Pick Six is a half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view.
Andy Holmaas of Minneapolis:
1 Doomtree. It's been a really great week in the world of this Twin Cities hip-hop collective. A new full crew single ("Five Alive") dropped before they announced First Avenue and Palace concerts in May, and Dessa performed her own First Avenue solo show.
2 Dusty's Bar. The northeast Minneapolis establishment is creating a really cool music scene, hosting eclectic sounds many nights a week. The Nick Costa residency on Wednesdays in February showcased really tight songwriting.
3 The Federales. The Minneapolis band came out swinging this week, announcing their new album "Honkytonks & Hangovers" and releasing a single, "Dead Gulch Dan." They played the 331 Club and Mortimer's in town before a couple of Wisconsin shows.
Jon Bream of the Star Tribune:
1 Beyoncé at the Kobe Bryant memorial service. By opening the program with reworked treatments of "XO" (Bryant's favorite) and "Halo," she respectfully, emotionally and elegantly set the tone for a ceremony that would be filled with tears, laughter and inspiration.
2 Steve Earle, "Devil Put the Coal in the Ground." This new single from his forthcoming "Ghosts of West Virginia" album is a haunting work song with fiddle and banjo about the dangers that coal miners face. Earle wrote the tunes for a new play, "Coal Country," running through March 29 at the Public Theater in New York City, with live music by Earle.
