Open Stage with host Dave Babb. Start the evening with a few songs from Dave Babb, guitarist and singer with the Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs. Then, take advantage of this great opportunity to put yourself on the Cedar stage, perform two or three songs, and enjoy the top-quality sound!

SOLD OUT--THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT! While Cockburn had been popular in Canada for years, he didn't make a splash in the United States until 1979, with the release of the album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, still a landmark of acoustic-based pop featuring intricate lyrics, great sonics, and startling guitar work.

Wine Tasting hosted by Zipp's Liquors featuring food by the Seward Co-Op
and other local restaurants.

Come and explore over 150 wines, spirits and beers along with great food in an atmosphere that will be unlike any wine tasting you have ever been to before. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Youth Farm and Market Project, a local non-profit youth organization dedicated to nurturing relationships between urban youth and their families, their communities, and the earth around them by growing, cooking, eating and selling healthy food.

An evening of music
with Nirmala Rajasekar,
Dean Magraw, Srini
and Marcus Wise and the poetry of Robert Bly.
The program will feature
tunes and melodies of Spring and beyond from Cedar regulars international award winner and Bush
Artistic fellow Nirmala Rajasekar (veena
and voice), much feted and honored
guitar virtuoso Dean Magraw, and the
phenomenal percussion team of Srini
(Mridangam drums) and Marcus Wise
(Tabla drums). Joining these artists in an exclusive set of
poetry and music is world renowned poet
and Minnesota’s own Robert Bly.

Dean and Britta (formerly of Luna) in an intimate evening celebrating the release of their latest album Back Numbers! "'Back Numbers,' is romance as whispery indie pop. Her voice is
gorgeously ethereal, his coolly dry. She's wonderful on the slowly
seductive 'Wait for Me' and Lee Hazlewood's breathy, buoyant 'You
Turned My Head Around.'" (Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune Big Gig pick 3/16/07). Special guest Michael Holland, formerly of roots-rock band Jennyanykind, contributed a track to the new album, and gets to play more of his own Harry Smith-influenced cosmic folk-bluegrass songs.

Back in 1989, a group of five musicians came together to record an album of local music, which was released as The Boys of Sligo. Inspired by the project, they decided to develop this informal gathering (which gathered weekly to play sessions in local pubs) into a working band under the name Dervish, which was chosen as it relates to any group of spiritual people who become enraptured by music.

An exceptional evening of Americana, with the down-home simplicity and honesty of husband-and-wife duo Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart (impossible not to get swept up by the energy and enthusiasm with which these hard-working folks deliver their warm performances!), and adding a compelling counterpoint, Red House Recording artists folk-blues duo The Pines.

Join folk-songwriter duo “Curtis & Loretta” at this special DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY CONCERT! This favorite local duo made up of Curtis Teague and Loretta Simonet celebrates two landmark events this year. Twenty years ago, on February 11, the two were married in Santiago, Mexico. And this spring will mark the 30th anniversary of their first gig together, at Schiavo’s Bar in Santa Cruz, California. It was also the first day they met each other, on the beach in Capitola, not far from Santa Cruz’s famed Boardwalk. A girl on the beach with a guitar, a boy striking up a conversation (well OK, he picked her up!!) Five minutes later they were jamming together, four hours later he was joining in at her gig. They don’t know the actual date. They were just two hippie kids on the beach without a watch or a calendar. The year was 1977.

“Veni, vidi, I was conquered!” in a dozen or more different languages, could well be the catch-phrase of just about every one of the hundreds of thousands of Lúnasa concert-goers over the past 10 years.

Legendary record producer Joe Boyd reading from his memoir “White Bicycles”, with Q&A host Steve Tibbetts (who will also provide the odd musical interlude).

"White Bicycles may not be the last word on the '60s, but it's refreshing and cleverly observed one. Nor was Boyd one of its casualties, later founding his own Hannibal label and remaining active as a producer... He's a man who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and that rarely happens by accident. " -Uncut, Liege & Leaf. May 2006

From coffeehouses to concert halls, festivals and beyond, John Hammond has spent forty plus years entertaining blues, folk and rock audiences around the world, performing intense solo-acoustic blues. His punchy new release Push Comes to Shove, produced by G. Love, emphatically demonstrates age has not caused Hammond to slow down or lose his bite. Opening act will be one of Minnesota's finest, fingerstyle guitar wizard Phil Heywood.

