GRAND RAPIDS — When Aaron Brown was growing up on the Iron Range, he had a dream: To be just like his idols David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. Someday, he'd put on a big, big show of his own.
In 2011, he did just that. The Great Northern Radio Show premiered on Oct. 15, 2011, on KAXE, live from the stage of the historic high school auditorium in Hibbing.
For eight years, Brown helmed the traveling show from places like Bigfork and Bemidji, Park Rapids and McGregor, as well as Brooklyn Center and Grand Marais.
"It was the summer of 2011, and it was one of the most challenging times in my life, actually, because I had just sobered up," Brown said.
With three little kids and a busy work life, the Great Northern Radio Show helped Brown refocus his energies.
"We just went everywhere," he said. "I got better in all ways, not just as a host and a writer. I got better at those things, but I got better as a person."
Each show had its own feel, bringing the history and culture of Minnesota places to the stage, with reverence, a slight sarcasm and good intentions toward the community. From talking frogs to stump grinding to small town dreams, the Great Northern Radio Show was born.
For Brown, the shows were a vehicle for his creative hopes and aspirations. "I kind of felt like by the time we ended it, we had accomplished something. We had accomplished a mission bigger than we even anticipated."
Sold out auditoriums, barns, libraries and high school stages hosted Minnesota musicians like Charlie Parr, Sonny Knight, Keith Secola, Corey Medina and so many more.
Listen to the full conversation above, delving into the behind-the-scenes peanut butter bender weekends, scandalous scatological humor and inside jokes.
The Great Northern Radio Show was made possible in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
