Scenic Route

Twin Cities guitarist Chris O'Brien returns to the Scenic Route, joined by drummer Ryan Cihlar, to update us on the album "Echoes from Iron Ore", recorded in March in a tiny cabin up the Gunflint Trail. They talk about experiences recording somewhere so remote, traversing COVID safety, and upcoming events regarding the album.

More information can be found at echoesfromironore.com

Both of the Twin Ports' musical Alexy brothers, Teague and Ian, played an hour of music live on WTIP as part of the TIP Jar Minifest series. 

You can listen to both full live sessions here.

Chris Silver is a folk and americana musician from River Falls, WI, while Craig Evans is a St. Paul based musician and filmmaker focusing on historic music traditions. Together they've collaborated on an album called Old-Timelesss Conversations, a compilation of some of their favorite old-time tunes. They appear on the Scenic Route and talk with Will Moore about working on the record, the conversations they documented while recording the songs distantly during the pandemic.

Andrew D. Huber is a musician from Huntley, IL who graces the North Shore area with his celtic-infused style of folk music a few times a year. He joins Will Moore on the Scenic Route to talk about what went into making his newest album called Chasing Time.

The Spring Sound Garden is returning to Harbor Park in Grand Marais May 29-30th. Featuring a spacially-based musical experience across the park, it also includes storytelling, photography, with live artists, musicians, and dancers. Creator James Everest talks to Will Moore about what to expect.

The TIP Jar Minifests continued last weekend on WTIP with Terry Valdivia and Friends, Cherry Dirt, and Mary Bue. Plus a few bonus performances by Tony Petersen and Sonofmel.

You can find those whole performances here.

Kevin Buck is a musician from the Duluth area and an increasingly frequent entertainer along the North Shore and in the Twin Ports. He joins Will Moore over the internet to play live on Scenic Route, talk drones, and show off his musical gadgets.

Echoes from Iron Ore is an upcoming album recorded in a tiny cabin at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness up the Gunflint Trail. The project is headed by Chris O'Brien, a St. Paul based guitarist with the band Enchanted Ape who sought the help of musicians from a number of Minnesota groups like Trampled by Turtles, Dead Man Winter, The May North, and many others to complete the album. O'Brien, along with the cabin's owner Brady Barnstable, talk about the production of the record.

Ben Miller is a member of the Federales out of the Twin Cities, who's also released solo recordings over the last few years. He joins host Will Moore from Brooklyn, NY to talk about his new single "Try To Think" and future projects.

Sprig of That is a unique folk trio from the Twin Cities comprised of guitarist Ilan Blanck, fiddler Isabel Dammann, and tabla player Krissy Bergmark. For their latest record, they enlisted the help of eight different composers to write pieces for their unusual instrumentation. Blanck and Bergmark are joined by composer Zack Baltich to chat about how this album "Eight Threads" came together.