The Twin Cities Hot Club (TCHC) represents Minnesota in the burgeoning
revival of gypsy jazz originally popularized by Django Reinhardt,
Stephane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France during 1930’s Paris. TCHC recreates not only the famous la pompe (the pump) that distinguishes this romantic brand of acoustic jazz, but also gypsy bossanova, musette, bolero and swing. TCHC perform this timeless deep-rooted music that is physical and speaks directly to the heart.

TICKET ALERT: 50 TICKETS REMAIN FOR SALE AT THE DOOR TONIGHT! Minnesota singer-songwriter Peter Mayer in concert! Peter Mayer writes songs for a small planet—songs about
interconnectedness and the human journey; songs about the beauty and
the mystery of the world. Whimsical, humorous, and profound, his music
takes you up mountains, across oceans, into space, and back home again.
A native of Minnesota with a background in Theology, Peter is not big
on love songs, but prefers delving into science, nature, and things
spiritual.

While Richard Shindell is rightly considered one of the finest singer/songwriters of his generation, he's always had an eye (and ear) for great songs by other writers and has included cover songs in his live shows, placed the occasional cover on his albums and recorded with Lucy Kaplansky and Dar Williams the Cry Cry Cry disc, which celebrated the songs of contemporary writers. The 12 songs on Shindell’s brand new album, South of Delia
(pre-release copies will be available at the show!), are drawn from a
good mixture of sources including bona-fide legends (Dylan &
Guthrie), excellent contemporary writers (Josh Ritter & Jeffrey
Foucault) as well as a couple of traditional tunes. Expect lots of tracks from the new album, as well as favorites from the back catalog. Richard will be accompanied by a top-notch fiddler-mandolinist, and a back-up guitarist. Erik Brandt, formerly of Urban Hillbilly Quartet, will open for Richard.

Pieta Brown's own blend of folk, rock, country and blues has garnered numerous comparisons to musical forbears such as Rickie Lee Jones, Bobbie Gentry, and Bob Dylan. Lyrically and musically poetic, Brown's deceptive simplicity and seductive purity combine to create songs that meet somewhere between the Carter Family and Tom Waits. Tonight, she will be joined by Benson Ramsey (of The Pines), and Jon Penner!

Yid Vicious takes an innovative approach to klezmer, or Eastern European Jewish folk music, through its incorporation of elements as diverse as bossa nova and ska, homages to the likes of Johnny Cash and George Gershwin, and even occasional solos.

A native Midwesterner, David Hanner's songs combine a heartland sensibility and ethos with the finest storytelling traditions of some of Texas' best songwriters. Hear a few songs from David Hanners, then take advantage of this great opportunity to put yourself on the Cedar
stage, perform two or three songs, and enjoy the top-quality sound!

Orkestar Bez Ime, meaning "orchestra without a name" in Bulgarian, met in the Ethnic Dance Theatre and has since grown to be one of the Midwest's hottest and most sought-after international dance bands specializing in Balkan music. Using a mix of folk and modern instruments—including accordion, clarinet, dumbek, flute, guitar, kaval, tambura, violin and voice—the group stays close to traditional Eastern Europe through its American melting-pot sensibility. For this evening's concert with plenty of quality room for dancing, Dan Newton (aka Daddy Squeeze) and friends will kick things off with his gypsy jazz influenced tunes.

“In the band’s dizzyingly gorgeous horn lines, rolling vamps carry sunny African chorales, and polyrhythmic voodoo grooves host harmonies that slide in all directions at once. The music just plain sings.” —New York Times

Live recording of "Stories of Love, Courage and Sorrow".
Join Annie Humphrey with special guests John Trudell and Anne Dunn for an inspirational evening of music, poetry and storytelling, and take part in this historic live recording for a future CD release. Humphrey, who was born and raised on an Ojibwe Indian reservation in Northern Minnesota, is a self-taught musician,singer and songwriter.“Early on I was inspired by my mother to write,”she says. Humphrey’s mother is noted author and grandmother storyteller Anne Dunn whose published works include “When Beaver Was Very Great”and “Grandmother’s Gift.” This special performance will include Humphrey’s new, never recorded songs inspired by women she knows who have raised others up around them, the lessons learned from the hardships faced in one’s life journey,and from Anne Dunn’s latest work “Uncombed Hair.”

