Play3min 42secMinneapolis blues musician Cornbread Harris to celebrate 94th birthday with a sold-out show April 29, 2021 9:34 AMBy Cathy Wurzer and Britta GreeneBeloved Minneapolis blues musician Cornbread Harris will take the stage this weekend in front of a sold-out live audience at the Hook and Ladder.
Sounds of self-quarantine: Minnesota musicians share how they're doing and a songMay 7, 2020 9:30 AMBy Cathy Wurzer and MPR News StaffThroughout this pandemic, MPR News has been asking Minnesota musicians to send us a song and an update on how they’re doing. Take a scroll and listen to some of the artists we’ve heard from so far.
Play5min 03secSinger-Songwriter Caitlyn Smith reflects on her sophomore releaseMarch 13, 2020 8:30 AMBy Cathy WurzerCaitlyn Smith — a native of Cannon Falls, Minn. — is out with her second album, Supernova, today.
Play1min 30secBrandi Carlile performs three nights in a row in MinneapolisFebruary 12, 2020 12:00 AMBy Cathy Wurzer and MPR News StaffThe back-to-back-to-back shows will mark the grand opening of a new theater space in downtown Minneapolis.
Play1min 50secNPR Music's annual Tiny Desk Contest is now openFebruary 11, 2020 11:16 AMBy Cathy WurzerEvery year, NPR Music invites unsigned artists from all over the country to apply to its Tiny Desk Contest. Thousands submit videos, and the team at NPR picks just one winner.
Play1min 22secPoliça back in action, releasing new album after singer’s accidentJanuary 29, 2020 9:07 AMBy Cathy Wurzer and MPR News StaffPoliça’s new album, “When We Stay Alive,” comes out on Friday. It’s the band’s first since singer Channy Leaneagh fell last winter while trying to clear ice dams from the roof of her home in Minneapolis.
Play1min 48sec"We Are the World" recorded 35 years ago this weekJanuary 28, 2020 8:45 AMBy Cathy Wurzer“We Are The World” was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, and it was designed to raise money and awareness around a famine in Ethiopia. The song became an immediate hit. It won a Grammy and raised more than $63 million in humanitarian aid for Africa and the United States.
Play1min 21sec35 years since Foreigner was No. 1 with ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’January 27, 2020 12:00 PMBy Cathy WurzerGuitarist Mick Jones later told Songfacts that he wrote the song about the search for love that could last, after going through a series of relationships that eventually ended.
Play1min 20secDavid Bowie announced his Sound and Vision tour 30 years ago this weekJanuary 24, 2020 8:47 AMBy Cathy WurzerIt was a bit of a gimmick. He wanted to force himself to write new songs, so he said he'd use the tour to officially retire his old hits. He promised to never play them again on stage.
Play2min 19secRemembering when ‘American Pie’ topped the album chartJanuary 22, 2020 10:48 AMBy Cathy WurzerThe title track to that record was an unusual hit.