Billy Johnson is a singer/songwriter from Minneapolis. Billy was the lead singer of The Hillcats, and is the lead singer of Billy Johnson’s Roadshow. He also has an acoustic duo called B-TEAM with George McKelvey. Billy has recorded 10 CDs. He strums a Gibson guitar with soul, and has a great vocal range.

The Way Back Yard Boys - "Americana fiddle originals and some folky Christmas standards with three part harmony"

The Way Back Yard Boys Official Facebook Page

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Often known for her way of entwining mesmerizing vocal passages with a guitar groove far advanced beyond your average singer/songwriter, Skarlett Woods brings folk and West Coast Jazz to the same dinner table.

Entwining Swing and Jazz into folk-themed stories of love, she has a stage presence that demands the attention of a room. Taking her listeners on up-beat rhythmic rides over heart- swelling arrangements of originals and covers, Skarlett has simply become more comfortable showing herself in the lights. She took a spot light in the 2022 Dylan Fest Songwriters Contest as one of the winning songs that evening. She is currently in the studio with Producer Kevin Bowe, who has worked with- Jonny Lang, Etta James and Joe Cocker, to release a single from that winning song, “Close To You” before the year is out. And gearing up for a Sophomore album release in the Spring of 2023.

Once a year, Sarah Morris gets out her silver bells, the tinsel, the holly, and the jolly; inviting her friends to gather for a sparkling night of holiday music. Growing up in a house where Brenda Lee, Johnny Mathis, and Bing Crosby crooned through the family speakers all season long, Sarah comes by her deep love for Christmas songs honestly. With her 16th annual Holiday Show, Sarah and her band, ‘The Sometimes Elves’, are also celebrating putting that love for holiday music into a new little album. ‘merry little, light’ is a cozy, intimate recording of 4 classics and one original tune, meant to encourage cuddling under blankets, or contemplation underneath the glittering winter stars. Join Sarah & the Sometimes Elves in the warm glow of Aster Café for a joyful evening filled with festive favorites, love, laughter, and light.

In 1977, the band Flamingo was formed by Robert Wilkinson (guitars, vocals), Johnny Rey (guitars), Jody Ray (bass guitar), Bob Meide (percussion) and Joseph Behrend (keyboards and vocals). The release of “Flamingo” in 1978, recorded at Tracks on Fifth, included the songs “Smart Girl,” “We Do What We Like,” “One More Night” and one of the band’s most popular and enduring songs, “I Remember Romance.” Critics took note of Flamingo and the EP with descriptive praise: “Hard edged Stones-like rock’n’roll. East Coast street anthems coupled with Midwestern optimism and enthusiasm.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune).

Over the next 40 years, Flamin' Oh's (as they were renamed soon after their first release) would continue to evolve, perform, and record – with Wilkinson as the enduring frontman. They were a pioneer in the early 1980s’ developing music video industry and toured nationally and internationally throughout the 1980s.

Northern MN-based folk artist Kelley Smith is new to the scene, and is releasing her first album - Moon Child - on November 11, '22. Raised in the woods by musicians, Smith had always been inclined towards music. However, as a mom of four, the years rolled by wherein all her creative energies “…went into puppet shows, being a kitchen witch, and whatnot.” The ups and downs of love, parenting, mental health, and a global pandemic were catalysts that eventually led her back to music. Smith was in her mid 30's when she began teaching herself guitar late at night. Later, pandemic lockdowns provided her with extra time and space to write her first songs.

Smith draws from a wide array of influences, but especially old-timey roots musicians like Doc Watson, Iris Dement, The Carter Family, and Gillian Welch. An emotive performer, she provides “a safe space for folks to feel their feelings.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

This is Sophie and Steven's musical debut together! Drawn to jazz at a young age, Sophie Javna has performed with bands throughout Oregon and Colorado. She offers an intimate and soulful musical experience through interpretation of a wide range of standards, blues, and R&B.

Steven Hobert is a pianist, composer, and explorer. His transportive sound spans a surprising breadth of texture and emotion incorporating musical vocabulary and spirit from America, West Africa, and the Flamenco tradition. Steven's projects include Oudyano with renowned Syrian oud player Issam Rafea, the world beat-driven ensemble FireFlyForest, and the contemporary jazz group Wall Smashers.

Since forming in northeast Minneapolis in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude.

They’re a band with one foot in tradition and the other in the world of music today, and one of the very few who can find an overlooked bluegrass classic in a song by M. Ward or the Clash then throw down hard on a standard by Bill Monroe.

The High 48s are also a band of songwriters. Here, too, they take a modern approach, heeding the well-worn advice to writers: write what you know. Their songs ring true to their lives as northern city-folk rather than an imagined “sweet, sunny south” of coal mines and dark hollers.

Alternative Americana rock band, The Changeups, are based in Minneapolis fronted by vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Alicia Kay. The lineup consists of co-founder and guitarist/songwriter Jimmy Baker (Crazed Individuals, Eddie Mac), as well as drummer Aaron Rosener (Matt Jennings, Unclick), and bassist Jeff Ellington (The Fake McCoys, The Roosevelts). Their various backgrounds as rock, country, R&B, folk and punk musicians make for a distinct sound changing the song style throughout a performance. Alicia’s emotional lyrics and twangy heartfelt singing trickled in with Jimmy’s fun pop songs charm any audience and is loved by fans of Neko Case, Lucinda Williams and Lydia Loveless.

