Mad Ripple Hoot for Slim

The Mad Ripple Hootenanny is a round-robin style songwriter collective hosted by writer/journalist/columnist/songwriter Jim Walsh (Hoot host, singer, songwriter; columnist, Southwest Journal; journalist, MinnPost; and author) that celebrates 10 years of “songs, stories, shenanigans, spontaneity, and community” in November, 2016. While the single mainstay of the Hoot is Walsh, each night is unique as the songwriter line-ups change from week to week, creating a one-night-only chemistry set of conviviality – for both performers and audience. “I sometimes think the Hoot is a return to the old world of pubs and troubadours, wherein a single song sung by a single person can fill a room with emotion and meaning,” said Walsh.

“For the patient listener and audience, it’s a really rich experience. Hootenannies have been around since the days of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie; the word’s origins are Scottish. I like it for its nod to punk rock and rock & roll via the Replacements’ record of the same name and because it suggests movement, a happening. I started it because I was frustrated with going to hear songwriters in coffee shops and not being able to hear the tunes over the people talking. I wanted to provide a forum where songs were respected, and heard. Also, I get the chance to sing and play with some of the most amazing and creative people around, and it’s a helluva lot of fun just bringing people together who might not otherwise hang out together.” The Hoot was started in November 2006 at Java Jack’s coffeehouse (now Studio 2A) in Sexy South Minneapolis, where it resided every Friday for two years (and ultimately shut down by the fire marshal), and brought together some 300 songwriters from around Minneapolis, St. Paul, and beyond.

Since then it has landed as a weekly residency or as one-off multi-night stands at venues across Minnesota and beyond, including the Beat Coffeehouse, First Avenue, the Walker Art Center, the Parkway Theater, the Aster Café, the Guthrie Theater, Kings Wine Bar, and Harriet Brewing in Minneapolis; Fitger’s Brewhouse (Duluth); Chapel and Contented Cow (Northfield); Papa Charlie’s in Lutsen; Linden Hills Farmer’s Market (Minneapolis); the Mankato Brew Pub; the Coho in Palo Alto, Ca.; Banjo Jim’s in New York City, and the Turf Club and the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul. “It’s been great as a one-off, but I think it really works best as a weekly event, where each week feeds on the previous one, and it becomes a staple of the work week,” said Walsh. “It’s so great when songwriters come out to hear other songwriters, even when they’re not performing. That’s what it’s about for me. Non-joiners joining up for a few hours together.”

Over the years the Hoot’s collaborative magic has been created by hundreds of songwriters coming together for a one-night-only song and story swap, from the little-known to the known, including Billy Bragg, Slim Dunlap, Joel Bremer, Eliza Blue, Elvis Perkins, Tift Merritt, Ashleigh Still, KaiserCartel, Lianne Smith, Venus Demars, Mare Lennon, Adam Levy, Jennifer Markey, Tim O’Reagan, Julia Douglass, Katy Vernon, Lucy Michelle, the Starfolk, Jerry Lefkowicz, Jack Klatt, Alexi Moon Casselle, Miss Becky Kapell, Jack Torrey, Kevin Bowe, Stook!, Dan Wilson, Rude Girl, Mary Beth Hanson, Jessy Greene, Thomas Kivi, Mayda, Rob and Leah Rule, Molly Maher, Curtiss A, Gabriel Douglas, Erik Koskinen, Nicole Helget, Brianna Lane, Rick Widen, Ike Reilly, Channy Leaneagh, Adam Levy, Andrea Swensson, Andrea Suchy, John Louis, Nick Leet, Randy Casey, Meg Ashling, Michael Morris, Pablo Jones, The Tropicals, Tom Morello, Boots Riley, Marc Perlman, Frankie Lee, Chastity Brown, Mother Banjo, Ed Ackerson, The Frye, Gretchen Seichrist, Janey Winterbauer, Golden Smog, Shawn Gibbons, Jim Hanneman, Terry Walsh, Jay Walsh, Helen Heyer-Walsh, Henry Heyer-Walsh, The Falls, Phil Solem, Martin Devaney, Ben Kyle and the entire Kyle family, Joe Fahey, Willie Murphy, Fran King, Duncan Maitland, Courtney Yasmineh, Anna Mitchell, James Loney, Chris Osgood, Steve Almaas, Billy Batson, Johnny Solomon, Chan Poling, Dan Israel, Alison Rae, Jonathan Delehanty, Jeff Arundel, Billy Mclaughlin, Gini Dodds, Tommy Mischke, Dana Thompson, Natalie Lovejoy, and more.

