Dwight Hobbes: "How Music Got Involved in Me"

Featured Artist:  School's Open
Venue:               School II
Date:                 Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Time:                 7:00pm

What does one say about a man who sets the phone down sixty seconds into an initial phone call with a woman, walks away and bellows expletives so loudly her posture improves and her eyes widen with apprehension, then returns to the phone becoming instantly disimpassioned claiming there are "worse things in life than burning your rice,"  and chuckles?  One would say Dwight Hobbes is a man worth venturing out on a mid-week evening in December to meet.

Hobbes is a singer/songwriter, writer, playwright, public speaker, and the list goes on.  He moved to Minnesota from New York City in the mid-80's seeking employment opportunities.  Finding secretarial work through Kelly Temp Agency, Hobbes wound up paving the way for male "Kelly Girls" across the region.  This was no small feat and Hobbes remains quite proud of his accomplishment.  He enjoys the memory of reporting to assignments and seeing surprised business men's faces who were expecting someone with, let's say, softer qualities.  Along with the ability to change the face of the secretarial pool, Hobbes brought with him the ability to entertain.

When asked how he became involved in music, Hobbes replies, "the question is not how I got involved in music, it's how music got involved in me."  Hobbes' interest in writing lyrics peaked after hearing songs such as "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "The Times They Are A-Changing."  He became enthralled with the manner in which Bob Dylan would craft words into song.  It was unlike anything Hobbes had imagined.  Years later, the likes of Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Jefferson Airplane, and The Byrds remain Hobbes' chief influences.  These remain unchanged to Hobbes because although the mind's ideas come and go, his writing comes from the gut and so remain timeless.

Hobbes also enjoys taking advantage of live performances.  A connection to his audience (be it two, twenty, or two hundred) is an accomplishment for which Hobbes strives each time he is on stage.  He believes performing live can grow a performer and strengthens musical chops.  Hobbes thrives on the nervous adrenaline and excitement he feels before a performance and hopes he never sees the day when he is unaffected by nerves.  His connection with his audience is not about complacency.  He believes a musician must "get out and have the humility to hope you reach them, put your ability behind it, and pray it works!"

As far as could be determined from a response, Hobbes' favorite color is laughter.

Hobbes requests a special "thank you" to Jazzy J.  Without him, Hobbes would not have connected with MJ Kroll, and would not be scheduled to perform at School's Out Open Mic as a featured performer.

Find out more about Dwight Hobbes

Andy Lindquist & Badge - "If Mama Ain't Happy"

Life As We Know It - "Bump in the Road"

James Loney - "Ramblin' Jack Elliott"

Andy Lindquist: Musical "Mad Scientist"

Featured Artist:  School's Open
Venue:               School II
Date:                 Wednesday, November 17th
Time:                 7:00pm

Andy Lindquist is an artist whose struggles reach far beyond that of perfecting his music.  He believes every challenge creates an opportunity for growth;  opportunity has repeatedly knocked on his door.  Lindquist is a musician with an unstoppable work ethic.  He averages two Cd releases each year of original works, does all his own pre- and post-production work, writes every chance he gets, and is a classically trained luthier.   Each year, he sets a goal to master a new aspect of music; this year, it was an Irish jig.

His goals are not always obtained, or retained, easily.  At age 32, Lindquist was hospitalized with Behcet’s disease.  He was in the isolation unit, believed to be dying, and it was there he married his wife.  Over the following years, Lindquist suffered a series of strokes.  Each stroke caused loss of motor skills, paralysis, or blindness, or a combination.  There was never a guarantee the loss would be reversed.  Prior to this, Lindquist never identified himself severally from his music and it provoked no small amount of soul-searching.  Lindquist’s positive attitude allowed him to forge ahead.

When intricate work on the guitar threatened to prevent him from composing music, Lindquist bought a piano and now it is what he uses for the majority of his writing.  Music is Lindquist’s form of pain management and writing is his vehicle to leave a mark on the world.  Lindquist, in speaking of his writing habits, states, “I write like a dying man.  I have come so close to death many times and know I want to write as often as I can and express myself as much as I can in this short life we have.” 

