Matt Wilson & his Orchestra with special guest Bleek & Grimm
Saturday, November 19, 2022
7 pm Doors // 8 pm Show
$22 Advance // $30 At The Door
All Ages
Ticket Purchases are Final and Non-Refundable
Facebook RSVP
banjo-harp-gentle-rockin-happy-machine
Legendary Minneapolis singer and songwriter Matt Wilson (Trip Shakespeare, The Twilight Hours) and his stellar ensemble present his music on a featherbed of banjo rhythms and arpeggiating harp.
Using tones mellow and grassy, Matt Wilson & His Orchestra spin out the best songs of Matt’s career, reaching back beyond his prog-rock days as songwriter and lyricist with Trip Shakespeare, back to his first songwriting explorations of classic forms, country melodies, tear-jerking ballads.
The harp mastery of inventive collaborator Phala Tracy is a key element of the ensemble’s overall sound. Phala and Matt’s playing is underpinned by the sparkling banjo groove of Quillan Roe who is best known for his work with the Roe Family Singers, winners of a prestigious McKnight Fellowship. The sunshine tones of harp and banjo are rolled out on a wide road of Jacques Wait’s electric bass and Wilson’s own acoustic guitar and piano playing.
Raised in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Matt became a fan of rockers like Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen and Devo. He and his high school friends formed a group called The Panic, and spent much of their youth as under-aged performers in Minneapolis nightclubs, warming up for future luminaries such as Husker Du and The Replacements. In the early 80s, Matt followed his brother Dan to college in Boston where they formed a number of bands, including the Love Monsters, marking Matt’s first turn as a lead singer. Returning to Minneapolis, the brothers joined forces with bass player John Munson to form Trip Shakespeare, writing, recording and touring together for a decade. John and Matt still perform in a rock band together, The Twilight Hours.
Matt’s been featured on MTV, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Spin, The Toronto Star and many other influential media outlets. Trip Shakespeare’s single, “Toolmaster of Brainerd,” was named by one of Minnesota’s 50 Greatest Hits, and the group was included on The Current’s list of “893 Most Essential Musical Artists of All Time.” Throughout Matt’s career, his songs have been played heavily on tastemaker radio stations like The Current around the country. Throughout his career the goal has remained constant. “Above all, the most important purpose of my music,” Wilson explains, “is to help people who are wandering through the dreariness of life to break through to a release of emotion.”
Bleek & Grimm is a psychedelic/folk/rock duo made up of Aaron Seymour and Craig Teiken. Lead singer/songwriter Aaron Seymour has been a part of Twin Cities music for a long time, having released records and performed live shows in five different decades: beginning as a teenager in the Widgets in the 1980s, the Delilahs in the 1990s, X Ray Hip in the 2000s, Petty Demons and White Sweater in the 2010s, and Bubbles in the 2020s.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Craig Teiken founded and fronted the 1990s alternative band Wood, and his since helped lead groups like X Ray Hip, Sons of Gloria, Dave Rave and the Governors, Edie Rae and the Blaze Kings, and Bubbles, along with releasing a couple of solo records. Together as Bleek & Grimm, Seymour and Teiken write and record moody, trippy, acoustic folk pop/rock, with an emphasis on organic guitar sounds and melodic vocal hooks. In 2021 they recorded and released their self-titled debut EP with a lot of help from their friend, Minnesota music icon Rich Mattson, whose guitar, bass and other instrumentals feature prominently in the record, and who has been known to join Bleek & Grimm onstage at their somewhat-rare live performances. Bleek & Grimm collaborated heavily with Mattson again at his SpartaSound studio on the Iron Range for their upcoming full-length album, “Kold,” slated for release in December 2022.