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You can say my guy isaak, or Kris Holliday or Just Kurt, or DJ J Strong or even RamonMC, its all delving into deejay music of many types of grooves. But it starts in Somerset this weekend with a mega-fest, then spills into New Richmond.

This could the the northern exposure of the St. Croix County music scene. Northwest corner.
It is, the way I see it, a deejay style that features what are not full stanzas, but what could be seen as a line or two, that mix this in a different style and then merge it, taking it off in a new direction that is different but has common rhythm, then bringing them back together. It more commonly is termed mixing and sampling and other styles, and often features an electronic music vibe, at times harkening toward hip-hop.
All sorts of these variations, from many different acts, can be seen this weekend at a festival in Somerset, at a huge and lauded outdoor music venue than is more often thought of for rock shows. I know of this because a nephew, isaak, (stage name and when getting tickets you have to get it right, as for Caps you’d have to go with his recently obtained MBA from the little ol’ state of Texas). He is again one of the performers, as he has been honing his act with great gigs since his early teens, and I knew right away, even though that was back about a decade, that I was hearing something unique. Mixing and matching was at another level.
More of this scene can be seen at the Wild Badger, just up the road in New Richmond, on most weekends. In particular, striking my fancy for those things beyond the ordinary, is DJ Kurt, also known as Just Kurt, minus the German squibbles over the top of the vowels that I purge out even though that is my heritage. Even if its Old School, you gotta have a whole lotta love for equipment that includes a record-player turntable front and center. And to change it up, but much of a similar practice, there is also often there DJ Kris Holliday.
This style that went beyond just spinning tunes, but leaned toward performing music, even if recorded in advance, began with DJ J Strong at Dick’s Bar and Grill in Hudson two nights a weekend, again almost a decade ago, with his dubbed references to bring in rock ‘n roll. There is also the request option of Aaron RamonMC, who no doubt has much the same attitude of both the seminal punk band whose name begins with those letters, and the main gig, who is known to spice it up with intense, urban-street-language. But as far as numbers of dancers, the Smilin’ Moose just up the road soon built on it and took it to a new level.

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