Minnesota music is having a moment.
Our daily picks for 24 Minnesota music acts to see at the State Fair
To meet the pent-up demand for live music, our critic recommends four local acts you can see each day.
August 23, 2021 at 7:22PM
After a year and a half of shuttered venues and quarantined audiences, the live music scene in the state came to life this summer like mosquitoes after an extra-rainy May. Fans have been gobbling up tickets for local bands. Venues have been heavily relying on locals in lieu of national tours.
That momentum continues at the Minnesota State Fair. As usual, dozens of local and regional acts will perform there every day. This year, though, there's a little more reliance on Minnesota music makers, both out of necessity — see: Gear Daddies filling in after the Dire Straits Legacy tour was canceled for COVID reasons — and out of extra appreciation for all the locals keeping the scene alive.
In the spirit of the many food guides to the fair, here's a tip sheet with recommendations for Minnesota musicians playing the free stages each day at the fair (most acts are booked to play two days back-to-back).
Thursday & Friday
Always a crowd pleaser, Davina & the Vagabonds put a fresh spin and bounce on vintage New Orleans-style jazz and funk (Schell's Stage at West End, 8 p.m.).
Café Accordion Orchestra brings old European cabaret class and romanticism to Minnesota (3:15, 4:30 & 5:45 p.m., International Bazaar).
St. Paul's Mary Cutrufello blends roadhouse blues and honky-tonk twang plucked from her Texas roots (noon, 1 & 2 p.m., Schell's West End).
And get more authentic New Orleans flavor from second-line funk and jazz specialists the Jack Brass Band (10:45 a.m., noon, 1:15 p.m., International Bazaar).
Saturday & Sunday
Austin, Minn., country-rock darlings the Gear Daddies with frontman Martin Zellar were added as late fill-ins for the Dire Straits-related DSL Legacy tour (8 p.m., Leinie Bandshell).
The Men of New Hope, based at St. Paul's New Hope Baptist Church, blend old-school a cappella gospel with a modern twist (3:15, 4:30 & 5:45 p.m., International Bazaar).
Longtime Lee's Liquor Lounge favorites Jack Knife & the Sharps deliver swinging rockabilly (3:15, 4:30 and 5:45 p.m., Ramberg Music Cafe).
The Neighborhood Trio is an eclectic instrumental group helmed by New Standards vibraphonist Steve Roehm (10:30 & 11:45 a.m., 1 p.m., Ramberg Cafe).
Monday & Tuesday
Finger-picking wiz Dakota Dave Hull is a fair staple and hero to guitar players (3:15, 4:30 & 5:15 p.m., Ramberg Cafe).
Tha Ma Muz is R&B singer Kathleen Johnson's all-female vocal trio specializing in the classic Minneapolis Sound (3:15, 4:30 & 5:15 p.m., International Bazaar).
Mark Joseph, guitarist with jam-band faves the Big Wu, explores his Southern-y rock and R&B influences in his band the American Soul (3-7 p.m., Café Caribe).
Sara Renner has been a prominent Twin Cities gospel singer for two decades (1, 3 & 5:30 p.m., Crossroads Chapel).
Sept. 1-2
Rosemount native Nur-D is the hottest young rapper in town with his buoyant band and fun and/or meaningful lyrics (8 p.m., Schell's West End).
Guitar guru and acclaimed songwriter Molly Maher and her ace band offer alternately gritty and lush Americana neo-twang (4, 5 & 6 p.m., Schell's West End).
"SotaRican" rapper/singer Maria Isa, a local hip-hop star since her teens, is debuting a rhythmic new group, LatinXapolis (3:15, 4:30 & 5:45 p.m., International Bazaar).
The Ujamaa Music Group was formed at a St. Paul social services center for troubled men who turned to music with help from Prince associates (10:45 a.m., noon, 1:15 p.m., International Bazaar).
Sept. 3-4
Well received in 2019, "First Avenue Goes to the Fair" features a house band led by Al Church with fixtures from First Ave nightclub, including Lady Midnight, Alan Sparhawk and Eleganza (8 p.m., Schell's West End).
Veteran Caribbean-rooted musicians get their groove on in Socaholix (8 p.m., International Bazaar).
Local scene makers don't come any more veteran than Cornbread Harris, a blues and jazz staple still plunking the ivories at 94. (4, 5 & 6 p.m., Schell's West End).
Hear a masterful soukous-style guitarist and his inspiring stories with Siama's Congo Roots (10:45 a.m., noon, 1:15 p.m., International Bazaar).
Sept. 5-6
Like Hippo Campus in this same headlining slot in 2017, Yam Haus is an accessible, young pop/rock band on the verge of national stardom (7:30 p.m., Leinie Bandshell).
Another rising star, Southern-y rocker Mae Simpson is part Janis Joplin and part Jason Isbell (8 p.m., Schell's West End).
KOFI & the Fire Keepers blend gospel harmonies and messages with reggae and funk grooves (3:15, 4:30, and 5:45 p.m., International Bazaar).
Malamanya's eclectic, folky Latin dance music should be a warm way to wake up (10:30 and 11:45 a.m., Leinie Bandshell).
612-673-4658 • @ChrisRstrib
Will the key voting bloc support Harris or Trump? We went to the Minnesota State Fair (where else?) and asked them.
