It's true: Today is my birthday. How old am I exactly? That's beside the point. What's important is that today is all about me—and Jennie from Blackpink, John Carpenter, Sade, and Jack McDowell, just to stick to my living birthday-sharers. (RIP Juliet Berto, Aaliyah, Susan Sontag, and Emperor Sheng Zong.)
Tuesday, January 16
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
Billy Prine Presents: The Songs of John Prine @ Dakota
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
All Nighter Tuesdays @ ROK Music Lounge
Burning Blue Rain, Beneath Green, Covalent Blonde, and Kevin Gamble @ 7th St Entry
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Phil Heywood @ 331 Club
January Conspiracy Series featuring Ben Cook-Feltz, Ruby Blu @ 331 Club
The New Havoline Supremes! feat. Mary Cutrufello, Dan Lowinger @ White Squirrel
Pure Shifter (Tuesday Residency) with Wish Wash & Deletist @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, January 17
MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe
Maggie's Wednesday: Lori Dokken @ Crooners
Switchgrass, Best New Band of 2024 @ Driftwood
Patty and the Buttons @ Eagles 34
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
- Yellow Ostrich 3rd Annual Winter Shindig Night #2 @ Icehouse—For the third year, Alex Schaff's Yellow Ostrich is hunkering down at Icehouse for a weekly January residency. For week two, Zak Khan and Honeybutter will be in the house. Max + Jeremy Ylvisaker and Trash Date join Yellow Ostrich for the third week, and for the finale, Aesha Minor and Nat Harvie are on hand.
JCS: Creative Collaborations @ Jazz Central
Steve Daly's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Cole Diamond Presents Whiskey Wednesdays @ Palmer's
Dance Church Open Decks @ Rok Music Lounge
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Tom Pevear @ 331 Club
CASTER VOLOR with KILLING RAPUNZEL, FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, and MALACHITE @ Turf Club
Saint Paul Mudsteppers Monthly @ White Squirrel
Wu Wednesday with DJ That Dude Trey @ White Squirrel
Thursday, January 18
- Corey Harris & Cedric Watson @ Cedar Cultural Center—Harris was among the most exciting young blues revivalists of his era, a Taj Mahal for his time, with his artistic ambit stretching from the Delta to West Africa. At his old age of 54 he's settled down some, but with Insurrection Blues in 2021 he showed he can still blend trad blues to a topical end. Here he teams up with multi-instrumental zydeco master Watson, a formidable collaborator.
Squanchy, Kalot, Bad Supremacy @ Cloudland
Charmin Michelle Trio @ Crooners
A Tom Waits Revelry: Jake Endres and the Mean Rhythm Masters @ Crooners
Honey Tree, Just the Shameless @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Snapped: Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Samuel Wilbur (Album Release) with full catholic + Kiernan @ Icehouse
A Tribute to Jazz Rock Fusion of the 1970s @ KJ's Hideaway
The Forest Radio Presents the House Party @ Minnesota Music Cafe
My Vigilante Superego, Poison Ivy & The People, The Confused, Majoon Travelers @ Mortimer’s
Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach and Friends @ Palmer's
Mubbla Buggs @ Schooner Tavern
Descend Darkwave Night @ ROK Music Lounge
Dad Bod, 12th House Sun, glowingtide, and Oddysseys @ 7th St Entry
Cross Pollination: Awful Offal @ 331 Club
Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty, Jillian Rae, and Maygen & The Birdwatcher @ Turf Club
Secret Menu, Tricksy, easeupkid, The Dalmatian Club @ Underground Music Cafe
Devaney & Friends with Pleasure Horse, Tyler Haag @ White Squirrel
Friday, January 19
Zoë Says Go + Freaque @ Aster Cafe
Is This Thing On (Album Release) @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Rachel Baiman + Lillie Mae @ Cedar Cultural Center
Rigby, E.T., Saffron Dealer, Ice Climber @ Cloudland
Doug Anderson and Lori Dokken @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Judy Vinar and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
- Vijay Iyer Trio @ Dakota—Vijay Iyer is the kind of 21st century improvised music performer you can’t sum up in a blurb. His corpus demands something more formal—a CV, or a testimonial, something like that. I’m not teasing—Iyer is one of the finest examples of the new breed of musician, equally at home in the academy or the club, committed to an overarching vision that hews to no particular style. He’s done the trad thing, he’s done the jazz with electronics thing, he’s done all manner of unclassifiable in-between things. Most recently, Iyer, Arooj Aftab, and Shahzad Ismaily recorded Love in Exile, which made ripples outside of the typical jazz/improv circles; the three musicians played a sold-out show at the Cedar in October. For tonight’s performance, which was originally scheduled for November 2022, he’s performing with bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Jeremy Dutton.
