You may think of artist residencies as a January thing, but I'm here to tell you it's March and there are still monthly residencies out there worth your attention. I even spotlighted a couple of them here.
Tuesday, March 17
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
Grosse Isle @ Cedar Cultural Center
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Karaoke @ Eagles 34
Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band @ Metronome Brewery
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
Calvarosa, THR333, Panasueco @ Pilllar Forum
Dream, Ivory with Rew @ 7th St Entry
March Conspiracy Series featuring the Daily Norm, Embahn, Good Morning Midnight @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Jake La Botz @ 331 Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Áit Ait (Residency), the Torn Popes, Whispered The Rabbit @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, March 18
Tainted Canyon, Bottlerocket, the Locals @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
MMEA All-State Jazz Band @ Dakota
Kitchen Patrol & Joe @ Day Block Brewing
Poudre Canyon Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
The Twin Cities Céilí Band @ Dubliner Pub
The Strumbellas, Bermuda Search Party @ Fine Line
Open Mic With Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
LAMP feat. Russ Lawton, Scott Metzger & Ray Paczkowski @ Icehouse
Larson-Nilsen-Bosch @ Metronome Brewery
Pat Donohue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Karaoke Blast with Chazz @ Minnesota Music Cafe
TWYG, Venus DeMars @ Mortimer’s
Rise Against, Destroy Boys, KOYO @ Mystic Lake
Tape and Tears, Eric Funn, Ditch Pigeon, Quiver the Busker @ Pilllar Forum
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Nuovo Testamento, North Innsbruck, DJ Dedicated Enemy @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Doug Otto and the Getaways @ 331 Club
Last Dinosaurs, elmjack @ Turf Club
Waar Party, Martinkurle, 88Diagrams, Graceevelina, Bdaman, & Darxko @ Underground Music
- Cupcakke @ Varsity—Damn, you think you do a pretty job keeping up with new music. Then you realize one of your favorite rappers dropped a track called "One of My Bedbugs Ate My Pussy" last fall and you missed out on it completely. Rest assured, that track lives up to its title; there’s even a filthy take on “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” tucked in there. And the rest of this Chicago rapper’s latest album, The BakKery, lives up to her high (low?) standards, with tracks like “Fist Me” filthy enough to make Blowfly blush. There’s no feeling quite like chanting along to CupcakKe’s pornographic raps with a crowd full of fellow fans.—Keith Harris
St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel
Lord Jeremy’s Enemies feat. Sara Dulin & Christian Friesen with Curvy X, Woodzen @ White Squirrel
MOXEN, Ladyslipper, Otter Heist @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, March 19
Common Lady (EP Release) with NATL PARK SRVC & Labrador Wild @ Amsterdam
David Huckfelt’s Mystery Lights @ Animales
Vanguard New Music Series/RenegadeEnsemble Vocal Concert @ Arts on Lafond
Sammie Jean, Preston Gunderson @ Aster Cafe
JJJJJerome Ellis, Mary Hanson Scott @ Berlin
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Fanoos Ensemble @ Cedar Cultural Center
Velour Tomb, the Dead Electrics, Spectre of Desire @ Cloudland
Jennifer Eckes and Kevin Werner Hohlstein @ Crooners
Kaatwalk (Single Release) @ Crooners
Jenny & the Bets, Sylvia May & the Maydays @ Driftwood Char Bar
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Karaoke @ Eagles 34
The Band of Heathens, the Ransom Brothers @ Fine Line
Jake Owen, Kendell Marvel @ Fitzgerald Theater
Damage Case, Sound Sponge, Lexi Evelyn, Banana Grenade @ Flying V
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Dirty P’s Thirsty 3rd Thursdays Club @ Hook and Ladder
Salty Dog, Lamellas @ Hook and Ladder
- Leslie Vincent (Residency) with Leslie Rich, Zach Scott Johnson, & Annie Enneking @ Icehouse—Let's belatedly catch up with this Icehouse residency, now in its third week. Though she's sung her share of jazz and pop standards, Vincent is also an ace songwriter; this installment is being billed as a song swap with other three fine songwriters. Vincent's newest album, Little Black Book, is being released a month from now, yet somehow made my list of best local albums last year. How can that be? Time has finally collapsed upon itself, that's the only explanation.—Keith Harris
