Since 1976, the music you hear every day on KAXE is handpicked by real people. No algorithms, no telling DJs what to play, and — something the people who founded this station 50 years ago would have never considered — absolutely NO AI-generated music.
We are a people-powered community radio station, and above all else, we believe the thing that makes music so special, so worthy of devoting our lives to, and so powerful a tool for telling the stories of our community, is the human touch behind it.
Radio like this is becoming rarer and rarer, even many public radio stations today do not let DJs pick their own playlists. Please become a member of KAXE today so we can continue to play real music, made by real musicians, and curated by real people in your community.
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It goes without saying that the music you find in our Fresh Picks series is handpicked by the Music Team and fellow music-loving staff of KAXE.
Check out the soundtrack to our summer member drive picked by Music Director Kari Hedlund, Assistant Music Director Malachy Koons, Volunteer Coordinator Dan Gannon, and Area Voices Producer Andrew Dziengel.
Albums
Album of the Week: John R. Miller - The Great Unknowing
We couldn't get enough. Making its second Fresh Picks appearance, this time as Album of the Week.
West Virginia singer-songwriter John R. Miller returns with The Great Unknowing, his third album recorded in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Over 16 songs, Miller shows off a broader breadth of songwriting, moving from twangy Americana and roots rock to graceful waltzes and introspective folk songs.
One of the moments in the album that keeps sticking with me is in "Think I'll Start Over," a duet with Erin Rae that definitely brings to mind the beauty of John Prine and Iris DeMent.
Stout in storytelling, The Great Unknowing secures Miller as one of Americana's premier songwriters today. -KH
Laura Hugo - Where We Go To Grieve
The hype around Navajo singer-songwriter Laura Hugo has been steadily growing, despite a relative scarcity of recorded music for fans to listen to. That will change later this summer when the Twin Cities-based musician's debut EP Where We Go To Grieve is officially released.
You can hear it early by listening to KAXE, and I promise you, it's five beautiful and moving songs that bend folk, pop and Americana, and sounds nothing like a debut. Catch her EP release show at the Icehouse in Minneapolis this Thursday at 8 p.m. -MK
Charley Crockett - Clovis
Clovis is very nearly a bootleg record, but one released by the artist themselves versus a fan or a lurking opportunist. Crockett released the record in April, violated his terms with his now former label Island Records, then pulled the record from streaming services — but simultaneously had his street team hand out free copies.
Got all that? Welp, three months later and Crockett has re-released Clovis, and thank goodness, as it's yet another stellar record in the endless pool of creativity that is Charley Crockett.
Once again co-produced with partner-in-crime Shooter Jennings, Clovis kicks off with "The Hallelujah Trail" and you know you are immediately in Crockett's world, where old meets new in a blurring of eras with western and country sounds and mythologies. Simple, groovy and often referencing the solitude of country life, the man knows his way around a tune. "Eagle and the Crow" starts with an urgent drum and bass riff and seems to be autobiographical, until he begins to inhabit other characters like "the gambler" and the "wayfaring stranger."
How does this man run these overused tropes into the ground, yet still put out record after record that grabs you by the ears and won't let go? Huzzah to Charley Crockett. -DG
Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown - A Supreme Blue
While KAXE is celebrating our 50th birthday and very much still alive (thanks to people like you becoming a member now during our summer member drive), jazz legends Miles Davis and John Coltrane would both be celebrating their 100th birthday in 2026 if they were still with us.
Paying tribute to two of the genre's giants are trumpeter Payton and Virginia jazz quintet Butcher Brown. Just as Miles and Trane constantly looked far into the future with their vision of jazz, these collaborators are anything but stuck in the past with their takes on Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme tracks. A dub mix and a heavy dose of funk, house and hip-hop show the genius of their writers. Songs that continue to grow and are ready-made for music of the future. -MK
Singles
Joy Oladokun - "Kind"
The second single from Oladokun's upcoming Hope Is A Heavy Thing album — which the Nigerian-American singer says is inspired by The Soulquarians, Bob Dylan, J Dilla, The Ronettes and Afrobeat — definitely shows the soul and sampling influences. Featuring a killer chipmunk soul deep-cut sample of Norman Feels' 1973 tune "They Said it Couldn't Be Done," "Kind" is a sweet pop-soul song, with Oladokun asserting their kindness does not mean they can be taken advantage of. -MK
Leon Bridges - "Light the Way"
For our first listen of Leon Bridges' new album Happiness Anytime, out Sept. 25, we hear exploration of new sounds from the soul singer. He's taking a global approach with Jungle members Josh Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto as producers. We hear Bridges dipping into highlife-meets-Stevie-Wonder in "Light the Way," with his ever-present warm vocals that set him apart the moment he stepped onto the scene. The new songs, released in an EP ahead of the album, are all shakin' jams that make you want to get up and groove your body. -KH
Creekbed Carter Hogan - "Bluebonnets"
A newer member of the Minnesota music scene, the magic of Creekbed Carter Hogan is on full display on this track off their new album Peasants Revolt, their first since moving to Minnesota from Austin, Texas. The flowery and vivid "Bluebonnets" captures their lyrical prowess and folk, rock and country fusing sound, a melancholic meditation on sadness, changing seasons and the passing of time. -MK
Pick From '76
Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby
Lou Reed hasn’t been afraid to tackle tough subjects in his songs. While the Beatles were writing songs about the sun coming up, he was writing seven-minute songs about heroin. That’s what makes Coney Island Baby such a unique album in his discography. It’s his “sunniest” record.
In 1976, Lou Reed found himself in a tough spot in the music industry, and he can only blame himself. The previous year, he released Metal Machine Music, the most returned album in music at that point and for good reason. It’s a double album that’s just feedback and distortion the entire time. (I personally think it’s so cool that he did that).
Reed knew he had to pivot; otherwise, they weren’t going to let him make records anymore. However, he didn’t return to his normal subjects in his songwriting. It wasn’t going to be an album about the seedy side of New York or how to score drugs. Instead, Reed leaned into nostalgia and love.
The album seems to be a love letter to not only Coney Island but Reed’s romantic partner at the time, Rachel Humphreys. He penned the beautiful “She’s My Best Friend” for her, and it's possibly Reed’s most heartfelt tune.
Reed is known for being a bit prickly with not only the press in interviews, but even people in his life. That’s what makes Coney Island Baby such a surprise, since he shows such vulnerability in the songs and a sense of humor in songs like “The Gift.”
On the title track, he sings “Believe it or not/ I wanted to play football for the coach/ and all those older guys.” I think that was Reed admitting that sometimes, all you want to do is be accepted. To fit in. It just didn’t seem to be in Reed’s cards to be “one of the guys.”
But before he get too down on himself, he sings, “But remember the princess who lived on the hill/ Who loved you even though she knew you was wrong?/ And right now she just might come shining through.”
There’s a reason this record stands out in Reed’s discography. It’s probably his most digestible, and it’s nice to know that even the Lou Reeds of the world have a warmer side. -AD
