Paul Spring is a 26 year old singer and nylon string guitar player from Minneapolis. Among his listeners, he is known for careful arrangements of fingerpicking guitar, sparse accompaniment, and lyrics which favor imagery and reflection. His new album Towards a Center was produced by Homer Steinweiss, the beat behind hits by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. This May 2016 Paul will be canoeing down the Mississippi River and playing shows along the way with his friend and favorite accordion player Sam Phipps. When they stop at the Aster, they will be joined by other local accompanists.

How does one describe those precious moments in life when we are able to transcend our small daily self-interests, and can somehow hold onto those rarified breaths of the deeper human experience? Radiant, the new Wild Ponies album, out May 13 on No Evil Records, explores those moments with alternating delicacy and raucous abandon. At times, it’s as though Telisha is sitting right beside you, fingers on your shoulder, whispering in your ear. Seconds later it’s hard to believe this full, confidently reckless sound is coming from only four players.