If you live in Minneapolis, you already know that Trampled by Turtles is demanding your attention this week -- in addition to Wednesday night's sold-out album-release show and tour kick-off in the First Ave Mainroom, they will also play an intimate gig in the Entry on their album's release day, Tuesday, April 10. The quintet were also given lengthy features in both their hometown's Duluth News Tribune and the Minneapolis Star Tribune over the weekend, and each paper acknowledged the band's significance in both cities.

In light of all this interconnectivity and excitement, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Duluth Mayor Don Ness are joining forces to declare this Wednesday "Trampled by Turtles Day" in both cities, in addition to renaming the stretch of I-35 between Minneapolis and Duluth Trampled by Turtles Trail.

Here's the official proclamation:

WHEREAS, The City of Duluth strives to incubate incredible art and music in neighborhoods reaching from Woodland to Smithville and the City of Minneapolis does the same thing from Shingle Creek to Morris Park; and
 
WHEREAS, The City of Minneapolis and the City of Duluth share an extensive desire to see their artists and musicians thrive in their art by hosting a multitude of art fairs, festivals, and concerts to see artists hone their crafts; and
 
WHEREAS, Minnesotans believe that the arts are essential to our well being and strive to interweave the arts into every aspect of our lives to create more vibrant communities to live, work, and enjoy ourselves in; and
 
WHEREAS, The band Trampled By Turtles has introduced a multitude of listeners to the instrumentation of American roots music by using the same instruments people have used for centuries in order to express their lives; and
 
WHEREAS, Trampled By Turtles is using Minneapolis’ own extraordinary First Avenue to kick off a string of twenty-seven dates that span 2 countries, 16 states, 2 provinces and 1 federal district; and
 
WHEREAS, Trampled By Turtles recorded their 6th full length record Stars and Satellites in the great state of Minnesota in a log home just outside of Duluth with engineer Tom Herbers and released it on April 10th, 2012;
 
NOW, THEREFORE, we, R.T. RYBAK, Mayor of the City of Minneapolis, and DON NESS, Mayor of the City of Duluth do
hereby proclaim April 11th, 2012 as:
 
Trampled By Turtles Day in the Cities of Duluth and Minneapolis.
 
And by the powers vested in us, and way above our authority, we proclaim 35W between Minneapolis and Duluth as Trampled By Turtles Trail for the duration of the tour.

We could just as easily declare it Trampled by Turtles Week here at The Current, where the band's new record Stars and Satellite is our CD of the Week and lead singer and songwriter Dave Simonett was our guest on the most recent installment of the Local Show. Listen to Simonett describe the new album and hear tracks from the release in the widget below.