Harvard student Matt Wilson found percussionist Elaine Harris (a Harvard grad herself) after placing an ad for someone with "wicked percussion hands". Matt left Harvard and returned home to Minneapolis to establish Trip Shakespeare along with John Munson, a Chinese-Language major at the University of Minnesota.
Only a trio at the release of their first album Applehead Man in 1986 (Re-released in 1988), the band expanded to include another Harvard student: Matt's elder brother Dan Wilson.
Trip Shakespeare's music is defined by three part harmonies, catchy guitar hooks and intelligent lyrics. "Toolmaster of Brainerd", "Reception", and "Two Wheeler, Four Wheeler" were early hits on their second release Are You Shakespearienced?
In 1990 Trip Shakespeare signed a big time recording contract with A&M and quickly released Across the Universe, which contained the minor hit "The Crane" and prompted the local PBS station to feature them in a special Minnesota Music show.
1991 saw the band release their last major work, Lulu. Lulu was a well produced "story" type disc, where each song contributed to the "whole" CD experience. "Bachelorette" was a hit single off of Lulu.
Containing studio covers of songs performed by Trip Shakespeare in concert, 1992's EP release, Volt marked the death knell for the group as a whole, although Matt, Dan, And John still work together on occasion and reunited for a Trip Shakespeare reunion (sans Elaine) in 2003. The band broke up shortly after the release of Volt. Elaine Harris returned to the Boston area and Matt Wilson began performing with several Minneapolis-area bands, including "Polara" and "The Flops", eventually becoming a well established solo artist. Eventually Dan Wilson and John Munson joined with Jacob Slichter to form "Pleasure", which subsequently became known as "Semisonic".
Dan Wilson and the Dixie Chicks "Song of the Year" Grammy Win for Co-Writing "Not Ready to Make Nice"
There is currently a search for two types of bands for record label consideration.
*** Note: PLEASE IDENTIFY IF YOU ARE IN GROUP 1 OR 2 IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR RESPONSE. Emails are being reviewed by different representatives.
1. A Pop/Rock/Commercial band with female lead. Band must consist of 2 guitars (Prefer both guitar players to be of lead caliber. However, one lead and one rhythm is acceptable), keyboard/piano, bass, and drums. Lead vocal, followed by backing vocals, in that order, is a plus as it relates to other members of the group. Average age of the band cannot exceed 28 years of age.
* Group must have an outstanding lead vocalist. ** Musicianship throughout the entire band must be very strong. *** Group cannot currently be under any contract of any type that is related to the music industry.
2. A Modern Rock band with male lead. Must be a complete band but there are no prerequisites as it relates to the make up of the band. Average age of the band cannot exceed 23 years of age.
* Group must have an outstanding lead vocalist. ** Musicianship throughout the entire band must be very strong. *** Group cannot currently be under any contract of any type that is related to the music industry.
XXX - If you meet the minimum qualifications as described above. Email a link for your MySpace Page and if applicable, a link for your website to: recordingartistsearch@gmail.com
Only send one email with your links. Due to the volume of responses normally received for these types of opportunities. After review of your material, you will only be contacted if there is an interest in attending one of your shows by a label representative. As such please to not send any follow up emails regarding selections. If you were not contacted back, there was not an interest.
I was going to go camping over the weekend, but this is definitely NOT camping weather. So me and some friends went to check out Dueling Pianos. Those guys are amazing - they can play just about any song that's been on the radio between 1950 and 2005.
Speaking of music, I wanted to let you know about a show we have @ Station 4 on Friday, October 16th. We are debuting a project called Sonic Transformations. It is a series of audio-visual performance pieces. The first one is called "AN OBJECT TO CRAVE". It features live music and visuals based on a short story about life, love, loss, fantasy, obsession and death.
Another group of mine, The Magnetrons, which plays an exciting and innovative Livetronica set (i.e. STS9, Disco Biscuits, The Histronic) will also be playing. The night will be full of creative, interesting, high-energy music, good drinks and good times.
Here's the info:
Blood Root Mother - "An Object to Crave" w/ The Magnetrons & Thought Thieves Friday, October 16th Station 4 201 E 4th St St Paul, MN 55101 9pm / $5 / 18+
How are you, Trip Shakespeare? Haven't checked in on you lately, so I swung by to wish you a happy September & hope you are feeling well! Listen, I have another track up on my page, "Attack Of The Mushroom People." You can hear it right now, if you'd like at: www.myspace.com/psychedelicpablo adios for now! Pablo
I just wanted to stop by to say hello and give you a little update on what Blood Root Mother is up to! We will be recording an EP of new music in August, and we recently finished recording a live DVD. The DVD is currently unreleased and I actually just saw it for the first time a few days ago. It features the last two performances with Tony Ellis still alive, and some footage from the tribute show we played on the night of his funeral.
There are some cool covers, as well as some NEW music that will be on our upcoming EP. We're very excited about the new music and we'd like to share a sneak peak with you. Here's a video of a new tune called Run Bobby Run:
Just wanted to say thanks for being a friend! Have a great day! Come by and see us play at Eclipse Records Thursday July 16th at 7pm. Othr acts are Lollipop Factory, Company Inc. and Ribbons. Stop by our page for more info and a sample of some music!
Blood Root Mother will be playing at Trocaderos in Minneapolis on Friday, June 26th. I cannot stress enough how awesome this show will be!! We're playing with three of the sweetest local rock bands: Claret, Niobium and Casanatra. If you haven't heard these guys, check them out immediately! Please come to this show!!
I recommend stopping by during happy hour for two for one drinks along with free buffet, which is delicious. We'll be hanging out at Trocs all night, so come by and chill/party with us :)
Again, here's the event info:
Friday, June 26th Trocaderos 107 3rd Ave N Minneapolis, MN 18+ // $6 // 8pm
Please come out and support some great local music!! Music starts at 9:30pm, we should go on around midnight. Invite your friends, pile into a car (or a party bus), and together we will make this one of the highlights of the summer :)
whats going on!! if you have a moment my newest project, LATIN has new music up and i would love to hear your opinion on it! we are working with jeff pickman at soundedge studios!! myspace.com/abandcalledlatin feel free to get back to me and let me know what you think! thank you again you are awesome!
Since you seem to have good taste in music and live around the cities, I wanted to let you know about our show next Thursday, February 26th. We will be burning down the house at Trocaderos Nightclub in Minneapolis (107 3rd Ave N). If you've been there before, I don't have to tell you it's one of the best venues in the Twin Cities - classy atmosphere, great drinks, and the sound is always fantastic. We're gonna be recording live for a DVD, and this is definitely gonna be the coolest show we've done yet. So COME ON DOWN! The show is 18+, it starts at 9pm, and the cover is a mere $5.
Hope to see you there!
Peace, Elliot
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." -Albert Einstein
Thank you for checking out The River Project. Please drop us a comment and let us know what you think or feel. Share our space freely if you wish. Your craft is excellent. Much Peace from Portland Oregon and TRP
