Legend has it that Minneapolis-bred singer/songwriter/rapper K. Raydio didn't go all in on becoming a performer until after she graduated from college and attended an Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe concert in Chicago. Now, it looks as if she's making up for lost time.
The real-life Krysta Rayford already garnered strong attention earlier this year for her mellow-cool "LucidDreamingSkyline" album with Stand4rd producer Psymun. She paired with another local beatmaker, O-D, to add a second full-length to her 2014 discography, "One Drop." It maintains the positive, flowery, soul-power vibrations that earned her ample Badu comparisons, but with a peppier edge that puts her more in Monáe's company this time. Case in point: "Underdog," a would-be hit with the simple but emphatic hook, "I want this." We can tell.
Metasota and Tek open her release party Saturday at Icehouse (11 p.m., $6-$8.) …
The 15th annual Sound Unseen Festival — featuring movies about music — kicks off Wednesday with the new Elliott Smith documentary "Heaven Adores You" (7 p.m., McNally Smith College of Music). The fest also includes films on Johnny Thunders, Fugazi, Bob Weir, shoegazer bands, women in jazz and more. See the full schedule at SoundUnseen.com. …
After a decade-plus of vagabond existence, former First Avenue manager Steve McClellan's nonprofit organization DEMO is hoping to create a permanent home in a 3,000-square-foot Minneapolis space to host music-ed classes, lessons, workshops and gigs. A crowdfunding campaign for the DEMO Music Center kicked off Monday via Razoo.com in an effort to raise $100,000 by year's end. … The first two albums by Minneapolis' psychedelic rock band Trip Shakespeare, "Applehead Man" and "Are You Shakespearienced?," will be reissued Dec. 16 with bonus tracks by cool Los Angeles collectors label Omnivore Recordings. There are no plans for any renuion shows around their release, however. …
The Triple Rock hosts another tribute to Pantera's Dimebag Darrell Saturday. This one is a fundraiser for Little Kids Rock with members of Lesser Known Saint, Torch the Spire, Casanatra and more (9 p.m., $7.) … Elegant chamber-rock band We Are the Willows has shows all over the Upper Midwest this week to promote its new album "Picture (Portrait)," inspired by World War II-era letters written by frontman Peter Miller's grandparents. They kick it off Friday at Ed's No Name Bar in Winona and end next Thursday at the Turf Club, with stops in between in the Wisconsin cities of La Crosse, Menomonie and Eau Claire. …
For their annual post-Thanksgiving gig at the Cedar Cultural Center on Nov. 29, the Pines will pair up with one of their heroes, acclaimed songwriter/storyteller and American Indian Movement activist John Trudell. … Two more unique pairings at the Cedar, the Song Exchange series will resume with Gary Louris and Haley Bonar on Dec. 11 and then Astronautalis and Mark Mallman on Dec. 12.
Mike Mictlan not only had a brand-new album to tout when he took the stage last Saturday at 7th Street Entry, he also had a new tattoo on his chest, which he received in the green room before the show. It read "R.I.P. Sis" in honor of his older sister Bobbi, who died this summer. Let me know if you ever hear of a cooler backstage warm-up story.