Restlessly peripatetic, incessantly improvisational and always brilliant - that ain't no forehead, that's an eight head! Eight Head is percussionist Marc Anderson, bassist Jim Anton, drummer J.T. Bates, and guitarist Dean Magraw; purveyors of a remarkably fresh, jaw droppingly sophisticated and infectiously groovy vibe. They bring vast experience and variety onto the stage, making effortless transitions from soft textures and thoughtful improvisation to infectious polyrhythms and driving funk. Eight Head will be joined by Louis Alemayehu, one of the founders of the award-winning poetry/jazz ensemble Ancestor Energy. Alemayehu is a writer, educator, poet, father, grandfather, performer and activist of African and Native American heritage.

With five critically acclaimed albums under her belt, New York City singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky's singular voice has brought her a long way. Her brand new CD Over the Hills (released on Red House Records March 13 2007) is her most personal recording to date, with a stunning range of material, from stories about family, those that have gone before and follow after, of lives lived and roads traveled. Lucy’s own songs are complemented by a compelling collection of classic songs by other writers (Loudon Wainwright, June Carter Cash, Bryan Ferry, Ian Tyson, and Julie Miller), performed with Lucy's distinctive interpretive sensibility. Over the Hills is Lucy's story and her reflection upon her times.

Vieux Farka Touré's debut represents a historic passing of the torch from father to son. A highly-talented guitarist, singer, songwriter and percussionist, Vieux Farka Touré crafts songs in the rich Sonrai tradition of his father, famed Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré.

Stars of the groundbreaking Congotronics album, Kinshasha-based band Konono No. 1 are making a welcome return visit to The Cedar after a knockout performance in 2006. Thumb pianos hooked up to vintage and home-made amplifiers, megaphones, makeshift percussion (pans, pots and old car parts), three singers and incredible energy combine for a truly unique melange of tribal rhythms, trance, and distortion-laden electronica. Congotronics catapulted Konono No. 1 to international stardom, a trajectory that is only likely to continue with their feature appearances on Björk's upcoming release Volta (including the first single Earth Intruders).

Crowd-pleasing stars of the 2004 and 2005 Nordic Roots Festivals, the young Finnish/Norwegian string band Frigg return to The Cedar with a great new set of inventive tunes. Using traditional Scandinavian music as the starting point and drawing on their family ties to the great Finnish fiddle ensemble JPP, Frigg create unique string music that also incorporates elements of Celtic folk, and bluegrass and other American folk influences. Don’t miss them on A Prairie Home Companion radio show on Apr 14, then get along to The Cedar Apr 26 to catch them live! Opening will be Minnesota’s brightest young fiddling talent Zack Kline with his experimental trio Orange Mighty Trio, who delve equally fluidly into traditional roots music, classical forms and jazz improvisation.

Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley performs music that redefines the word "eclectic." Lindley, well known for his many years as the featured accompanist with Jackson Browne, and leader of his own band El Rayo-X, has long championed the concept of world music.

Cheryl's first concert was to a captive audience. She found an old toy ukelele in a neighbor's attic and serenaded her mother who was taking a bath at the time.

Les Yeux
Noirs – this Paris-based group offers an irresistible invitation to
participate in some of the most rhythmic and emotional sounds emanating
from any part of the world. Part gypsy, part klezmer, this is the music
that has moved people to sing and dance around the world for centuries..

Born and raised in Sweden, of Argentinean parents, 28-year-old José González is a top-ten chart artist and revered troubadour figure. Initially thrust into the global limelight with his debut hit album Veneer and for contributing music to an award-winning ad campaign for Sony, the attention has only intensified with his recent collaboration with UK down tempo duo Zero 7 on their new album The Garden. González provided guest vocals on four of The Garden's tracks, including his own song Crosses. Veteran local musician and singer-songwriter Ben Glaros will open the evening with help from some very special guests: cellist Jacqueline Ferrier-Ultan (Jelloslave), saxophonist Michael Ferrier (Electropolis), and violinist Zack Kline (Piper's Crow, Orange Mighty Trio).

Balfa Toujours is a brilliant young band that has been making a name for itself not only in the Cajun music scene of Southwestern Louisiana, but also in the larger realm of all traditional music. The Balfa name conjures up memories of the famous Balfa Brothers, who took their soulful, impassioned music from the prairies of Mamou to the far corners of the earth. Now, Balfa Toujours (meaning Balfa still and always) is making sure the
name will maintain its place for generations afterwards. Don't miss this rare opportunity to catch a steamy live performance by these greats of the Cajun world, aided and abetted by their good friends the New Riverside Ramblers, who will offer a free Cajun dance lesson before the show (7.30pm), followed up with a set of their own Cajun favorites. PLENTY OF ROOM FOR DANCING!

