Trial Balloon: January 31, 2009 Archive

Guitar Wizard

Posted at 7:00 PM on January 31, 2009 by Dale Connelly (5 Comments)

In this season of award-giving, Dean Magraw gets my vote for MIRG:
Most Inventively Restless Guitarist.

If there's a style of music that doesn't interest him or a sonic adventure he won't try, I haven't heard of it. Among Dean's group affiliations are local ensembles Boiled in Lead, Eight Head and Red Planet. He also works with Next, a group that regularly tours France, a place where you don't have to import guitarists, but Dean brings something special to the mix that can be found only in Minnesota.

Dean Magraw will reveal some of his exotic musical fascinations and influences in the first hour of this Saturday's Radio Heartland on MPR News.

The second hour includes songs inspired by groundhogs and presidents, two iconic mammals for the month of February.
And we'll sample tunes that acknowledge the power of luck, chance, co-incidence and whimsy in shaping our lives, especially John Hartford's two-minute outline of a hopelessly twisted plot with the fitting title "I Would Not Be Here."

Ever had a cascading series of unlikely events totally re-shuffle your deck?
There you go. That's what we're talking about.

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