Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
Original Air Date – February 27 2023
Becky Schlegel is a Rochester-based songwriter who’s led a musical life since she was young, playing with her family band and immersing herself in classic country music. She’s put out records regularly for the last 20 years with a style that evokes both country and bluegrass music, and become and award-winning Minnesota artist. She joins Will Moore and Carl Solander on the Scenic Route ahead of her performance at the Grand Marais Ole Opry on February 25th.
Original Air Date – February 15 2023
Dog and Tony Show is the musical project of Tony Thomas, a multi-instrumentalist who has played around the Twin Cities music scene for decades in all sorts of musical genres. The second release under this name, Thomas talks about how the record evolved from two wildly different sounding EPs, how his upbringing and family in Southern Minnesota inspired songs, and shares some of his other creative endeavors.
Original Air Date – January 27 2023
Ditchbird is the moniker of Minneapolis-based guitarist Tony Petersen, who has just come out with the solo project’s second album entitled “Luck”. Petersen hails originally from the Duluth area and has played previously with The Social Animals, St. Anyway, Colleen Myhre, and now is part of a new duo called Prank Williams. He speaks with Will Moore about how the new album allows him to explore new levels of his own creativity, and why he chose to produce the record completely at home. He also performs 3 songs from the album.
Original air date – January 20 2023
Paul Metsa is a lifelong musician, writer, poet, and artist at heart from Virginia, MN known for his band Cats Under the Stars and playing with Minneapolis West Bank greats like Willie Murphy and Spider John Koerner. In his new book Alphabet Jazz, he details the memories of so many Twin Cities musical personalities who have passed on, as well as some of his own family members and dear pets, amidst poetry, song lyrics, and lost letters. With the book is a companion CD reflecting the songs in the book and his music over the years. He speaks with Will Moore on the Scenic Route and reads passages, even one written by a dog…
Original Air Date – January 13
Dennis Warner hails from the small town of Clearwater, MN, just south of St. Cloud and has been singing for college students, elementary students, and audiences of all ages for over 30 years. He comes to Grand Marais for a North Shore Music Association show at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. He speaks with Carl Solander and Will Moore about his music as well as his song “Beads on a String” that has inspired a children’s book and international anti-bullying campaign.
Original Air Date – January 8 2023
Early Eyes is an energetic and uniquely creative pop group from the Twin Cities featuring five young musicians with a complex but ultimately delicious sound. The whole bands join Will Moore by phone amidst their band rehearsal to talk about their origins as a group, and their 2022 album “Look Alive” ahead of their first show in Cook County at Papa Charlie’s in Lutsen as part of their annual Ski Party music weekend.
Early Eyes is:
John O’Brien = guitar
Jake Berglove – keys/vocals
Joe Villano – guitars/vocals
Sam Mathys – drums
Megan Mahoney- bass
Original Air Date – January 4 2023
Gregg McVicar is the longtime host of Undercurrents Radio, a national music program for public stations that focuses on highlighting Native American artists amidst a vastly eclectic mix of music. WTIP listeners may know the program well as a cornerstone of the station’s programming on weekday afternoons and late nights. Will Moore speaks with McVicar about the shows beginnings, goals, and plans for the future, as the program will be phasing out of production in 2023.
Original Air Date – December 30 2022
Carl Hansen is a videographer based in Bozeman, Montana who grew up here in Cook County. His family has long owned Sawbill Canoe Outfitters and he graduated from Cook County High School. A part-time musician accomplished on drums and bass, he calls in to the Scenic Route with Will Moore to talk about how his job, along with a wild set of circumstances, led to he and his friend Chester Floyd playing their first gig together opening for bluegrass band Trampled By Turtles at a large venue in Atlanta. Carl’s story is a must-listen for fans of the famed Duluth-based band and local music lovers alike.
Original Air Date: December 23 2023
Sarah Morris is a Twin Cities based songwriter with a brand new holiday-themed album entitled “merry, little, light”. Timmy Haus is longtime musician in Cook County who is part of the Rock n’ Roll Xmas Spectacular, a series of live shows based out of St. Cloud. Both of them call into the Scenic Route with Will Moore to talk about what they’ve been up to.
The crew is joined by the St. Paul Parks & Rec Director, a BIPOC hometown boy, to talk about the importance of rec centers and staying active. They reminisce about using rec centers as kids and discuss recent advances in accessibility and safety. Andy Rodriguez, St. Paul Parks & Rec