Before his hospitalization, Lindquist already secured a solid list of accomplishments including competing on Star Search at age 22.  Living in Seattle for a time, Lindquist performed as a sideman playing guitar with several national acts.  Years after returning to Minnesota, Lindquist is thriving on the challenge posed by what he dubs the “musical wild west.”  He is delighted with the changes technology has brought to the music scene.  Independently releasing two Cd’s in a year, which he averages, was impossible as few as five years ago. 

The ability to record and master his own material allows Lindquist the autonomy necessary for his eclectic brand of music.  In the past, he has been criticized for failing to fit neatly into a particular genre, but Lindquist has found that even without it he has established a recognizable sound.  His work ethic and perfectionism ties him to each project so fiercely, that by the release date, he is disgusted with it.  He works at it like a mad scientist through completion only to need distance from it for an extended period of time before he is able to find appreciation for it.  As obsessive as it gets during the production, Lindquist will still tell anyone, “If you don’t like this one, wait five minutes and I’ll write another!”

Discover more about Andy Lindquist

Life As We Know It: Fantastic Musical Chemistry

Feature Artist:  School's Open
Venue:             School II
Date:               Wednesday, November 17
Time:               7:00pm

John Lyell and Leslee McKee are Life As We Know It.  This acoustic duo have years of experience between them.  McKee’s musical background includes, among other genres, R&B and soul.  Lyell is deeply involved in Ambient – Space music when working out of his studio.  The two met through Lyell’s band mate over three years ago.  At the time, Lyell was ready for a departure from full band performances in favor of a more laid back, acoustic venture.  He heard McKee’s vocals and pursued.

McKee, however, was ready for a break.  She received phone calls from Lyell intermittently over the ensuing 10 months, but wasn’t ready to commit.  Finally, she contacted Lyell to inform him of an upcoming coffeehouse performance.  He showed up to watch and within a short time these seasoned musicians joined forces.  Each contributes to vocals, guitar, and percussion (Lyell being especially fond of exotic percussive instruments).  McKee adds harmonica to the mix while Lyell’s didgeridoo became the star of one song on their Cd.

The two discovered early on that they were well-suited for co-writing original music.  Generally, Lyell uses a guitar riff as a jumping off point and McKee will add lyrics.  For their first original, Lyell had three-quarters of a song ready, and as he played it for McKee, she began adding lyrics on the spot. They feed off each other’s ideas in both music and lyrics, adjusting one to coincide with the other.

Lyell and McKee are enjoying their acoustic performances.  For the past three years, these previous full-band members are enjoying the different circuit available when performing acoustically.  They find it a relaxing, revitalizing, and refreshing experience.  All in all, Lyell and McKee are pleased with Life As We Know It.  Pun intended.

Find out more about Life As We Know It

James Loney: Feel the Music

Featured Artist:  School's Open
Venue:               School II
Date:                 Wednesday, November 17
Time:                 7:00pm

About the time he was turning twenty, guitar hobbyist James Loney was working at a fast food joint on Hennepin Avenue.  A band called the Flamin' Oh's walked in so Loney offered them free burgers whenever they felt like swinging through.  Singer Robert Wilkinson took him up on the offer and soon after Loney was traveling with the band as a guitar tech.  Not only did this fill Loney's Friday and Saturday nights with work and music, it provided him a group of musicians who were willing to mentor him.

Loney says whether or not they knew they were teaching, he learned a lot from the members of the Flamin' Oh's during this period.  He credits Wilkinson with encouraging him to sing when he had never considered himself a singer.  Even with Wilkinson's urging, Loney did not take the leap into singing until he was auditioning lead singers for his band.  Unimpressed, he realized he could get what he was searching for in his own voice.

Loney's songwriting followed suit with his singing.  He has always enjoyed stream-of-consciousness journaling.  Songwriting, he feels, is a very similar experience to his journaling but simply formatted differently.  Loney's writing and music are his release.  He does them both daily and never considers it "practice" because labelling it as such "just sounds like it would be awful." 

