Andrea Swensson is a host and writer at Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current, where she helms The Local Show, a weekly show dedicated to exploring the Minnesota music scene, and the O.K. Show podcast, which investigates the intersection between music and wellness.
Andrea has been covering Minnesota music actively since 2005. Prior to joining MPR she was the music editor of City Pages, where she founded the AAN AltWeekly Award-winning Gimme Noise music blog, and edited and contributed to online music sites Reveille Magazine and HowWasTheShow.com.
You can hear Andrea when she hosts The Current’s Local Show every Sunday night from 6 to 8 p.m.
Loki's Folly performed live on the Back to School episode of the Local Show on Sunday, and chatted with host Andrea Swensson about their musical beginnings and what it's like to play a 21+ show when you're under 18.
Following the release of their new album, 'Blood Moon,' John Swardson and Bad Blood stopped by The Current studio to talk with host Andrea Swensson on The Local Show.
Jeremy Nutzman has been a man of many stage names, but he seems to have found a special sound as Velvet Negroni. Stopping by The Current on a break from tour, he performs three songs from his album 'Neon Brown' and shares a conversation with Local Show host Andrea Swensson.
Bon Iver has embraced the idea of passing the mic, and using his gigantic platform to lift up the voices of the marginalized on 'i,i'.
Lady Midnight performs three songs off her debut solo release 'Death Before Mourning' in the Local Show studio.
Hear three incredible new Graveyard Club tracks in The Current studio.
'Can You Really Find Me' is Night Moves' third album on the Domino Recording Company label. 'We've kind of figured out the rhythm of working on a label and with a team of people,' says Night Moves frontman John Pelant. Night Moves visited The Current studio for a session hosted by Andrea Swensson ahead of their show Saturday night in the First Avenue Mainroom.
In the universe of this album, J.S.'s bottomless, booming voice is the sun, and his songwriting is the North Star.
Chavez visited the Purple Current studios to talk with host Andrea Swensson about working with Prince and recording an album of poetry at Paisley Park. She shared the stories behind some of Lovesexy's songs and Prince's influence on her solo work.
'I've always loved [hip-hop],' Nur-D says, 'but I never thought it'd be something that I would do - mostly because I'm weird.'
Excited for new Prince album 'Originals'? Read as Prince biographer Duane Tudahl breaks down the tracks.
On the cusp of releasing her new solo album, 'I Can't Be The One You Want Me To Be,' Jillian Rae visited The Current studio to play songs from the new record and to talk with The Local Show's Andrea Swensson. The album documents Jillian Rae's continuing growth as an artist. 'I ended up giving myself permission to put out the sounds that I love and that I'm feeling with this collection of songs,' she says.
Few Prince scholars know Prince's movements through two of his most prolific, momentous years --1983 and 1984 -- as Duane Tudahl. Duane visited the Purple Current studios for a special edition of The Purple Hour.
Lady Lark is debuting her latest album, Permission, at the Fine Line, backed by Purple Funk Metropolis. Ahead of the show, Lady Lark stopped into The Current Studio to perform songs from Permission and talk with Local Show host Andrea Swensson.
Bailey Cogan, Karl Remus, Warren Thomas Fenzi, Daniel Chavez, and Christian Wheeler have been releasing music as 26 BATS! since 2017. The Minneapolis quintet stopped by The Current studio to perform three songs from their latest album, 'Onyx.'
Following Celebration 2019 at Paisley Park, Andrea Swensson talks to Mary Lucia about the experience of interviewing Jesse Johnson about Prince. 'Jesse had something very specific that he wanted to share with this audience,' Andrea says, 'and it really doesn't come across in a soundbite or two.' Listen to Andrea and Mary's full conversation about what Jesse Johnson had to say about his connections to Prince.
Sharon Smith-Akinsanya managed marketing of the Prince-inspired nightclub Glam Slam at all three of its locations: Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Miami. In 2017, she sat down with Jay Gabler and Andrea Swensson to talk about running the clubs, working with Prince, and remembering the icon's legacy in Minnesota.
Featuring some of the Twin Cities, top musicians from across genres, Champagne Confetti are an 11-piece orchestra that blend ambient sounds with electronic beats, R&B and chamber music. The group perform at the Parkway Theater on Apr. 13 and stopped by The Current studio to share more about their work.
In recognition of Minnesota Music Month, we invited The Current's Andrea Swensson to join us on the program. Swensson highlighted some new songs by Minnesota artists and shared the stories behind them.
1995 was a pivotal year for Prince, as he was in the midst of a years-long battle with his label, Warner Bros. Records, and released his first album, The Gold Experience, under his unpronounceable symbol. Although he was still writing and recording at a fast pace, some of the songs he created during this year wouldn't be released until later in the decade, making it a fascinating time to revisit in our Purple Current Time Machine.