Here's a group I've been wanting to write about since last July. I stumbled on The Honeydogs latest EP, Sunshine Committee, while I was in the middle of moving between states/blogs/periods-in-my-lif e, and it's taken a while to get them on here. Summed up, I'd describe this short record as perfect driving music. For me these songs will always be linked to driving around the streets of Indianapolis as a new transplant, trying to find my way to whatever it was we were looking for at the time: a hardware store, a park downtown, a Super Target. It's [...]
Minnesota and its cities and towns may not get the musical props of a California or New York, but the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have long and proud traditions popular music that date back to the early 1960s, when artists such as "Spider" John Koerner were the buzz in local coffee shops. Still home to many revered musicians who just never left the frozen north, I present 10 great artists from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. 1. Replacements The Replacements started as a sloppy punk band devoted to getting [...]
MUSIC NEWS - Today, the 10,000 Lakes Festival (10KLF) organizers announced "single day" tickets will be offered for the Saturday, July 25 performances. A limited number of single day 10KLF music-only festival tickets will go on sale Friday, April 24, starting at $75 for general admission and $99 for general admission and overnight camping. Saturday's concerts begin at noon and end at 3 AM, featuring over a full day of festivities with more than a dozen performers including Dave Matthews Band, Umphrey's McGee, Ozomatli, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Tea Leaf Green, Todd [...]
With all the bad news out there, it's good to see some optimism from Adam Levy and his band The Honeydogs with heir new mini-album, "Sunshine Committee." While it's not full of sugar, it does offer a less gloomy outlook than the previous effort "Amygdala." Bassist Trent Norton contributes some great baselines to the opening title track and it works in tandem with Levy's guitar. Add to this the rich horns section horn section comprising new members Matt Darling and Steven Kung and piano bring the group back to it's rootsy sound. "Fiber Optic Paramour" is a cool story about [...]
The lineup for the 2009 10,000 Lakes Music Festival was announced a while back while we were still on hiatus, and they announced a few lineup additions late last week. The festival is set for July 22-25 back at Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, MN, the long-time site of the beautiful and intimate four days of camping and musical celebration. Read on for the full lineup. 10KLF '09 Lineup Dave Matthews Band Widespread Panic (2 nights) Wilco [...]
AUSTIN, Texas - He once landed a major record deal at the South by Southwest Music Conference, but Honeydogs frontman Adam Levy returned to the music industry's biggest bash last week with a new...
"Good Fight," a new song from the upcoming Honeydogs Sunshine Committee EP, could very well be the mantra for the long standing Minneapolis based band. While many bands and trends have come and gone, the Honeydogs have been a pop music institution in the Twin Cities for over 14 years. Their latest EP collects the usual suspects, with literate pop songs mixing with the white boy funk that lead singer/songwriter Adam Levy has been playing with his Hookers and Blow cover band over the last few years. "Good Fight" is one of the strongest tracks (in reality, all [...]
MUSIC NEWS - The 10,000 Lakes Festival has announced additional acts to their 7th annual music festival held at the Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota July 22 thru 25. The music festival, anchored by headliners Dave Matthews Band , two nights of Widespread Panic , and Wilco , has just added artists such as Gomez, Mason Jennings, Todd Snider, North Indiana All Stars and many more (full list below). The 10,000 Lakes Festival's artist lineup features over sixty acts performing on the festival's four stages. Organizers have also announced a ticket "layaway" [...]
It is most satisfying when you hear an artist who sounds like he's lived through this music. And lead singer/songwriter Jeff Davis set up shop with Fergus Griffin (guitar) and Also Silver (bass) to write a big fat love letter to all the girls he's loved before. The group settled together in San Francisco involved producer Bond Bergland, and producer Jeff Saltzman (Green Day, Two Gallants, The Killers) and included drummer Michael Urbano (Sheryl Crow, Cake, John Hiatt). "Your Star Was Shining" is a gloriously tuneful collection of rock-songs with an emphasis on songwriting and melody. It seems equal influence [...]
It is most satisfying when you hear an artist who sounds like he's lived through this music. And lead singer/songwriter Jeff Davis set up shop with Fergus Griffin (guitar) and Also Silver (bass) to write a big fat love letter to all the girls he's loved before. The group settled together in San Francisco involved producer Bond Bergland, and producer Jeff Saltzman (Green Day, Two Gallants, The Killers) and included drummer Michael Urbano (Sheryl Crow, Cake, John Hiatt). "Your Star Was Shining" is a gloriously tuneful collection of rock-songs with an emphasis on songwriting and melody. It seems equal influence [...]
City of Champions is the first solo album from co-founder of the venerable Gentlemen Losers, Harvey Barham. It is a themed album about life in Duncanville, TX and it opens at "3 a.m. in Duncanville" with a great opening melodic riff and a sound similar to Gary Louris (of The Jayhawks). Barham's vocals are low, but effective here. It goes through a description of the struggling area, where "all the girls are virgins/ all the boys are nerds" - it's ain't Lake Woebegon, folks. The liner notes chronicle the transformation of the suburbs from a utopia to a bit [...]
The Cities 97 favorites will release a new EP and debut songs off their forthcoming full-length.
After time with The Luxury Liners and The Foxymorons, Singer/songwriter David Dewese had the urge to put out a solo album. I'm glad he did, because it's got great melodic songs and a laid back Nashville aura surrounding the music. "Dear Self" is a smooth acoustic/piano pop theme with a catchy hook. "This Too Shall Pass" is a great stomping mid tempo number supported by strings, piano, and timpani. It flirts with the country sound much like The Honeydogs, even though it's got a pop structure. Many of the songs are simple guitar tunes, done with intimacy and emotion [...]
Justin Kline has that sweet pop vocal that sounds a bit like Cliff Hillis or Marc Bacino with some very strong melodies, and well structured songwriting that recalls modern pop of The Honeydogs with the musical sensibilities of ELO and Jellyfish. The opening track "All I Need" is pure power pop ear candy. Then "Heart Attack" continues with a sharp chorus and those pointed guitar riffs. "How I Became the Wind" shares a sunny disposition with Tim Myers and the good life. Using sleigh bells, organ, echoing guitar and "whoa, whoa" backing vocals that are so full of [...]
Time isn't up, this isn't over, and we're not done. Reality for many people these days is a tough one and money is scarce if it's around at all. People are hurting and anxiety is in the air. But with the help of our unprecedented cast of friends we've raised enough contribute a little to the education of a number of Twin Cities students. I'd like to thank everyone who was able to donate and I'd like to thank the artists who gave us their time, words and music. For those of you who [...]
photo: Sharolyn B. Hagen Aby Wolf's only upcoming scheduled show is set for December 13 at the 400 Bar, playing with The Honeydogs and Aviette. In the meantime, here's a previously unreleased track entitled "Drama Queen." Aby Wolf "Drama Queen" (mp3) Aby Wolf: ( MySpace ) This post is part of our 60-hour blogathon in support of music development and literacy within the Twin Cities. We appreciate you visiting the site - but before you go, we ask that you consider [...]
How did you get into making music, and how did arts education (or lack thereof) affect you and your music? I talked my folks into letting me move to guitar from piano in eighth grade – at the time (1983) I wanted to emulate the metal bands I was into at the time. I would watch MTV with my guitar and learn parts (if they were faking them correctly in the videos) and eventually developed my ear for learning from the recordings. Between the piano and the guitar I was able to [...]
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