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Minnesota: Austin Plaine, Carroll, and High Tiny Hairs

Read More Austin Plaine It takes a bit to find our path. Or to know when we're already on it. Austin Plaine wasn't looking to become the next great singer-songwriter.....

AUSTIN PLAINE
austinplainemusic.com

23-year old Minneapolis native Austin Plaine will be releasing his self-title debut album on Washington Square/Razor & Tie this September 11th. You can currently preview his song "Houston" on Soundcloud:



If you listen to it, a simple message about going back to Houston, Texas, is told in a way that paints this great picture about packing his bags, riding on the railway lines, crossing that county line, and thinking of a girl. Without declaring it, there's a hint of sadness, regret, and the feeling of loneliness on that long road.

Obviously being from Minnesota, Plaine is heavily influenced by Bob Dylan (who isn't?), but his songwriting suggests other heartfelt storytellers, like Conor Oberst and even Bruce Springsteen.

Listen for the first official single "Never Come Back Again" will hit Triple A and Americana radio on August 24th.

I am told that Austin Plaine will announce touring plans soon, in the meantime, he is playing a free show at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 in New York on August 12th.

Read More Carroll Carroll was the first local band on. The band is a Varsity favorite and they had a brief 30 minute set, kicking off with "Sticks" and followed by "Alligator". …

CARROLL
carrollmusic.net

Minneapolis-based Carroll's self-titled LP is coming out September 18th via Entertainment One Music. You can preview "Alligator" from the forthcoming album now.

Hear the song now:



The secret origin of the band came about in 2011 when college classmate Brian Hurlow and Charlie Rudoy teamed up for writing music and the pair moved to St. Paul's Carroll Avenue, tucked neatly in between Summit Hill and the Mississippi River.

After recruiting Max Kulicke and Charles McClung, they decided to named themselves after the street name.... solidifying themselves with other street-named bands like Cedar Avenue, Lake Avenue, The 8th Street Band, Sleater-Kinney, The E Street Band, and Backstreet Boys.

We previously caught Carroll at Communion at the Varsity Theater and mentioned that they won Vita.mn's fourth annual "Are You Local" contest in 2013.

HIGH TINY HAIRS
facebook.com

High Tiny Hairs is the latest project from former F*** Knights guitarist and Nightinghales' front man Ben Bachman.

His upcoming self-titled EP is coming out August 24th, 2015, via Sir Gregory Records, and said to be very dream pop (but with Farfisa organs).

Look for High Tiny Hairs EP on limited edition cassette and digital download.

You can order it via Bandcamp.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

Minneapolis: November 28 - November 30, 2014

Here are some shows taking place in Minneapolis/St Paul on Friday, November 28 - November 30, 2014. Please note that November 27th is Thanksgiving, but as a bonus, I've included two shows for November 29th.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Thee Oh Sees In advance of a transcontinental North American tour co-headlining with Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees will play at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. They take the late slot at the Contemporary Art Museum on …

THEE OH SEES w/ Jack Name
at Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Friday 11/28/14, 8pm
$15: amsterdambarandhall.com

Songwriter, singer, and guitarist John Dwyer's ever-evolving pop-folk psychedelic group Thee Oh Sees is back in Minnesota, at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St Paul.

Opening up for the show will be Los Angeles' Jack Name* (aka John Webster Johns), who previously worked with Ariel Pink and as guitarist in White Fence.

Also on the bill is local unfriendly radio name F*** Knight, who we previously mentioned for Cassette Store Day 2014.

Tour dates:

11.13 Birmingham, AL- Bottletree
11.14 Memphis, TN- Hi Tone
11.16 Raleigh, NC- Kings
11.17 Philadelphia, PA-Underground Arts
11.18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
11.21 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
11.22 Montreal, QC- The National
11.23 Toronto, ON- The Hoxton
11.24 Detroit, MI- Lager House
11.25 Chicago, IL- Empty Bottle
11.26 Chicago, IL- Empty Bottle
11.28 Minneapolis, MN- Amsterdam
12.01 Seattle, WA- The Crocodile
12.02 Portland, OR- Doug Fir (Early Show)
12.02 Portland, OR- Doug Fir (Late Show)
12.04 San Francisco, CA – Chapel
12.05 San Francisco, CA- Chapel

* Not to be confused with Ash's Jack Names the Planets song.

Read More Lydia Loveless Lydia Loveless stopped by the 7th Street in Minneapolis last night, April 24th, as part of her tour in support of Somewhere Else, out now on Bloodshot Records. Turnout to this 7th Street Entry show was incredibly good …

LYDIA LOVELESS w/ Sudden Lovelys
at Turf Club
Saturday 11/29/14, 8pm
$15: turfclub.net

Columbus' Lydia Loveless is back in town... and opening up for her will once again be The Sudden Lovelys. This was the exact same billing when we saw the two bands together earlier this April 2014!

If it is anything like her last appearance, she has a strong support from local (Minneapolis) fans. This upcoming show at the Turf Club should be just as crowded, especially now that the Turf got an upgrade last year, making it cleaner walls and improved bathrooms.

Brave and Alive

Loveless' is currently on tour in support of her latest album Somewhere Else, out now on Bloodshot Records. The Sudden Lovelys' latest Brave and Alive is also out now.

