Between You and Me: Camp Fires

Michael and Gail will host Between You and Me on Saturday the 24th. Have you got a recipe to share, a favorite ghost story, a great memory of time spent around the campfire, the perfect design for building a fire ring or the perfect fire? Please share:0) My dog has been known to drag burning food, especially marshmallows, right out of the fire with her paws and snout!

Video: Pelican Railroad at the Mississippi River Fest

Pelican Railroad performing at the 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Festival. From Bemidji, Pelican Railroad is an eclectic jammin' rock/blues band that plays both originals and unique interpretations. The video goes crazy for a little bit, our camera man Doug MacRostie had to prevent his son from running on stage and taking over :)

The 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Festival was on July 17th, 2010 featuring Pelican Railroad from Bemidji, Steve Kaul and the Brass Kings, Keri Noble, Eilen Jewell and Willie Murphy.

It was a great festival that also included local, handmade art/items from KAXE members.

Though it was looming from time to time, we only got some scattered sprinkles (all the worst weather drifted towards Brainerd).

More info:
www.kaxe.org
www.pelicanrailroad.com/
www.myspace.com/brasskings
www.kerinoble.com/
www.eilenjewell.com/
www.williemurphy.net/

Mississippi River Festival Photos

The 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Festival was on July 17th, 2010 featuring Pelican Railroad from Bemidji, Steve Kaul and the Brass Kings, Keri Noble, Eilen Jewell and Willie Murphy. It was a great festival that also included local, handmade art/items from KAXE members. Though it was looming from time to time, we only got some scattered sprinkles (all the worst weather drifted towards Brainerd). See the pictures here.

T-Shirts: Check. Stage: Check...River Festival Tomorrow: Check Check Check!

The limited addition t-shirts for the 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Festival arrived today! 3 colors, 1 awesome design. They'll be available at the Festival tomorrow under the Rotary Tent at the KAXE Amphitheater in Grand Rapids from Noon-8:30pm for just $15!!!

Pelican Railroad from Bemidji will kick off the concert with their blend of styles - it's hard to describe, but I'll go with a jammin' blues-rock band. They do both originals and covers, when they cover a song they will change the style and tempo to make it their own.

Then at 1:45 it's The Brass Kings, operating out of the Twin Cities (singer/songwriter Steve Kaul is from Bemidji). A trio of world-class musicians their performance includes washtup bass, washboard percussion, a butter dish, resonator guitars and more. Their sound and style goes deep into American Roots music with an edge of blues.

At 3:30 it's Minneapolis soul-pop artist Keri Noble. Her music is critically acclaimed across the globe and falls into the pop category, but her vocals definitely have that soulful edge. She'll have a band with her and it's sure to be a riveting performance.

Then it's Eilen Jewell at 5:15. Leading a new generation of roots music, part of her music is instantly recognizable, the other part is instantly fresh and innovative. The only performer who isn't from MN, she does Massachusetts proud, and we are very excited to bring her to the stage.

Then headliner Willie Murphy and band takes the stage at 7pm, and be ready to dance your feet off! One of the three original inductees into the MN Music Hall of Fame (along with Dylan and Prince) Willie's career helped define the sound of Soul and R&B music, along with his prolific blues career. It's going to be awesome.

Not only that, but we'll also have a booth of local, hand-made items from KAXE members including clothing, birch bark and bead work, honey, wild rice, soap, gift cards and more, all made by supporters of KAXE. The stage is set, the weather is looking good and the excitment is definitely in the air - be here!

Startling Words with MN Author Maureen Gibbon

by Heidi Holtan

Northern Minnesota author Maureen Gibbon is my guest this week. She's written a compelling new novel called "Thief". It's startling even - mainly because it's a book that doesn't shy away from sexuality.

In "Thief" Suzanne is a teacher in her early thirties who has come up north to get away from her life and problems during her summer vacation. She places a personal ad and one of the people who responds is an inmate from Stillwater State Prison. Most people might turn away, but Suzanne is curious. It turns out the inmate is a convicted rapist - and Suzanne, as a survivor of a rape in her teenage years, wants to find out some things. They begin a friendship that leads to more. Gibbon's writing is raw but not gratuitous. Kirkus Reviews wrote, "In an odd way this book is a female, and highly sexual, version of Thoreau's Walden; there are some lovely bits about solitude, nature and solitude-in-nature, but Suzanne is a woman who craves and needs contact, and much of her contemplation is devoted to exploring the tangled roots of that need. Grim but inspiring, this is a flint-tough, plainspoken novel about a flint-tough, plainspoken woman who asks no pity and gives no quarter."