Another Enemy, Cause of Pain, Black Glove, Losing Dice, Bound by Unity @ Klash Coffee
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
Peter Kogan Jazz Presents the Great American Songbook @ Metronome Brewery
Mary Elias’s Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Chaining Eris @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 @ Orchestra Hall
hey, ily!, malamiko, Small Animal Hospital @ Pilllar Forum
2428, Black Wine @ Schooner Tavern
Pink Skies, Cal In Red, clovers daughter @ 7th St Entry
Cross Pollination with Knife Emoji, ditch pigeon, Eldest Daughter @ 331 Club
Martin Devaney & Friends with Jon Rodine @ White Squirrel
Alexander Natalie, Kiernan, Horse Tornado, birddog @ Zhora Darling
Friday, March 20
Fiona Hayes, Stellify, Calla Mae, Spit Takes @ Amsterdam
Horigan + Keen + Power @ Berlin
Ella Grace (Album Release) @ Berlin
Some Shitty Cover Band, DJ D-Mil @ Boardwalk
Leading Ladies of Americana @ Cabooze
Love Letters, Chaosphere, Eyes of Sorrow, And the Canary Fell @ Caydence Records and Coffee
Lazerbeak, the Nunnery @ Cedar Cultural Center
Sparrowhawk, Lutheran Heat, Will Olson and the Wild Ones @ Cloudland
Hotdog Down a Hellscape @ Club Underground
Jennifer Eckes and Zachary Scot Johnson @ Crooners
Adi Yeshaya Jazz Orchestra featuring Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
JD Simo and Luther Dickinson @ Dakota
Her Cure, Roc Barboza, Iodine @ Day Block Brewing
Skedydahl, Canadian Girlfriend @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Irish Diplomacy @ Dubliner Pub
Sunflower Fox & the Chicken Leg, Mel Tepid & Them Soul Ska Farmers, the Wicked Bees @ Eagles 34
Dan Deacon, Material @ Fine Line
TopHouse, Wheelwright @ First Avenue
- Gregorian @ Fitzgerald Theater—Oh really, we're doing this again?—Keith Harris
Dilly Dally Alley, Juice Lord, the Rumors, Charlie Boy @ Green Room
Hipshaker MPLS @ Hook and Ladder
Jon Sullivan Band, Shoeless Revolution, Brotherhood of Birds @ Hook and Ladder
Cowboy Thoughts, Betty Won’t, Rupert Angeleyes @ Icehouse
Becca Lozier & Friends @ Jazz Central
Corsair, Errors of Humanity, Reviver, Habeas Corpus, Embedded In Flesh @ Klash Coffee
Of the Orchard, Garden Glow, Bonder @ Memory Lanes
Dirty-930, the Yellow Rose, Kilroy @ Midway Saloon
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DUG, Time Room, Heat, Comets Ov Cupid @ Mortimer’s
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 @ Orchestra Hall
My Kid Banana, Bad Idea, the Asshats @ Pilllar Forum
Jellyjacket, OVRFWRD @ Schooner Tavern
HighSchool, Taraneh @ 7th St Entry
Matt Wilson & His Orchestra @ 318 Cafe
Socktopus, Sunnbather, Drug League @ 331 Club
King Pari (EP Release), Zak Khan, Fairooz Nazifa @ Turf Club
Runaway Ricochet, Covalent Blond, 1947, Quietchild @ Underground Music
Violet Palms, Scott Hefte and the Bury ‘Em Deep, Royalty, Etc. @ White Squirrel
12th House Sun, Waking Hours, Bird Hotel, & Josiah Shipp @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, March 21
Storm Records Artists @ Acadia
Hot Flash Dance: a Dance Party for Divas of a Certain Age @ Amsterdam
Sidewalk Diamonds, Side Saddle Sirens, Becky Kapell @ Barely Brothers
Journey to Lib Present Sound Clash @ Bazemnt
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Bunker’s
Dalava, StoLyette @ Cedar Cultural Center
Watches, Chaepter, Products Band @ Cloudland
The MPLS Men of Motown @ Dakota
Quietchild (Album Release), Flowtus, Emerson Island @ Day Block Brewing
The Comebacks, John Kerns @ Driftwood Char Bar
The Bill Patten Trio @ Dusty’s
Squid City Singers @ 56 Brewing
Quarters, Telescreens @ Fine Line
Evan Honer, Michal Leah @ First Avenue
DJ LA x King Kwame x Mwah @ Gidi
The Belfast Cowboys @ Hook and Ladder
Urgent Emergent Performance Art Series: Volume Three, Ladies First @ Icehouse
Eli Zukor Quintet @ Jazz Central
After Hours Big Band @ Metronome Brewery
The Roxxy Hall Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Assortment feat. Michael Grey @ Mortimer’s
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 @ Orchestra Hall
Classic Albums Live: Eagles’ Greatest Hits @ Ordway
Art Beagle’s Backup Band @ Padraigs
Boiled In Lead (Record Release), Pop Wagner, Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band @ Parkway
