When: Friday, May 11 at 7:30pm
Where: Dreamland Arts, 677 Hamline Avenue North, Saint Paul
Tickets: $15, available at http://www.dreamlandarts.com/shows/detail.php?eventId=199
Info: Click here for directions and contact info

Come on down to Dreamland Arts in Saint Paul to celebrate the release of In the Quiet Night: Fiddle Tunes from the Upper Midwest.

After many years spent listening hard to the likes of Bill Monroe, Kenny Baker and Benny Martin, I decided to focus on the fiddling that’s here in the Upper Midwest, right under my nose. This album, which was funded by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, is a collection of tunes that I gathered from Upper Midwestern fiddlers like Chirps Smith, Sara Pajunen, Les Raber, Selmer Ramsey, Leizime Brusoe and others, plus a few of my own tunes and a vocal number written by a fellow named Bob Dylan (yes, he counts, too, though we might have known him as Zimmerman).

In addition to playing tunes gathered from some of my favorite northern fiddlers, I got to record with some of my favorite Minnesota musicians, including Anthony Ihrig (banjo), Dean Magraw (guitar), Marty Marrone (guitar) and Dana Thompson, all of whom will be joining me at the CD release show.

Hope to see you there! Dreamland Arts is a very small theater, so advance tickets are recommended. You can order them on the Dreamland Arts website by clicking here.

I’ll  be teaching a bluegrass band workshop for kids along with The High 48s at the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association’s Winter Weekend Festival.  The High 48s will be joined by Catie Jo Pidel, Chuck Millar and Ryan Kimm, and Peter Ostroushko will be giving a fiddle workshop for intermediate-advanced students.

I’ve taught at Grass Seeds for quite a few years now, and I have to say this is one of the best workshops I’ve ever been part of — MBOTMA should be proud!

More info at http://minnesotabluegrass.org/index.php?contentID=643

MPR just aired a great (and long!) piece by Chris Roberts about The Minor Planets and our new album Shadow in the Water (download the first track of the album and hear it here).

The piece is also available to stream here, on the Minnesota Public Radio website.

We’re always grateful when someone, anyone, really listens to and connects with our music, especially when that someone hears what you were trying to get at when you were locked away all those long hours in the studio.

And when that somebody happens to be a music journalist who can really write — I mean, really write?

And when said writer calls your album a “masterpiece”? That’s awfully nice, too.

Let’s just say we got a little verklempt reading Jim Walsh’s beautifully written review of Shadow in the Water on MinnPost this morning.

Thanks, Jim!

Eric and Dana

Our new CD dropped just about two weeks ago and now the reviews are starting to come in…

Like a lot of our fellow musicians, Dana and I can be a little sensitive to criticism (there, we said it), so reading reviews tends to give us that standing-on-the-high-dive feeling. But this time, we’re pleased  to announce, the reviews are good. They’re really, really good.

First up, a review by Paul Riley from Country Music People in the UK. Here’s the teaser:

“[★★★★★] There is nothing minor about The Minor Planets. This is a band who write incredible songs, have a unique feel for music, and are doing something a bit different. [Shadow in the Water] is a disc I will return to many times. It is special.”

And here’s the complete review.

Phew!

The Minor Planets is one of the many irons I have in the fire right now. It’s my countrypolitan collaboration with the amazing singer/songwriter Dana Thompson. We have a new CD coming out in January (and a CD release show scheduled — see the calendar page for the particulars), but in the meantime, we thought we’d record a couple of Christmas songs.

They can be downloaded at http://mpxmas.bandcamp.com/.

The download is available in multiple low- and high-resolution formats…and it’s free!  We won’t even ask for your email address (but if you’d like to sign up for our email list, we’d be more than happy to oblige!).

And if you like what you hear, make your reservation to come down to our holiday show at the Aster Cafe on December 21st at 9:00pm. Call 612 379-3138 for reservations.

Enjoy!

Eric

The Minor Planets will be playing this Saturday night at the Dakota in Minneapolis, our first (public) full-band, Minor Planets gig since we went into the studio to record our new album Shadow in the Water. We’re SO ready for it.

We’ve got a fantastic line-up for this show, with Jimmy Johnson on pedal steel, Richard Medek on drums and Eric Paulson on upright bass. We just rehearsed with the full line-up yesterday…would it be conceited to say that we sounded amazing?

Come on down!

Show starts at 11pm.

The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant
1010 Nicollet Avenue
Minneapolis
612-332-1010

Just got back from the Bluegrass in the Pines Festival in Rosholt, WI (near Stevens Point), and I’m physically exhausted but spiritually recharged. Outstanding picking (both onstage and off), good people and an almost magical vibe. Really. I love, love, love this festival.

If you’re thinking about going to a bluegrass festival next summer, put this one on your calendar now: http://www.highwatermusic.com/BluegrassInThePines.htm

EC

P.S. My apologies for the pun. I couldn’t help myself.

While the 48s have been taking a little break from the road, things have been hopping around here on the recording front.

The amazing Dana Thompson and I have just finished our first new Minor Planets record in a decade. The album is called Shadow in the Water and it’s a departure from the traditional bluegrass that’s been my modus operandi in recent years.

Shadow in the Water is our take on the classic countrypolitan sound. We had a chance to work with a lot of new musical colors on this album. In addition to steel, fiddle, mandolin and banjo, this album has strings, loops, vibes, even celesta. We had a lot of fun working on this one and are proud as can be about how it turned out.

Shadow in the Water will be released early fall with an official CD release show(s) later in the season. I’ll be posting more info here, but in the meantime, you can find more info at www.theminorplanetsmusic.com.

I’ve also been working on a soon-to-be-released CD by my High 48s bandmate Anthony Ihrig. In addition to being a world-class banjo player, Tony is a fine songwriter and is now taking a turn as a band leader.

His new CD was tracked last winter and spring at Wild Sound in Minneapolis, with Jed Germond on mando and steel and Dan Christensen on bass.  I’m told that a CD release show is in the works, and I’ll be plugging that on my website just as soon as the details are confirmed. In the meantime, you can find out more at www.anthonyihrig.com.

I’ve also been plugging away at my first fiddle CD, which is being funded by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. The working title of the album is North, Vol. 1: Fiddle Tunes from the Upper Midwest, and as the title suggests, it’s a collection of tunes from the Upper Midwest!

I’m in the process of collecting the tunes right now and have been making a lot of exciting musical discoveries, which I’ll be detailing here later. Recording will begin in late fall/early winter and I’ll be working with some of my favorite acoustic musicians, including some non-bluegrass musicians. Look for a spring ’12 release on this one.

Also just wrapping up work on a new CD from Art Stevenson and Highwater. Let me say this: I’m a huge Art and Highwater fan. Huge. They’re not just one of my favorite Midwestern bluegrass bands; they’re one of my favorite bluegrass bands period. So it’s been a thrill to contribute fiddle to this project. Art tells me that the album is being mixed right now, and I can’t wait to hear it! More on that soon.

Finally, in September I’m going to be going back into the studio to work on a bluegrass project with Dana Thompson. I’ll be making an announcement about this project and that recording later in the fall. Stay tuned…

EC