Past Shows


Dec
2
nd
2023
Turf Club
Dec
2
nd
2023
Turf Club

A Tribute to The Replacements ft. The Melismatics performing 'Tim' and other hits

special guest vocalists: Al ChurchAndra SuchyAnita VelveetaAshley AckersonBecky KapellBrian Vanderwerf (Eleganza!) • Christy CostelloClaire Lugar (The Silent Treatment) • Curtiss AEdie BaumgartFaith BoblettGini DoddsJillian RaeJo Kellen (Products) • Laura Larson (Scrunchies) • Mary StrandMedbh McNamara (Surly Grrly) • Monica LaPlanteSarah Mevissen (Pit Stop) • and more

performing in the Clown Lounge: Ava LevyHilary James (bathtub cig) • Loki’s Folly

★ Local Show ★
with Pullstring and Mad Ripple Hoot for Slim
Nov
29
th
2019
Turf Club
Nov
29
th
2019
Turf Club

A Tribute to The Replacements and The Melismatics

with Annie and the Bang Bang, Mad Ripple Hoot for Slim, Al Church and more!
Nov
23
rd
2018
Turf Club
Nov
23
rd
2018
Turf Club

A Tribute to The Replacements and The Melismatics

with The Bad Man, D8MCHILD, FURY THINGS and more!
Dec
9
th
2017
Turf Club
Dec
9
th
2017
Turf Club

A Tribute to The Replacements and The Melismatics

with Eleganza!, Early Eyes, The Bad Man and more!
Nov
25
th
2016
Turf Club
Nov
25
th
2016
Turf Club

A Tribute to The Replacements

with The Melismatics, Eleganza!, TABAH and more!
Nov
27
th
2015
Mainroom
Nov
27
th
2015
Mainroom

A Tribute to The Replacements

with The Melismatics, Al Church, Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band and more!
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!
Nov
29
th
2013
Mainroom
Nov
29
th
2013
Mainroom

A Tribute to The Replacements

with The Melismatics, Ol' Yeller, The Blackberry Brandy Boys and more!
Nov
23
rd
2012
7th St Entry
Nov
23
rd
2012
7th St Entry

A Tribute to The Replacements

with The Fattenin’ Frogs, Red Daughters, Blue Ruin and more!
Nov
23
rd
2012
Mainroom
Nov
23
rd
2012
Mainroom

A Tribute to The Replacements

with The Melismatics, Pink Mink, John Swardson and more!
Jan
29
th
2011
7th St Entry
Jan
29
th
2011
7th St Entry

Curtiss A's Jerks of Fate

with The Tisdales, DAVE RAVE AND THE GOVERNORS, Sons of Gloria and more!
Nov
20
th
2010
7th St Entry
Nov
20
th
2010
7th St Entry
Oct
15
th
2010
Turf Club
Oct
15
th
2010
Turf Club

Chuck Prophet

with Mad Ripple Hoot for Slim
Mar
19
th
2010
Triple Rock Social Club
Mar
19
th
2010
Triple Rock Social Club

The Ike Reilly Assassination

with Mad Ripple Hoot for Slim

More Shows

Nov
1
st
7th St Entry

Cancer Bats

Dec
15
th
7th St Entry

A Skylit Drive

Dec
8
th
First Avenue

The 45th Annual John Lennon Tribute

with Curtiss A with a little help from his friends
Dec
19
th
7th St Entry

Upright Forms, Curve, In Lieu, and Unstable Shapes