Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
The Beltrami County Historical Society will host the second annual melodrama fundraiser Thursday, August 29th at the Beltrami County Fairgrounds. Local actors will bring exaggerated drama and over the top characters to “Round House Nellie, He Can’t Catch You There” and a play written by Bemidji-based author and playwright Roy C. Booth, “Grandpa Jim is Dead.” Beltrami County Historical Society Executive Director Gary Rozman stopped by the morning show to tell us about the event and the appeal of melodramas.
Bemidji 10th grader Charlotte Saxton took home first prize in the 15-25 year age bracket of the Bemidji Sings! competition earlier this month with her rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade. In late September she’ll compete against vocalists from across the state in the Minnesota Sings! competition. She’s passionate about pursuing dreams of musical theater and to that she’s honing her craft. Private voice lessons, competitive show choir and the Bemidji high school musical are just a few of the ways she’s strengthening her chops. Charlotte stopped by KBXE to chat about the Bemidji Sings! competition, what will happen at the state finals and, among other things, how she calms those butterflies when overcome with nervousness before performing.
Blake Shippee fronts this 7-piece Duluth rootsy rock band. They released a debut album in 2015, followed up by two more including 2018’s Ice Cream. We found out more when they joined us in the studio on April 30th for a preview of their Homegrown Music Festival performance the same night at The Sports Garden in Canal Park.
Sawyer Corcoran from Puposky is a kid who is fueled by music. He’s been playing violin since the age of 4 and the mandolin came shortly thereafter. In a number of local bands, Sawyer is as comfortable sitting in on jams with kids his own age as he is with folks decades older than him. And he can hold his own, no matter the skill level of those he sits in with.
He recently won the Junior Division of the MN State Fair Fiddle Contest. He also took home 4th place in the Waltz competition and 2nd place in the Fe-Fi-Fo competition – both of those competitions have no age categories – everyone competes against each other no matter their age. Earlier this month, Sawyer took home first prize in the Junior-Junior Division of the MN Old Time Fiddle Contest in Mountain Iron. He stopped by the morning show to chat about his passion.
Karie Kirschbaum, Mayor of Gary, MN discusses “The Gary Pines Project”, giving a brief history of the region famous “Gary Pines” – hundreds of acres of pine trees in NW Minnesota – and what the 1930’s Depression project turned into, in 2019…. the change has been dramatic!
Art, some would say it touches their soul. Some might say the same about nature. If you combine the two, you get something like Art N’ Soul, which is the moniker local artist Cary Wyninger goes by. Whether it’s hiking through one of our local parks or trails or painting barefoot so that she can feel the earth beneath her feet, Cary has a love of combining nature and art. Her work often incorporates natural scenes and wildlife bursting with vibrant colors. Cary recently had an exhibit at the Acoustic Café in Winona, MN. I caught up with Cary at the historic Trempealeau Hotel where we discussed her art, nature, and the connections she feels they create within her soul. I would encourage you to check out her artwork as you listen today at Art N’ Soul on Facebook.
Olivia Skaja recently won the Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championship in Mountain Iron for the third time in her life. She’s passionate about her music and pursuing it professionally. Olivia will begin her junior year at St. Olaf College this fall where she is studying violin performance. She stopped by the KAXE studios to talk about her music and she even played a couple songs!
