June 24, 2014
Barbara Jean
Opening: Erik Koskinen
Sponsored by Kate Claycombe
Barbara Jean grew up immersed in a world of music. Inheriting a musical legacy passed from grandmother to mother to daughter, she honed her early gift for the violin into a sharp eye for songwriting and a skilled hand as a multi-instrumentalist playing banjo, fiddle and viola. Calling Minnesota’s North Shore home for the better part of the last decade Barbara Jean crafted her debut record, The Great Escape. No Depression writer Easy Ed says, “When listening I hear the sound of middle America; the kind that runs from deep in Texas over to the Mississippi River, and up through the plains to the flat lands of Iowa and the icy cold snow and winters of Minnesota.”
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July 8, 2014
Dessa
Opening: June Panic and the Semaphores
Sponsored by Bryan Hoime and Greg Martin
Dessa is one part of the seven-member Minneapolis-based hip-hop collective Doomtree. Dessa's first full-length record, A Badly Broken Code, introduced her to a national audience as a rapper, a singer, and a potent, imaginative lyricist. It earned her a binder of superlative reviews from sources like NPR, The Seattle Times, and AM New York. From its first track, Dessa’s new full-length Parts of Speech announces itself as something different. The Doomtree veteran and inveterate wordsmith — having proved her mettle in the fields of creative non-fiction, spoken-word and hip-hop — jettisons all genre expectations on “The Man I Knew” and croons a heartbreaking lament to a disintegrating relationship at an explosively-building clip.
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July 15, 2014
Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds
Opening: Sob Sister + Boy Sale
Sponsored by Kate Claycombe
Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds is an eight-piece powerhouse that puts a modern spin on classic soul. The band is led by Arleigh Kincheloe (Sister Sparrow), whose astoundingly powerful voice and sly demeanor make for a spellbinding presence onstage. She is backed by the mighty force of The Dirty Birds, a flock of seven men who masterfully lay down thundering grooves and soaring melodies. Sister Sparrow has shared the stage with Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) and Warren Haynes, played with Gov’t Mule at the Beacon Theatre in New York, and opened for The Avett Brothers, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Counting Crows, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.
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July 29, 2014
St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Opening: Ryan Holweger
Sponsored by Steven B. Swanson, DDS
Brian and Chulita Goodman and Family
Michael and Sam Sadler
Front man Paul Janeway’s handle “St. Paul” is a wry allusion to the vocalist’s grounding in the church. Like many a legendary soul singer, Janeway, a native of the small town of Chelsea, Alabama, was raised on the gospel side. Virtually no non-religious music could be heard in his devout household. When I was about 10 years old, I was groomed to be a minister. My goal in life until I was about 18 years old was to be a preacher.” He adds, “My pastor was the reason that I learned to play guitar. They would let me play guitar and sing in church. What was weird was that he would never let me sing lead – I’d sing background vocals.
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August 12, 2014
The Dirty River Boys
Opening: Josh Driscoll
The Dirty River Boys, out of Austin, TX, are paving their own road as they travel it. They are a testament to the idea that “if you can dream it, you can do it.” They played their very first Austin gig, a happy hour set at hipster haunt, Lustre Pearl, and never looked back. The music they presented was energetic and infectious, though stripped down acoustic. “Being in Austin, with somany great bands, it makes you up your game.”
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August 26, 2014
She Keeps Bees
Opening: The Beethearts
Sponsored by Bryan Hoime and Greg Martin
Brooklyn-based She Keeps Bees have recorded and released music made at home since 2006. The Guardian said that "they're like the White Stripes in reverse." Drowned in Sound said of Larrabee that "she has amazing control over her vocals, able to simultaneously be fiery and reserved, seductive and vaguely crude", and fellow Brooklyn musician Sharon Van Etten said "she has one of the best voices I have ever heard and she has more soul in one finger than most female singers have in our scene." The New York Times's ArtsBeat compared her to PJ Harvey, but added that "far from Ms. Harvey’s theatrical poise, Ms. Larrabee is loose, vehement and unchoreographed, jittering around the stage."
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