Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
Tas Cru is a musician, songwriter, performer, educator and mentor. He has been recognised as one of today’s best lyricist in the Blues Community and I got to have a chat with him recently. We talked about a number of topics as well as his latest release on the Vizztone label, “Simmered & Stewed”
Not to be confused with the singing cowboy from the 40s and 50s -although named after him, this blues man is a master at the slide guitar. Let’s take a journey to hear some delta blues and newer blues from this player, writer, Grammy nominated musician and producer.
Most commonly associated as the lead front man for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kim Wilson has actually been more of a continuous “Blues” musician aficionado than just being “tough Enough” in the mainstream music world. He has been playing blues for over 45 years and is still going strong in the blues world of performing and recording.
Midnimo, which means “unity” in Somali, is a multi-partner project anchored with the Cedar Cultural Center that was bringing world renowned Aar Maanta to the area to provide opportunities for the communities of Mankato, Minneapolis, and, what would have been this week, St. Cloud to come together for a deeper understanding of Somali culture within the larger American environment.
The events of the program were cancelled, however, after Aar Maanta’s visa was never returned after being approved, and now the community is simply left to wonder about what happened, what’s being missed out on, and what the future holds for these and other programs that rely upon functioning governmental processes in order to operate.
Today’s installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota is aptly titled “The Week That Wasn’t” as Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with Jane Oxton from Paramount Arts, Experiential Learning and Outreach Director from St. Cloud State University Dan Huwe, and Amhed Abdi from St. Cloud’s Somali Radio about the effects of the cancelation of this week’s Midnimo residency and performances by Somali musician Aar Maanta.
About ten years ago, the Herberger School of Business on the campus of St. Cloud State University moved to its current location in Centennial Hall, and this left a “naming” vacuum on campus where the building it left behind was simply called “Building 51.”
Professor Christopher Lehman, however, has an idea of whom the building that houses the departments of English, Political Science, and Ethnic and Women’s Studies should be named after. Her name is Ruby Cora Webster, and she graduated in 1910 from the St. Cloud Normal School as a teacher. She was also the first African American to graduate from what is now St. Cloud State University.
In this installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with Christopher Lehman about Ruby Cora Webster, the challenges she faced getting an education during the era of Jim Crow, and how the naming of a building on campus for a pioneer in the school’s history ties into the racial conversations currently going on today.
In today’s Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack takes us down to Lake George to experience the first annual Fred Yiran African Arts Day. In partnership with the Granite City Days Family Fun Day, this Legacy funded event brought folk together from around the local area and the nation to celebrate the teaching, energy, and life of one of the community’s most cherish artists.
With plans already in development for next year’s event, the Fred Yiran African Arts Day not only promoted unity through diversity, but also demonstrated it with music, workshops, and a great time had by all.
In this mostly musical piece, we settle down into the audience of nearly 200 supportive students and staff at the University Program Board’s Fall 2017 Open Mic.
Held back on October 4th in the Atwood Memorial Center’s Quarry, the night featured 20 separate, diverse acts that ranged from hip hop to folk, stand up comedy to poetry, and A cappella to beatbox.
In this Untold Story of Central Minnesota with Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack, we get to catch a selection of the talent that calls St. Cloud State University home, and for a full audio recording of the evening, just click here!
Revolver Studio, the brainchild of local performing artist Scarlette Revolver, just celebrated its one year anniversary of providing a safe, positive, and fun environment for community members to get their groove on.
Hosting a wide variety of regularly scheduled dance and yoga classes, plus monthly one-time workshops with themes such as “Michael Jackson’s Thriller” and “Santa Baby,” Revolver Studio has become a welcoming home to a community of new friends, all having had life changing experiences through Scarlette’s “body positive” approach to teaching even the most intimate of dances.
Join Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack as he speaks with students, teachers, artists, and Scarlette Revolver herself during the anniversary party and gets a definitive answer to the question that always makes magazine sales soar: “how does if feel to feel sexy?”
