6 cool things in music included Tedeschi Trucks Band, Orville Peck and Prince

A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:

Liz Brenner of Minneapolis:

1 Tedeschi Trucks Band, "I Am the Moon" A quadruple album, released in four installments throughout the summer, was inspired by the 12th-century poem "Layla and Majnun." While the Derek and the Dominos song "Layla" is written from Majnun's perspective, Tedeschi Trucks Band is telling Layla's side of the story.

2 Dallas Orbiter and Kerns & the Hemispheres, Driftwood Char Bar, June 24. Dallas Orbiter is a fun Minneapolis group doing a heady blend of pop-rock, prog and shoegaze, and Kerns and crew play rock and pop with colorful chord progressions and high-energy harmonies.

3 Kikagaku Moyo, Madison, Wis. This Japanese psychedelic rock band is calling it quits after this year's touring schedule, and they blew me away at the Majestic Theatre. We bought tickets to their very last show in Brooklyn in the fall.

Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:

1 Orville Peck, First Avenue. Walking the line between camp and cool, the masked and animated cowboy⁩ put drama and punkish energy into his modern-day country-western. At his second sold-out gig, he saluted Minneapolis acts Prince, Babes in Toyland and the Replacements, doing their "Can't Hardly Wait." A riotous triumph.

2 Prince Live on the Big Screen with the NPG, Paisley Park. At Celebration 2022, it was a treat to watch one of his surprise gigs — Jan. 11, 1992, at Glam Slam — with the live stage mirroring the screen as the Game Boyz danced, the Steeles harmonized and Mayte Garcia pirouetted (in her first performance with Prince). It was a funky good time despite the lack of "Purple Rain" tunes.

3 New Grammy categories. Constantly undergoing self-examination, the Recording Academy has added some new awards, including the long overdue songwriter of the year non-classical (for a non-performer/producer) and a special merit prize for song for social change. Other new categories include best Americana performance, alternative performance, spoken word poetry album and score soundtrack for video games/interactive media. These are welcomed changes as the music industry evolves.

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