Growing up on the outskirts of a small farming community in Southern Minnesota Brad Senne spent the majority of his youth immersed in hardcore and punk rock. He went on to play in a multitude of bands eventually gaining notoriety for his hardcore band Picturesque in the late 1990’s after signing with Trustkill Records. “Early in my musical career I was into heavy music that was very loud and in your face. I left the hardcore music scene because I just wanted a larger music vocabulary. The scene is very one dimensional. You couldn't have a fingerpicking soft ballad on a hardcore album. At least not with the people I was playing with,” Senne explains.

With more freedom as a songwriter, he started playing his own brand of solo acoustic music. His expanding vocabulary drew upon the musical influences of his heroes Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Iron and Wine, Wilco, and Muddy Waters. Adapting to this new sound was not challenging for Senne as lyrics to some of his hard-core songs showcased an inner singer songwriter longing to be heard through the noise: The body embraces, souls catch a glimpse of tattered, torn, torments. Stare into the fire sea burnt up as a piece of me. Melts a life into stone. Rain it pours scrapes across the soul.

Over time I've come to appreciate all kinds of music. The past few years I've been really into acoustic singer/songwriters,” adds Senne. “I guess what attracts me to that type of music is the idea of getting up on stage with just a guitar and your voice and keeping attention. It's a huge challenge.”

Not challenge enough for this acoustic folk crooner. Senne has been attracting attention with his live shows and solo releases, all done dabbling in home recording studios. He also often plays out with his side projects the indie rock band, Beight and bluesy moniker Walker Fields. Senne’s haunting but harmonious voice is often described as “ghostlike, wind-whipped,” “ethereal and wispy.” This blend of hypnotic, breathy indie pop showcases his blues-influenced stripped-down compositions.

In 2009 Mike Boeser of Grain Belt Records signed Senne and in 2010 will re-release the 2009 album Aerial Views. The album received raved reviews and was voted a top 10 album of the year by The Onion – A.V. Club in the Twin Cities. Aerial Views has two new songs and has been re-mixed with added instrumentation by Ben Durrant of Crazy Beast Studios (Andrew Bird, Roma di Luna). Senne plays almost all instruments on this album including guitar, bass, piano and keyboards, resulting in 11 songs that range from simple finger-picking guitar ballads to lush instrumental arrangements.

“I initially wanted Aerial Views to be a 'solo acoustic album' but some songs just needed more embellishments on them so I ended up adding more instrumentation to the songs. I just basically added what I thought the song needed to hold it's own,” explains Senne.

A self described minimalist, Senne admits that not all of his songs are pulled from deep introspection and reasoning of the generic singer songwriter breed. He explains, “A lot of my songs just come out of thin air. “Sing & Dance” came to me so fast there was not a single thought of lyrics, guitar changes, nothing. It was after coming back from a show in Eau Claire, WI. I think it’s just getting out of my safe place, getting out of town and driving for a few hours alone that triggered the song. Simple things like that make good songs.”

Feeding off of influences in the world around him, Senne continually stays connected to nature and elements often out of his control. “Overgrown with Warmth” was penned from observing swirling clouds and “Out In the Open” was crafted about the vast open darkness when driving. “Autumn's Hum” is about shifting seasons and climate change (be that both internal and external) as he hums, A new season is born...it's lingering on.

“Here in Minnesota you've got to prepare yourself mentally and physically for the changing seasons,” Brad explains. “And in life at any minute things can change - sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. But being ready, alert and adaptable is the best approach to anything.”

Actually there's only one Busy Signal, a bedroom pop wizard from Minneapolis by the name of Howard W. Hamilton III. Even though he has a banker's name, Hamilton is a veteran of the indie rock circuit, having formerly served as Babes In Toyland's roadie and spiritual advisor and played in the ill-fated Twin Cities lo-fi band Saucer. After the demise of that latter group, Hamilton traded his old Ford Falcon for an eight-track and a sampler, then retired to his bedroom. And so began his wacky experiments with lo-fi pop quirkiness. Tape loops and synthesized sounds abound, coupled with hilariously weird vocals. It's like hearing Phil Spectorish '60s pop get slipped acid and dropped in a washing machine.