Twin Town Guitars Singer-Songwriter Night with Stone Arch Rivals @ Driftwood
Swingin' on a Star @ Eagles 34
The Taylor Party: The TS Dance Party @ Fillmore
A Tribute to Dolly Parton @ Fine Line
Carlos Ballarta @ First Avenue
Anita Velveeta, Huhroon, Bugsy @ Green Room
- Hamell on Trial @ Hook and Ladder—Do I cover this loudmouth troubadour too much? He swings through town plenty, and each time he visits the Hook I write something like: "For 30 years, Ed Hamell has been hammering away, furiously and unaccompanied, on his 1937 Gibson L-00 acoustic, yammering hilariously and insightfully away in his broad Syracuse, New York accent." But every time he's here, Hamell seems to always have a new, noteworthy collection of timely tunes on offer. In late 2023 he released Bring the Kids, which takes on some familiar targets (billionaires and selfish Christians, gun-nuts and Tucker Carlson) but he also listens to what riot grrrls actually have to say, supports shoplifting, and writes a catchy little number about "Nazi killer girl gangs."
Abinnet Berhanu’s Ahndenet አንድነት Featuring Genet Abate + Kevin Washington & RA Spirit @ Icehouse
Quarteto Carioca @ Jazz Central
Luke Hendrickson and the Crop Circles with Jeremy Jewell @ KJ's Hideaway
Stefan Geisinger Band @ KJ's Hideaway
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Ray Gun Youth, The Del-Viles, and Unattractive Giant Monster @ Palmer's
Mallrats Present MTV Unplugged @ Parkway
J.E. Sunde, Val Son, Paul Spring @ ROK Music Lounge
Jiggs Lee Invasion @ Schooner Tavern
Darren Kiely with Kyndal Inskeep @ 7th St Entry
Godly the Ruler X Groupthink @ Studio B
Ginny and the Fizz, Nina Luna, Aesha Minor @ 331 Club
FènixDion with Extraterrestrials, Lighter Co., and Services @ Turf Club
Riptide's Wild Ryde @ Uptown VFW
Crush Scene with Jeffery Robert Larson @ White Squirrel
The Gated Community with Anthony Kaczynski @ White Squirrel
Saturday, January 20
The Wise Man’s Fear with The Motion Mosaic, Evernorth, & Southpaw @ Amsterdam
The High 48’s Bluegrass Brunch @ Aster Cafe
Jenna Graves and the Loons @ Aster Cafe
The Good, the Bad & the Funky @ Bunkers
Shadow Lake, Lost Evidence, The Royal Dumpsters, Waar Party @ Caydence
Los Rolling Ruanas with Smellkin Ernesto @ Cedar Cultural Center
Lifestyle Shakes, Texture Freq, Oyster World, Blood Cookie @ Cloudland
Maggie's Afterglow: Judy Vinar and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Jay Young & The Lyric Factory @ Dakota
Old School, Hazy Phase, Noslo @ Driftwood
The Bill Patten Trio @ Dusty's
Jared Justen (Record Release) Admiral Fox, Freaque, and FINICK @ Eagles 34
Everyday Trebles, Kill Palace, Will Roberts @ Eagles 34
Can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party @ Fine Line
Dead Man Winter with Spaceport @ First Avenue
Free Falling: The Tom Petty Experience @ Green Room
SoundShapes (EP Release) with Lost Marbles @ Hook and Ladder
The Avant Garde Presents: The Vibeout Suite @ Icehouse
Alex Meffert Quartet @ Jazz Central
Mississippi Hot Club @ KJ's Hideaway
The Tyte Phitt @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Assortment feat. Michael Grey @ Mortimer's
Foe, Rat Castle Jazz Ensemble, and Brother Means Ally @ Palmer's
Lissie's Midwinter Residency with minigolf @ The Parkway
Crimes Against Ravers Presents BPM Above Safe Levels @ ROK Music Lounge
