The parallels to national acts are without parallel.
With that said, I was sure that Yam Haus would be back on the national stage again soon, so no rush to laud them. Having YouTube subscribers and monthly listeners on Spotify that are scratching 100,000 each, they wound up being in the Haus and starring on a noted U.S. music talent show. But at least in this particular case, in spring, the house ended up being made mostly of sand. Enter Sandman? Their foray into national attention ended with the first round, although that round was, again, well noted.
So, Minneapolis-based band Yam Haus has already busted out of its small-town Hudson roots. It represented Minnesota, not the Badger State, on NBC’s signature show hosted by Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson.
Composed of Lars Pruitt on lead vocals, Jake Felstow on drums, Zach Beinlich on bass and Seth Blum on guitar, the four have opted for alt pop. For Lars, that’s unlike a namesake who has made his fame through metal-band drumming. He takes the lead in on-stage banter and interaction with the guitarists, as I first witnessed at Pepper Fest.
Pruitt, Blum, and Beinlich met when Hudson High School students.
Then in 2017, there was Yam Haus. Since then, they’ve filled arenas across the Midwest, including First Avenue in a gig that has not been rivaled there by a local band for over a decade, and played major festivals, like Basilica Block Party. Weezer step aside. Although there have been many acts with strong Hudson ties that have played well, and very far into the top 20 of shows like American Idol. And on the other end of the state, the billboarded name Von Maur seems to owe to the word structure of Yam Haus, at least in number of letters, placement of vowels and even the visual shape of consonants.
— Speaking of visuals, it was just Father’s Day, and this item is about what dad truly believes in — maybe one thing more than the other. I might have to ask him, as he just got off the garden tractor after using it to survey a yard project involving my brother’s house, and as he leaned to the side to I guess prevent tipping, I said to my bro, “He’s driving a Simplicity. Which means it has no side bumpers. Because … it’s a Simplicity.”
Anyway, on the way back, we passed that wonderful tandem of shops I’ve alluded to before, Your Father’s Mustache salon or sorts, and a psychic spiritual advisor. Now I love most psychics as they know me well, but I gotta tease. I’ll bet that when you are driving there for a reading, they will divine that dad is in the next-door getting his handlebar trimmed. Also they will predict that the barber pole will still to there in red and white the next day. —
But back at it, the contest from the producers of The Voice and Eurovision Song Contest, brings together 56 artists representing every state and territory. The American Song Contest will tab its best hit single.
Yam Haus, which stands for “you are me,” and is happier then Metallica’s largely similar signature line in Sad But True, faced music acts of all sizes, for the chance release their tune through Atlantic Records. Putting together the show has been dubbed a Herculean task, executive producer Audrey Morrissey (cool rock last name) said in a press release, along the lines of staging the Flight of Icarus. (I met the guy, at the old Dibbo’s, who was a big part of producing that Iron Maiden stage show).
Could they, still, be the next big song? Epic masterpiece also?