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Mary Jane Alm Band a household name in the Midwest

Jul 24, 2018

On Wed, Jul 26, Northrop presents Mary Jane Alm and her award-winning band as part of the Music on the Plaza series. They will take the audience on a journey through time, performing songs that made her a household name in the Midwest, as well as previously unreleased songs spanning three decades. Here’s a look at the band’s highlights:

Twin Cities-based singer/songwriter, musician, and music educator Mary Jane Alm has been a mainstay in the Midwest music scene since the early 80s. With her “golden vocal chords” and “disarming sincerity” (Pioneer Press), Alm has tackled a wide array of genres such as classical, jazz, and punk, yet her career revolves primarily around the combination of country, folk, blues, and rock. Aside from her various local performances, she also has performed all over the world and has released two albums, Prisoner of the Heart (1985) and Me and the Wild Blue (2011).

Much of Alm’s musical ability stemmed from her experience with piano and flute, with inspiration from her parents’ stereo music (Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Frank Sinatra), as well as the music of singer/songwriters like James Taylor and Jackson Browne. After picking up the acoustic guitar towards the end of high school, Alm started her journey playing solo gigs at clubs around Mankato. Later, she joined in on local bands including “City Mouse” and eventually formed her own group, The Mary Jane Alm Band, which has gone on to open shows for countless national acts.

Alm has been honored with many awards over the years, including “Best Female Vocalist” and “Artist of the Year” by Minnesota Music Awards, and is a recent inductee into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2013 (past inductees include Bob Dylan, Prince, The Trashmen, and Judy Garland). She has recorded at the famous Paisley Park and her latest album, Me and the Wild Blue, was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Grammy Award winner, Steve Hodge, who has worked with Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, and Shaggy. Additionally, Alm has written many jingles for clients such as Dairy Queen, McDonald's and General Mills and now teaches music theory and vocal techniques at The Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis.

Elvis Tribute Artist Art Kistler & The EP Boulevard Show Band

Jul 23, 2018

Thanks to Elvis Tribute Artist Art Kistler & The EP Boulevard Show Band for rocking the Plaza on Wed, Jul 18. (Photos by Melissa Bartz).

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Afterthoughts

Art Kistler has a long history with Elvis

Jul 16, 2018

Northrop's Music on the Plaza concert series continues Wed, Jul 18, with Forever Elvis: Art Kistler and the EP Boulevard Show Band. We asked Art Kistler about his experiences entertaining us as Elvis:

Tell us about yourself and your band. What's your history and how did you decide on Elvis?

More than 22 years ago I started out singing in my church and members of the congregation kept telling me they thought I sounded like Elvis. A Valentine’s Day church social tongue-in-cheek performance was inordinately well received, then came karaoke and one thing led to another. I was going to quit the business about 5 years ago and our guitar player asked if I’d keep it up if I had a live band, and so here we are!  

My wife, Jean, has been an integral and essential supporter and without her I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. 

We understand you used to work at the University. What are your most memorable experiences?

I was the manager of Parking Maintenance for 23 years, through many a snow storm, the technical evolution, maintenance and many improvements in University parking lots, structures and streets. I moved into project management during the 2 1/2 years I was at the University. I’m proud of having helped a great team within PTS and partnering with Landcare and some awesome vendors to keep around 22,000 stalls accessible, safe and clean. 

Discuss your transition into fulltime entertainment and how it has guided your work as an artist.

I thought retirement was going to be relaxing, but I’ve always been very task, goal and productivity-driven (and am a bit of a perfectionist), so my energies have largely been focused on improving and promoting the Elvis Tribute show with the EP Boulevard Show Band. For our theater and cruise ship productions, we incorporate multimedia, seeking to turn the concert into a live music video -- and I do all of the creative and technical production.  

What drives you to keep doing what you do?

I love to perform. About 90% of the time, the business requires creating, rehearsing, learning, accounting, investing, advertising, taxes, exercising, politics, promoting, planning, scheduling, insurance, negotiating… all the stuff that comes with running a small business. The 10% of the time I spend on stage makes it all worthwhile. It’s great music, a unique niche, our audiences and our fans are the BEST.  We love to be able to take people back to another time and make them smile. 

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In-Depth

Tim Sparks and Phil Heywood on the Northrop Plaza

Jul 12, 2018

Thanks to Tim Sparks and Phil Heywood for entertaining the plaza crowd with some acoustic tunes on Jul 11. (Photos by Melissa Bartz)

Tim Sparks and Phil Heywood are both acoustic fingerstyle guitar champions

Jul 02, 2018

Northrop's Music on the Plaza concert series continues Wed, Jul 11, with Tim Sparks and Phil Heywood. They perform separately and together. Here's a bit of history on their music: 

Tim Sparks and Phil Heywood are two of the reasons why Minnesota is known nationwide as a hotbed for acoustic fingerstyle guitar. Both guitarists are widely recognized for their solo careers and have inspired seasoned pros and aspiring students alike with their unique talents.  Both are former National Fingerpicking Champions who have gone on to release numerous recordings and compile lengthy performance resumés.

Trained by Segovia protegee Jesus Silva at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Sparks has continued to study classical music throughout his career. His adaptation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite has been cited as a significant contribution to solo guitar literature. His wide travels inspired his interest in European and Mediterranean styles, particularly the music of the Balkans. Upon his return to Minnesota, Sparks immersed himself in the ethnic music scene, performing on Oud and Saz in Middle Eastern ensembles and playing guitar in Greek, Klezmer, and Sephardic groups. This work culminated in the recording of Sparks' Balkan Dreams Suite, a remarkable collection of odd-meter guitar arrangements. 

Heywood grew up in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where, at age 12, he took guitar lessons from a Cornell College music student who taught him to fingerpick songs from The Weavers’ Song Book. The lessons also included new material by songwriters of the blossoming 1960s folk scene, and culminated in an arrangement of Mason Williams’ ubiquitous Classical Gas. A few years later a high school friend introduced Heywood to the acoustic blues guitarists of the 1920s and 30s and the music of fingerstyle pioneer John Fahey. It was a veritable Big Bang of exciting sources that quickly expanded into the repertoires of Leo Kottke, the Minneapolis trio Koerner, Ray and Glover and others.

About 10 years ago, Tim and Phil began to work up duets and perform together. They’ve built an exciting and wide-ranging repertoire drawing from American folk/blues/early jazz roots, some brilliant forays into “world” music, and a few well-chosen pop obscurities. The two have honed a dynamic concert format that showcases each guitarist’s solo selections and culminates in the full glory of two world-class fingerpickers going at it together.

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