Seventh Street Shuffle @ Schooner Tavern
Squirrel Flower with Goon and Products Band @ 7th St Entry
Will Skoog, North Country Singers, Michael Rendhal @ Terminal Bar
The Jorgensens with Harrison Street @ Turf Club
Willow Creek Brothers, Poolboy, Blue Red Roses, and Gladden @ Turf Club
ECHOBASS: Nocturnalia @ Uptown VFW
Gasolina Reggaetón Party @ Varsity
TJD Trio, Catacombs, ROSIE @ White Squirrel
Pop Wagner Tavern Trio @ White Squirrel
Altruit & Friends with the Bryan Murray Trio @ White Squirrel
- Travis Scott @ Xcel Energy Center—"What if a guy with no real personality desperately wanted to be Kanye West?" is Travis Scott’s one and only bit, but it’s a surprisingly entertaining one. Scott released his latest epic punchline to that setup, UTOPIA, last year, a typically overstuffed affair with a truly impressive guest list (Drake of course, but also Beyoncé) and no real identity at its core, unless somehow you catch a glimpse into Travis’s soul from lines like “I like a bi girl on a bi-cycle.” And it’s sadly unsurprising that his music doesn’t address last year’s Astroland Festival disaster, where 10 died and many more were injured. But as sensory amusement parks go, UTOPIA is, well, amusing. Since its release, Scott has kept staying active, showing up with some high-profile Playboi Carti productions. Opening is Teezo Touchdown, who makes a few emo noises on UTOPIA.
Sunday, January 21
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
- Cloudland Jazz Matinee Series @ Cloudland—What’s more punk rock than turning a punk club into an afternoon jazz hangout? (Literally speaking, keeping it a punk club and playing punk music inside… but you get our point.) Newish venue Cloudland is already taking some fun, freewheelin’ artistic swings, like movie screenings (catch a doc on Minnesota hardcore this Tuesday) and the aforementioned jazz hangs. Appearing this Sunday inside the 150-capacity room: A set from local jazz dudes Steve Kenny and Jake Baldwin, followed by a second set by local power trio '58 Belvedere. And another thing! Given this website’s firm editorial stance on concerts running far too late, it’s important to support the terrific idea of musical entertainment taking place during non-witching hours
Nathan Griner with Matthew Probst @ Como Zoo Conservatory
Jennifer Grimm and Joe Cruz @ Crooners
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Music of David Bowie + More for Kids @ First Avenue
Mineral Man, Yonder, Greentop @ Green Room
Darnell Davis Presents, James Grear & Company @ Icehouse
Twin Cities Flamenco Collective with Marija Temo & La Bárbara @ Icehouse
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer's
ALLERGEN, Melanerpes, Lana Leone, The Briefly Gorgeous @ Pilllar
Sean Cosgrove with Darryl Cornell @ White Squirrel
Monday, January 22
Open Mic with Vicki Dischler @ Driftwood
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
World Music Monday @ Eagles 34
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer's
JAMuary Residency with Built to Last All Stars, Dead Larry, and Time Stream @ 7th St Entry
The Cactus Blossoms with Lamaar @ Turf Club
Nikki Matteson and Rich Rue @ 331 Club
Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
The Dans: Dan Newton, Dan Lowinger, and Pat Donohue @ White Squirrel
