The Replacements were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979. Initially a hardcore punk band, they are one of the main pioneers of alternative rock. The band was composed of the guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bass guitarist Tommy Stinson and drummer Chris Mars for most of its existence. Following several acclaimed albums, including Let It Be and Tim, Bob Stinson was kicked out of the band in 1986, and Slim Dunlap joined as lead guitarist. Steve Foley replaced Mars in 1990. Towards the end of the band's career, Westerberg exerted more control over the creative output. The group disbanded in 1991, with the members eventually pursuing various projects. A reunion was announced on October 3, 2012. Fans affectionately refer to the band as The 'Mats, a nickname that originated as a truncation of "The Placemats," a mispronunciation of their name.
The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene in the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists/guitarists/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s, such as Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums, with and without Olson, including five on the American Recordings label. After going on hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited and released the album Mockingbird Time in September 2011; Olson left the band for the second time after the tour to promote the album. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums originally released between 1997 and 2003. Since then, the band has continued to tour and record, releasing the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015; Paging Mr. Proust, co-produced by Peter Buck, in 2016; Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018; and XOXO in 2020.
Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam, better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album. He occasionally tours with a full band.
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.
Daniel Dodd Wilson is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. His songwriting résumé includes "Closing Time", which he wrote for his band, Semisonic; "Not Ready to Make Nice", co-written with The Chicks; and "Someone Like You", co-written with Adele. He earned a Grammy nomination for "Closing Time" and won Grammys for Song of the Year and Album of the Year.
Trip Shakespeare was an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota and active from the mid 1980s to early 1990s. The band included Dan Wilson and John Munson, who would later go on to be founding members of Semisonic.
Teenage Bottlerocket is an American rock band formed in Laramie, Wyoming in 2000. The rock band was formed by twin brothers Ray and Brandon Carlisle, following the dissolution of their previous band, Homeless Wonders. The band's music is heavily influenced by guitarist and co-vocalist Kody Templeman's other band, The Lillingtons, and punk rock acts such as Ramones, Screeching Weasel, Green Day, The Bouncing Souls, and Misfits; Their music has been referred to as "Ramones-core", "Weasel-core" and "leather jacket punk".
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.
Fancy Ray McCloney is a stand-up comedian and advertising pitchman from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is known for his flamboyant comic persona, once described as "gleefully narcissistic," blending elements of Little Richard, Muhammad Ali, James Brown, Prince, and a tent-revival preacher. He is known for producing and starring in low-budget TV ads for local businesses in the Twin Cities and markets across the U.S., including a Taco Bell ad aired during the 2016 Super Bowl that played off his status as a "local legend." Rarely breaking character on stage or off, Fancy Ray is a buoyantly self-aggrandizing, larger-than-life personality given to spontaneous poetry and mock-boastful proclamations including his oft-repeated characteristic catchphrase "I'm the best-lookin’ man in comedy."
Poliça is an American pop band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 2011. The band consists of Channy Leaneagh, Chris Bierden (bass), Drew Christopherson (drums) and Ben Ivascu (drums), with Ryan Olson joining the band in a studio context as its producer.
The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer/producer George Daniel.
Solid Gold is a Minneapolis-based indie rock band with an electronic and R&B sound. It consists of Zach Coulter, Adam Hurlburt and Matthew Locher. Solid Gold was voted "Best Rock Band of 2011" by the City Pages Readers' Poll.
Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel is the second album by Minnesota-based band Sleeping in the Aviary. Originally released on October 14, 2008, it was re-released on vinyl on July 26, 2012.
For All Those Sleeping was an American metalcore band formed in Sartell, Minnesota in 2007. The band released three studio albums, Cross Your Fingers, Outspoken, and Incomplete Me, all of which featured the same line-up. They announced their breakup on October 9, 2014.
Party of One is an indie rock trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They released their debut album, Caught the Blast, on May 27, 2003 on FatCat Records. They also released a single, "Shotgun Funeral", prior to this album, as well as another single, "Snap You Like a Twig", on April 20, 2004. The latter single was reviewed favorably by Shoo, a reviewer for Drowned in Sound, who compared it to the music of both Pavement and Ween. He also praised the single's B-side, "Star Sky Sierra", as being even better than the single itself. The band's members are lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Eric Fifteen, Geoff McCusick, and bassist Terrika Kleinknecht. Their music has been described as containing "typically confrontational, at times charmingly naïve messages", and as "punk only by historical association." Many critics have also described their music as negative and depressing. Julianne Shepherd has praised Fifteen's voice, which she compares to that of Sean Na Na, while Citypages has written that Fifteen "...models his political discontent with the ease of an immortal psychopath in a reusable bomb vest."
Chris Strouth is an American, Minneapolis-based musician, producer, writer and filmmaker who has been active since 1986, most notably as the founder and organizer of 1990s/2000s electronica collective Future Perfect Sound System, and most recently as the bandleader and composer for experimental/electronic band Paris 1919. His behind-the-scenes production work includes Indianapolis multimedia artist Stuart Hyatt's Grammy-nominated album The Clouds. Strouth also gained national attention in 2009 when he received a life-saving kidney transplant from a donor who connected with him on Twitter, which is believed to be the first such transplant arranged entirely through social networking.
Great Vacation! is the third studio album by Minneapolis, Minnesota-based band Sleeping in the Aviary, released on November 30, 2010 on Science of Sound Records. In January 2011, the band released a trilogy of music videos made for three of the album's songs: "Y.M.C.A. ", "Maria's Ghost", and "Last Kiss on a Sinking Ship". The video for "Last Kiss on a Sinking Ship" had originally been released in November 2010, shortly before the album itself was released.
You and Me, Ghost is the fourth and final studio album by indie rock band Sleeping in the Aviary. It was released on September 8, 2011 on the Science of Sound record label; the release took place at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is also the band's only album with guitarist Kyle Sobczak. All 12 of the album's songs are about girls.
Ed Ackerson was an American musician and producer from Minneapolis. He produced or engineered dozens of records including works by prominent artists such as The Jayhawks, The Replacements, Motion City Soundtrack, Soul Asylum, Golden Smog, Dave Davies of The Kinks, Wesley Stace, Mason Jennings, Mark Mallman, John Strohm, Brian Setzer, Lizzo, Pete Yorn, The Wallflowers, Rhett Miller of The Old 97s, Jeremy Messersmith, and Juliana Hatfield. He owned a recording studio in Minneapolis, Flowers, and co-founded the Susstones record label. Ackerson led several notable Twin Cities pop/rock bands including Polara and The 27 Various, and released several solo records under his own name. He was also a prolific producer of albums by Twin Cities bands, and was regarded as one of the linchpins of the Minnesota music scene.
