Bobby Vee: The Adobe Sessions

Bobby Vee is a Midwest music legend. The Fargo-born singer emerged as a prodigy in the 1950s, playing with Buddy Holly and a young Bob Dylan and landing 38 hits in Billboard's Hot 100. In an unusual and touching gesture, Dylan paid tribute to his former bandmate at Midway Stadium last summer, calling Vee "the most beautiful person I've ever been on the stage with" and covering Vee's 1959 debut single "Suzie Baby" (released on Minneapolis's Soma Records). Vee, now 70, has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's and is calling The Adobe Sessions—available February 3 on iTunes—his final release. The warm collection, featuring the voice Dylan calls "musical as a silver bell," includes covers of songs by Dylan ("The Man In Me"), Gordon Lightfoot ("Walls"), and other musicians including, perhaps most surprisingly, Daniel Lanois—whose 1989 song "The Maker" is performed by Vee with help from none other than a group of monks from St. John's Abbey.

MC Longshot: Nothing’s Gold

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While he originally hails from Chicago, the Twin Cities are proud to have adopted MC Longshot into their growing canon of talented rap artists. Longshot’s prolific resume includes tours with some big names in hip-hop, eight vinyl singles, eight mixtapes, and six studio albums—soon to be seven with Nothing’s Gold, out February 1. The album is inspired by youth, Midwest identity, and an unrealized idea by Tupac Shakur, who said he wanted to record an album called Nothing's Gold featuring exclusively songs written and performed by children. Though it doesn't feature the all-kid cast Tupac envisioned, Nothing’s Gold was created with an impressive team of collaborators and producers, each track capped with Longshot’s world-class lyrics and delivery. Nothing’s Gold will be available for download on Bandcamp on January 31, and MC Longshot will celebrate the release that night with a performance at Cause Spirits and Soundbar.

Slitt: Slitt

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If Jack White and Tom Morello eloped in the mountains of Estonia and raised a family band, they’d probably come back sounding something like Slitt: an Eastern-Europe-via-Minneapolis groove-metal band specializing in theatrics and classic rock might. Composed of “10 original tracks, all mean as hell,” Slitt’s self-titled full-length, out January 31, showcases Slitt’s synergy and prowess as vocalist Mitch “BeefSleave” Boerner’s gritty, uninhibited howl soars over massive guitar riffs, chameleonic percussion, and funk-inspired bass lines. It’s a fiery exercise in bombast, perfect for tuning out the bitter cold. Slitt will be available for purchase at Slitt’s album release show at the 7th Street Entry, with performances by Paragraphs and Nightosaur. A special incentive for DIYers: arrive at the show in a homemade Slitt t-shirt and get $2.00 off the price of a CD.

Dave Simonett: Razor Pony

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More ethereal and understated than his work with Trampled by Turtles and Dead Man Winter, Dave Simonett’s new solo project, an EP entitled Razor Pony, sees the Duluthian singer and songwriter meandering through gorgeous melody and stripped, reverberating instrumentals. Out today on vinyl through Simonett’s Minneapolis-based label Gndwire Records, the EP is also available for streaming on Soundcloud. Also on the Local Current blog, check out Andrea Swensson’s post about the album.

KT Lindemann is a senior at the University of Minnesota, Morris, pursuing studio art and Spanish. She is a native of the Twin Cities and is a wannabe musician, artist, and music writer. Jay Gabler also contributed reporting to this article.