Tag: Minnesota Storytellers

Dave Simonett (of Trampled by Turtles) came to my school!

If you’re savvy to Minnesota music, chances are you’ve heard of Trampled by Turtles.  Hailing from Duluth, this blue-grass and folk band has released 8 albums and 7 music videos. They’ve played countless festivals, performed on David Letterman (twice), and held a Top 10 spot on the bluegrass charts for 52 weeks.  David Simonett, guitarist and vocalist for the group, visited MSU Mankato and sat down with some classes.

I hadn’t heard of Martin Zellar before he came to school, but I’ve been a Trampled by Turtles fan for awhile now.  I forget when I first came across them, but I remember “Wait So Long” being their smash at the time, so it was after 2010.  I’m mostly familiar with their work after Palomino, my favorite album being Stars and Satellites.

I was fortunate to get one of my songs played for Simonett.  This version is pretty bare, but I’m planning on adding more instrumentation.

Simonett liked it!  He said I have a “beautiful, unique voice.”  I could hardly believe getting that kind of praise from someone who’s made multiple albums that I own.  It felt great.  He had kind things to say about my classmates, too.  I guess we’re a pretty talented bunch.

Unfortunately, Dave Simonett’s concert for the Minnesota Story Tellers Series sold out, so I wasn’t able to attend, but I can offer some insights he shared in class.  One thing I found interesting was what he said about collaboration: “I’m limited by my own imagination… Get someone else in there.”  I’ve talked about the importance of collaboration before, but I never thought of myself as being restricted when I write alone.  He talked a lot about the importance of other people’s input.

When asked how often he plays shows with bluegrass bands, he said, “Almost never.”  That came as a surprise.  I assumed that most shows or festivals they play would be very genre-specific.  He said, “We spent most of our time touring with friends, because we have more fun with friends.”  That ties in well with the theme of community championed by my teachers.  Who do people want to work with?  Not the most talented or the most similar, but people they get along with.

Although I only saw him for the one class, Dave Simonett attended several, played a show at the performing arts building, and was part of Minnesota Story Tellers where he spoke about his songwriting process.  This was really cool and informative.  I hope we host more artists in the future.

MSU Mankato, Minnesota Storytellers: Martin Zellar.

I hadn’t heard of Martin Zellar before he came to school, but I got a brief history lesson from my teachers.  In the 80’s Minnesota rock was starting to gain mainstream attention.  Zellar was the frontman for the Gear Daddies, a band that rose to fame among the likes of Hüsker Dü, and the Replacements.  At the time, Minneapolis was hot.

After three studio albums, a performance on David Letterman, and three years of touring, the Gear Daddies peacefully broke up.  Zellar started playing with a new group, Martin Zellar and the Hardways.  They released their first album in 1994, and have been together ever since.  Zellar has enjoyed a long lasting career, and a loyal Minnesota fan base.  He sat down with my Songwriting II class, listened to our songs, and shared some words of wisdom.

Zellar was very complimentary; he said the songs were fantastic.  There’s a lot of talent in our class, and it was cool to hear that validated by a successful songwriter.  He said that what a lot of my classmates got right, was having a memorable chorus he could sing back.  Zellar’s own music is defined by story telling, and he talked about the importance of being a good listener.  He said that a lot of his songs come from stories others told him.

For the first Minnesota Storytellers, Martin Zellar and the Hardways took the stage at the Earley Center for Performing Arts.  They had two acoustic guitars, a bass (played by Zellar’s son), and a drummer who mostly used brushes. Zellar sang lead, and the drummer occasionally harmonized.  They played their brand of country and rock, old songs and new.  I am only recently familiar with his repertoire, but I was happy to hear “Stupid Boy,” and “Wear Your Crown.”  They did not play that damn zamboni song, which was fine by me.

Every two songs or so, Professor LeGere would come onstage and ask questions.  They talked about breaking from a small town, and the importance of their Minnesota community.  Zellar said that some Minnesota bands were kicking down doors and his band could kind of sneak in behind them.  When the Minnesota rock sound was hot, labels were sending out A&R guys just to find their own Minnesota band.  The community had defined a sound, and everyone wanted a piece of it.

Zellar is definitely a story teller.  He gave quite a bit of backstory between songs, and told us about his time with the Gear Daddies.  My favorite was when LeGere asked if they had any “debaucherous tour stories,” and they talked about playing at Carleton College and throwing a tray of food against the wall, making a mess.  They felt so bad about it they cleaned it up themselves.  “We’re just nice Minnesota boys,” Zellar said.   It was also funny to hear that when their label was called about them performing on Letterman, the head of promotions had never heard of them.  Overall, this was a pretty cool event, and I look forward to the next one.