THE LEGEND OF THE ACTUAL WOLF: There are outlaws, and there are outlaws. Some practice the pose and cultivate the image, though seldom dirty their soft, bourgeois hands with anything actually outside the law. When they do, it is often despicable, irresponsible or just plain mundane. The Actual Wolf (aka Eric Pollard), however, is a real outlaw and has pled guilty to it. Between the bust and before the trial AW recorded a pair of EPs, each showing ‘another side of the Wolf’. 

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The first is USA, an everyman’s acoustic album that channels both Woody and Zimmerman on a smuggler’s road trip on the cop-laden corridor of the I-80. The second—Lightning & the Wolf— conjures a 30-something’s symphony to Gawd, a rock EP at times so ethereal that it floats like smoke up into the aether, at others so earthy & grounded you can almost feel the parole. This is not music that pleads for forgiveness—the man has given his freedom as a sacrament at the altar of his beliefs. Rather, these are songs of redemption. Actual Wolf has paid a price, but like many deals with devils, seems to have come out the greater for it. 

[City Pages "Picked 2 Click" 2012: #6]

Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Meg Ashling has deep roots in the prairie. Inspired by the search for truth, beauty, and love, she preserves the bardic traditions by weaving new tales out of ancient threads. With a catalog spanning nearly a century, she is inspired by music of many styles and many different eras. An accomplished vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Meg has been playing and writing music for the past 18 years and plans on releasing a full-length album soon.

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The three emcees in The Chalice are known quite well individually in the Twin Cities music community. Lizzo has a popular project called Lizzo and The Larva Ink, Sophia Eris has released a steady stream of material (and expects a new record shortly) and Claire De Lune has appeared as a guest vocalist on tracks by MaLLy, Guante and The Tribe & Big Cats! It should then come as no surprise that when the three team up as The Chalice, they are creating some of most dynamic music in Minnesota, fusing individual influences like soul, funk, R&B, reggae and straight up hip-hop.

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All transplants to the Midwest, you can hear what each woman brings to the mix. Claire De Lune harnesses the sultry, jazz-inspired nighttime of New York City. Sophia Eris hails from Dayton, OH, or the “Gem City” as it has been deemed, and she certainly exudes the queen-like qualities that exist inside all women, much like a younger Erykah Badu. And Lizzo lashes out with her fresh, southern bite, a result of growing up in Houston.

The Chalice are still relatively new, but things seem bright — the response to their one public song “Push It” has been overwhelming. It’s a set-up that Minnesota hasn’t seen in a very long time: three respected female hip-hop artists under one roof, harnessing the girl-power that Aby Wolf, Dessa, Maria Isa and Desdamona have created in recent years. It’s time for the young ones to take over the reigns. With heavy support from the Rhymesayers roster, well-regarded South Minneapolis rappers and other musicians throughout the country, we think The Chalice will have no issue getting the attention that is warranted. [Jon Schober, 89.3 The Current]

Martin Devaney has always embraced his local identity, literally dubbed the Mayor of St. Paul by friends and compatriots in the music scene. A classically trained musician with a jazz sax background, the accomplished singer-songwriter got his start playing with revered hip-hop ensemble Heiruspecs before embarking on a solo career. After self-releasing an EP in 2001, Martin followed with four full-length albums, each garnering more praise and attention from press and fans. Described as “a charming, bushy haired, sweet voiced tunesmith” by No Depression, Martin became quickly known for his poetic, yet unpretentious songs and inspired live performances.

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Now, over four years after his last release, Martin Devaney unveils his best work yet. The West End, another project with Mark Stockert and Underwood Studios, features an all-star cast of musicians Dave Boquist (Son Volt), Steve Murray (Molly Maher and Her Disbelievers) and Mick Wirtz (Bellwether). It also highlights the long-time collaboration with Jake Hyer (vocals, violin, mandolins). Harmonies with Hyer provide the bread and butter to Devaney’s artful, sincere songs, and obviously guided much of The West End’s creative energy. In addition to his own band, Devaney plays sax with Twin Cities’ indie-folk darlings Roma Di Luna, recently mentioned in Rolling Stone, and heads the local rock band Crossing Guards. In the past decade, Martin Devaney has shared the state with and impressive list of national acts, including Andrew Bird, Mason Jennings, The Jayhawks, Semisonic, Soul Asylum, Billy Bragg, Evan Dando, Mary Lou Lord, Robbie Fulks, Dan Bern, Ike Reilly, Damien Jurado, Rhett Miller, Mike Doughty, Mary Lou Lord, The Roots, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Richard Buckner.

