Mountain Blog

After a dip into the archives, Mountain Stage is back this week with another premier broadcast. Recorded in a tent on the North Shore of chilly Lake Superior in partnership with our good friends at the North House Folk School, you’ll hear from Minnesota’s own Trampled By Turtles, Low, the band Minnesota featuring Peter Himmelman, and Barbara Jean.

Click here to see a list of times and stations where you can listen. If there’s a specific song you’re hoping to hear, take a look at the playlist. And preview the show via our Mountain Stage Song of the Week – this time, it’s LOW’s “Silver Rider,” which recently found a wider audience thanks to Robert Plant’s acclaimed Band of Joy album.

A bluegrass band gone bad, Duluth’s Trampled By Turtles “approaches the banjo and mandolin with a level of brash recklessness ... that would make Bill Monroe and Joe Strummer proud.” Formed in 2003, the members were raised on punk ‘n’ roll but gravitated to traditional instruments to craft a pedal to the metal style of “bluegrass that meets Basement Tapes-era The Band with a fistful of gunpowder tossed into the wood-burning stove.”

And we should tell you from the outset that TBT’s set features one of the most electric Mountain Stage audiences in ages. They were on their feet for the entire set, clapping, cheering, dancing – and if you’ve ever wondered if the audience mics are actually on, listen this week and wonder no more.

Another band from Duluth, LOW was formed in 1993 by the husband-and-wife team of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. Low’s sparse, understated “rock” was initially something of a reaction to the grunge music that was in vogue at the time.

The group’s resume includes recording with Bongwater member/Shimmy Disc producer Kramer and later signing to the Sub Pop label, a slot on the Joy Division tribute A Means to an End and having its version of “Little Drummer Boy” featured in a Gap commercial. Then, none other than Robert Plant covered two Low songs on his 2010 solo album Band of Joy earning a Grammy nomination for his interpretation of Low's "Silver Rider.”

A collaboration between lauded singer-songwriter Peter Himmelman, and acclaimed screenwriter-filmmaker David Hollander, Minnesota is a departure from Himmelman’s usual sound. The resulting record, produced by Hollander, has been described as ethereal, deep and moving.

“'Minnesota’ represents the whole experience,” Hollander says. “It’s not a Peter Himmelman solo album, or ‘A Film by David Hollander’; it’s a larger collaboration, well beyond the two of us. We pushed each other out of our comfort zones and into new territory.” Himmelman adds: “I was sometimes frustrated by the new approach, but a great producer – and David qualifies as that – can make you become yourself again.”

Calling the rugged grandeur of Lake Superior's North Shore home for the last several years, Barbara Jean has developed her craft through constant live performance and has struck out on her own to take her debut record, "The Great Escape" to fans all across the Midwest. Classically trained on the viola at the University of Minnesota, and self-taught at the banjo, her voice and songs transcend tradition with a mix of Americana, Appalachia, and an insightful vulnerability in lyric and delivery.

After winning the songwriting competition in 2011 at Big Top Chautauqua and making honorable mention in the 2012 Telluride Troubadour Contest, Barbara Jean has shared bills with such notable acts as Trampled By Turtles, The Pines, Low, and Jonathan Edwards.

Thanks for listening to Mountain Stage. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr for the latest news and backstage photos and stories.