Minnesota Music scene is starting to heat up for the upcoming warm season.  Here in Minnesota musicians have a tendency to hunker down for the winter to work on new material.  This makes logical sense too since your average music patron tends to be less interested in going out to a show when they have to travel through frigid temperatures and brave treacherous road conditions.  There have been some very entertaining shows over the last few months for those stalwart supporters of local music, but the months ahead promise great new songs and albums as the hibernating Minnesotans slowly thaw out of their winter stupor.  

For a few local bands the music festival season started early with appearances in early March at this year's South By Southwest festival in Austin, TX.  However, most of those bands have already received enough press in my eyes and do not need redundant exposure.  Likewise, the point of this blog isn't to fluff the nationally acclaimed bands who grace the likes of The Current, because they already have press teams following their every move.  I want to bring exposure to the bands anyone in the Twin Cities can go to see for less than ten dollars at a local venue and meet personally.  Our local music scene has many more musicians than are observed on the national radio channels, and they are all starved for and deserving of attention. 

With that in mind I would like to dedicate this post to a band that probably flew under the radar of most people at the South By Southwest Music Festival.  The Jelly Project are a local band who played on their label Funk-It Records' stage March 14th at SXSW.  They have been making heads bang and bodies rock in the local music scene for the last couple years as they slowly gain regional, national, and international acclaim.  Their music is gritty rock infused with the vocal styling of their charismatic lead singer Jelly, who's powerfully emotive voice evokes the style of Janice Joplin.  Check out their music and find upcoming shows at http://www.rockthejellyproject.com/  Additionally, they will be playing a show this upcoming Friday April, 5 2013 at The Triple Rock Social Club along with two other awesome local bands: The Lone Crows and La Madness.  This should definitely be a night to remember!  If your so inclined this is a link to the Facebook event for the show.  https://www.facebook.com/events/139827836188783/?ref=2

The Jelly Project at The Cabooze November 29th 2012

Another important event to take note of happened this last week.  Last Thursday was the Website launch party for a new music site based here in Minnesota which is designed as a tool for bands to gain exposure and interact with musicians across the globe.  The site is called itmusic.us  and their goal is to offer a meritocratic community for musicians to post their work, give feed back, and collaborate with other musicians.  The meritocratic elements allow bands to gain influence and credibility by interacting with other musicians in a social environment rather than paying directly to be promoted.  The idea is that the more a band or artist gets involved with the site the more credibility and attention they will receive.  The site is still in closed beta testing to work out the dynamism of such a complex matrix of interactions, so if you want to get involved in the ground level of such an innovative new site go to itmusic.us and add your e-mail to receive an invite into the burgeoning community.

The website launch party was an epic gathering of local musicians who spanned all genres and illustrated how interactive and inclusive the the Twin Cities music scene is.  There were performances ranging from an acoustic guitar duet called Hog Nosed Bastards to the video-game-music sampling rap of Style Biters and included a presentation by the CEO and founder of itmusic.us Noah Itman about the trajectory and intent of the new website.  Look forward to more news as the website progresses from it's primordial state into a new and innovative music institution.

Hog Nosed Bastards performing for the itmusic.us Bananza at The Sound Gallery

https://www.facebook.com/HogNosedBasterds?__user=1101231776

The Flamin' Oh's performing for the itmusic.us Bananza at The Sound Gallery

https://www.facebook.com/FlaminOhs?fref=ts

Mississippi Rising performing for the itmusic.us Bananza at The Sound Gallery

https://www.facebook.com/MississippiRisingMusic

CEO and Founder of itmusic.us Noah Itman giving a presentation about the new website

Style Biters performing for the itmusic.us Bananza at The Sound Gallery

https://www.facebook.com/thestylebiters

If anyone who attended has some awesome pictures from the other performers Sherbetty https://www.facebook.com/sherbetty?fref=ts , Burnet https://www.facebook.com/seans.page.5?fref=ts, or the DJ's please let me know so I can add them to this post.