By James Berreth 

Editor in Chief 

Twin Cities music fans will have two opportunities in the coming week to catch the Zach Bellas Trio, a nationally touring alternative rock band whose sound pulls from several generations of American rock music. 

The trio is scheduled to perform Tuesday, Sept. 22, at The Underground Music Cafe in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, followed by a second area performance Monday, Sept. 28, at Acadia in Minneapolis. The appearances are part of an extensive fall tour taking the group through the Midwest and across much of the United States. 

The Sept. 22 performance at The Underground Music Cafe is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., giving Twin Cities audiences their first of two opportunities within a week to see the group perform live. Less than a week later, the trio returns to the stage for a 6 p.m. performance Sept. 28 at Acadia, 329 Cedar Ave. in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. 

Despite the name, Zach Bellas is more than a solo act, and the current lineup features Bellas on guitar and lead vocals, Tom McAteer on drums, and Kyle Hadley on bass and backing vocals. The group describes itself as a three-piece alternative rock band, now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, after developing much of its identity over the years connected to the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore music scenes. 

The band’s music is difficult to place neatly inside a single genre, and its official biography points to influences from 1970s and early-1990s rock while also incorporating elements of blues, reggae, country, jazz, and Latin music. The band’s Bandcamp page compares its sound to something between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Neil Young or R.E.M. and Tom Petty – music built around big drums, strong melodies, and prominent guitar work. 

For Bellas, the road to the current trio stretches back considerably further than the band’s formal creation, and according to his official biography, Bellas began his professional music career in 2008 and has performed more than 1,000 shows in the United States and internationally. His career has included work with Groundscore, Zach Bellas & The Company Band, and The Pasadena Band, as well as touring in support of acts including Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and Flogging Molly. He also founded the independent label SMB Records in 2009. 

The present version of Zach Bellas officially formed in 2019, and the trio spent much of that year recording music and preparing an ambitious touring schedule, but those plans were derailed when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live entertainment across the country in 2020. The group gradually returned to touring as venues reopened and later released the full-length album “No Questions No Answers,” followed by songs including “One More Show” and “Congratulations.” 

Its current schedule illustrates just how heavily the trio remains committed to performing live. Around the Minnesota dates alone, the band is moving through several Midwestern cities before returning to the Twin Cities for its Sept. 28 Acadia show. From there, the tour continues west and south through Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and other states during October. 

The band also continues to release new music. In November 2025, Zach Bellas issued “Greatest Hits 2025,” an 11-song collection featuring tracks including “Rodeo,” “Home,” “Congratulations,” “One More Show,” and “The World Will Be Ours.” A live recording from an October 2025 performance at The Fire in Philadelphia followed in May 2026, and the band’s official website says another full-length album is currently in development and being recorded in Wilmington. 

For Twin Cities listeners unfamiliar with the group, the two September performances offer an opportunity to experience a band whose identity has been built as much on the road as it has in the recording studio. 

The Zach Bellas Trio performs Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. at The Underground Music Cafe in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, followed by a Monday, Sept. 28, performance at 6 p.m. at Acadia in Minneapolis.