When Cloud Cult headlined the St. John's Block Party in Rochester last month, frontman Craig Minowa faced a particularly surreal moment -- surreal even for a guy who writes so many songs about the afterlife and inner-psyche.

"I could look up and see the window I was looking out of just a few months earlier," Minowa recalled, referring to the hospital room at the Mayo Clinic where he stayed in February following heart surgery. "Everything had sort of come full circle then."

Over the winter, the singer had to put his band on hold when he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat that plagued him with bouts of dizziness and exhaustion.

Talking by phone Monday from his farm in Viroqua, Wis., the 38-year-old bandleader reported a clear checkup now: "It seems to be ticking right again, and I even feel a little better than I did before."

Minowa's musical endeavors are getting back up to speed, too. He has more music to write for the National Geographic Channel over the next few months. As for Cloud Cult, the orchestral-rock octet hit the road again in April after finding a replacement for longtime cellist Sarah Young (new guy Daniel Zamzow also plays in Liminal Phase). The new lineup will make its overdue debut on a Twin Cities stage Friday -- one of the biggest stages in town.

The show takes place at Orchestra Hall, where Cloud Cult has previously played for the Day of Music and also at a festival during the Republican National Convention (no kidding). However, this will be the group's first ticketed concert in the ornate mega-hall, and the band has a big idea for it. As if the band's usual two painters on stage weren't enough visual amusement, each song in Friday's set will sync up with a new video backdrop featuring footage from local filmmakers One Light Collective, some animation and a variety of other images.

"This show is sort of us handing in an application to our fans for work we hope to do next year," Minowa said.

Clearly, then, his hospitalization did not leave Minowa wondering if it's time to put Cloud Cult to bed, as was the case before the release of last year's album, "Light Chasers," when his son Nova was born (Craig and his wife/bandmate Connie are expecting again in January). He said, "I got so many e-mails and messages of encouragement by fans, it only pushed me back toward the band and made me more deeply committed."

Playing in view of the Mayo Clinic wasn't the only synchronous tie-in between Cloud Cult and Minowa's health scare: The group's anthem of late, "Running With the Wolves," is now featured in TV commercials for Blue Cross/Blue Shield about its charitable programs. Guess which health-insurance company paid Minowa's recent medical bills?

"They treated me well, that's for sure, but it had nothing to do with that," Minowa said with a laugh. He said the commercial came through nonprofit work he has done, and he agreed in this case because of "all those bike racks they sponsor around Minneapolis" (the Nice Ride rental bikes).

"Still," he admitted, "another weird coincidence."

Trucking at full steam When he debuted the Dave King Trucking Company last year at his "King for Two Days" mini-fest at the Walker Art Center, busybody drummer Dave King promised me the jazz quartet wasn't just a one-off project brought together for the occasion. There's finally proof of that this month, as the Trucking Company dropped its debut album on Sunnyside Records three weeks ago and now plays the Artists' Quarter on Friday and Saturday to promote it (9 p.m., $15).

Rounded out by his Happy Apple bandmate Erik Fratzke on guitar, bassist Adam Linz (Fat Kid Wednesdays) and saxophonist Brandon Wozniak (Atlantis Quartet), the Trucking Co.'s all-local crew offers up eight all-original compositions on the enchanting new album "Good Old Light." These are some of the most accessible and straight-ahead works of King's experiment-filled career -- never mind such obtuse song titles as "Church Clothes w/ Wallet Chain" and "You Can't Say 'Poem in Concrete,'" a bouncy highlight on the disc.

In a New York Times rave review, jazz critic Ben Ratliff wrote: "[He] is a puzzle, and needs to be heard in at least four different bands to be properly understood." Ratliff was actually talking about Fratzke, not King, but the line fits in either case.

Random mix Lest you think King and Fratzke's original group is a thing of the past, Happy Apple will return for the ninth annual Square Lake Film & Music Festival, Aug. 13 at Square Lake Park near Stillwater. Other performers include Kill the Vultures, Ben Weaver, Night Moves and the Orange Mighty Trio, who will perform a film score for "La Rivière du Hibou." Details at SquareLakeFestival.com. ... The other Apple dude, Mike Lewis, kicked off his tour with Bon Iver in Milwaukee last weekend. ...

After 4,000 giddily dancing fans washed out into the street for their sellout show last Saturday at Cabooze Plaza (U-who?!), Trampled by Turtles will experience a different kind of wildly bobbing wave this week: Their song "Again" is featured in the new episode of the Discovery Channel's ever-popular show "Deadliest Catch." ... Coincidentally or not, TBT frontman Dave Simonett's other band, Dead Man Winter, is touring Alaska next month before returning home for its Sept. 16 album-release party at First Ave. Titled "Bright Lights," the debut disc hits stores Aug. 16. ...

Joe Ryan & the Inks are rolling out their second album, "Dennis Lane," with a party Saturday at the Triple Rock. ... Michael Gaughan of Brother and Sister and visual-art notoriety is taking over the Tuesday-night residency at the Turf Club starting next week with his new but equally out-there band, Little Dog on Top of a Big Dog. ...

Probably a wise choice after Cake's performance at its 20th anniversary bash, the Summit Brewing Co. is sticking to an all-local lineup for its 25th anniversary party at the brewery Sept. 10 with Solid Gold, the X-Boys (led by Chris Osgood and Hugo Klaers), Pert Near Sandstone, Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles and more. Tickets ($12) are on sale at SummitBrewing.com and will benefit a promising new nonprofit, the Minnesota Music Coalition. ...