The Ultrasounds are a sludgy garage band comprised of 3 chicks and one dude, who surprisingly, is not the drummer. It’s a wall of noisy guitars and feedback juxtaposed with Megan’s frail but poignant melodic vocal delivery culminating in a unique blend of indie rock, post-punk, stoner metal, and garage grunge that remains accessible to a wide variety of listeners—as long as those listeners aren’t a bunch of tasteless squares.

Beet Root Stew is a Winona jam grass band that started performing in 2006. The group has a core of 5 members playing traditional bluegrass instruments untraditionally. They have been known to throw more ingredients in the pot, holding true to the stew. And it’s a rare treat to see them these days.

Tracing back to 2006, Porcupine is an indie rock band lead by Casey Virock with inventive guitar-driven songwriting that fuses accessible vocal melodies with dynamic arrangements in a class with QOTSA and Swervedriver.

The Sex Rays Formed in 2010, they bring a vintage sound punk beach party. These Ya-Ya’s are swinging the bat hard and fast towards Link Wray’s guitar laden beginnings and then shaking it up in a acid martini glass with a shot of Chuck Berry, a beer back of the Ramones, and a hit of 13th Floor Elevators.

Ruben is, broadly, a ‘rock n roll’ band out of the twin cities in Minnesota. Their songs are typically characterized by 4 part harmonies, riffing guitars, and the occasional horn section. Their latest album, 2023’s Plain American features a honing in of their blend of the old and new.

Combining elements of folk, blues, and indie into hook-filled and authentic rock & roll, Sheep For Wheat is the old friend at the neighborhood bar who you’re glad to see. Come dance with these wayward children of the driftless.

It’s the Sinister Prime Minister of Halloween. Here all the way from Transylvania to spread Halloween scares all year round, Count Spookula will terrify you to dance with spook pop and creep ballads. It’s Halloween Forever.

MAUDLIN writes music about love, lust, and what goes bump in the night— David & Priscilla pride themselves on super boppy hits, enormous energy, and earworm hooks. Fans of the Pixies & Weezer will love their songwriting, and fans of Lucy Dacus, Bully, and Mates of States will love the vocals’ big harmonies and female energy.