I'll be honest: When I wrote "We all need to take a moment occasionally to recharge, and live music recharges you like nothing else" in this space last week, I'm not even sure I believed it. It's hard to go out and see shows at a moment like this. But then I went to Best New Bands night at First Ave, saw a bunch of friends, and I guess I was right after all. I'm starting to see people say "It's a marathon, not a sprint" (good advice re: life in general) and that's worth keeping in mind.
Tuesday, January 20
Iodine, Flicker, Velvet Ghoul @ Amsterdam
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Karaoke @ Eagles 34
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Old Timey Music Session @ Padraigs
Placeholder, Tuesday X, Liminality @ Pilllar Forum
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
January Conspiracy Series featuring Daniels and Baker @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Jeff Ray @ 331 Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Embahn (Residency) @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, January 21
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
Cody Steinmann Quartet @ Berlin
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
1 Mic, 1 Cable, 30 Minutes @ Carbone’s
- Switchgrass @ Como Park Conservatory—We’ve got an inverse Rob Thomas/Santana situation in the forecast this week—it’s gonna be a cold one. As such, it’s a helluva time to patronize this delightful/free annual concert series inside the tropical-seeming Como Park Conservatory. This week you’ll hear the bluegrassy sounds of local band Switchgrass, whose repertoire spans jazz, country, rock, and folk. Alcoholic bevs will be available for purchase. On tap for the back half of this year’s Music Under Glass series: Katy Tessman & Sweet Lou (Jan. 28), Annie Mack (Feb. 1), and, finishing things off for '26, Jeff Ray with Mikkel Beckmen (Feb. 4).—Jay Boller
Kitchen Patrol & Joe @ Day Block Brewing
The Jayboys, Cowboy Alien Strings @ Driftwood Char Bar
The Twin Cities Céilí Band @ Dubliner Pub
Fox Stevenson with Yue @ Fine Line
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Jacob Mullis, Amy Hager, and Nick Elstad (trio) @ Icehouse
Pat Donohue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Karaoke with Chazz Reed @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Pyrmafrost, Flayed and Forgotten, Wilms/Isler/Folie @ Mortimer’s
- Wanderers: An Evening of Klezmer with Psoy Korolenko & Polina Shepherd @ The Museum of Russian Art—If you need a dose of joy right now, a rousing, soulful night of klezmer might be just the ticket. Korolenko is a lifelong Muscovite relocated to New Jersey with a literary bent and a lively sense of humor; Shepherd is a British pianist born in Siberia known for a powerhouse voice. Both come with clever tags—Korolenko is “Ginsberg meets Gogol,” while Shepherd is “the Robert Plant of klezmer,” per the promo materials. Their “Stranniki” project (Russian for “wanderers,” or, better yet, “vagabonds”) has reunited for a six-date tour, and this should be a special evening, featuring Russian and Yiddish poems, songs, folktales, and other traditional material.—Keith Harris
Living Bloom, Honey Grl, Apple Blossom @ Pilllar Forum
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Potential New Boyfriend @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Debbie Briggs Vintage Jazz @ 331 Club
Seafoam Green Tangerine, PØSTCARDS, Wisteria @ Underground Music
St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel
Thursday, January 22
Waar Party, Dead by 50, Entundra, Gradience @ Amsterdam
Becky Kapell & the Fat Six @ Animales
Witness Trips, Sam Dubois @ Aster Cafe
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Hunny Bear, Emerson Island, Heliocene @ Can Can Wonderland
Blue Nights: A Winter Jazz Affair @ Crooners
Davina and the Vagabonds @ Dakota
Sudd Brothers, DJ Cam @ Driftwood Char Bar
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Karaoke @ Eagles 34
Jonah Kagen, Vincent Lima @ Fine Line
Molly Dean (Residency) @ Icehouse
Northstar Original Revue @ Midway Saloon
Drums of Navarone @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Cerveza Muscular, Jupiter Johnson, Dive Bar Orchestra Trio @ Pilllar Forum
The Gated Community, John Magnuson Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Of The Orchard (EP Release), OISTER BOY, Stock Market Cinema @ 7th St Entry
Dead Larry, Adam Bohanan, Eric Mayson @ Turf Club
Trickshooter Social Club @ White Squirrel
Hive, Vacant, Wanderer, Body @ Zhora Darling
Friday, January 23
Fiona Hayes (Single Release), Stellify, Calla Mae, C U Next Tuesday @ Amsterdam
Greentop, Penny Peaches @ Aster Cafe
Oasis Presents Lovers and Friends @ Bazemet
Mystic Bill - Freak of the Week 8 Year Anniversary Party @ Cabooze
Bring Your Mom, August Quest, Drew Sudbury @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Dandelion Delivery Service @ Eagles 34
The Real Chuck Norad @ 56 Brewing