Loney's recording of his original song, "Book About Dreams," was included in the soundtracks for the 1997 film, Just Write, with Jeremy Pivven and the 2000 film, Luckytown, with Kirsten Dunst and James Caan.  The Flamin' Oh's, Soul Asylum, The Phones, and Golden Smog are a few of the groups Loney's bands, House of Mirrors and James Loney and The Velvet Troubadours, have played with live.

 His EP, Who's the Lucky One? boasts Loney's personal folk/rock blend.  After a 13-year hiatus from live shows, Loney is back playing solo gigs and can also be spotted sharing the stage with Robert Wilkinson and Paul McFarland. Hear him perform and experience this original artist feel the music.

Learn more about James Loney and where you can catch his shows:
James Loney Music

Tony O - "Regular Joe"

Tony Ortiz: Not a Regular Joe

In the early 1980s, a San Diego band was searching for a replacement lead singer.  The bass player remembered a man with incredible vocals he saw at an earlier audition.  Tony Ortiz was called and performed three songs for the band.  By the end of the last song The Monroes had found their man.  Together, the group performed Ortiz's original songs at a number of showcases in the L.A. area.  They were thrilled to be signed by a small Japanese label, Alpha Records.  By 1982, The Monroes' song, "What Do All the People Know" reached #52 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The group performed on the Merv Griffin Show, and by that summer, were on national tour opening for Rick Springfield.

The Monroes traveled the first leg of their tour via station wagon.   Ortiz has many great memories of the time and is still in contact with his friends and band mates.  While on tour, Ortiz was backstage preparing for a show when a man approached him and complimented Ortiz on his vocal abilities.  As the man walked away, Ortiz's manager asked if he knew who the man was.  Ortiz was shocked to discover the source of the compliment was Neil Young.

But good things do not always last.  The small record label went bankrupt midway through the tour.  Shortly after, The Monroes were signed to another label, but the relationship did not prove as illustrious as the first.  Eventually, the group dispersed.  Ortiz moved to Minnesota where he currently resides.  He is working tirelessly on a new Cd, Tony O.:  Someday, filled with Ortiz's original music which is nearing release.

This self-taught singer/songwriter is proof that if you discover your talent and continue to cultivate it, limitations will fall away.  In every aspect of life, Ortiz believes "you never know how what you do is going to affect people, so always do your best."  If the opportunity happens to present itself, do not miss the chance to see Ortiz performing his best originals works.  He is often spotted at School II and Plums Bar in St. Paul participating in open mic nights.

Find out more about Tony Ortiz and his upcoming shows @
Hip Pocket Records
Tony's myspace

Merv Griffin Performance
*Tony will be appearing at Living Waters Market on Nov. 20th with MJ Kroll

Bungalow Boys - "Wise Man"

Bungalow Boys: Equal and Opposite

Featured Artist:  School's Open

Venue:               School II, Chanhassen, MN

Date:                 November 10, 2010

Time:                 7:00pm

Eric Cavanaugh and Mark "Guido" Alm have a long history of playing together.  The gentlemen kicked off their music career in the seventh grade.  They were frequently participants in high school talent shows, special guests in classroom performances, and entertainment at local parties.  They were never adverse to creating opportunities to show off their musical chops.

The Bungalow Boys are two members of the well-known local group, The Eddy Bungalow Band.  Cavanaugh and Alm created the offshoot, Bungalow Boys, because they thoroughly enjoy performing live.  Performing as an acoustic duo allows a greater pool of venues in which to perform, many of which are not equipped to handle a full band.  Cavanaugh and Alm are able to promote The Eddy Bungalow Band with their performances in smaller venues as the Bungalow Boys.  Acoustically, the two create a more instrumental, melodic sound from that of The Eddy Bungalow Band.  However, they do retain the Eddy Bungalow sound while experimentally veering away from the full band's convention.

Although Cavanaugh and Alm have a ten-year history together, do not think they are generally of like mind.  They tend to think of themselves as "slightly opposite" from each other (assuming opposites can be measure in varying degrees).  Cavanaugh divulges that each will frequently present an idea and one will be as steadfastly for it as the other is opposed to it.  When they happen upon that rare common ground where their ideas coincide, they agree the result is worth the effort.