After a stint in New York City as drummer for Dan Melchior's Broke Revue, GD Mills (aka Sir Gregory Fuck Knight) packed up two drums, a cymbal, two sticks and a microphone and headed west to Minneapolis on an art school scholarship. In the aftermath of a violent 'destruction of school property' performance which ultimately lead to his expulsion, Mills formed Fuck Knights in 2007 on the very same day as the I-35W bridge collapse.

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Basement keggers soon became crowded bar gigs, word-of-mouth became press coverage, self-made cassettes became 7" records released on regional and then European labels (including an EP recorded by Gary Burger from The Monks), and shared bills with the likes of King Khan and BBQ Show, Greenhornes, Fleshtones, Black Diamond Heavies, Nobunny, Brimstone Howl, Human Eye, Jacuzzi Boys, Lover!, and Monotonix became tours throughout the U.S. Great Lakes/Rust Belt region, and continental Europe.

"Fully endorsed" by Maximumrocknroll and described by Mongrel Zine as "way cool psychedelic garage punk", Fuck Knights' raging, ragged rock and roll, according to Detroit-based Smashin' Transistors, "pays homage to the 60s but doesn't care to sit around and play dress up because it's been proven that jumping in a time machine is corny. They just wanna play loud, probably get drunk and maybe get laid (or get arrested trying)." The band released its first full-length, Let It Bleed, on the Italian label, Boss Hoss Records, in June of 2011 and followed it up with their 3-song Real Love EP, released July 2012 on the Chicago label, Cold Slice Cassettes.

Brianna Lane is a gifted singer/songwriter in true Americana form. She writes and performs on an acoustic guitar as well as a banjo, crafting songs that are clear-eyed and pure—with an integrity derived from her gritty, unflinching emotional honesty. Long time music-writer/author/rock-journalist Jim Walsh recently wrote that Brianna Lane is “…a star in the making. She’s poised, ambitious, a great writer, a soul singer of the first order, and an accomplished guitarist.” (Star Tribune) 

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Lane grew up in Minnesota and still calls Minneapolis home. In her eight years of touring Lane has shared the stage with Billy Bragg, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Colin Hay, Dar Williams, Patty Larkin, The Weepies, Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland), and numerous other well seasoned musicians. She has also shared powerhouse, leg-powered bicycle tours with Signature Sounds’ artist Peter Mulvey. Lane has released three full length solo records and one duo EP with Cahalen Morrison as “Harbor Collective”. Her latest full-length CD is entitled Let You In.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, singer-songwriter (and original member of the alt-bluegrass band The Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins) Jake Manders, started writing songs and playing guitar when we was 14. To remember them all he recorded them on a handheld tape cassette player before finally transferring them to his laptop. Today Jake has a collection of more than 200 original songs... In 2009 he started recording for his first full-length album at Slow Studios with Ben Kyle of the alt-country band Romantica. Over the two years it took to complete the album Jake invited many of his friends from the music scene to add their talent to the ongoing project. Some of the songs on the album were written during the two years in which they were recorded while others were written 5, 10 or even 15 years prior.

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4’10 ft and fit to slap some funk and attitude in some pop face! This young Korean American pop artist hails from Minneapolis, MN. After a summer of touring the Midwest, Europe, and South Korea, MAYDA released her second full length album, Tusks in Furs, with the help of world-class drummer, Michael Bland, DJ Chris Neviator, Sonny Thompson, and Tommy Barbarella (Prince, Soul Asylum, Nick Jonas & the Administration). Teaming up once again with producer, Bland and company, the album will continue the new brand of funk pop that remains to be a mystery to name yet rightfully belongs to the self-taught songstress herself.

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She has written and played with the Sugar Divas, Jellybean Johnson of THE TIME, Chance Howard of THE TIME and PRINCE, Phil Hansen, Word For Word, the Boy Sopranos (Doomtree Crew), Soul Asylum, and many more. Her music has gained local and national recognition. After touring in South Korea with the hip hop group Alliancen (Denmark), she has continued to work in and out of the studio. Featured on The Rachael Ray Show, Good Morning America (MARCH 1st, 2007), Radio K, Channel 4, KARE 11, and mentioned by writer Jim Walsh of The Mad Ripple, Mayda represents a new wave of Twin Cities music.

