Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, electric blues, gospel, jump blues, as well as country music. While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
Charles Edward Anderson Berry was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
The Animals are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The Animals are known for their deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon and for their gritty, bluesy sound, exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic number-one hit single "The House of the Rising Sun" as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "I'm Crying", "See See Rider" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". They balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.
The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.
Low was an American indie rock band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993 by Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. The band was a trio from 1993 to 2020, having featured four different bassists. Low disbanded following the death of Parker in 2022.
Haley McCallum, professionally known as Haley and formerly Haley Bonar, is a Canadian-born American singer and songwriter who was raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. She has lived in Duluth and currently St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2009, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where she spent a year writing songs for her 2011 album Golder. She plays acoustic guitar, baritone electric guitar, electric guitar, and Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric piano, either solo or with her Twin Cities-based band, including Jeremy Ylvisaker, Robert Skoro, and Jacob Hanson.
Charlie Parr is an American country blues musician. Born in Austin, Minnesota, he spent part of his childhood in Hollandale before starting his music career in Duluth. His influences include Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Reverend Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Mississippi John Hurt, and his self-professed "hero" "Spider" John Koerner. He plays a Mule resonator, National resonator guitar, a fretless open-back banjo, and a twelve-string guitar, often in the Piedmont blues style. He is divorced from Emily Parr, who occasionally adds vocals to his music. He has two children.
Michael Joseph Moody is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden he founded the Moody Marsden Band, and later, The Snakes, having previously collaborated with unofficial 5th Status Quo member Bob Young in Young & Moody. Along with Marsden and ex-Whitesnake bassist, Neil Murray, he formed The Company of Snakes and M3 Classic Whitesnake with which they mainly performed early Whitesnake songs. From 2011 to 2015, Moody toured and recorded with Snakecharmer, a band he co-formed.
The Homegrown Music Festival is Duluth, Minnesota's annual showcase of local music from the Arrowhead region, which includes Minnesota's Iron Range and communities on the north and south shores of Lake Superior. It happens every year during the first week of May. The 26th annual Homegrown is scheduled for April 28 to May 5, 2024.
Harvey Mandel is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career.
The Twin Ports Music and Arts Collective commonly referred to as "The MAC", was an all-ages venue in Duluth, Minnesota from 2004 to 2005. The organization was formed by a group of 10 musicians and artists from the Duluth/Superior area who saw the growing need for an open, non-genre specific, performance and gallery space. After originally considering moving into an empty space beneath Duluth's Electric Fetus, The MAC found more conducive space in a 3,000 sq ft (280 m2) building that was once home to the Minnesota Ballet. The space was large enough to support two performance stages, a large "green room" area, and an impressive amount of wall and floor space for art installations. The young organization raised its initial startup funds by holding two benefit concerts featuring such bands as Trampled By Turtles, The Black Eyed Snakes, and The Dames, as well as from generous donations from supportive community members including then Mayor Herb Bergson.
The Keep Aways is an American punk band from Duluth, Minnesota. Since releasing their début album in 2004, the band has toured the U.S. with Black Eyed Snakes and Low. The Keep Aways music has been compared to Babes in Toyland and The Gossip by the College Music Journal.
Father Hennepin is an American alternative country band from Duluth, Minnesota. Since releasing the debut album "Crooked With Gin" in 2001, the band has been perennial headliners of the Homegrown Music Festival in Duluth.
Crew Jones is an American Hip hop band from Duluth, Minnesota. Since releasing their full debut album "Who's Beach" in 2003, the band has performed with Charlie Parr.
If Thousands is an American drone band from Duluth, Minnesota. Since releasing their debut album "Candice Recorder" in 2001, the band has toured the US with Low. If Thousands' music has been featured on NPR. Christian McShane also performed with Charlie Parr in the band Devil's Flying Machine. Aaron Molina was previously part of the rock band Small Engine City. Nathan Amundson of Rivulets performed on their album Yellowstone.
Red Cardell is a French, Breton rock band, that mixes Breton music with rock, folk, blues, world music and chanson réaliste.
C'mon is the ninth full-length album by American indie rock band Low. It was released on April 12, 2011 on Sub Pop records. The album was recorded at Sacred Heart Studio, a former Catholic church in Duluth, Minnesota, where the band previously recorded 2002's Trust. The album includes guest contributions from Nels Cline, Caitlin Moe of Trans-Siberian Orchestra (violin) and Dave Carroll of Trampled by Turtles (banjo).
Duluth Does Dylan is a 2000 album featuring songs by Bob Dylan covered by bands from Duluth, Minnesota. The album was mixed and recorded at Inland Sea Recording in Superior, Wisconsin, and mastered at Spinout Studio in Burbank, California. Duluth Does Dylan was produced by Tim Nelson and Tom Fabjance, and features cover and liner art by Chris Monroe. The liner notes were written by Brad Nelson, then publisher of the Duluth Ripsaw.
The 4onthefloor is an American rock and roll band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 2009. The group is known for each member playing a bass drum and for writing all their songs in 4/4 time, evoking their namesake. Their music has been featured in such television shows as ABC’s Nashville and A&E’s Duck Dynasty, including a feature as the main theme on the Season 1 DVD. The group has produced five original albums and has been featured on a number of compilation albums, including American Buffalo. The 4onthefloor’s debut record, 4×4, has been called “one of the best rock and roll records of 2011,” by Indie Media Magazine. Their live show is known for keeping “packed crowd[s] intensely involved for an entire show”, with “call-and-response choruses” and “meaty guitar riffs.” Their sound has been reviewed as “heavy-stomping blues-rock.”
