Twin Cities-band Kazyak is the indie craft-vehicle of songwriter/guitarist Peter Frey. For the past half decade Kazyak has been a studio project, recording 3 EPs (2 unreleased) in NE Minneapolis, and is now actively booking shows in the Twin Cities. The current band is: Peter Frey (guitar), Andy Wolfe (guitar), Pat Hayes (synth, piano), Lana Bolin (bass), and Nick Grewe (drums).

Kazyak practices experimentation and finds it’s source in a deep pool of midwestern music. The band draws on the abstract side of Bob Dylan’s songwriting and lofty sonic architecture from the likes of 12 Rods, Fat Kid Wednesdays, Tiki Obmar, and Halloween, Alaska. The group spits it all back out in their own way: warm nylon-string guitar blended around an expressive falsetto, electronic drum sequences layered beneath a Ludwig kit, and acoustic banjo processed through circuit-bent guitar pedals.

All Kazyak songs are primarily folk songs, brought to life in the studio and on stage. The sound is grounded in authentic sentiment that is infectious, warm and overflowing; and the music has the feeling of being both through-composed and improvised. The band has shared the stage with many, including LA indie rockers the Local Natives and Duluth-based Trampled by Turtles, and continues to collaborate closely with Minneapolis-based engineer/drummer Brett Bullion.

Ashley Hanson is a musician and community artist based in Saint Paul. She is the frontwoman and primary songwriter for the Dusty Porch Sisters, and recently recorded her first solo album, The Kirkbride Sessions, at a former state hospital in Fergus Falls. She also produces original musicals in small towns across the state with her theater company, PlaceBase Productions. Her work as a songwriter and theater-maker explores the experience of rural life, drawing on her own upbringing in the north woods.