Hard-edged Wood and Hayseeds will be all the rage this weekend:
– Ragin’ Wood will be live at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Friday, May 15. The lead singer, as well as other band members who chime in on lead vocals for some numbers, have added to their collection of songs. Their often high-volume, guitar-driven classic rock is shown by clips online of them playing tunes by Bad Company, Foghat and AC/DC.
– The Killer Hayseeds, one of the leading and longest-set playing country bands coming out of the Twin Cities, will play at Maverick’s Corner Saloon in downtown River Falls on Saturday, May 16. The band leader did extensive auditions in 2011 to come up with a formitable lineup. The result was a group that does something you rarely see, two 105-minute sets.
– The Mill City Hot Club will bring its music based on the tradition of gypsy jazz, pioneered in the 1920s by artists based in Belgium and France, to Juniors restaurant and bar in downtown River Falls on Friday, May 15. The style is seeing a resurgence in the United States, and generally consists of two acoustic gypsy guitars, upright string bass and violin. As is typical of this genre, the Hot Club brings in other styles of music and instrumentation, in their case modern jazz, Latin jazz and blues. These musicians, billed as being prominent both locally and nationally, also bring in an electric format similar to the swing and jazz bands of the 1950s and 1960s, and specialize in improvisation.