Red House Records artists Charlie Parr and the Pines are among the six acts booked for the Grand Oak Opry summer concert series.
The free shows take place in the back yard of Sean Kershaw and Timothy Hawkins, who live on Goodhue Street off West Seventh in St. Paul. “There’s a greater variety of music compared to last year,” Kershaw said. “We have two nationally touring bands (Charlie Parr and the Pines) and a great see-her-now performer, Mina Moore.”
The couple first used their back yard for a special event in 2013. In front of an audience of 80 friends, they got married in the space, a flat, double lot dominated by a 200-year-old oak tree. The pair thought it might also work for concerts, and they tested the waters with two successful shows in 2014, promoted largely via the Facebook group West 7th Is Where All the Cool Kids Hang Out.
Kershaw and Hawkins expanded the series to five concerts last summer and drew a record crowd of 275 to the finale featuring the Cactus Blossoms.
Admission is free, although Kershaw suggests a $10 donation with all proceeds going to the musical act. The concerts are open to the public, kids included, whether they know the couple or even the neighborhood. Concertgoers are welcome to bring a chair or blanket and their own beverages.
The couple doesn’t make any money from the series and cover their fixed costs with the help of several nearby sponsors, including Claddagh Coffee, Leitner’s Garden Center and Mississippi Market. A few neighbors help out with sound, photography and other duties.
The whole point of Grand Oak Opry, Kershaw said, is to “hear cool music, gather with our neighbors and benefit the musicians.”
This summer’s series kicks off with Jazzland Wonderband on June 11 and continues with Charlie Parr (June 25), Martin Devaney (July 16), Mina Moore (July 23), the Roe Family Singers (Aug. 13) and the Pines (Aug. 20).
The Grand Oak Opry Facebook page, which is approaching 1,000 likes, has further details.
IN THE CLUBS
It’s a weekend of nostalgia at First Avenue, with two homegrown bands from the ’80s returning to headline the main room. Straight out of Austin, Minn., the alt-country act the Gear Daddies play Friday night with support from acoustic band the Whiskies. It’s actually the first of two First Avenue shows for the Gear Daddies. The venue booked them for May 13 and tickets sold so well, they added the second show. Bluesy folk rockers Tina and the B-Sides take over Saturday, with support from local soul singer Chastity Brown.
Andrew Broder’s experimental rock group Fog has returned to action with the release of “For Good,” the band’s first album in nine years. They are playing a release show Saturday at the Entry and Broder described Fog’s new live show as an “exciting amalgamation of all the musical styles Fog has embodied throughout its journey — turntables, guitars, piano, singing, improvisation, exploration, joy and pain.”
Former Trip Shakespeare bandmates John Munson and Matt Wilson are preparing for the release of their first album since 2009. It’s called “Black Beauty” and they had hoped to have it available now, but thanks to the boom in vinyl, they won’t be able to have it pressed until the summer. It’s coming out July 15 (and is available for pre-order through PledgeMusic), with a release show that night at the Entry and another at the Turf Club on July 16. This weekend, though, the pair are previewing the new work through a show they’re calling “Black Beauty Theatrical.” Billed as “a collaboration between visual, film and musical artists,” it takes place Friday and Saturday at St. Paul’s Black Box. The shows are likely to sell out. Check tempotickets.com/twilight for details.
Local power pop group Joey Ryan and the Inks debut their new album, “Young Afternoon,” with a concert Saturday at the Turf with BBGun and Eric Mayson. The band’s fourth album, “Young Afternoon” is a more mature work from the guys, several of whom welcomed new additions to their family in recent years. But don’t mistake mature for boring, as the record is full of their sunny harmonies and and infectious songwriting.
Kid-friendly duo the Okee Dokee Brothers will release their third-in-a-series record, “Saddle Up: A Western Adventure Album,” on May 13. Colorado natives and lifelong friends Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing moved to the Twin Cities in 2007 and based their 2012 album, “Can You Canoe,” on a canoe trip down the Mississippi River. It won the Okee Dokee Brothers a Grammy and set the stage for the Grammy-nominated “Through the Woods,” which was inspired by a monthlong trek on the Appalachian Trail. A 30-day horseback journey along the Continental Divide led to “Saddle Up,” which comes with a documentary on DVD about the trip. That documentary will be shown Saturday at Minneapolis’ Riverview Theater. The 10:30 a.m. screening is sold out, but tickets are still available for 1 p.m. On Sunday at 1 p.m., the pair will host an “afternoon pony party” at the Minnesota Zoo. Aimed at kids ages 4 to 9, it will feature a sing-along of horse-themed songs from the new album and a behind-the-scenes peek at the zoo’s ponies and horses. The CD release shows take place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. May 21 at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater.
Deep-voiced “American Idol” champ Scotty McCreery is currently without a record label — he parted ways with Mercury earlier this year — but has published a book at the tender age of 22. It’s called “Go Big or Go Home: The Journey Toward the Dream,” and he will stop by the Mall of America’s Rotunda on Friday afternoon. McCreery recently told a reporter he was first approached about writing a book when he was 18: “I said ‘You know, I don’t think I’ve got enough to go in those pages.’ But for right now, I’ve gone through enough where I was like, ‘I think I’ve got some stories here.’ And it wasn’t all high stories, I’ve had plenty of lows in just the five years I’ve gone through.”
