Crossings Art Center, Gift Shop & Clay Studio

Sunday, March 14, 7pm
Storyhill
with special guests Casey and Joe
Performance next door at the State Theatre in Zumbrota
$22/$24 at door

"Their sound recalls the harmonious interplay of Simon and Garfunkel and the acoustic juice of the Indigo Girls”
- Billboard

“These guys possess voices that blend in a truly uncanny way…
you'll find yourself tapping your toes and grinning in a matter of moments.”
- Missoulian

Crossings is thrilled to announce the return of acoustic/pop duo Storyhill! Chris and Johnny will be performing right next door to Crossings at the beautiful, historic State Theatre!

This compelling acoustic/pop duo brings sharp, observant songwriting together with close, brother-like harmonies. With voices reminiscent of The Everly Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel, they create a sound both classic and completely fresh. Like label-mates Greg Brown and Jorma Kaukonen, Storyhill has a deep appreciation for many musical styles—rock, roots, blues and country. Storyhill’s music is a perfect blend of Americana, folk and pop and recalls the early alt-country sounds of The Jayhawks.

Mixing those influences with their own unique sound, they have grown an impressive fan base that includes a wide variety of music lovers Storyhill’s infectious melodies and captivating performances have made them favorites at clubs and theaters across the country and have earned them high praise from fellow musicians and critics.

Listen, learn and more at their website.

Opening for Storyhill are Casey and Joe, a sister and brother duo. Casey Yeager and Joe Danielson are from Cadott, Wisconsin.

This first began performing in their family’s folk group, “Danville”, in 2002. Casey and Joe create unique harmonies, often tossing the lead back and forth. They both lend their hand at acoustic guitar and bass while Joe adds harmonica, and Casey, mandolin and percussion. They released their first recording, “Casey and Joe: Live in Concert”, in June 2009 and released their first studio recording, "Cornerstones and Common Time" in September 2009, which was produced and recorded by Chris Cunningham of the folk duo, Storyhill.

Check out their MySpace page!

"Dangerous Weapon" by Storyhill from Tommy Stone

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Saturday, March 20, 7:30pm
Brian Wicklund & the Fiddle Pals
$15/$17 at door

Crossings welcomes back the incredibly talented Brian Wicklund- now touring with his band the Fiddle Pals.

Native Minnesotan Brian Wicklund has been an integral part of the acoustic music scene for decades. As a teenager, he won dozens of fiddle contests. He has toured nationally and internationally with bands Stoney Lonesome, Judith Edelman Band, Kathy Kallick Band, Lorie Line’s Pop Chamber Orchestra, Chris Stuart Band, and currently with Brother Mule. He has been busy as a studio musician and producer laying down fiddle and mandolin tracks on over a hundred projects including two CD projects of his own. Brian also wrote the best-selling American Fiddle Method books published by Mel Bay. He is in constant demand as a teacher worldwide.

Joe Cruz brings 30 years of eclectic guitar virtuosity to the band. Kevin Rowe is as comfortable in a symphony as he is in a jazz combo or a bluegrass band. Together, the Fiddle Pals truly are synergy.

Brian joined Stoney Lonesome in 1987. In the next seven years, the band toured nationally and internationally, released seven recordings and played on Prairie Home Companion radio show. Between 1995 and 2004 Brian played with an array of nationally and internationally touring bands. He was a member of the Ethnic Dance Theater, Judith Edelman Band, Kathy Kallick Band, Lorie Line’s Pop Chamber Orchestra, and the Chris Stuart Band. He has been busy as a studio musician and producer laying down fiddle and mandolin tracks on hundreds of projects. His own critically acclaimed recording project “Arrival” was released in 1998.

Brian is also the author of the best selling books and DVDs, American Fiddle Method Volume 1 and 2 published by Mel Bay. Spin-offs from the initial books for fiddle include viola, cello and piano accompaniment books. He is currently expanding his offerings with the FiddlePal Explore Series focusing on Canadian Fiddle Styles and Texas and Contest Fiddle Styles. He plans to release a mandolin and bluegrass fiddle book in the near future. Brian is also a co-founder of the online bluegrass instructional website Bluegrass College. He teaches dozens of fiddle workshops and camps each year.

www.fiddlepals.com

HEY MUSICIANS!
Music Workshops with Brian Wicklund, Joe Cruz and Kevin Rowe:
Saturday, March 20

A rare opportunity to learn new techniques
and expand your possibilities:
Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, and Bass
A one-day workshop with three masters of the craft

click here for details

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Saturday, March 27, 7:30pm
Collective Unconscious
performs the
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
classic in its entirety
Déjà Vu
Performance next door at the State Theatre in Zumbrota
$24/$26 at door

Déjà Vu is the first album by the rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Released in March of 1970, it topped the pop album chart for one week and generated three Top 40 singles: "Teach Your Children," "Our House," and "Woodstock." In 2003, the album was ranked number 147 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and VH1 named Déjà Vu the 61st greatest album of all time.

