It feels like a good year for First Ave’s Best New Bands. Then again, the annual showcase of ascendant local talent — started in the mid-‘80s as a way to fast-track bands from 7th St. Entry to the Mainroom — has had a lot of good years of late. Some of the other artists to break out after playing recent BNB lineups include Gully Boys, Durry, Laamar, Nur-D, Ber, Yam Haus and L.A. Buckner.
This year’s roster offers the usual eclectic mix, with echoes of more classic sounds from First Ave’s storied past. In addition to dark synth-pop singer Mother Soki, here are the other six acts on the bill.
Chutes
The loudest of this year’s BNB entrants boasts shoegaze-style guitar whir but with emo-brand drama and melody. The quintet’s Coon Rapids-raised leader, Ryan Kemp — who has also played a very different style of high-energy guitaring with Afropop singer Libianca — started Chutes as a solo project during lockdown and already has dropped two EPs. The latest, “Nothing’s Growing in the Yard,” just dropped last month and will be promoted with tour dates and an accompanying film.
Gr3g
One in an impressive line of rappers to hit the Twin Cities from Chicago (see also: Zora, EssJay, Longshot), jazzy yet biting lyricist Greg Bess was part of last year’s Cedar Commissions series showcasing innovative new artists at the Cedar Cultural Center. He performs with a live band and used them to great effect on his 2024 EP, “Food 4 Thought,” offering Mos Def-ian flow and compelling tales of survival.
LASALLE
There’s a lot of old-school Minneapolis Sound and ‘80s synth-pop influences in LaSalle Grant’s music but also tinges of modern electro-R&B makers such as Blood Orange and Perfume Genius. The singer/guitarist/producer and his namesake band gigged all over town in 2025 and built up a reputation as a high-energy, feel-good live act, which they’re just starting to capture on record.
Maygen & The Birdwatcher
The most established and road-tested act on this year’s lineup, frontwoman Maygen Lacey and her five-man crew — including part-time singer Jesse Moravec — channel Fleetwood Mac and Southern soul acts like the Staple Singers in their bluegrass-tinged, violin-laced country rock. They played Minnesota Yacht Club in 2025 and will hit the Blue Ox fest and wide-open road touting their second album, “The Americana Dream.”
Sallyforth
You’ll hear more violin in Jan. 17’s lineup here, but you’ll hear it very differently. Formerly named Yonder, the earnest indie-rock unit is led by onetime roommates Emma Jeanne and Hattie Peach, who first made names for themselves individually in the Duluth music scene before pairing up in this full-volume, electrically frayed Twin Cities-based quintet. Their 2025 debut EP, “Memento Mori,” should’ve earned them opening slots for Waxahatchee or Wednesday.
Sophie Hiroko
Also a former Duluthian based in Minneapolis — with family roots in Japan, too — this 23-year-old singer/songwriter sounds like she could’ve come from Seattle in 1991 with her blend of grungy guitars and poetic from-the-gut lyrics. She won Trampled by Turtles’ Palomino grant for aspiring North Country artists and opened their big Bayfront Park show in July after dropping her debut EP, “To the Core.”
