Roots fest, Mixtape and gangster tours on tap this weekend

Usually spread across multiple stages around the Hook & Ladder, this three-day marathon of rootsy, gritty and/or just authentic Americana music had to be scaled back to a single outdoor stage this year but it still boasts optimal variety and cool factor. After Mae Simpson topped off opening night Thursday, the fest's trio of women headliners continues with local blasters the Gully Boys on Friday, when North Mississippi blues heir Kent Burnside returns with Missouri groovers the Flood Brothers. Saturday features song and guitar master Molly Maher with Her Disbelievers, preceded by Mississippi blues vet RL Boyce, Blues Music Award winner Lightnin' Malcolm and local fixture Erik Koskinen. (7 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3010 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls. $20-$24. Fri.; $30-$36 Sat. TheHookMpls.com)

Chris Riemenschneider

The mixed-media performance combines comedy (host Shannan Paul), storytelling (Avi Aharoni, Matthew G. Anderson, Kathryn Fumie, Kymani Khalil and Anika Taylor), music (Micah Erickson, Don Lavis, Jesse River and Meghan Sherer) and live painter Chris Gorecki for an evening under the stars, atop the Bakken Museum. (7 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Bakken Museum, 3537 Zenith Av. S., Mpls. $22, waywardtheatre.org.)

Chris Hewitt

When the uprising following George Floyd's murder took over the Twin Cities, artist Leslie Barlow was out on the streets with her collective #creativesaftercurfew, painting murals on boarded-up businesses. But she also was working on a solo exhibition for the Minneapolis Institute of Art, with 16 portrait paintings and video interviews of transracial adoptees and mixed-race people, made in collaboration with clinical counselor Lola Osunkoya and photographer/filmmaker Ryan Stopera. The exhibition examines how race has a defining impact on people's identities and experiences, and what that does to the body. The title is borrowed from Maria P.P. Root's essay on mixed-race identity. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thu.-Sun. July 16-Oct. 31, Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Av. S. new.artsmia.org, 612-870-3000.)

Alicia Eler

Major American orchestras refused to perform Florence Price's music for most of her life. Such was the consequence of being a Black woman in a field as shaped by prejudice as the rest of American culture. Now she's experiencing a well-deserved renaissance, and pianist Jon Kimura Parker launches his tenure as "creative partner for summer programming" by soloing on the orchestra's first performance of Price's Concerto in One Movement. Stepping in for guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, who encountered pandemic-related travel restrictions, music director Osmo Vänskä also will conduct Richard Strauss' "Death and Transfiguration." (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls. $62-$12. 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org.)

A 90-minute historical tour of downtown St. Paul reveals stories about criminals who plagued the city in the 1930s. Learn why John Dillinger, the Karpis-Barker Gang and even Al Capone were driven to bring their criminal past to the capital city. (10:30 a.m. Sat.; 1 p.m. Sun. $20. Rice Park, 5th and Washington Sts., St. Paul. 651-357-4053. cyncitytours.com.)

Melissa Walker

St. Paul's pioneering hip-hop band spent quarantine working on a new album due by year's end alongside many other ventures, including keyboardist DeVon Gray's Schubert Club residency and co-MC Felix's new production team. Their two-night stand continues Friday on the patio to try out the new jams and revisit plenty of oldies. DJ Just Nine opens. (7 p.m. Fri., Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls. $30, icehousempls.com.)

C.R.

The Hilde Performance Center in Plymouth is one of the metro's most attractive — and most underutilized — outdoor concert venues. Situated in a spacious verdant city park, the Hilde will present two favorite attractions this weekend: the BoDeans, the Wisconsin rockers of "Closer to Free" fame who perform in the Twin Cities more often than a lot of local acts, and the Okee Dokee Brothers, the Grammy-winning Minneapolis kids' music duo that charmingly pairs family-friendly lyrics with accomplished musicality. (BoDeans 7 p.m. Sat., $37 and up; Okee Dokee Brothers 3 p.m. Sun. $25 and up. Hilde Performance Center, 3500 Plymouth Blvd., Plymouth. etix.com.)

Dance, fire, projected video and a layered sound and music score converge for Vox Medusa's outdoor production of "Eurydice." The multimedia reimagining of the story of Orpheus' wife's journey to the underworld is choreographed by Kristin Freya, who has teamed up with Rah Diavola and the Infiammati FireCircus. The event features poetic word slinging by Desdamona Ross, who plays the Oracle, and a music score by Emily Colay, who also plays Persephone. The show also features original electronic music and film elements by Jeremy Christensen. (9 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Harriet Island, 110 Harriet Island Road, St. Paul. $15 in advance, $20 day of. facebook.com/voxmedusa1.)

SHEILA REGAN

After skipping last year because of the pandemic, this ambitious festival returns for a second round next week, this time with less rock and more country. Southern rock champs Lynyrd Skynyrd (still on their farewell tour) headline Thursday, while country big shots Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band top the bills July 23 and 24. Openers include Ashley McBryde, Kip Moore, Brett Young and Blanco Brown. (Canterbury Park, Shakopee. $109 and up, ticketmaster.com.)

J.B.