The Rochester Thaw Festival

THE BAD MAN

Since forming in 2016, The Bad Man has built a reputation as one of Minneapolis’ hardest working bands, steadily performing live with pure energy and relentless adrenaline.

Fronted by singer Peter Memorich—one of the Twins Cities’ “most dynamic and devilish rock ’n’ roll frontmen” (Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune)—The Bad Man is driven by Patrick Davis’ mad-scientist guitar work, the stomp of Warren “The Dog” Peterson’s bass, Ben Hintz’ jumping-jack sax, and Joe Ramm’s rocksteady backbeat.

Named a Best New Band of 2017 by First Avenue, and City Pages Picked to Click in 2018, The Bad Man is best known for their unpredictable, loud, and rowdy performances. Throughout their career, they’ve headlined many of the Twin Cities’ premier clubs and festivals as well as supported major acts, including Har Mar Superstar, Foster The People, and Soul Asylum.

HUMBIRD

After traversing 5 continents and 20 countries with only a guitar and a backpack, Humbird returns home to sing songs from the edge of the world. Combining a wintry longing with the warmth of a familiar folktale, Humbird stretches traditional genres of folk and Americana to embrace the unexpected. This music invites a refreshing dissonance into the house, it leaves breadcrumbs along the path and reflects light back at the stars.

PORKY’S GROOVE MACHINE

Based in Minneapolis, Porky’s Groove Machine is a licensed provider of environmentally sustainable nerd funk that is “ready to help you get on with your baddest self” (Maximum Ink Music Magazine, July 2017). Since forming in 2011, they’ve criss-crossed the Midwest and East Coast, bringing their mature musicality (but no so mature sense of humor) to audiences of all ages. With their tight playing, choreographed dance moves, and audience-engaging performances, they always bring a funky party that is sure to get crowds laughing, dancing, and singing!

SASS

“Sass live up to their name, but they use sarcasm and cheekiness as a deflection tactic against a looming darkness. The songs on their debut album, Chew Toy, are about heavy [stuff], and Stephanie Murck never undersells the very serious topics she’s singing about. But the gnarled and fuzzy towers of attitude that Sass build up around that are stunning — frustrated bursts of pure release.”
-from Stereogum’s ‘Best New Bands of 2019’

PEAS & CARROT

Fear. And minimalist folk punk pulled out of pure desperation and necessity. Come see for yourselves.

RLGDPPL

Real Good People (stylized as RLGDPPL) is a rhythm and blues rooted rock band out of Minneapolis. Like Joe Cocker? Us too. Spoon? Ditto. Bill Withers? Yep. Broken Bells? Uh huh. The Meters? Let’s get bunk beds! We play good time moving music that’s loose and colorful and we aim to be familiar but always fresh.

LOREWEAVERS

Bards of the Modern Age
Tavern, Renaissance, and Fantasy Music –
Huzzah!

LEVI HENRY

Levi Henry is a Minnesota native singer, songwriter, and guitar player. Since 2015 he has self-released 2 EPs, “Sleepy Sun” and most recently, “Splinters”. Both of which are saturated with indie, folk, and americana influence. His lyrically dense, often melancholic writing is quietly compelling-somewhere in the realm of Phoebe Bridgers, Connor Oberst, and so on. At 23, Levi Henry has toured much of the country and quietly maintains a life of writing, producing, and performing.

MY GRANDMAS CARDIGAN

My Grandma’s Cardigan is a folk rock group that came together in the heart of Winona, MN. What started as a folk duo jamming in a living room, has grown into a great group of friends that love playing music together. Their melodic harmonies and fun upbeat sounds have made their way across the midwest. With covers from the Beatles to Black Sabbath – and an ever growing archive of original music – they have a little something for everyone.

TWIN LAKES

Twin Lakes is an alternative folk rock trio out of Rochester, MN. Since forming in January of 2018, TWIN LAKES has played at numerous bars and venues across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Their debut release entitled Stag EP has been described as “folk rock at it’s infectious finest” in 507 Magazine and has received airplay on MPR 89.3 the Current.

Twin Lakes consists of Robert John Baune on guitar/vocals, Judah Smith on bass/backing vocals, and Alexander Ortberg on percussion/backing vocals.

JOSIAH SMITH

Rochester’s king of wiggly air. “A native of SE Minnesota in Chatfield’s Chosen Valley, he’s a lover of many styles of music and art. Josiah’s voice and guitar playing have been described as ‘genuinely real’ and songs that ‘make you feel.’ His style is a melancholy mix of contemporary story telling with a few originals and covers in hopes to leave you both refreshed and relaxed.” He performs regularly at open mics around the area. You can follow him on instagram at @bassoonerthanlater.