On the topic of Minnesota musicians with ties to the Great Northern Radio Show, check out this marvelous Andrea Swensson “The Current” profile of Sparta Sound, where Rich Mattson and friends have crafted a respected recording studio used by many in the growing Minnesota music scene.
Sparta may feel remote, but it’s actually at the center of a sprawling, populated industrial area that has a cultural history of its own. Bob Dylan’s childhood home sits just 20 miles west of Mattson’s studio in downtown Hibbing, just down the street from a Planet Hollywood-style Dylanophilia bar and grill called Zimmy’s. And nearly every town on the Iron Range is home to at least one music venue, with songwriter-fronted bands popping up more and more alongside the cover bands that previously entertained barflies on Friday and Saturday nights.
“More and more, we’re seeing original bands start to play out,” Mattson says, piling everyone into his minivan after the recording session wraps and giving us a tour of the town. “It was always cover bands, and people are starting to get tired of it. With original bands, it’s more of a variety, and it gets people out more. The modern songs are kind of un-coverable, you know? You can’t sound like any of that Top 40 stuff.”
Mattson and Baby Grant Johnson played last summer’s Brainerd edition of the Great Northern. Paul Seeba, who played our Eveleth show, is also in the story.
Well, if anything, the Great Northern Radio Show is shaping up to be the Grand Ol’ Opry of Northern Minnesota. I’d proudly accept that moniker. Good thing, because I pretty much just gave it to myself.
Check out the next Great Northern Radio Show Saturday, March 9 at the Bagley High School auditorium featuring the Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank, Mary Bue, Sonny Johnson and Katie Wig.
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