Maggie Morrison's pitch-perfect, brazenly unaffected singing instrument is perhaps (Lookbook's) most well-selected keepsake from the glory days of the discotheque. Live or on record, Morrison never slumps, never slides, never half-asses a single note. Like an Annie Lennox sans buzz cut, Morrison has a voice that manages to be forcefully intimate, as if emanating from some phantom space between your ears, and unseeably remote. Something in Morrison's live delivery may account for this—she has as little use for meaningless mannerisms as she does for tremolo. As chillingly immaculate as a sine wave, Morrison and her voice have an inhuman perfection to them. Fortunately for her, and for us, Voight-Kampf tests are still a distant fiction. If she's a replicant, we won't raise a peep. [City Pages, Best Vocalist (Female) 2010]

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Nallo is Minneapolitans Andrew Ranallo, Ronnie Lee, Pat McCabe and Blake Pederson.

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The Prairie Fire Lady Choir is a Twin Cities based singing group open to ladies of all levels of musical skill. The choir currently has more than 60 active members, and includes singers who work as stay-at-home moms, scientists, health-care providers, teachers, artists, researchers, social workers, graphic designers, academics, writers, program administrators, therapists and servers.

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The PFLC is artistically-directed from within and marshals the collected skills of its singers to operate through a consensus decision-making process. The choir’s repertoire includes original songs written and arranged by members of the choir, as well as original arrangements.

The mission of PFLC is to create a space where ladies can come together to sing, take risks, stretch skills and enjoy our and others’ talents. Our choir participates in and supports our local arts scene through performances and creating opportunities for collaboration with our singers. The PFLC has performed at a wide variety of events and venues, including the Walker Art Center, Cedar Cultural Center, Minnesota State Fair, Northern Spark series, First Avenue, Honey, the Zombie Pub Crawl, the Co-Kisser Poetry and Film Festival, and they sang the National Anthem at both a Saint Paul Saints and a Lynx game.

My name is Rupert. I dance and hype bands that I love. One day, while I was getting ready for work, I heard some music that got me dancing right there in my bedroom. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t care. I felt happy. I just danced. And that changed my world. I followed that band to clubs, bars, beer gardens, ballrooms, high schools, colleges, churches, charity events-even mega malls, marathons, and outdoor festivals – Anywhere people could hear the music, feel the music, and find the happiness I felt the day I started dancing.

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When the band broke up, I was blown out. I was so sad my body felt physically broken. I stopped dancing and went back to just being a working man. But happiness wouldn’t leave me alone. I stumbled across a new band and fell in love again. Then another band caught my ear. I discovered that being happy isn’t hard. All it takes is letting go and connecting to the moment. Now I’m on a mission: I want to find the most kick-ass bands, dance with their fans to make the moment awesome, and show people how easy it is to be happy. Dance On!

We Are The Willows is the project of one singer/songwriter Peter Michael Miller. He writes, arranges, and performs a good deal of the sounds you hear on his recordings. Peter writes simple songs that take musical hints from folk, pop, singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, and Paul Simon that leave room for exaggerations and embellishments that may nod to contemporary indie rock bands like Grandaddy, Sigur Ros, and Sufjan Stevens.

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Peter usually plays alone. Though his recordings would lead one to think otherwise, he simply can't afford to bring all his friends on the road. However, whether Peter is accompanied by a string quartet in an attentive theater, blaring electric guitars and electronic sound samples in a bustling bar, or is quietly communicating his songs solo in a cafe, We Are The Willows is about imagination. It's about understanding the world and re-imagining it in a new way...with music. In the past few years We Are The Willows has released a full length record on Amble Down Records, the same collective that has given rise to Grammy winner Bon Iver and S. Carey, been voted the Twin Cities' best male vocalist by City Pages, been featured on Daytrotter, MPR's 89.3 The Current, and spent over 7 months touring all over the country.

With We Are The Willows' newest release, Places, which was self released in June of 2011, Peter flirts with the idea of being a band. The songs on Places have proven to be his most collaborative and involved recordings to date. With oscillating violins and cello, arching vocal harmonies, steady but subtle drums and bass, Places has turned out to be a step toward musical maturity. Currently, Peter is writing a collection of songs that are based on over 350 letters exchanged between his Grandparents while his Grandfather was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. The songs will be an attempt to understand and communicate notions of love, life, death, and mundanity in a time of national and personal crisis. As Peter reads the letters and begins writing the songs, it seems that in understanding his Grandparents, he may end up understanding something new about himself and about the world. We Are The Willows manifests itself live in many ways. However, whether Peter is accompanied by a string quartet in an attentive theater, blaring electric guitars and electronic sound samples in a bustling bar, or is quietly communicating his songs solo in a cafe, We Are The Willows is about imagination. It's about understanding the world and re-imagining it in a new way; in a song.