Drama, Blank Sense @ Fine Line
Brigitte Calls Me Baby, JOSEPH, Colin Bracewell @ First Avenue
Zola Rosenfeld @ Ginkgo Coffee
Rascal Flatts @ Grand Casino Arena
The Dead of Winter Festival @ Hook and Ladder
Healed Hoochie: Sacred Pack @ Icehouse
Gus Sandberg Quartet @ Jazz Central
Luke Warm & the Cool Hands @ Memory Lanes
Big Blue Moon @ Metronome Brewery
Funktion Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Night Jobs, Sparrowhawk, Car Spiders, Planer @ Pilllar Forum
Hurricane Harold’s All Star Revue @ Schooner Tavern
The Jack Wharff Band @ 7th St Entry
Richard Kriehn with Matt Muller & Pat Frederick @ 318 Cafe
Plumstar, We Are the Willows @ 331 Club
John Mueller’s Winter Dance Party @ Treasure Island
A Benefit for Children & Gaza @ Turf Club
The Electric Honeycomb, Being a Satellite, Trellis, Bookowski @ Underground Music
Michael O’Brien Trio @ Volstead’s
The Mary Cutrufello Band @ White Squirrel
Cody James, J-Mo On The Beat, Francis Emil Johnson @ White Squirrel
Mayfly Moon, Portside Dive, Sunsets Over Flowers, Golden Satellite @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, January 24
Booster Pack, Fuschia, Windfall @ Amsterdam
Doug Collins & the Receptionists @ Animales
Saturday Night Vibez: Party with Tunzy @ Bazemnt
Brandon Wozniak/Graydon Peterson @ Berlin
Barlow Sings Standards @ Berlin
Strictly R&B: Blackout Edition—Part 3 @ Cabooze
Frander with Ponyfolk @ Cedar Cultural Center
Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners
Psychodelic, Machinery Hill, the Anchormen @ Driftwood Char Bar
Mary Strand & the Garage, Ted Hajnassiewicz, Large Headed Fish @ Dusty’s
Square Dance Gala with Lee Guthrie @ Eagles 34
- Cate Le Bon, Frances Chang @ Fine Line—Over seven albums, Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon’s sound has grown distinctively familiar while remaining subtly unpredictable: a liquid mix of synthesizers and guitars percolated by subtle electronic grinding underneath and pop-up saxophone. And she’s toned up her control of that sound by increasingly taking outside production gigs on the side (most recently Horsegirl’s Matador debut, Phonetics On and On, and Dry Cleaning’s just-released Secret Love). Her latest album, Michaelangelo Dying, is a breakup album, about the kind of breakup that sends you retreating back home—in her case, back to Cardiff from California. But don’t expect self-pity here, as Le Bon’s voice remains as stately as ever, and maybe more than ever on “Ride,” a duet with John Cale.—Keith Harris
Umphrey’s McGee @ First Avenue
The Last Waltz Tribute feat. Big Pink with the Belfast Cowboys @ Fitzgerald Theater
Will Hale and the Tadpole Parade @ Ginkgo Coffee
Winter Sol 2026 @ Hook and Ladder
David Huckfelt & The Unarmed Forces (Record Release) with Channy Leaneagh @ Icehouse
Max Johnk + Allweather @ Jazz Central
Bear Grillz, Vastive @ The Loft
Rhino @ Mainstreet Bar
Ragged But Right @ Memory Lanes
Almost a Band @ Metronome Brewery
High & Mighty @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Song Cycles of Libby Larsen @ Ordway
Big Head Todd and the Monsters @ Palace Theatre
Fly Over States, Garden Home, Endswell, Slut Intent @ Pilllar Forum
Dave Rave & the Governors, Lolo’s Ghost, Nathan Walker Band @ Schooner Tavern
Madds Buckley with Brye @ 7th St Entry
Cody James, Emil Johnson, The Light Inside Is My Muse @ Terminal Bar
Dan Rodriguez (Residency) @ 318 Cafe
The Symptones, BEAR, Steady Range @ 331 Club
Dean Johnson, Lily Seabird @ Turf Club
We Wanna Be Your Dog–A Tribute to Iggy & Iggy and the Stooges @ Uptown VFW
Billy Johnson @ White Squirrel
Sunday, January 25
Cody James, Aly Dyg, Sammie Jean Cohen @ Acadia
Al Church’s Sunday Service @ Animales
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
The Very Best of Elton John and Billy Joel @ Crooners
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Hurricane Harold Trio @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
SteamHeat Swing Band @ Eagles 34
DayFunk with Kelly Reverb @ Eat Street Crossing
Source Song Festival's Eighth Annual SongSLAM @ Icehouse
Obi Original and the Black Atlantics (Residency) @ Icehouse
Space Train 2: Loose Cabooze @ Cabooze
Tribute to Jim Croce feat. Nicholas David, Mark Joseph, and Steph Devine @ Crooners
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
Josh Granowski’s Imitation Chuck Norad @ 331 Club
Charlie Parr (Residency) with Tony Polecastro @ Turf Club
Katy Becky Katy @ Utepils Brewing
Graf, Sam Licari, Allison Sounds @ White Squirrel
Gerard Nolden & Too Old Cat @ White Squirrel
Monday, January 26
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Blues Saloon
Massive Mondays Reggae @ Cabooze
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
Jam Society @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Metal Monday @ Schooner Tavern
Open Mic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Urban Hillbilly Quartet @ 331 Club
The Cactus Blossoms (Residency), Angela Autumn @ Turf Club
