TF Cast // art.music.culture // Mankato

Michael returns to the podcast to talk about his new magic venue and art space in St. Peter called 'Blue Moon Comedy and Magic'.

We learn about the history of his work through the lens of his ongoing search for a physical space that worked well for his performances and the type of entertainment he wanted to bring to the area. Michael also shares stories from his time doing close up magic and opinions on the craft.

Blue Moon is located next to River Rock Coffee at 303 South Minnesota Avenue, St Peter - for more information about upcoming shows follow Michael Callahan or 2nd Story Comedy on Facebook.

Jared Willemsen returns to talk about his most recent Smilebro album 'Chapel Hill' - a collaborative concept album created during a musicians retreat in North Carolina.

We explore how the limitations of working with new collaborative artists and confining production to a single week, from concept to completion, helped mold this album into a final product that, in many ways, represents a departure from his previous work.

Jared shares some valuable takeaways from the production sessions as well as catching us up on his life changes as last time he spoke with us on the cast he was headed out to Los Angeles and has since returned.

You can check out the single: 'Smilebro - Hundred Billion Dollars' on all streaming platforms, and the rest of the album will be released on the 18th of December 2023.

Musician Mal Murphy joins us to talk about her debut EP 'Grow Up', Mal is an emerging singer songwriter who has been gigging regionally for three years. We learn about her upbringing, her journey to becoming a musician as well as some of the friends and influences that she has gathered along the way.

'Grow Up' releases December 2023 with three release shows, you can find out more by following Mal Murphy on Facebook or Instagram - If you want to run into the TF team we will be helping out with production at the second show hosted at the 410 project December 14th at 7pm.

Nicholas returns to the show to discuss his cut-up musical project, 'I Cut People.' We delve into the project's history, approaching its 18th year with over 10 releases available on Bandcamp.

Nicholas shares insights into how he finds inspiration, generates and sorts the cuts he uses, and the cultural and philosophical inspirations behind the finished products.

You can listen to and download the albums for free at: https://icutpeople.com/

In this episode, we focus on his latest and most musical release, 'The End,' which departs from previous work by primarily pulling from music instead of film.

In reflection of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we had the opportunity to speak with Julia Hamann, the Director of Community Programming at The Committee Against Domestic Violence (CADA). CADA serves a 9-county area in southern Minnesota, including Blue Earth.

During our conversation, we explore the mission of CADA, the services they provide, the communities they serve, and their funding. Julia also shares stories and perspectives gained from eight years of working in the field in various positions.

If you're interested in learning more, donating, becoming a sponsor, or seeking services, you can visit cadamn.org.

For immediate assistance regarding relationship abuse or sexual violence, reach out to an advocate through their 24-hour helpline at 1-800-477-0466, text at 507-223-4200, or email at [email protected].

Festival Co-Director Tom Bliese joins us to discuss all things GSR. We delve into a brief history of the festival and Tom's experiences in the Mankato art scene, dating back to the 70s.

Tom sheds light on how festival goers, vendors, organizers, and volunteers collaboratively contribute to making the GSR festival a longstanding positive influence in the Mankato area.

The GSR Fine Art Festival is a juried event for artists, musicians, and authors to present and sell their wares.

Open and free to the public, the festival takes place on Nov 25-26th at the Mayo Clinic Event Center in Mankato, MN.

Artist Love Quetee joins us to talk about her upcoming show Ghetto Visionary opening at the 410 project November 10th.

Love shares her experiences as an MNSU fine arts major, her motivations to pursue a career in the arts and thoughts on organizing the show.

We also learn about her creative process as well as desire to shine a light on black culture through her artwork.

Colin Scharf join us again in a very special episode, we listen to and share stories from The Golden Hour LP Volume II.

Nu World Comics founder Ty joins us to discuss his inspiration for creating a comic book universe with plans for over 1500 characters to appear in multiple story arcs. Ty shares his motivations for establishing a universe grounded in diversity and inclusion. With books featuring heroes like Night Wraith and Firefly already in print, and a wealth of stories already written, we can expect much more from Nu World Comics.

We also gain insights into how Ty has designed the storylines and universe, his personal take on comic book themes, and his experiences in the industry

Tom, Joe and Mark of Mankato punk rock outfit The Burn Vault join us to promote their debut album Ignite releasing October 27th 2023.

We learn about their origin, individual musical influences and philosophies as well as some anecdotes from shows both played and attended.