Black Diet

Recent winners of Vita.mn’s Are You Local? Showcase and named one of First Avenue’s Best New Bands of 2013, Black Diet is a garage/indie/soul band with a sartorial flair. Indebted to Stax records, they put on shows that look like Baptist church services held at punk houses. Part of a stream of vintage sounding acts coming out of Minneapolis’ Piñata Records, they’re spitting out sharp, testimonial jams for the masses. Formed in the Fall of 2011, they’ve spent years playing show after show, session after session, a walking paragon of the “hard working Midwestern band.” Having recently released their debut album, “Find Your Tambourine” to positive reviews, they’re ready to move on up.

Standing at 6’5 with a spiky afro, singer/writer Jonathan Tolliver, a soul journeyman raised by a Baptist pastor father and a church singing mother, sticks out like a sore thumb. He rumbles and screeches through songs about abandonment, fear of loss, the devastation of endings. His singing is at once detached and extremely anxious. A former competitive dancer, he’s also got footwork for days. They’re rounded out by professional burlesque/cabaret singer Mugsy, afrobeat mavens Mitchell Sigurdson and David Tullis, blues rock wailer Sean Schultze, and funk/soul DJ/bassist Garrison Grouse. They form a rhythm unit that’s tight and percolating, always ready to fly off the rails if the feel demands.

Past Shows


Sep
11
th
2015
Mainroom
Sep
11
th
2015
Mainroom

John Mark Nelson

with Black Diet and We Are The Willows
Jul
24
th
2015
Mainroom
Jul
24
th
2015
Mainroom

Black Diet

with JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Red Daughters and Southside Desire
Nov
28
th
2014
Mainroom + Entry
Nov
28
th
2014
Mainroom + Entry

A Tribute to The Replacements

with The Melismatics, Two Harbors, BNLX and more!
Mar
6
th
2014
7th St Entry
Mar
6
th
2014
7th St Entry

ARE YOU LOCAL?

with Black Diet, Botzy, Jillian Rae and more!
Jan
30
th
2014
Mainroom
Jan
30
th
2014
Mainroom

FIRST AVENUE’S BEST NEW BANDS OF 2013

with Allan Kingdom, BBGUN, Black Diet and more!
Dec
4
th
2013
7th St Entry
Dec
4
th
2013
7th St Entry

WORD ON THE STREET

with deM atlaS, PROPER T & THE SOLFLOWER COLLECTIVE and Black Diet
Nov
12
th
2013
Turf Club
Nov
12
th
2013
Turf Club

Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas

MOVED FROM 7TH ST ENTRY
with Sonny Knight And The Lakers and Black Diet
Apr
10
th
2013
7th St Entry
Apr
10
th
2013
7th St Entry

More Shows

Apr
26
th
7th St Entry

The Bright Light Social Hour

Mar
22
nd
Fine Line

Russian Circles

with Pelican
Dec
27
th
7th St Entry

Jaki Blue

with KAYCYY and Sophia Eris
May
3
rd
The Fitzgerald Theater

Ichiko Aoba