Hamilton has released three Busy Signals efforts on Sugar Free Records. His first was the "Headphone World" split seven-inch with Team Slabco in 1999. His debut LP, Baby's First Beats, followed a year later, further exploring and defining The Busy Signals' humorous 'n' playful beat-driven bedroom style.

For the follow-up, 2001's Pretend Hits, HWH3 (as he is known to friends and associates) recruited some of his likeminded cohorts to help take The Busy Signals' electronics-tinged bedroom pop in the direction of goof-off hip hop and hippie-dippy funk. Sean Tillman (aka Har Mar Superstar and Sean Na Na), Robert Schneider (of The Apples in Stereo), and a variety of other odd characters pop up periodically, sometimes offering some vocals of their own. At times Hamilton sounds almost like a lo-fi Beck on Quaaludes as he sings in honey-glazed tones over thrift store beats, his tongue planted firmly in cheek.

"Hyperrealitycheck" appeared first on Better Looking's Holiday Matinee 2 comp, before reappearing on Pretend Hits. "The Freeway" is also from Pretend Hits.

-Jesse Ashlock (www.epitonic.com)

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An amiable, sophisticated lounge sound is sampled throughout this album from the one-man ensemble of the Busy Signals. Howard W. Hamilton III's, Baby's First Steps is a smooth, minimal orchestration of sensible pop with a concord of drum loops, samples, and turntables. Even if this has the potential to be recognized as lo-fi dance music, the cocktail jazz references and jangly electronic flow result in an indie placement among the likes of Stereolab and Cornershop.

-Mike DaRonco (All Music Guide)

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The cut and paste hip-pop ethic of artists like Beck was quickly absorbed by the mainstream, but the format's unpredictability also guarantees there will still be stranger practitioners lurking at the edges of the musical landscape. One of the most interesting is Minnesota one-man band Howard W. Hamilton III, and the jumbled-up assemblage of this album -- a few new tracks plus B-sides and other oddities -- unsurprisingly suits his magpie style just fine. Hamilton's unshakable pop sense offers some recognizable reference points amidst the found sounds; "Autopilot," included in two different mixes, features a Prince-ly groove similar to the spacier moments on Sign o' the Times (think "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"), while the previously unreleased "Better Books" could qualify as a Big Audio Dynamite demo. And the wonderful "Too Much Togetherness," an ode to solitary pleasures ("Too much togetherness make it hard to get to know her/Try a little loneliness"), has a gentle hook that's as nagging as anything in the Top 40. But things turn more disorienting elsewhere, with snatches of everything from dub to avant-garde soundscapes blurring the outlines of the dozen brief, lo-fi songs, most of which were recorded on iBook and eight-track. Improving with repeated plays, this collection is well worth the time it takes to get oriented to Hamilton's unique vision.

-Dan LeRoy (All Music Guide)

3 years ago John Solomon walked away from music. After struggling with addiction and a brief stint in jail he broke up his critically acclaimed band Friends Like These and moved to a small town in Wisconsin. And supposedly that was that.

Even though Solomon left music, music never left him. After a long hiatus, he called some old friends to come to Wisconsin and demo up a new album: Steve Yasgar, the former drummer of The Swiss Army and Askeleton, Jonathan Blaseg of The Blinds, and former Friends Like These member Adam Switlick moved into small town wisconsin where Johnny had met Molly Moore, and they all met to start the demos for “Soundtrack to the End”

Solomon and company have already started to reclaim their spot in the music world with glowing reviews from critics all over some that remember Solomon and company from Friends Like These, and others meeting them for the first time.

Twin cities music fans have been flocking to Communist Daughter shows to be there from the beginning as Johnny and the newly formed Communist Daughter step out onto the national stage

A reenergized Solomon has assembled a record worth taking note of now. Already being named one of 5 Emerging Artists to Watch in 2010 by Avid, the makers of Protools and M-audio. The album includes some of the Twin Cities best and brightest including appearances by: Darren Jackson (Kid Dakota, The Hopefuls), Christopher Mcguire (12 Rods), Al Weiers (Faux Jean) and Dave Boquist (Son Volt).

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Fragile, daydreaming harmonies. Swirling synths that spin and spin until they fall down dizzy. Steady-galloping drums that coolly pass you by. These Midwestern boys have wrapped them all up into rip-your-heart out ballads about getting older but not necessarily happier – songs that capture the old joy of classic records and do-nothing days, and the ache of knowing they're mostly gone. Yes, there's a good kind of sadness, and this is what it sounds like.

