3.20.14New Track for Minneapolis Institute of Arts

 

Very excited to announce that the Family Trade will be playing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' "Third Thursdays" party in April! In honor of the event's springtime/gardening theme, we're putting together a couple of new tracks, which we'll be releasing next month. So pumped to be back in the studio with all these good friends.

3.6.14Family Trade duo/trio tour to Iowa and Colorado

It's my spring break (pronounced "spraaaang brayyyke") so the Trade is sneaking out on a little tour! Dates look like this:

3/7 - Family Trade duo @ Mars Cafe (Sound Rover Series) in Des Moines, IA
3/8 - Family Trade trio @ Paris on the Platte in Denver, CO
3/9 - Family Trade trio @ Bohemian Biergarten in Boulder, CO
3/12 - Family Trade duo @ Ritual Cafe in Des Moines, IA

Come on out or tell your local friends!

1.24.14Photo & Video from the Cedar Cultural Center

When I first moved to Minneapolis in 2008, the first show I went to was Fleet Foxes at the Cedar Cultural Center. Ever since then it's been my dream to play at that spectacular venue, and last night I had the opportunity to do so, opening up for The Duhks. Our friend and photographer/videographer Ali Rogers captured some of these sweet memories, which you can check out at pranalens.com/brianlaidlaw. (There's also some video of the set under the "videography" tab!)

11.7.13Bonnie and Clyde Album is moving forward...

I am thrilled to announce that the Minnesota State Arts Board has awarded me an Artist Initiative Grant to produce and release "Amoratorium," a collection of poems and songs about Bonnie and Clyde, on VINYL. The poems will be printed as a chapbook in the liner notes.

Huge thanks to the MSAB, and to the amazing voters of Minnesota for passing the Legacy Amendment, which provides funding to this great state's artists. I'm so lucky to have ended up here - I don't even care that it's freezing outside.

11.18.13TWO (2) Echolalia EP release events coming up!!

On MONDAY (10/21) I'm reading with fellow Milkweed Editions poets Alex Lemon, Wayne Miller and Patricia Kirkpatrick at Honey MPLS. (Event page here.)

And then on FRIDAY (10/25) I'm doing the official EP release show at Icehouse MPLS with The Family Trade, followed by a headlining set from The Farewell Circuit. (Event page here.)

Both these events are going to be really special - hope to see you there.

9.27.13"ECHOLALIA" EP RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT!!

We'll be celebrating the release of my new EP "Echolalia" on Friday October 25 at Icehouse in Minneapolis.

This album is something genuinely special. Danny Vitali and I tracked and mixed it in two glorious days at Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco, where tUnE-yArDs, The Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, and many other awesome bands have made their records in recent years. I couldn't be happier with how it came out, and I can't wait to share it with the world.

Details here.

9.1.13Family Trade Residency @ 331 Club

Every Tuesday in September, the Trade will be serenading the kind patrons of the 331 in Northeast! Many of the instrumentalists in the Trade are songwriters and frontpersons in their own right, so each week we'll have an opening set by one of their bands - followed by a headlining set from some of our favorite acts in the Cities.

Lineup looks like this:
9/3 - Very Small Animal and We Are the Willows
9/10 - Becky Gaunt & the Gauntlettes and Bomba De Luz
9/17 - Byerself and The Last Revel
9/24 - Misty Swamps (world debut!) and J.E. Sunde (Daredevil Christopher Wright)

Music at 10pm sharp, all shows are free!

8.28.13Life Dream Achieved

That was SUCH A BLAST. Thank you to everyone who checked out our Grandstand set, thanks to the Walker Art Center, and thanks to #catvidfest for making the world's weirdest dreams come true.