Gibbon also writes with a very strong sense of place. You feel the northwoods of Minnesota in her writing - especially the lakes. Suzanne, her main character, gets comfort from her daily swims in the lake where she can witness the natural world around and be buoyed by the water. When I talked to Maureen Gibbon, she mentioned a poem by Robert Francis called "The Swimmer".

II
Observe how he negotiates his way

With trust and the least violence, making

The stranger friend, the enemy ally.

The depth that could destroy gently supports him.

With water he defends himself from water.

Danger he leans on, rests in. The drowning sea

Is all he has between himself and drowning.

II

What lover ever lay more mutually

With his beloved, his always-reaching arms

Stroking in smooth and powerful caresses?

Some drown in love as in dark water, and some

By love are strongly held as the green sea

Now holds the swimmer. Indolently he turns

To float.--The swimmer floats, the lover sleeps.

We'll also talk about a con man this week on Realgoodwords, named John Drewe. Laney Salisbury has written a book that looks at this extraordinary true life character who created one of the most far-reaching and elaborate cons in the history of art forgery. Salisbury talks about how subjective the world of art is - her book is called "Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art". Oprah magazine wrote "Specatular... a real-life thriller of the fine art of the con."

The Scintillating Soul-Pop of Keri Noble

by Doug MacRostie

I had never heard of the term "soul-pop" before listening to Keri Noble, and with her clear and powerful voice and catchy, melodic music she introduces the genre very well. Her music falls into the pop category, but her vocals definitely have that soulful edge. With a Pastor father, Keri was raised in a religious home in Detroit and you can hear the gospel influence in her music. As she grew older in Minneapolis she started questioning the judgment and exclusion side of religion and wondered why there wasn't more prominence of love and acceptance - something she sings about in her amazing song "Born Again". When she heard Joni Mitchell's album 'Blue' in her late teens it inspired her to start writing songs and expressing her emotions through music. "My songs are about relationships, and not just the romantic kind...it's like therapy, you have to feel music." Keri will be my guest this week on Centerstage MN to talk about her new self-titled CD.

Keri Noble will be performing this Sat. at the 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Festival under the Rotary Tent at the KAXE amphitheater in Grand Rapids along Pelican Railroad, the Brass Kings, Eilen Jewell and MN music legend Willie Murphy. Get more details here.

As a side-note: those of you who listen to Julie Crabb as The Mom of Pop Culture or listen to her host Green Cheese Trivia, Keri talks JUST like Julie. I don't mean her voice sounds the same, I mean they talk the same - the words, the rhythm, the style - listen for it and let me know if you agree :)

We'll also hear music from The Jayhawks and Bob Dylan, new music from The Brothers Burn Mountain, and Andy Dee's solo CD "Sweet Soul Sewage."

Centerstage MN is Thursday evenings at 6, streaming live online at www.KAXE.org; or 91.7 Grand Rapids, 89.9 Brainerd and 105.3 Bemidji and can be heard again Sunday mornings at 6. All interviews are archived at www.KAXE.org. Centerstage MN is also heard on Pioneer 90.1 in Thief River Falls, Saturday nights at 11pm and on KFAI at 90.3 FM Minneapolis & 106.7 FM St. Paul Tuesday nights between 8 and 10pm.

Change Your Profile Pic In Solidarity :)

With the 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Festival happening THIS Saturday, we're doing one last online push to make sure everyone is aware of this amazing full day of music for just $40 (and KAXE members get a $10 discount!). More info here.

We ask that you, whether you can make it to the festival on Sat or not, change your profile picture to the Mississippi River Festival logo:
Just right click on the image and save it to your computer, then load it to your facebook, myspace, twitter, whatever profile :)

Show your KAXE pride! In a summer when festivals have been cancelled and tours under-selling, we had amazing early-bird ticket sales. Help take it even further and spread the word!!!! And if you're going to be here, be ready to enjoy Pelican Railroad, The Brass Kings, Keri Noble, Eilen Jewell and Willie Murphy. Everyone should be aware of this amazing full day of music for just $40 (and KAXE members get a $10 discount!). More info here.