November 10, 2008 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the “dark folk” sound hitting the Twin Cities music scene. Groups highlighted are Roma Di Luna, The Pines, Murzik, and Spaghetti Western String Company.
October 1, 2008 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the appearance of sidewalk poetry being created throughout the city as a public art project designed to bring more poetry into everyday life. Roberts interviews Marcus Young, the creator of the project, as well as, one of the poets and other residents, about the concrete verse penned by St. Paulites.
July 31, 2008 - The 15th annual Minnesota Fringe Festival, the midwest's biggest performing arts festival, opens today. For the next ten days actors and dancers will perform in over 150 shows throughout Minneapolis. Covering the event seemed an impossible task for one reporter - so we sent out four to see what's in store for Fringe-goers this year.
May 16, 2008 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles St. Paul new age musician Steven C. Anderson, who is trying to distinguish himself from thousands of other contemporary piano artists with his new CD, “Signature.”
April 10, 2008 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on release of “Walk it Off,” the sophmore album from Minneapolis band Tapes 'n Tapes. Roberts interviews band members Josh Grier and Eric Applewick about making the album.
January 30, 2008 - Members of St. Paul’s House of Mercy Band think there's nothing hypocritical about parking on a bar stool on a Saturday night and then sliding into a church pew the following Sunday morning. MPR’s Chris Roberts talks with founder C.P. Larson, who says they're comfortable in both worlds.
December 14, 2007 - In a crowd, it's easy to overlook Mayda. But on stage, it is hard not to notice her. MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles the Korean songwriter and musician from St. Paul.
November 28, 2007 - Misfits. Rebels. Anti-rock stars. Those are just some of the descriptions of one of Minnesota's most notorious and influential rock bands, The Replacements. The group became synonymous with the Twin Cities' music heyday of the 1980s. Now, more than 15-years after its break-up, the band has achieved near myth status among many fans and critics. Writer Jim Walsh has assembled an oral history entitled "The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting."
August 16, 2007 - As part of the series “Songs from Scratch,” MPR reporters Sanden Totten, Larissa Anderson, and Chris Roberts invite musicians to come in and record the songs they've written based off poet Stephen Burt’s lyrics.
August 15, 2007 - As part of the series “Songs from Scratch,” MPR reporters Sanden Totten, Larissa Anderson, and Chris Roberts check in with our three bands as they try to turn the words of Stephen Burt into songs.