Cities 97 'Sampler' set for Nov. 19 release

With the $8 million mark for all-time fundraising in the cross hairs this year, the 21st installment of Cities 97's "Sampler" CDs will go on sale Nov. 19 at Target stores with songs by Adele, the Fray, Rob Thomas, Jason Mraz, Ingrid Michaelson, Snow Patrol, Ray LaMontagne, the Jayhawks, local newcomer Meredith Fierke and 11 more. As usual, the tracks were recorded live in the station's Studio C and are mostly "unplugged" versions of album recordings. Song-publishing rules place a limit on how many copies of the nonprofit collection can be sold (30,000). The discs typically sell out the morning of the release. Money from the CDs goes to a variety of local charities. See the entire list of this year's tracks at www.startribune.com/artcetera. CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER