Minnesota has already given the world several iconic musicians (Bob Dylan, Prince, The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, The Jayhawks, The Hold Steady), and there’s a wealth of talent coming up behind them. For our 50 States Project, we wanted to dig deeper than the many great new bands we’ve already covered here at Paste—and still heartily recommend (folks like Poliça, Dessa, Trampled By Turtles, Jeremy Messersmith, Cloud Cult, Astronautalis, Peter Wolf Crier and Now Now). It may as well start calling itself Land of 10,000 bands. Here are 12 of our new favorites. As always, let us know yours in the comments section and email [email protected] for band suggestions in states we haven’t covered yet.
Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps
Hometown: Minneapolis
Members: Caroline Smith (vocals, guitar), Arlen Peiffer (drums), Jesse Schuster (bassist), David Earl (miscellaneous)
Current Album: Live at the Cedar
Performing solo and with her backing band The Good Night Sleeps, Caroline Smith has been growing an audience in Minneapolis since she moved there as an 18-year-old singer/songwriter in 2006. After Smith got back from her first European tour, she and her collaborators finished recording their first studio album since 2010. Little Wind, due Sept. 20, expands on Smith’s coffeehouse roots into the folkier corners of indie rock. “I just wanted to go back to the music that made me feel happy, that made me want to dance, that makes people feel good,” she said in a recent PBS documentary.
Chastity Brown
Hometown: Minneapolis
Current Album: Back-Road Highways
Chastity Brown traveled down to Nashville to record her latest album Back-Road Highways, rooted in all kinds of American music. With four albums now under her belt, Brown (who plays guitar, piano, banjo and saxophone) has made a name for herself in Europe, where she’s touring again this fall.
Communist Daughter
Hometown: Minneapolis
Members: John Solomon (vocals, guitar), Molly Moore (vocals), Adam Switlick (bass), Dan Demuth (drums), Al Weiers (guitar) and Dillon Marchus (keys, guitars)
Current Album: Lions & Lambs EP
Communist Daughter provides a second life for frontman John Solomon’s musical career. The quick rise to prominence in the Minneapolis music scene of his band Friends Like These led to a struggle with addiction and some time in jail. He quit music and moved to Wisconsin. Solomon met a young singer named Molly Moore who only agreed to tour with him if he got clean. Now sober, Solomon and a cast of friends are back at it, recording intricate guitar melodies with gorgeous, haunting vocals layered on top.
Guante
Hometown: Minneapolis
Current Album: You Better Weaponize
Guante is a rapper, a two-time National Poetry Slam champion, an electronic musician, an essayist and an all-around firebrand. His most recent album, last year’s You Better Weaponize, was a collaboration with local hip-hop producer Big Cats. The tracks are political but also personal, impassioned without becoming preachy, and always original.
Haley Bonar
Hometown: Saint Paul
Current Album: Bad Reputation 7”
When Alan Sparhawk saw a 20-year-old Haley Bonar (rhymes with “honor”) play an open-mic night, he invited her to open for his band Low. She immediately quit school and hit the road. Her spontaneity has paid as she’s since recorded four albums and has been able to tour the country and play her songs alongside folks like Andrew Bird, Amos Lee and Over the Rhine. Her fifth album is currently in the works.
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