Desdamona: The back story on a B-girl The "B-Girl Be" conference and performance showcase is designed to help girls and women assume a more prominent place in hip-hop. Desdamona has fought to open doors for women in the male-dominated genre.June 29, 2006
The cast of "Singin' in the Rain" - in studio Many remember the successful 1952 film, "Singin' in the Rain" with famous music and dance scenes with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor. But this spring, the Chanhassen Dinner Theater has done something unusual: made a stage musical based on the Hollywood film.June 9, 2006
Dylan sound-alikes take the stage Today marks a milestone for the baby boom generation. Bob Dylan, the folk singer turned rock-and-roll icon, is 65. Minnesota fans threw him a party of sorts at the 400 Bar on the West Bank of Minneapolis -- its annual Bob Dylan Sound-Alike contest.May 24, 2006
Dan Chouinard and "Mambo Italiano" Musician Dan Chouinard spent a summer biking across Europe with his accordion and fell in love with the countryside and the people. He brought home a deep appreciation for the music of Italy and its roots here in America.May 18, 2006
Omaur Bliss finds hope in hip-hop A lot of rappers in the Twin Cities hip-hop scene will admit their songs are like pages ripped from their own lives. Many touch on the danger and difficulty of life on the streets. Perseverance in the face of struggle is a common theme. But few have emerged from such hardships with as much optimism and hope as Minneapolis rapper Omaur Bliss.May 12, 2006
Rainer Maria - in studio Rainer Maria got together in Madison, Wisconsin. they have since moved, like many a rock band, to Brooklyn. For the past decade the trio has worked at expanding their musical style and while managing to keep devoted fans through all the changes.May 11, 2006
A new way to do doo-wop Some say "doo-wop" music went out of favor when the Beatles and other British groups invaded America in the early 60s. Doo-wop enjoyed a resurgence a decade or so later when nostalgia for the 1950s became embedded in popular culture. Now a group in Minneapolis is putting its own imprint on the genre.April 28, 2006
Thunder in the Valley - in studio Award-winning Minneapolis band Thunder in the Valley has been compared to Tom Waits, Sixteen Horsepower, and DeVotchKa, but they have a style unmistakably their own.April 26, 2006
Covering Van Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison performs in the Twin Cities this weekend. If you can't make the show, you can get a dose of "Van" another way -- by listening to a Minneapolis cover band devoted almost exclusively to Morrison's music.April 21, 2006
Chris Walla Chris Walla is more than just the guitarist and keyboardist for the band Death Cab for Cutie. He's also their un-official spokesman and producer. The Current's Mary Lucia spoke to Walla about his other projects and his current tour.April 20, 2006
Post-punk poet Richard Hell Richard Hell, the man credited as being at the forefront of the first wave of East Coast punk rock, is now a poet and novelist. His latest book of poetry titled "Godlike" is set primarily in the East Village of New York, circa 1972.April 20, 2006
Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So's - in studio Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So's is an eight-member musical collective from Indiana whose intricate melodies and gentle lyrics tell of having more experience than only a single album to their name.April 17, 2006
Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been touring to support their new record, "Show Your Bones", a mellower but still hard-rocking sophomore effort that, Karen O explains, was not written about her cat.April 16, 2006
Hopewell - live in studio Descriptions of Hopewell's music has been an exercise in contraditions: delicate/visceral, sublime/stabbing, crushing/romantic, immense/fragile.April 9, 2006