Tour dates:

11/28/2014 Chicago IL Lincoln Hall
11/29/2014 St. Paul MN Turf Club
12/05/2014 Asheville NC The Grey Eagle
12/06/2014 Knoxville TN Bijou Theatre
03/12/2015 Newark OH Ohio State University
04/11/2015 Greer SC Albino Skunk Music Festival
04/24/2015 Indio CA Empire Polo Field

Read More BNLX Minneapolis’ own BNLX took the stage at NYC’s Pianos Thursday night, playing a 45-minute set for a small, but engaging audience. The backroom of Pianos where the band played is of … The Ocean Blue The Ocean Blue is an indiepop band from the late 80s, originally signed to Sire Records. Currently, the band released Ultramarine and is signed to Korda …

LIVE TRANSMISSION / BNLX RELEASE SHOW
at Varsity Theater
Saturday 11/29/14, 7pm
$8: varsitytheater.org

This is billed as a Transmission (aka DJ Jake Rudh) / BNLX release show, but music fans may want to take note that at nearly midnight, The Ocean Blue is scheduled to appear.

BNLX's latest EP (#9) features four new tracks, "Flextime", "This Is Love" (PJ Harvey cover), "Til Death Do We Party (110 dbs)" and "It Was the Light".

Additional details can be found on news.weheartmusic.com:

Minneapolis’ most beloved noise pop organization BNLX smashes an uncharacteristically lengthy period of silence with the new “Flextime” EP and an accompanying all-star release party organized with the legendary dance club Transmission.

The new EP (#9 in the BNLX EP series for those of you counting!) ... To celebrate the new EP, we’re throwing a massive Thanksgiving weekend party at the Varsity Theater on Saturday 11/29 in conjunction with our Transmission friends and a truly awesome collection of bands.

Show schedule:

The Ocean Blue 11:45
BNLX 10:45
Two Harbors 9:45
Frankie Teardrop 9:00
The Rope 8:15
Gloss 7:30

with DJ Jake Rudh spinning between sets and MC-ing throughout!

Read More Home Free Home Free, winners of Season four of NBC’s The Sing Off, are bringing their uplifting and inventive vocal style to Christmas – unveiling a new holiday album titled Full Of Cheer, that will be released …

HOME FREE
at Fitzgerald Theatre
Sunday 11/30/14, 2pm
$28: fitzgeraldtheater.publicradio.org

Home Free are currently on tour for their Christmas album Full Of Cheer, out now on Columbia Records.

For those late to the party, Home Free is an American a cappella group of five vocalists: Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist, Chris Rupp, Tim Foust and Adam Rupp. The group won Season Four of NBC's The Sing Off (2013), and now using their winnings to tour the country. Incidentally, all members are well seasoned, having performed together since 2000, when they were all in their teens.

Home Free's Holiday tour kicks off on November 30th at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul at 2pm (note time). The tour will run until December 22nd in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Tour dates:

11/12/14 Buffalo, NY Center for the Arts
11/14/14 Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square Center
11/30/14 Paul, MN Fitzgerald Theatre
12/01/14 Silver Spring, MD Fillmore
12/02/14 Westbury, NY NYCB at Westbury
12/04/14 Collingswood, NJ Scottish Rite Cathedral
12/05/14 Sugar Loaf, NY Sugar Loaf Performing
12/18/14 Dickinson, ND Trinity High Performing
12/19/14 Rapid City, SD Performing Arts Center
12/20/14 Sioux Falls, SD Sioux Falls Orpheum
12/21/14 Mankato, MN Mankato Civic Arena
12/22/14 Eau Claire, WI State Theatre

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Cassette Store Day 2014

Read More Record Store Day This is like Christmas Day at your local independent Record Store for serious (mostly vinyl) collectors. This seventh annual celebration has grown larger every year …

The second annual Cassette Store Day is taking place this Saturday, September 27th.

Obviously, the whole CSD was inspired by the success of Record Store Day, but I do not believe the two are associated in anyway. The CSD movement started in the UK last year with only about 28 record shops selling about 50 CSD exclusive tapes. This year: over 200 shops are participating and over 300 exclusive CSD tapes are being released for the second Cassette Store Day! The growth is just insane.

Personally, I think vinyl are fine, but I never really understood the cassette thing. I've had such bad experiences with my player eating the tape or the magnetic strip goes bad (via magnets or corrosions). The only thing I like about cassettes are the small size and how good it feels in the hand.

Covering music for the past eight years, of course, I have noticed the steady rise cassettes at live shows. It was all questionable if it was truly popular, until you hear that more and more cassette-only albums were selling out ... and labels like Burger Records were making money on cassettes.

If you live in Minnesota, only two stores are participating this year:

MINNESOTA
• The Electric Fetus — 12 West Superior Street, Duluth, Minnesota 55805
• Dead Media — 3330 E. 25th St. Minneapolis, MN 55406

Three events in Minnesota: September 27, 2014.

Caffetto Coffee House Flyer Dead Media Flyer

MINNESOTA
• F*** Knights/Mary Allen & the Percolators split tape release listening party - Caffetto Coffee House, W. 22nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55405 — TIME: 6:30am-1am (During open hours, the tape will get played in the coffeeshop sound system every hour at the top of the hour, all day long…) — COST: $Free! — SALE: Split Cassettes are sold at $2 per tape — LINK: facebook.com

• Fever Dream Live In-Store Performance & Tape Release Party — The Electric Fetus 12 West Superior Street Duluth, Minnesota 55805 — TIME: 3-5pm — COST: Free!

• Cassette Store Day @ d e A D ^^ e d i a— Dead Media, 3330 E. 25th St. Minneapolis, MN 55406 — TIME: 2-6pm — LIVE MUSIC: Frankie Teardrop (2:00pm), Frances Gumm (3:00pm), and So Big (4:00pm) — COST: Free — LINK: facebook.com

I believe we are only covering the Dead Media event, this Saturday.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic