Socktopus, pictured here at Hotel Minnesnowta, performs a free hour-long set at the Green Room in Uptown Minneapolis Monday. PHOTOS BY JAVIER SERNA/@jaminthestream

Live in MN this week: Only Every Monday packs loaded lineup

February 02, 2025 in live events, blog

Whether you are in the Twin Cities area or Duluth, incredible music options start up on Monday! Read my story to find out what’s worth checking out on the live music scene this week in Minnesota, especially if you are into psychedelic and/or improvisational music.

TWINE and Saltydog jam up Minneapolis on a Wednesday

January 30, 2025

Minnesota funk/Saltydog and TWINE, which sat in with each other at Hotel Minnesnowta. Less than two weeks later, they were both on Minneapolis stages, seperated by only a few miles Wednesday night. Fans of both bands were able to catch much of both performances and were rewarded for doing so.

Psych rock trio King Buffalo, from Rochester, N.Y., hits Saint Paul’s Turf Club Tuesday, Jan. 26. PHOTO COURTESY OF HIGH ROAD TOURING

Live in MN: Trio King Buffalo brings mix of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock to Turf Club

January 27, 2025 in live events, blog

King Buffalo, a pych rock trio from Rochester, N.Y., returns to Saint Paul’s Turf Club Tuesday, Jan. 18. The show tops Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna’s Minnesota live music picks this week. Find out what other shows are happening.

Charlie Parr said at the outset of his Sunday night January residency at Saint Paul’s Turf Club that he wasn’t sure when he’d feel up to performing “Ain’t No Grave.” PHOTOS BY JAVIER SERNA/@jaminthestream

Charlie Parr wraps up Turf Club residency, dedicates encore to late mother

January 27, 2025 in live events, blog

Charlie Parr closed out his Sunday night Turf Club residency, encoring with “Ain’t No Grave,” which he dedicated to his late mother. Nashville folk duo Paper Wings opened up the show. Read more about the concert.

Leftover Salmon has four shows scheduled across the Midwest next week, including Feb. 1 at the Ice Dance Music Fest in Appleton, Wis. PHOTO BY TOBIN VOGGESSER; COURTESY OF RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT

INTERVIEW: Leftover Salmon's Drew Emmitt riffs on mandolins to song-writing

January 24, 2025 in live events, blog, interviews

Leftover Salmon’s Drew Emmitt chatted with Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna this week in a wide-ranging interview. It included talk of the band’s upcoming LP, the influence bands such as Old & in The Way had on jam grass, why Emmitt switched up his touring mandolin, and a memory of the late Jeff Austin.

The Headhunters reach back deep at the Dakota

January 22, 2025 in live events, blog, photo galleries

Read a story and check out pictures from The Headhunters show at Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis Jan 21.

A 1975 promotional photo of The Headhunters with Herbie Hancock, left (seated), Bill Summers, left (standing), Paul Jackson, center (standing), Bennie Maupin, right (standing with sax), Mike Clark, right (seated on floor). Summers and Clark are the remaining members touring with The Headhunters, though a 50-year anniversary show this pasts summer at Hollywood Bowl featured both Hancock and Maupin.

Live in MN this week: The Headhunters hit the Dakota Tuesday

January 21, 2025 in live events, blog

The Headhunters, which Herbie Hancock formed in 1973, play the Dakota Tuesday night, topping Jam in the Stream’s weekly live music picks in Minnesota. Read more about The Headhunters and other live music options this week.

Hotel Minnesnowta’s Scandalous Ballroom kept it going to 4 a.m. Sunday morning, with some of the best visuals of the weekend, as DJ/producer Hobday performed joined by two pole dancers from Hypnotica and a laser light show that made incredible use of the ballroom’s reflective ceiling and fixtures. PHOTOS BY JAVIER SERNA/@jaminthestream

Final Day of Hotel Minnesnowta in Pictures

January 20, 2025 in live events, blog, photo galleries

Read a short piece and view an extensive photo gallery (shot by Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna) from the final day of Hotel Minnesnowta, which stretched into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

PHOTO GALLERY: Hotel Minnesnowta's Friday Festivities in Pictures

January 18, 2025 in live events, blog, photo galleries

Check out a photo gallery of Hotel Minnesnowta’s Friday festivities shot by Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna.

TWINE’s Will Effertz and Brian “Snowman” Powers sat in with Saltydog Thursday night at Hotel Minnesnowta. PHOTO BY JAVIER SERNA/Jam in the Stream

PHOTO GALLERY: TWINE and Saltydog intermingle at Hotel Minnesnowta pre-party

January 18, 2025 in live events, blog, photo galleries

Hotel Minnesnowta got off to a rousing start Thursday night with Minneapolis’ TWINE and Duluth’s Saltydog kicking off the event, with the two bands co-mingling at Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West’s Creekside Lounge. Read a short writeup of the show and check out a photo gallery from Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna. Also, find a ticket link to the final night of the hotel fest, which closes with a late, late-night jam featuring The Johnson Brothers and Ryan David Young of Trampled by Turtles.

Theivery Corporation drummer/producer Jeff Franca will appear with both Momentary Lapse of Floyd and his project ETHNO at Hotel Minnesnowta at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth Friday. PHOTO COURTESY OF ETHNO

Live in MN this week: Thievery Corp's Jeff Franca and ETHNO featured at Hotel Minnesnowta

January 13, 2025 in live events, blog

Jeff Franca of Thievery Corporation will perform alongside Momentary Lapse of Floyd at the three-day Hotel Minnesnowta music fest at Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth. The hotel fest tops Jam in the Stream’s weekly music picks. Find out what other live music is happening in Minnesota this week.

Only Every Monday, curated by Geoffrey Fischbein, hits a milestone tonight with it’s 700th show.

Live in MN this week: Only Every Monday turns 700 tonight

January 06, 2025 in live events, blog

Only Every Monday, which holds its 700th show in the series tonight (Monday, Jan. 6) tops Jam in the Stream’s Minnesota live music recommendations this week. But there are many other options this week, including a particularly busy Friday night in Minneapolis.

Charlie Parr returns to Turf Club Sunday for his month-long residency. Pictured, he performed at The Palace Theatre with drummer JT Bates and bassist Liz Draper back in 2021. PHOTO BY JAVIER SERNA/Jam in the Stream

This week in MN music: Charlie Parr kicks off January Turf Club Residency

January 02, 2025 in live events, blog

Charlie Parr and Martin Dosh top Jam in the Stream’s weekly Minnesota live music recommendations for the first week of January, 2025.

No. 9: Circles Around The Sun at The Turf Club

December 26, 2024 in live events, blog

No. 9: Circles Around The Sun’s March 24 show at Saint Paul’s Turf Club makes Jam in the Stream’s list of 12 memorable shows that stick out for him in 2024.

Sam Deters and Duluth’s Saltydog play one of their haunts, Winona’s No Name Bar on New Year’s Eve. Photo by Javier Serna

NEW YEAR'S EVE EDITION: Jam in the Stream's weekly MN live music pics

December 26, 2024 in live events, blog, calendar

Jam in the Stream has a special, Year End edition of the weekly Minnesota live music pics. There’s a lot of good music options from now until the end of the year. The editor is hoping he’ll be up for a trip down to Winona on New Year’s Eve to catch one of his faves: Duluth’s Saltydog.

PHOTO GALLERY: The Big Wu brings the love to First Avenue

December 22, 2024 in live events, blog, photo galleries

Check out Jam in the Stream’s photo gallery from The Big Wu’s show at First Avenue on Dec. 21, 2024.

No. 10: Opener Diles que no me maten blew my mind on July 10

December 20, 2024 in live events, blog

Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna was excited to catch Etran de L’Aïr at the Turf Club back in July. The Saharan dessert blues band ripped, as expected, but so did the opener, Diles que no me maten, an experimental indie rock band from Mexico City. Read more about this show, which comes in at No. 10 on the editor’s list of 12 memorable shows in 2024.

No. 11: Duluth’s Saltydog did justice to The Ripple Bar on Feb. 29.

No. 11: Saltydog ripped the Ripple one last time Feb. 29

December 19, 2024 in live events, blog

Saltydog’s sendoff of Duluth’s Ripple Bar is No. 11 on Jam in the Stream’s list of a dozen memorable shows in 2024. Read more about what made that show special.

No. 12: Karina Rykman at 7th Street Entry Feb. 28.

Jam in the Stream editor counts down 12 memorable shows in 2024

December 18, 2024 in live events, blog

Karina Rykman’s Feb. 28 show at Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry kicks off Jam in the Stream editor Javier Serna’s list of 12 memorable shows he caught in 2024. Read more about Rykman, an exciting up-and-coming bass player, and what made that show stand out.

Yanos “Johnny Bones” Lustig was just looking to play and his search naturally led him to Bunker’s in Minneapolis’ North Loop. PHOTO BY JAVIER SERNA/Jam in the Stream

About TWINE's sit-in last Wednesday with California Honeydrops' saxman Yanos Lustig

December 17, 2024 in live events, blog

TWINE frontman Will Effertz did know California Honeydrops’ music but didn’t know saxophonist Janos “Johnny Bones” Lustig when he approached the stage at Bunker’s last Wednesday night. “I have had that happen in instances, and when it’s a saxophone, I am like, ‘Please, be good.’ It turned out he was a badass.” Read more about the unplanned sit-in from Lustig on a night when local vocalist/guitarist Joe Dunn and sound man Gage Schmitt (on flute) were already featured.