By Jared Gudnason 

Writer/Reporter 

Bands don’t tend to tour Minnesota in the dead of February, and for pretty good reason. Bands  

would have to cancel shows here especially in my early 20s, because the highway from Fargo to  

here would be wholly unsafe to drive. Furthermore, back in my hometown, a punk band from  

Seattle once traveled over 1,000 miles to play at the university, and like, 30 people showed up.  

Barely enough paid admission for them to fill up the tank to get to their next show. One of my  

favorite music memories. 

There isn’t a pipeline really, but bi-coastal bands that come up in the independent/punk music 

scene, when the first musical endeavor breaks up or calls it quits, they start shoegaze bands.  

Shoegaze is labeled as a genre as such because the composition is pop-centric, but as a guitar  

based genre, that instrument itself is sustained in reverberation. Landlocked bands, such as those  

originating in the Midwest, tend to opt more toward the country/western genre. Two weeks ago  

in southwest St. Paul, I saw the band Cowboy Thoughts. 

When they first stepped onstage, I completely thought there was just a guy who was going to  

sing back-up vocals but also at center stage. I assumed wrong, because he sang for the first  

song, and then came back later in the set for another. The man has my empathy because he is an  

instrumentalist in Cowboy Thoughts, but an injury prevented him from playing what I assume is  

guitar. Within the last 10-12 years there has been a resurgence in Midwest Americana, especially  

here in the Twin Cities, namely due to bands like Minneapolis’ Cactus Blossoms. Cowboy  

Thoughts can be found on Instagram at cowboy_thoughts, and their set that evening went for 50  

minutes, or more. Reminiscent of both 1960s Patsy (for Patsy Cline) and early 2000s Loretta  

Lynn, I hope to see them again sooner than later.