After a years-long effort, the Minneapolis recording studio formerly known as Sound 80 has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, joining the ranks of New Ulm’s Hermann Monument, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s row house in St. Paul, and the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth. Located at 2709 E. 25th St., the studio was…

Whether your desk is tiny or gigantic, chances are you may be spending more time at it than ever this summer. As many of the artists who submitted to National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Contest can attest, it’s a great time to have a project, and for some, that meant participating in this year’s contest.…

In a summer that may have otherwise been filled with live music, musicians and audiences alike have been adjusting to socially distanced options. For most, this entails live streams and music videos made from home. For three Minnesota musicians, bassist Liz Draper, fiddler Clancy Ward, and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Ollah, it also involves a pontoon boat.…

Beginning Sunday, July 12, we're making some updates to our Sunday on-air schedule to bring you more of the music you love.

On the Morning Show this week, host Jill Riley had a conversation with Michele Norris, a columnist for the Washington Post, founding director of the Race Card Project, author of The Grace of Silence, and former host of All Things Considered. They discussed Norris’s experience growing up in Minneapolis, the significance of Juneteenth, and whether or not…

Among music and music-adjacent businesses in the Twin Cities, black-owned businesses are underrepresented. Here are some black-owned or black-run music retailers, venues, theaters, mixed art spaces, and publications enriching the Twin Cities’ art and culture. Music retail Urban Lights is the only black-owned record store in the Twin Cities, and specializes in hip-hop. Urban Lights…

Over the weekend of May 15-17, The Current hosted Sounds Like Home: a virtual festival of Minnesota music.

Over the weekend of May 15 to 17, The Current hosted Sounds Like Home: a virtual festival of Minnesota music. Watch Dave Simonett's performance from that festival.

In honor of Minnesota’s 162nd birthday, we’re breaking down the 77 Minnesotans that have stars on First Avenue’s wall. Much like the music scene they all came from, these artists represent a variety of genres and subcultures. Some have international fame, others are local gems. In total, 18% of the stars are Minnesota locals. American…

In the latest episode of the podcast Tuesdays with Lazerbeak, the Doomtree producer and his co-host Jeyca Maldonado-Medina talk with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, GAYNGS). Here are 14 things we learned from their wide-ranging hour-and-a-half conversation, recorded in January and posted this week. Lazerbeak is an awesome wedding DJ “It was probably…