Paperbacks is an indie pop band based in southern Minnesota, helmed by Minneapolis tunesmith Sven-Erik Olsen (vocals & guitar), whose tuneful, dreamy Beatlesque pop gems are brought to life by keyboardist Julie Sweet, bassist Michael Brewer Carina, and drummer Dan Greenwood. They are currently touring the midwestern United States and will release their debut album in 2023.

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Danger Pins are Shannon Pettini (vocals and guitar) and Joseph Pettini (percussion and vocals). Original electric Americana and select reimagined covers.

With special guest Dust of Suns!

Larry McDonough Quartet and Festivus and Other Twisted Holidays Comes to the Aster Café

Do you need a break from the pandemic, politics, Zoom meetings, and maybe some family members? Are you tired of the same old holiday music?

Come to the Annual Performance of Festivus and Other Twisted Holidays!

Larry McDonough, piano and vocals
Richard Terrill, saxes and poetry
Greg Stinson, bass
Dean White, drums
Guest: Carol Bergquist, flute and accordion

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Playing experimental indie folk enlivened by obscure arrangements and poetic lyrics, St. Anthony Mann is the stage name of Adam Bjoraker. What felt much like a personal debut after self-producing an EP and an LP, LISSI came forth like a marvelous wound amidst the early pandemic. JT Bates (Big Red Machine, Taylor Swift) co-produced the record and features, as does Michael Lewis (Bon Iver), Pieta Brown, as well as bandmates Ben McKeown (drums), Matt Tessier (bass), DJ LaFonstee (guitar), all influencing and helping to give the band a signature sound.

Aaron Tinjum is a Minnesota-based songwriter.

He formed his folk rock project, Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents, while playing the many coffeehouses, dive bars, used clothing stores and furniture shops of the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas. In 2012, they released their debut Mirrors in the Dark and were honored by the Austin Mayor and City Council with their own official band holiday.

Years ago, John Magnuson was in a Minneapolis band called the Carpetbaggers. John played rhythm guitar and wrote/sang many of the band's songs. The Carpetbaggers enjoyed some notoriety in the mid-to-late 90s when the band did three tours with Son Volt and shared the stage with such notables as Los Lobos, Alison Krauss, the Jayhawks, Dick Dale, and Paul Westerberg. In November of 2020, John released a record called Barely Noticeable. Half of the album is Indie/Folk-Rock-ish, and the other half is pretty much the same, except with a little more twang. When performing, John primarily plays his original material, with a few covers mixed in for good measure.

With special guest Becky Kapell and the Fat 6

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Californian turned Minnesotan, Cassandra Cole's body of work dips a brush into the pigments of her deepest inner life and brushes out to make arresting portraits of the human experience.

Juxtaposed with her radiant vocals, Cole’s latest album, Steps, dives into some heavy subjects in her life - including years of depression, anxiety, heartache, and how she’s found her own way through it. “A pearl from another time interpreted with finesse and determination.” -Rolling Stone France

Fans of modern-era vanguards like Sharon Van Etten, Lissie, Soccer Mommy, or Lucy Dacus will be ever captivated by Cassandra’s effervescent pop-punk edge.

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

<a href="http://Admiral Fox">Admiral Fox’s sounds range from introspective indie folk to synth-flavored garage rock. Following the release of their EP Nowhere is Safe this March, their music has been slanting away from the acoustic singer-songwriter crooners of their debut, and heading into louder, more electric, and more socially conscious territory. Though they’ll always find time for a sad-boy ballad or three.

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

Katy Tessman is an optimistic and approachable singer-songwriter with a voice full of the wisdom she’s gained through breast cancer survival, heartbreak, and motherhood. Her powerful vocals and rhythmic approach to guitar (or mandolin) express a straight-from-the-heart songwriting style that moves passionately over diverse emotional and musical terrain. Tonight, Katy is releasing "Hero Now Crowned" as a single and launching the lyric picture book. It is a tribute to everyone who has overcome hardships – whether it be a health emergency, an addiction battle, or coping with anxiety, depression, or grief. Life can challenge us with these and many other painful experiences. You don’t have to have slayed the dragon to be a hero. Simply fighting, surviving, and continuing the battle certifies you as one. "Hero Now Crowned" celebrates you for this.

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”

The Minnesota songwriter showcase
Twin Cities tradition since 2005
Curated by Nick Hensley of Love songs for angry men
Features 12 up-and-coming and veteran songwriters every Wednesday from 8 PM to 10 PM Sept-May
-FREE SHOW
-for more information message us at:

https://www.facebook.com/MNsongwritershowcase

Since forming in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude, original songs and a wide range of influences far beyond Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt and Scruggs.

In a genre created and dominated by artists from the South, The High 48s were born and raised in the Upper Midwest. And in a music scene where playing standards is the norm, The High 48s are a band of songwriters who perform their own material in addition to the “festival favorites.”