Duluth native Rachael Kilgour visited The Current studio for a session hosted by Radio Heartland’s Mike Pengra. She played three songs from her 2023 album My Father Loved Me, including the track featured here, “Ontario.”
The Current’s Emerging Artists Showcase at the Duluth Masonic Temple in January brought together musicians from communities across the region to showcase and develop the next generation of songwriters and performers.
On the bill was folk musician Nolen Sellwood, a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth. His full performance is in the embedded video above.
Last April the Current released the eighth edition of its Sounds Like Home virtual festival series, which featured artists from greater Minnesota. Duluth band the Slamming Doors performed a Duluth Song during its set, embedded above.
Duluth native Nat Harvie recently performed for the Current’s video series LineCheck. Above is “Waiting Song” and below is “No Ash.” Both tracks are from Harvie’s new EP, Married in Song.
The Current‘s video series “LineCheck” presents virtual conversations with Minnesota’s music community. The sessions open and close with a song. In episode 2, occasional Duluthian Mary Bue performs.
The Current‘s video series “LineCheck” presents virtual conversations with Minnesota’s music community. The sessions open and close with a song. In episode 1, Duluth’s Charlie Parr performs at Sacred Heart Music Center. Parr’s forthcoming album, Last of the Better Days Ahead, will be released July 30.
In the Current‘s new video series, “Minnesota Sessions,” musicians perform in some of the state’s best natural offerings. In this edition, Duluth’s Sarah Krueger brings her new project, Lanue, to Black Beach in Silver Bay.
In the Current‘s new video series, “Minnesota Sessions,” musicians perform in some of the state’s best natural offerings. In this edition, Dave Simonett of Duluth-based bluegrass act Trampled by Turtles, brings acoustic tunes to the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center.
The Duluth Local Show has a new host. Brittany Lind recently took the helm of the Sunday night radio program that features music by Duluth-area musicians. Her first broadcast was March 3.
Lind replaces Mike Novitzki, who hosted the show from May 2016 to December 2018. Andrea Swensson served as interim host.
The one-hour show on St. Paul-based Minnesota Public Radio’s the Current is broadcast on Sundays from 8 to 9 p.m. on three Duluth satellite stations — 90.9, 94.1 and 104.3 FM. It does not air in the Twin Cities market, but is on the Local Current stream on Mondays at 2 p.m. and archived at thecurrent.org.
Andrea Swensson is serving as guest host of The Duluth Local Show on the Current. (Photo by Leslie Plesser)
The Duluth Local Show, a weekly one-hour radio program featuring music by Duluth-area musicians, will close out 2018 in a transition phase. Mike Novitzki, who had hosted the show since May 2016, announced his resignation in October and his farewell episode aired Dec. 2.
Andrea Swensson, a Moose Lake native who has been an on-air personality and writer at St. Paul-based Minnesota Public Radio’s the Current since 2005, has served as guest host of The Duluth Local Show since Novitzki’s departure. She is also the regular host of an all-Minnesota music show with a similar title, The Local Show.
Minnesota Public Radio is moving the Duluth relay of its Twin Cities album-oriented alternative music station, the Current, to full-power frequencies at 104.3 and 94.1 FM.
The switch to 104.3 is already in effect; 94.1 will be in operation later this summer.
The tower for 104.3 is in Two Harbors. Broadcasting with an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts, the signal reaches Duluth’s eastern neighborhoods, but begins to break up in the Downtown area and is marred by static in most locations southwest of Lake Avenue.
Jen Keavy, senior communications manager at MPR, said the “reach is dependent upon topography and proximity to the tower in Two Harbors, which is why we will also launch 94.1 (which is in Duluth) once technical upgrades are made. It will help cover the gaps in the Duluth area.”
MPR purchased the two stations from Red Rock Radio for $300,000 in a deal that closed May 15. Both frequencies use the call letters KZIO and were previously branded by Red Rock as 94X “pure rock.”
The Current announced in a news release today that Michael Novitzki will host its revamped version of The Duluth Local Show, which will launch May 1 on the low-power 90.9 FM and air every Sunday at 8 p.m. Also announced in the release: Cecilia Johnson has been named Local Current blogger.
Minnesota Public Radio announced in a news release today that Duluthians will soon be able to hear its album-oriented alternative music station, the Current, on 90.9 FM. A mix tape of music by artists from northern Minnesota began airing on the station today. At 9:09 a.m. on Feb. 1 the switch will flip to the Current’s live broadcast from the Twin Cities.
The low-power station will broadcast at about 99 watts, with an expected coverage area spanning from Hermantown to Superior. MPR purchased the 90.9 FM spot on the dial in 2015 from Family Stations, a national Christian network, which had aired programming as W215CG.
Low perform “What Part of Me” and “No Comprende” during the band’s Sept. 18 session in the studios of 89.3 the Current. Click here to listen to the full session.