-Melissa Maerz, Rolling Stone Magazine

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Solomon also started work on new music under the Communist Daughter moniker recorded at his home, which isn't a cabin. But it's in a small town, so that has to count for something. And while Solomon has cultivated the requisite indie-rock facial hair, he hasn't forgotten his power-pop roots, which means he's still kicking out some fierce tunes that sound great regardless of the amount of electricity used in performing them. If you were too late to score a Bon Iver ticket, do yourself a favor and head over to the Kitty Cat Klub on Saturday to catch Communist Daughter perform on a bill with Jenny Dalton and Patchwork. And if you're a musician, I guess you might want to start hunting for your own forgotten corner of Packerland to start recording the next budding masterpiece.

-Ross Rahallia, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Minneapolis’ Grain Belt Records announces the signing of the influential Twin Cities-based septet, The Honeydogs. The label plans to release The Honeydogs’ new album, What Comes After, in early 2012.

Grain Belt Records owner Mike Boeser is thrilled with the collaboration. A long-time Honeydogs’ fan, Boeser used to sneak into their shows before he was of age and counts their album Everything, I Bet You among his all-time favorites. It is the songwriting that drew him to the band. Boeser raves, "Adam Levy's songwriting gets more involved with every album he puts out. His willingness to explore different musical genres adds so much depth to The Honeydogs."

The Honeydogs have been an integral part of the Twin Cities music scene for over a decade. What Comes After, their 10th studio album, finds Levy’s songwriting at its best. “The band has made what might be our best record to date,” Levy comments. “We’ve weathered shifts and changes with major and indie labels and look forward to working with Mike Boeser and Grain Belt Records taking the record as far as it can go. Boeser is a big music nut and enterprising guy. I can’t imagine a better home for us right now.”

The addition of The Honeydogs to the boutique indie label’s roster fits perfectly with Grain Belt Records’ mission to highlight the vibrant local Minneapolis/St Paul music scene.

A thickset forest, a murky attic, a neutral river running indifferently next to a log cabin, and the eclipsed back room in every aloof guitar shop. Such is the music of Minor Kingdom's mastermind Kristian Melom, a well-bearded, Minnesota-based singer-songwriter whose debut record My Back Will Bend strives for the same sort of disaffiliation rust-folk heroes Sun Kil Moon and Bonnie "Prince" Billy founded an entire career on. Each of the 10 songs are openly slow-paced, usually guided by little more than a gently strummed guitar and Melom's own downhearted tenor. Kristian isn't the first person to do the whole "isolation over convivial" thing (the now-legendary Bon Iver's fame burgeoned out of the somewhat mythical origins of his enterprise), but he's probably one of the most effective. Apparently recorded in a myriad of obscured, intimate locations, Melom allows the surroundings to spill into his music in a deliciously subtle way. A sparsely echoed harmonica, a distant harmony, a few creaky floorboards, the tracks sound like they're coming from the dark corners of a lamp-lit bedroom or the fuzzy edges of a projected slide. It has a profound effect; expect to hear more from this kid in the future.

-Luke Winkie, Verbicide Record Review 2/15/10

Seeing the Minneapolis duo Red Pens is like witnessing a demonstration. A demonstration in raw sonic bliss. Howard Hamilton III is a string bending master and knows how to make feedback work to his advantage. His confident vocal stylings coupled with drummer Laura Bennett's all or nothing kit pounding are about as uniquely refreshing as it gets these days. The stage is littered with junk shop amps and guitars Hamilton seems to almost get tangled up in while he and Bennett exchange doses of laser beam eye contact showing off a seemingly deeper connection between the two of them than your average indie rock outfit.

Hamilton and Bennett met in the arena of visual arts and started Red Pens as a way to express their deep love for rock and roll. Howard's old project The Busy Signals went on tours with The Shins and it's beat and loop based jams proved to be an underdog favorite in the early two thousands. Laura is well known as a painter and is best known for her painting on guitar effects boxes. She even has her own signature fuzz pedal, not bad for a drummer.

Their debut album "Reasons" on Grain Belt Records is a mid-fi bonanza of fuzzy reverb drenched art rock. The wiggly winding guitars, slap back vocals and killer back beats are sure to give you that silly grin you've been starving for.