Chutes & Dearborn, Eli Orion, and Asparagus @ Pilllar Forum
GIni Dodds and the Dahlias, John Magnuson Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Chrissy Chlapecka @ 7th St Entry
Matthew Thomas & Wounded Wing, Nathan Walker, Queen Jeanne @ 331 Club
Eric Hutchinson, Caleb Hawley @ Turf Club
Lorraine-Deitrich, BLVCKBVRN, Conzemius @ Underground Music
International Women’s Month Music Showcase @ Uteplis Brewing
- Vial, Alex Vile, Cheap Perfume, Anita Velveeta, and Virginia’s Basement @ Varsity—How many times do you have to hold an event before it can be considered a tradition? This is Vial’s third Pissfest, and I say that counts. The Minneapolis trio of guitarist KT Branscom, singer/drummer Katie Fischer, and singer/bassist Taylor Kraemer aptly call their style “brat-punk,” which nails the ranty, unrelenting sound of their second full-length, Hellhound. It’s a melodic but brash blur of 13 songs rushing past you in less than half an hour, spiked with lyrics like “I'll blend up your brains and make a creep smoothie.”—Keith Harris
Coax From Chuckanut, Slaphazard @ White Squirrel
Zoe Grigsby, Zola @ White Squirrel
Yolk, Gauze, Weeklong Weekend @ White Squirrel
Death of the Heron, UXIA, BlurCurve, Taste of Vervain @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, March 22
Al Church’s Sunday Service @ Animales
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
- Laurels String Quartet feat. Alexei Moon Casselle & Chastity Brown @ Berlin—And yet another residency I should have mentioned before now. Over the past 16 years, the Laurels String Quartet (Josh Misner and Laura Harada on violins, Erica Burton on viola, and Jacqueline Ultan on cello) have justifiably become the go-to string accompanists in certain indie circles, working with the likes of Father John Misty and Belle and Sebastian. Now it's their turn to step into the spotlight. In previous weeks, they've shared the stage with Jeremy Messersmith, as well Aby Wolf & Eric Mayson. Tonight singer-songwriter Chastity Brown and Alexei Moon Casselle, aka Crescent Moon, join them.
Spoon Benders, Time Room, Raygun Youth @ Cloudland
Gustavus Jazz Ensemble feat. Sara Caswell @ Crooners
Tina Schlieske Quartet @ Dakota
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
The Comebacks Duo @ Dubliner Pub
Hurricane Harold Trio @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
The High Kings @ Fitzgerald Theater
Hallux, Major Malfunction, Mollywhopped, Bad Idea @ Flying V
Ben Quad, Riley!, Footballhead, Aren’t We Amphibians @ Green Room
Jazz Age Rumpus V — The Music of Sidney Bechet @ Hook and Ladder
Twin Cities Flamenco Collective & Flamenco X @ Icehouse
Obi Original and the Black Atlantics @ Icehouse
Good Morning Guilty, Cudgel, Ganked @ Klash Coffee
Wall of Crunch @ Metronome Brewery
Minimort: Producer’s Showcase @ Mortimer’s
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
- New Edition, Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton @ Target Center—That’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees New Edition to you, pal. And why not? For a few years during the G.H.W. Bush administration, New Edition alums dominated radio, redefining R&B for the hip-hop era. That was the heyday of new jack swing, with Bobby Brown declaring his prerogative, Bell Biv DeVoe getting nasty, Johnny Gill getting paid, and Ralph Tresvant getting sensitive. What’s more, their teenybop hits “Cool It Now” and “Mr. Telephone Man” remain wonderful. And the memories don’t stop there tonight. Boyz II Men created a new male harmony group sound that white boy bands would take to the bank, and Braxton’s husky voice defined the upscale version of R&B well into the ’00s.—Keith Harris
Last Chance for Love @ 331 Club
Doyle Turner @ 331 Club
Lake Drive, Stock Market Cinema, Flwers, Callback @ Underground Music
HebbaJebba, H3adcase @ White Squirrel
Senior Blues, Dive Bar Orchestra @ White Squirrel
Sawtooth Witch @ White Squirrel
Meatraffle Ska, Duck Bomb @ Zhora Darling
Monday, March 23
Clarice Jensen and Chuck Johnson @ Cedar Cultural Center
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Vincent Neil Emerson, Kade Hoffman @ Fine Line
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
Jam Society @ Minnesota Music Cafe
My Gradience, Oister Boy, Buzz Box @ Pilllar Forum
MINKA, Killed by Kiwis, Unattractive Giant Monster, True Lust @ Underground Music