Collective Unconscious is a group of musicians who have a history of making incredible music together, whether it be their own originals or covers. They have stunned audiences throughout Minnesota with their productions of The Beatles' Abbey Road, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, and Simon Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. Crossings is thrilled to have them return to the State Theatre in Zumbrota to present Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's Déjà Vu.

The cast of characters includes:

Jeff Engholm. Jeff wears many hats as a bassist, singer, songwriter, engineer, conductor, and producer. Primarily a bass player, he works mostly for the George Maurer Jazz Group. Jeff also plays in Blimp, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, and the up and coming Feelin' Band, based out of Minneapolis. He is the recording engineer at Rockhouse Studios in St Joseph, and has engineered and helped produce the last five George Maurer albums and three Collective Unconscious CD's. As an independent producer, Jeff has put together productions of Carmina Burana, African Sanctus, the Beatles album Abbey Road, Great Duets with local favorite Tim Hausner, and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.

Nathan "Nature" Nesje. "Nature" is a former resident of St. Cloud and graduate of St. Cloud State University now happily living with his forgiving wife Cari in the geographic center of the Twin Cities. He enjoys old guitars and biking and watching Engholm get older and slightly more frail each and every year.

Muggsy Lauer. Muggsy is a member of the George Maurer Jazz Group, plays Monday Night Jazz at the Veranda Lounge (Mondays from 8-10:30 pm) and does pick up gigs as they come along. By day he owns his own coffee roasting business called Muggsy's Beans.

George Maurer. George's innate interest in many forms of music have led him on many collaborative adventures. Jazz fans know him from his regular gigs with the George Maurer Jazz Group at acclaimed Twin Cities venue The Dakota Jazz Club and also his collaborations with vocalists such as Prudence Johnson, Ruth McKenzie, Debbie Duncan, and Ann Michels. George has created original compositions and arrangements for orchestra and ballet, big band and Bobby Vee. He writes original scores for film, theater and dance. He also produced 15 solo piano CDs and five George Maurer Jazz Group CDs released on label, Pine Curtain Productions, plus CDs for a variety of other artists. You can find even more info at georgemaurer.com.

Collective Unconscious dot net

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Saturday, April 3, 7:30pm
Claudia Schmidt
$16/$18 at door

"When Claudia sings a song, it stays sung." -Garrison Keiilor

Crossings welcomes the return of siren Claudia Schmidt back to their stage! Claudia will be performing music from her latest release, Promising Sky. You'll hear folk and jazz influences, some blues and world music, sung to the accompanyment of her acclaimed 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer.

Claudia Schmidt has been perfecting her craft of performing for almost four decades. It is a quirky and wonderful hodge-podge (her word!) of music, poetry, story, laughter. drama, and celebrating the moment. Work in clubs, theaters, festivals, TV, radio has added depth and dimension, and since she has always included her original work along with very personal versions of the work of others, what you get is a unique look at the world from someone who says what she sees with clarity, humor, and wonder.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian said: Schmidt's shows are a lot like falling in love. You never know what's going to happen next, chances are it's going to be wonderful, every moment is burned into your memory and you know you'll never be the same again."

Visit Claudia's website!

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Saturday, April 10, 7:30pm
Ann Reed
$14/$16 at door

Ann Reed has been a touring musician for more than 30 years, and has gotten to know a bit about the geography of the United States and Canada. She has toured North America coast to coast, doing concerts, clubs, and festivals including Bumbershoot, Winnipeg, Black Mountain, and National Women's Music Festival. She's returning for an evening of stories and song at Crossings.

She has appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, ABC's Good Morning America, and NPR's Morning Edition, not to mention countless radio stations across the U.S. She wrote and performed Heroes, a theatrical presentation produced by Minnesota Public Radio. And in a departure from her usual repertoire, has developed (with Denise Tabet) Nothing But Class: The Songs of Dorothy Fields.

Where the Earth Is Round is Ann's 20th recording. She wrote the lion's share of the songs on her albums — beautiful and memorable compositions that have been covered by other artists as well. She also has the dubious distinction of having penned the most songs that include the words "pronto pup." (For those of you not familiar with Ann's history of writing ditties for the Minnesota State Fair, check out her CD Songs for Minnesota, which features all five Fair songs.)