Catie Curtis delivers her most personal effort to date with Long Night Moon, an intricate work of stripped down modern folk. With grace and confidence, a more mature Curtis mingles reflections on motherhood (New Flowers), cold New England winters (Hey California) and delayed gratification (Long Night Moon, a song written about waiting for the belated arrival of her adopted baby daughter) with the unflinching dedication to social issues that has long characterized her strongest work. And in this inspired double bill of top female singer-songwriters, Susan Werner will be showcasing songs from her latest endeavor, "The Gospel Truth," a collection of originals
she describes as "hymns for the spiritually ambivalent."

Open Stage with hosts Barbara Piper and Bill Hammond. Start the evening with a few songs from this eclectic multi-instrumental duo. Then, take advantage of this great opportunity to put yourself on the Cedar stage, perform two or three songs, and enjoy the top-quality sound!

One of today's finest new fingerstyle guitarists, Andy McKee is lauded by many critics and guitarists as the most promising fingerstyle guitarist to arrive on the scene in some time. Born in 1979 in Topeka, Kansas, Andy began playing guitar on his 13th birthday when his father bought him a classical guitar. It was not long after that Andy got his first electric guitar and began emulating some of his favorite music of the time; Metallica, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, and Dream Theater.

Mandrágora Tango is returning to the Cedar for the "homecoming dance" after their successful East Coast tour. This evening will be a milonga (tango dance party), with lots of quality space for dancing, or for sitting and listening. A free introductory tango lesson at 7pm will be followed by 2 sets of live tango music, plus bandleader Bob Barnes will DJ traditional tango recordings between sets and afterwards.

Folk blues veteran Smither, armed with his guitar, a fearsome foot stomp and a well-weathered mellow voice, tackles the big issues with his own melodic songs rich in imagery, frequently drawing on his inspirations Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin’ Hopkins. Winnipeg’s favorite retro-alt country band Nathan open, and will show just what you can do with a theremin!

It might take an artist to shake you out of complacency, out of accepting what’s just plain wrong about not being grateful, about not speaking out about injustice. Singer/songwriter/activist Mitch Walking Elk is one of those artists. He has taken some hard knocks and come back better. In the process, he has developed into a well-respected musician and performer.

Zebulon Pike is an instrumental prog-doom metal band formed in late 2002. Inspired in equal parts by heavy sounds of the 70's (Mountain, Pentagram, Captain Beyond, early Judas Priest), progressive rock (King Crimson, Rush), and 20th century classical (Bela Bartok, Arvo Part, and many others). Felonious Bosch start the evening with a dark and noisy set. "... a
rock band with their own vision colored in differing shades of black."
-- all music guide and will be followed by a set from trio Self-Evident.

Hailed by everyone from Dave Van Ronk to Doc Watson, from the Washington Post to downbeat, Dakota Dave Hull's guitar style spans a wide musical geography to create an infectious, uniquely personal blend of jazz, ragtime, folk, blues, Western swing, and vintage pop. Dakota Dave is a restlessly curious, adventurous traveler along the broad highway of America's music.

SOLD OUT The Gyuto Monks celebrating the International Year of Tibet
sponsored by Tibetan Education Action and Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery. The Gyuto Monks have been chanting since the founding of the Gyuto Tantric University in 1474. The Monks chant to visualize themselves as Buddhas in order to reach enlightenment sooner, or chant to invoke the blessing of the Lord of Transcendent Wisdom, they even chant to pacify the 80,000 kinds of demonic obstructers – their intent is to free humankind from disturbing and harmful situations and create abundant harmony. These chants are serious business, and are not intended for casual entertainment, but are described by some as the holiest sounds ever heard.

Los-Angeles-based folk-pop quartet Lavender Diamond
is known for its light-hearted, often winsome sound, its simple, romantic
lyrics, and the charismatic, whimsical stage presence, and ethereal vocals of
frontwoman Becky Stark. With a brand new album “Imagine Our Love” out on
Matador on May 8, don’t miss this chance to catch live at The Cedar one of the
rising lights of the psyche-folk movement. Entrance, fronted by Guy Blakeslee, will open with their powerfully-moving garage blues-based meditations on death, with influences including Tibetan Book of the Dead, Sufi mystic Uwais El-Qarni, James Baldwin, Charley Patton and Sandy Bull! CITY PAGES A-LIST PICK!

