Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty, keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey of AllMusic described the band as "one of the most unusual cult bands of the 1990s... driven by frontman Mike Doughty's stream-of-consciousness poetry. Soul Coughing's sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism". Doughty himself described the band's sound as "deep slacker jazz". The group broke up in 2000.
Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.
Shellac is an American noise rock band from Chicago, Illinois, composed of Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer and formed in 1992.
Hüsker Dü was an American punk rock band formed in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardcore punk band, and later crossed over into alternative rock. Mould and Hart were the band's principal songwriters, with Hart's higher-pitched vocals and Mould's baritone taking the lead in alternating songs.
Cows were a noise rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota who formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1998. The band’s music mixed punk rock with surreal humour and copious amounts of noise played through distorted amplifiers and trumpet bleats, codifying them as a noise rock band. Throughout their career Cows released nine studio albums, all but one on the Minneapolis-based label Amphetamine Reptile Records. A star in honor of the Cows is on the outside mural of First Avenue.
The Suburbs are an alternative punk rock/funk/new wave band from Minneapolis, Minnesota that was popular in the late 1970s and 1980s. The band frequently headlined at Minneapolis's most influential music clubs, including Jay's Longhorn Bar and First Avenue.
Grant Vernon Hart was an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the punk rock band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1988, he released his first solo album Intolerance before forming the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar. His solo career became his main focus after the dissolution of Nova Mob in 1997.
Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts in the 1990s. Cynthia Johnson of Lipps Inc. and Ann Nesby are the group's most prominent alumni.
Arcwelder is an American punk rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 1987. The band, a perennial local favorite, consists of brothers Rob and Bill Graber and Scott Macdonald, all of whom share in songwriting and singing.
Walt Mink, a former American alternative rock power trio formed in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1989 by guitarist/singer/songwriter John Kimbrough, drummer Joey Waronker and bassist Candice Belanoff. The band released four studio albums over the course of their eight-year career.
The Gear Daddies are a rock band originally from Austin, Minnesota. Randy Broughten, Nick Ciola (bass), Billy Dankert, and Martin Zellar played their first shows together in 1984. They released singles and albums between 1986 and 1992 and became an important part of the Twin Cities music scene. Most songs were written by Zellar, but Dankert had several of note, including crowd favorite "Time Heals".
Gregory James Norton is an American musician, formerly of the band Hüsker Dü.
Lifter Puller, or LFTR PLLR, was an American indie rock band from the Twin Cities and the Boston area between 1994 and 2000. Their music is considered innovative, with its angular riffs and a synth-infused sound that predated the '80s revival fads of the early 2000s. Arguably, however, the band is most known for frontman Craig Finn's elaborate lyrics, which often relied upon an established universe of drug-addled college students, cash-strapped nightclub proprietors, murdered ravers and other nostalgic excursions in Minneapolis and Boston.
Tapes 'n Tapes is an indie rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Trampled by Turtles is an American bluegrass-influenced folk band from Duluth, Minnesota. They have released ten full albums, three of which reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard bluegrass chart. Their fifth release, Palomino, stayed in the chart's Top 10 for 52 straight weeks. Their latest album, Alpenglow, was released on October 28, 2022.
Bob "Slim" Dunlap is an American rock musician. He is a Minnesota-based guitarist and singer-songwriter who is best known as a member of The Replacements from 1987 to 1991, replacing original lead guitarist Bob Stinson. Dunlap also recorded two solo albums in the mid-1990s.
Savage Aural Hotbed is a "found object" band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Formed in 1988, SAH is a four-member band that performs instrumental percussive and ambient music. They are heavily influenced by Japanese taiko drumming, but also feature usage of home-made instruments, metal and plastic barrels, saw-blades, power-tools, and other hardware, both in the albums and in the live shows. They have released seven albums.
The Honeydogs is a band from Saint Paul, Minnesota that opened at First Avenue in 1994.
Rifle Sport Alternative Art Gallery was an underground art space open from 1985 to 1988 in the Block E segment of Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was an important and groundbreaking venue for non-mainstream and punk-rock art in the Twin Cities. Writer Andy Sturdevant has noted that the gallery's memory and influence have lasted among Twin Cities artists long after its closure, "like it might have happened in a Jacques-Louis David painting."
Curtiss A is a musician and visual artist from Minneapolis. One of the original artists on the Twin/Tone Records label, he performs one of the most popular shows in the Twin Cities, an annual tribute to John Lennon held at First Avenue. He was the first musician to headline at First Avenue's sister club 7th Street Entry, and opened for Prince's first concert at First Avenue.