Offstage, the two can be found enjoying various outdoor sports and activities.  Should you spot a group of gentlemen jamming as they float down the river, it is possible you are witnessing the Bungalow Band Boat.  The band's boat is their unique way of combining their love of the outdoors with their love of music, and it's a great vehicle for sparking the ideas that fuel their music.

Find out more about the Bungalow Boys and their upcoming acoustic and full-band shows @

Eddy Bungalow Band

Jan Edwards - "Wildflower & Barbwire"

Jan Edwards: Award Winning Songwriter

Featured Artist:  School's Open

Venue:               School II, Chanhassen, MN

Date:                 November 10, 2010

Time:                 7:00pm

During the past decade since Jan Edwards first began getting serious about her songwriting and performing career, she has successfully left her fingerprint on the music scene.  As a woman who's talent in the arts includes painting, sculpting, and graphic design along with music, Edwards' singing and songwriting was not always at the forefront.  The realization that she is, indeed, a songwriter, happened for Edwards with a short sentence.  The seemingly insignificant comment made about Edwards by a relative, "well, that's true of all songwriters," struck Edwards in a way that placed her on the path she travels today.

Edwards spent seven years living out of a suitcase between Nashville, TN and Minneapolis, MN.   This time was spent collaborating with a number of notable hit-song writers from Nashville.  She was recently awarded second place in the USA Songwriting Contest's country category.  This win resulted in an invitation to play at Nashville's famous Bluebird Cafe.  In 2009, an Edwards original placed within the top ten out of approximately 10,000 submissions in the CMT Songwriting Contest.  Edwards has also placed first in the SL's Got Talent Contest and 2nd in the WIMINN Songwriting Contest.

Edwards is also one of a growing number of artists thriving on Second Life.  She performs under the pseudonym Moondoggirl Moomintoog and has given upwards of 300 hour-long performances over the previous two years.  This alternative platform allows her to exhibit her personal brand of edgy country-blues around the world from the comforts of home.

Edwards feels things have a way of working out how they are supposed to and her songwriting career seems to be doing just that.  She broke into the music business by being proactive and positioning herself to meet people with shared dreams.  Discovering her direction in songwriting prompted her to pursue her ambition, and she is now enjoying the path to realizing her aspirations.

Find out more about Jan Edwards and her music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-xnEx8w3zY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-NLbbbrTiI&feature=related
www.myspace.com/janedwardsmusic

Dan Dragich - "The Day My Ship Comes In"

Katrina Litz - "My Friend the Moon"

Dan Dragich: The Art of Being Artistic

Featured Artist:  School's Open

Venue:               School II, Chanhassen, MN

Date:                 November 3, 2010

Time:                7:00pm

Does torment nurture the artist or does the artist nurture torment?  Where Dan Dragich is concerned, the answer may very well be "both - one cannot survive without the other."  Dragich subscribes to the theory that discord is the catalyst for artists and the art they create.  Without it, inspiration cannot thrive, creativity becomes dormant, and art will be dead.  Therefore, it is often the artist who creates situations in which struggle, discontent, disappointment, and solitude become abundant and provide an environment ideal for art's survival.  In a sense, a healthy environment for art must be unhealthy for the artist.

Dragich identifies with the ill-adjusted artists rather than those who appear well-adjusted.  He affords much of his own discontent to a simple lack of stimuli.  When life is well and good, Dragich is uninspired.  His art, however, can be inspiration to many.  Dragich has been working on a new Cd for a number of years.  He is currently able to play thirteen instruments including guitar, mandolin, violin, cello, accordion, piano, and various wind and brass instruments.  Along with being the sole musician on his Cd, Dragich is producing and mastering it himself.   He has acquired each of these skills simply because he is an artist who's art required the knowledge.  What would the world accomplish if we all approached situations in a like manner?