For close to 25 years, BiL have been innovators in bringing “folk music” kicking and screaming to rock audiences (and rock music to screaming folk audiences!) BiL's many instrumental dance tunes incorporate global influences, rhythms, and melodies that are guaranteed to keep the feet moving. Original songs stick in the mind long after the music is over.

There's a reason why Alan Sparhawk (of Low) calls him, "…one of the greatest musicians and human beings I know… Even Charlie's foot coming down on the floorboards speaks with more soul and life than most anything - past or future."

There's a reason why Greg Brown, Richard Adams, Dakota Dave Hull and an ever-growing list of respected musicians give him praise.

There's a reason why magazines write things like, "In an age of commercialism and celebrity and the turn of a quick buck, the soul saving melodies of Parr are like a breath of fresh air, timeless and majestic, princely and magnificent," (Losing Today) when writing about his music.

There's a reason why Duluth bluesman Charlie Parr is doing a CD release at The Cedar--it's so you can come and hear what all the buzz is about! Charlie will be aided and abetted by Dave Simonett (of Trampled by Turtles) and Ryan Young (of Pert Near Sandstone).

The Raymond Yates Band’s music is best described as “Americana”. Familiar yet original and fresh, they create something new using elements from the wide range of music that thrives in this country. Sometimes you’ll feel the soul of jazz, the frenzy of rock, other times the introspection of folk, the earthiness of blues, or the drive of R&B – and that’s okay. Every song is fashioned to be a new experience, a new landscape for listeners to experience, with the intention of blurring the line between concert and theatre. Dramatic, comedic, and musical, their concerts create a live experience that stands apart from others. Tonight, Raymond and friends will be celebrating the release of their second CD, Gates of Sun and Shadow. Opening will be Katie Gearty, one of the new voices of the Twin Cities. A versatile artist, she was nominated for Female Vocalist of 2006 by the Minnesota Music Academy. Katie sings many styles of music, especially jazz, R&B, funk, rock, and blues, all delivered with her unique and eclectic sound and style.

Composed of Iowa natives David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey, The Pines combine roots, blues and indie-rock to create a raw, haunting sound that is inventive and compelling. Tonight, they will be celebrating the June 12 release by Red House Records of their long-awaited major-label debut, Sparrows in the Bell. Bluesman Ray Bonneville will be highlighting songs from his upcoming Red House Records release, Goin' by feel.

"Progressive jazz for a safer America..." Formed in 1996 in Minneapolis, members of the band are David King (drums), Michael Lewis (saxophones) and Erik Fratzke (electric bass).

All three members compose music for the group; which places equal emphasis on improvisation. Happy Apple plays a unique brand of jazz music, drawing on several other genres; the group's members play in other bands ranging from indie rock and heavy metal to free jazz and electronic. The best known of these is The Bad Plus, in which King also plays drums.

Two women with big voices making large waves in the music world, one from Israel via Paris and New York, the other from Minnesota via Tennessee and Montana, converging on The Cedar for a magical night of songs that straddle landscapes both cosmopolitan and rural, exotic and down-home, emotional and earthy.

Keren Ann is a recording artist/singer/songwriter/producer based largely in Paris, New York and Israel. She plays guitar, piano and clarinet and engineers and writes choir and musical arrangements. In 2000 she began her solo career with La Biographie de Luka Philipsen — written with and produced by Benjamin Biolay, who also co-wrote and produced its follow-up, La Disparation (in return, she helped write his debut album, Rose Kennedy). The pair also wrote several songs for Henri Salvador's best-selling, prize-winning 2000 comeback album, Chambre avec Vue, including the hit "Jardin d'Hiver". Her third album Not Going Anywhere was released worldwide 2003, but her American breakthrough came with its follow-up, Nolita (2004). Recorded in Paris and New York — it is named for Nolita, her neighborhood in lower Manhattan — it is sung half in French and half in English Keren Ann's fifth solo album, the eponymous Keren Ann, will be released April 23rd, 2007 in Europe, and May 8, 2007 in the United States.

Martha Scanlan has teamed up with Wilderness Inquiry for this special benefit concert. This event is a perfect pairing of Martha's love for the outdoors and Wilderness Inquiry's community-based mission. Martha's background includes a mix of music, travel, and outdoor adventure. She moved from Minnesota to Montana, where she taught herself guitar while working with youth in a wilderness program. She later moved to East Tennessee and helped launch the Reeltime Travelers. "Wilderness has been a huge part of my life and continues to inform my art - I am so thrilled to be involved in what you all at Wilderness Inquiry are doing." -Martha Scanlan