Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
We’re still social distancing. But we’re still making stuff. Some artists have changed what they make. Others have changed how they make it. KFAI’s Barb Abney hosts from home and shares an uplifting interview with Twin Cities hip-hop artist Nur-D, who just dropped an EP recorded entirely from his bedroom. We also hear an intimate audio diary from Minneapolis poet Ed Bok Lee where he and his daughter discuss skeletons, tell stories and share knock-knock jokes. It’s adorable and, you guessed it, poetic.
This native of Michigan’s U.P. is now based in Minneapolis, where he recently recorded a fourth album, The Fire and the Medicine, due out this spring. We found out more when the Americana singer/songwriter joined us in the studio on February 26th He performed the same night at Bent Paddle Brewing in Duluth.
Sarah Stonich originally released her book Fishing with RayAnne under the psuedonym Ava Finch. It’s recently been re-released as simply Fishing! under her real name. Stonich will be the featured author at today’s Brown Bag Author Series facilitated by the Brainerd Public Library.
Rachael Kilgour and Sara Pajunen make up this duo that combines Rachael’s singer/songwriter/guitaristbackground with violinist Sara’s classical and improvisational training and deep roots in Finnish folk music. They recently released an album oftraditional folk tunes called And We’llAll Go Together. Listen to our virtual session with them; they talked about the album and shared some tunes on May 29, 2020. They have a livestreamed concert coming up on June 7.
This Twin Cities singer, songwriter, and guitarist was last in our studios as part of The Big Wu. This time around he has a new solo blues album to share, The Musician & the Muse when he joined us on January 31st. He had a release show the same night at The Caddy Shack in Duluth’s Lincoln Park.
A native of England, this singer/songwriter has lived in the Twin Cities for several years now, performing in bands including The Camdens before releasing her first solo album in 2012. Vernon’s most recent album, Suit of Hearts, was released in 2019 and features the musician on ukelele, which has become her primary instrument in recent years. We found out more when she joined us in the studio on February 25th. She performed at a fundraiser organized by Gaelynn Lea for local organization Peace*Love*Haiti; the event happens on Saturday, February 29 at Duluth Cider and also features The Murder of Crows (Lea’s duo with Alan Sparhawk of Low) among other bands.
This local supergroup features Marc Gartman, Trampled by Turtles members Dave Carroll and Tim Saxhaug, and drummer Kyle Keegan. They’ve released their first full-length album, Among the Wild, produced by Low’s Steve Garrington, and were scheduled to have a Duluth release show on March 13, 2020 at Pizza Luce in Duluth, but just before our in-studio session they got the word that the show had been cancelled due to coronavirus fears. Fortunately they stuck around to play some songs for us and talk about making the album. We’re entering a difficult time for musicians and other artists who depend on live shows; you can help out by buying music and other merchandise.
This Minneapolis folk singer/songwriter recently released her tenth full-length album, Ordinary Love, with a virtual release show. We heard some songs from the record and caught up with the musician, who was still going by just “Ellis” when she was last in our studios several years ago, on June 26.
