A few Saturdays ago, Al Church had to make the kind of last-minute, between-gigs wardrobe change that reflects just how much of a mover and shaker and maybe even a superman he is in the Twin Cities music scene.
"I realized it probably wouldn't be safe for me to go into the Terminal Bar wearing a suit," he said.
The versatile, affable Minneapolis musician had gone straight to the gritty, aromatic watering hole to rock out with the Rupees after opening for the Decemberists at the Palace Theatre, where he served as guitarist for childhood friend Gaelynn Lea.
If you didn't catch Church at one of those gigs, you may have also seen him playing keyboards with Actual Wolf or drums with Andy Cook in recent months. Or perhaps you saw social media clips of his "bowling league" all-star band, BB Gun, finally working on a second album.
And then there was his Mortimer's set a couple weeks ago singing with Private Oates, a Hall & Oates tribute act that gives it up for the lesser-known guy in the band.
Church himself is a very Oates-ian music hustler who also happens to have Hall-esque frontman charisma and vocal chops — not to mention a discernibly '80s pop sound — all of which shines through on his new solo album, "Night Games." Lea said she recently joked to Church about becoming his manager to get him to focus on his own music instead of everybody else's.
"His record is so fun and poppy and completely different from what he does with me," she said. "It just goes to show you how versatile and creative he is. He's such a proficient sideman, but he should be doing his own music as much as he can."
"Night Games" caps off a 15-year run that also includes stints with the Umbrella Sequence, Al Church & State and his teenage punk band, Islero. He started the latter group in his native Duluth, where he's hosting an album release party Saturday at the Red Herring following Friday's shindig at the Turf Club in St. Paul.