Among Ann's accolades: Minnesota Music Academy Performer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Best Recording of the Year, along with several awards from the multitude of nonprofits that she has supported while donating 25 percent of her time and efforts to organizations that primarily benefit women and children.

Read more about Ann at her website

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Wednesday, April 21, 7:30pm
Cadillac Sky
Performance next door at the State Theatre in Zumbrota
$18/$20 at door. Students w/ID: $15

“The songwriting stands out with its fearless appropriation of rock, pop, blues and old-time dance music.”
- Boston Herald

“the energy that Cadillac Sky jettisons into the public, enough rock ‘n roll
to force their audiences to start dancing in the aisles…”
-Folkwax

“Their live shows are a marvel of emotion and razor-sharp focus…”
- Cybergrass

Here's your chance to witness the sound that for the past several years has been reverberating out of Texas from one of American music’s most compelling bands, Cadillac Sky. Their chosen instrumentation that imitates that of Bill Monroe’s classic bands belies the depth of sound that these five young men create, and becomes simply the canvass that they paint from.

Their music draws inspiration from many diverse wells of creativity and artistry. But somehow they manage to create a sound that is completely Cadillac Sky: one that rejects the straitjacket of labeling and instead looks to make transcendent music and to ultimately to paint its masterpiece. The five sincere young men of Cadillac Sky recognize that there are few things that have not been said musically over the past 500 years of creativity, and are of the belief that their only chance in becoming special is in the sharing of their own personal experiences and perspective.

But as we know, the place where the rubber meets the road for any band is summed up in the question: can you touch an audience with your music face to face on a nightly basis? The boys' ever-increasing fans solemnly attest to the fact that the ferocity and grace that are the staples of Cadillac Sky are best understood when witnessed first hand. Folkwax wrote about a recent live performance "they completely blew me away, they were jogging around on the top of their strings, sniffing out new territory with rampant curiosity.” Obviously, the relationship between artist and audience can change from night to night. But it does not take even the most lethargic of audiences long to be propelled to their feet with enthusiasm once they start to feel the transfer of honest energy that occurs every time Cadillac Sky takes the stage.

Lots to see and hear on their website

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Friday, April 23, 7:30pm
Peter Mulvey
with Brianna Lane
$16/$18 at door

“Gleefully mercurial...equal parts breezy jazz and whispery folk. His voice feels like fine old leather,
and his guitar sounds like it’s on steroids...a superb technician with a fondness for ignoring
the rules...a genre-defying traditionalist — a knuckleballer with finger-picks”
— The Boston Globe

“A voice lush and hushed that occasionally sinks into a whisper...surrealistic beauty...gorgeous.”
— Rolling Stone

"I like making records," reflects songwriter Peter Mulvey, "but my job is the live show: getting on stage and taking people somewhere.” Peter's latest audio tour is on his 12th CD, LETTERS FROM A FLYING MACHINE.

Somewhere in the sky, perhaps on a flight to Amsterdam or Anchorage, or any of the stops on his nearly constant tours, Peter Mulvey often puts pencil to paper and composes another letter to one of his many nieces or nephews, as he has done since the birth if his first niece nine years ago. Four of these letters find their way onto LETTERS FROM A FLYING MACHINE. The album is largely a collection of new original songs, with the letters (read aloud, to the rumble of airplane engines and instrumental accompaniment) serving as a framing device.

Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange proclaimed the album “a lyrical delight,” and Blurt described it, simply, as “brilliant.”

Over the past 20 years, Mulvey has pursued an eclectic path as a writer and musician, performing on the streets of Dublin, the subways of Boston and now, touring as a headliner. He’s shared the stage with Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, Ani DiFranco, and Indigo Girls, and attracted an audience that stretches around the globe. His work also finds him collaborating with theatre and dance companies, and teaching guitar and songwriting workshops.

Visit Peter's website!

Opening for Peter this night for a short set is Minneapolis' Brianna Lane.

“Brianna Lane is a star in the making…poised, ambitious, a soul-singer of the first order, and a lithe, accomplished guitarist.” - Jim Walsh (Star Tribune/WalshPages Minneapolis, MN)

Brianna is a gifted singer/songwriter in true Americana form. She writes and performs on an acoustic guitar as well as a banjo, crafting songs that are clear-eyed and pure—with an integrity derived from her gritty, unflinching emotional honesty.

Lane grew up in Minnesota and still calls Minneapolis home. In her eight years of touring Lane has shared the stage with Billy Bragg, Gillian Welsch & David Rawlings, Dar Williams, Patty Larkin, Catie Curtis, The Weepies, Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland), and numerous other well seasoned musicians. She has also shared powerhouse, leg-powered bicycle tours with Signature Sounds’ artist Peter Mulvey.

Listen up on her Myspace page!