Local Music and Art
This show was originally set for the Minnesota Music Coalition’s Summit in mid April, unfortunately the whole state shut down due to the freak blizzard that happened instead. Happily the show featuring the stand out local talent of Mayda, Venus DeMars and Ingeborg Von Agassiz has been rescheduled and is happening tomorrow night at The Cedar Cultural Center! [Read more…] about MMC Presents Mayda & Venus DeMars with Ingeborg Von Agassiz at The Cedar Cultural Center 6/29/18
On this Thursday May 24th a very special concert will occur in one of the most unique settings in Minneapolis. If you haven’t had a chance to visit Bella Luna Studios at The Wolf House in NE than this is your opportunity to see it for yourself! I can promise you that your eyes won’t lack for enchanting things to fall upon, and since this is a concert your ears will be entertained as well.
The event is a fundraiser for the MN Music Coalition, the sole MN nonprofit devoted to serving musicians of all ages, genres and backgrounds. In a climate of decreasing funding to the Arts in general, the MMC has dedicated itself to helping artists to not only survive, but to thrive.
Headlining the event is singer-songwriter Chris Koza, who is well known for his work in Rogue Valley, and most recently his solo project Nobody Kid. Koza is a wonderfully charming performer, and I’ve come to look forward to the near instant rapport he creates with his audience. He is at the heart of things a songwriter that draws from his everyday life and it’s maybe the little things that he takes note of, the things that others might totally dismiss that makes him both so captivating and accessible.
Special guest Lydia Liza might be most recently well known for her re-working of the classic holiday hit “Baby Its Cold Outside” that went viral. The song got loads of radio play and became number 1 on Spotify. The song proceeds were donated to The Sexual Violence Center of Minnesota and RAINN. Liza is an alum of the Bomba de Luz and has worked with acclaimed musicians like Toki Wright, Eric Mayson, Big Cats, Jeremy Messersmith and more. There is no one who can surpass the energy that Liza brings to the stage, she exudes pure joy and has a beautifully impressive melodic range. I have never seen an artist so unaffected by being onstage, so herself.
In the environment of full disclosure I have to admit that I am emotionally involved with The Wolf House. When I was in High School my art teacher Lauri Svedberg lived there and created the space. When the home was sold a few years ago there was some news coverage because of its uniqueness. Some didn’t appreciate the artistic vision with which it was imbued. Others fell in love with it immediately. I remember seeing a FB friend write about it and several negative comments bordering on rude being written about it–I admit it made me very angry. Although it is true that “art is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone will have their own interpretation”, I think they missed the point. The home was an extension of Svedberg’s creative vision, and immeasurable talent.
I think you’ll walk into the space and find what you need there. I have always felt enveloped in the care that Sved gave to the home and personally to me as a student. Sved as a teacher was intuitive and inspiring. In intensive studies art class she gave us a lot of freedom to create, and also allowed us to bring our own music in to play in class as we painted, drew or sculpted. I invariably brought local music: The Replacements, Arcwelder or such, and she let me forgo the no cursing in music rule because I think she understood what it all meant to me, those songs. I wish you could meet her, but her wonderful home might be as close as you’ll get because she no longer lives in Minnesota.
That The Wolf House continues its life as a creative force is invaluable. The fact that Bella Luna Studios hosts literary events, art showings and concerts like this MMC fundraiser is such a tribute to the artist who created it. My sincere gratitude to the buyer of the home and all they have done to honor its legacy.
Consider coming to the MN Music Coalition fundraiser this Thursday May 24th at 7 PM, seats are limited so act fast.
Learn more about Lauri Svedberg and The Wolf House
~Rebecca Marx, Photo Credit Justin Blair (Koza) & Peter Jamus (Liza)
Sometimes we find the things we’re looking for, and sometimes they find us. I grew up not having a thing to do with music – playing college hockey, obtaining a masters degree, and advancing in a career were center stage. But then a few years ago a song came on the radio that made me want to make songs too. I’m not certain why. Maybe it’s because we all have stories to tell, we all have things inside that deserve to take flight into the world. “What you are is not who you’ll be” – if we dream, we can be whoever we want.
These songs are about feeling like we know ourselves one moment, and like we’re lost the next. About having almost everything, but not the one thing. About all the spaces we find ourselves, inside and out. Because sometimes all we can hang onto are hopes and dreams, and in this space that might be all we need.
Andy Cook’s second release In Space delivers an evolved sound that holds the guitar-driven Americana of his debut at the core, while adding new layers of sound and a direction that is both modern and reminiscent. Produced by Jeremy Ylvisaker (Andrew Bird, Haley Bonar, Alpha Consumer), In Space covers territory from sweeping and psychedelic to urgent and pressing, with lyrics that pit a wry cynicism against determined optimism.
Cook was born and raised in Minneapolis, and pursued a very-Minnesota dream of being an ice hockey goalie. Hockey brought Cook to the East Coast for college, and perhaps without realizing it those long bus trips are when the interest in music began to develop. While teammates listened to hip-hop and hard rock, Cook found himself drawn to a combination of classic American country and the icons of 1960’s British rock and roll.
The desire to play that began on hockey bus trips took hold as Cook grew in a career managing clinics at Minnesota’s largest community hospital and took to long-distance triathlon racing. “Doing” was a part of life, but “making” became a way to live it. Cook had to pick up a guitar, learn to play, and begin to write. What started as an interested effort grew and grew, until Cook found himself immersed in the Minneapolis music community, learning from everyone he could and looking up to artists who a short time later would become teachers, producers, collaborators and bandmates. Now about to release a second EP, there is only more to come from this late-comer to the music scene.
With special guests Harvey Benson and ar.birn. Turf Club. Thursday, February 9, 2017. 7:30PM. $8 advance, $10 door. 21+.
Rebecca Marx
Photo Credit Tony Nelson
Minneapolis has a long and storied love affair with music, but her twin sister Saint Paul has long been overlooked in comparison as a home for music. Yet another rivalry between the Twin Cities it seems! However, the last several years have been witness to an explosion of new venues in Saint Paul, creating an arts culture that challenges that stereotype. [Read more…] about Mayor Coleman & the MMC present 2016 The Year of Music in Saint Paul & Ben Lubeck’s Rented Rooms Album Release
Ben Lubeck is a songwriter based in Minneapolis. He is a founding member of Farewell Milwaukee and has released three records with the band. “Rented Rooms,” Ben Lubeck’s solo debut, is due out February 26, 2016. With special guests Silverback Colony and Mary Bue. Turf Club. Thursday, February 11, 2016. 7:00pm. $10.00 advance, $12.00 door. 21+.
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