Although Dragich identifies with the darker side of life rather than the light,  it does not come without relief.  He is certainly a man who is able to laugh at his own idiosyncrasies.  When asked why he removed his music from various outlets on the Internet, he replies, "I don't know.  Probably because of my own self-conscious, arrogant cynicism," and chuckles.  Likewise, when his philosophy on tortured artists is turned on him, he is obviously amused.  

Travis Wavescorxs - your friend, Dan, thinks you're a good guy and he misses having you around.  (The inclusion of this sentiment could have been less direct, but discomfort also inspires art).

Come to School II in Chanhassen to support the music of Dan Dragich.

Katrina Litz: Movement through Music

Featured Artist:  School's Open

Venue:               School II, Chanhassen, MN

Date:                 November 3, 2010

Time:                 7:00pm

This native of Minnesota is returning to her old stomping grounds to dazzle with an intoxicating blend of blues, jazz, and classical sounds. After a successful run touring the tri-state area and releasing two Cds with her band, the three members decided to go their separate ways. Litz took the opportunity to put out a solo album, The Fugitive, which was released in October ’09. A few weeks later, Litz quit her job, sold everything she owned, and boarded a New Zealand bound flight.

In preparation for New Zealand, Litz booked a number of gigs through connections she made on myspace.com. Her first was scheduled for two days after her plane landed. She settled in a hostel, rented a keyboard for $80/month, and was set for her first week.

Litz found she was able to survive solely on income from playing gigs. She enjoyed opening for local artists with a loyal following. Litz also discovered couchsurfing.com. The site offers information about residents interested in hosting travelers passing through, offering a free couch or room to sleep in for a few nights. Along with helping Litz economize during her travels, it proved an exceptional avenue for creating friendships.

When she didn’t have gigs booked, Litz would search out open mic venues. During her final week in New Zealand, she drove south in the car she had purchased and carried her keyboard from restaurant to restaurant asking if she could perform. She was frequently paid in good food and drink and enough gas money to get to the next town.

During the past year, Litz briefly lived in Canada near Vancouver Island. There she was inspired by the natural landscape and her previous travels to write twelve new songs for her second album which she is currently recording in Seattle.

Learn more about Katrina Litz @ www.myspace.com/katrinalitz

Katrina Litz will also be playing at the Big V in the Midway, St. Paul on Thursday, November 4^th.

MJ Kroll - "Easy"

MJ Kroll: Pursuit of Purpose

Host (and Mastermind behind):  School's Open

Venue:   School II, Chanhassen, MN

Date:     November 3, 2010

Time:    7:00pm

“Don’t try to be good, try to be great.”  This is one motto singer/songwriter MJ Kroll uses to describe her approach to life.  When something is working, Kroll will pursue it without hesitation.  Conversely, she will not pull any punches when something is not creating adequate results.

Growing up in a town with a population reaching the magnificent number of 600, Kroll was lovingly directed toward practicality.  In band, she wanted to play guitar but the flute was better suited for the school’s concert band.  In her career, Kroll craved creativity and music but an engineering degree promised better return on investment.  She tried real estate management for a few years, but found it empty as well. 

Kroll never gave up her desire to learn to play the guitar.  She purchased her first guitar determined to master it.  Immediately she discovered just how little she knew about the instrument when she was informed the guitar was broken.  She chose her subsequent guitar by having skilled musicians play for her to determine if she approved of its sound.    Her current guitar was purchased after losing herself in it for four hours during a fight with her girlfriend.  Not to worry, they are now happy with each other as well as the guitar’s warm tones.

Kroll began her musical journey in adulthood.  Within her first year she was playing gigs around town with her band.  She has since released a full length solo Cd, Resonate, a six-song ep, Wondering, and is currently working on a third.  Kroll put everything she had into funding her learning experience and the production of her solo Cd's.  Resonate is full of radio-friendly songs containing messages of self-discovery, struggle, and perseverance.  The connecting theme is that of searching for your life’s purpose; it is something Kroll takes very seriously.  She also knows this pursuit will not be in vain as long as you Believe.

Find out more about MJ “Rockn” Kroll and where you can see her perform live @

www.mjkroll.com