The Grateful Dead brings people together. It’s bigger than the music; it’s the experience that the music creates. And once you get into it, you’re not getting out of it.

Before writing this, I consistently circled back to the Dead community and how my connection to the music – to the experience – is woven into it all. I bump into it everywhere I go. Literally. Just a few hours before the show, I stopped at my local grocery shop. I grabbed a few things and got in line. The guy in front of me kindly invited me to cut ahead, and I complimented him on his purple Phil Lesh and Friends tee. The conversation transitioned into that night’s Dark Star Orchestra show to the tightly knit Minneapolis music community, to his band, The Space Heaters.

Had Mike been wearing anything else, we wouldn’t have exchanged the meaningful conversation we did.

The Grateful Dead brings people together, and that was recreated at Dark Star Orchestra’s summer tour opener at the Minnesota Zoo. The sold out amphitheater was buzzing long before the show started; it had rained the entire day, but stopped just in time. People were really feelin’ it. Laughter ebbed out of the bowl, and the sunshine peeked out behind the clouds.

We had arrived.

The guys opened with The Promised Land and went into a bubbly They Love Each Other. People were holding hands and kicking their feet in the air. We were in for a strong ’73 show featuring El Paso, Bird Song, Mexicali Blues, Deal and Looks like Rain. The band really found their groove during Tennessee Jed, though. They were all in the boat, bouncing beats off of each other while grinning from ear to ear. A twangy Box of Rain followed, and they wrapped up the set with Playing In the Band, featuring Lisa Mackey’s larger-than-life vocals on top of jazz-infused keys.

The second set was filled with feel good, get down tunes: Wave that Flag, Me and My Uncle, Dark Star and a hot Eyes Of The World > China Doll. Here, the guys flirted with a bass-forward sound but shifted to light, bright riffs reminiscent of a summer’s day. Father was dancing with his young son in the front row, and the aisles were now overflowing. The crowd was finding a rhythm; everyone was getting lost. Next came Around And Around > Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad > One More Saturday Night with a Casey Jones encore.

All in all, Dark Star Orchestra played their 2,689th show with a clean, sharp sound and really brought it for the second set. It was an incredible trip back to one of the best eras of rock and roll and resurrected the profound unity that can only be found at a Grateful Dead show.

PaviElle French is no stranger to the world of music. Raised in a progressive household in the historic Rondo neighborhood, the singer became well-acquainted with her artistic side at a young age. Though she started touring at just 16 and shared iconic stages with legends like the late Sonny Knight, it took PaviElle a one-way ticket to Hawaii and a five-year hiatus to harness the power of her own sound. Today, her neo-soul vibe is infused with 70’s rhythm and blues, Sarah Vaughan-esque scatting, and of course, her roots.

We caught up with PaviElle before her set at “Funk Fest," an event that took place at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) earlier this month.

GW: Tell me about your background as a musician.

PF: I grew up a musician - I started when I was five. I went to an arts school and was trained in saxophone, voice, dance, and drama. When I was 16, I joined a band called EduPoetic Enterbrainment. They got pretty big and we got a couple of tours under our belt. I went solo when I was 21, and we’re here! It all came full circle.

GW: So it sounds like music has always been in your roots. When was the defining moment for you - the moment you decided you wanted to do music for life?

PF: Well, I took a hiatus of 5 years, and moved to Hawaii to find myself. I had to cleanse myself.

GW: Cleanse..tell me more about that.

PF: I always felt like I was an underdog when I was younger. It didn’t feel like I had support that I needed. That was always riding on me. It was my own perpetuation of that idea that made me stop doing music.

GW: Why did you end up coming back home to Minneapolis?

PF: I knew I needed to start making music again here.  The music was chasing me, and I couldn’t run from it.  There was a thumping on my heart. And when I did, everything blew up. After doing what I needed to do [in Hawaii], it all fell into place. There was a lot of introspection and depth there, and now I’m feeling good and happy about my life. I’m doing something I love all the time. I had to stop thinking about other people and think about myself and the art that I create; ultimately  I create it for myself.

GW: What does your art sound like?

PF: Shoot, a little bit of everything. I’m a soul singer, so anything that falls under Black art - jazz, soul, blues and gospel. Even a little bit of rock. My mom used to listen to a lot of Johnny Winter, Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac. All of those things influenced me, but I’ve got my own style. I shoot from the hip. I get rooted, but also sing songs differently every time.

GW: Tell me more about your writing process.

PF: I’ll sit down, put something together and will hand it to the band. After that, it becomes all of us. I’m inspired by old 70’s soul, Chaka Kan, Stevie Wonder. I like to write stuff that makes you feel spiritual, makes you feel high. My dad and mom used to listen to music like that. Stuff you can listen to from beginning to end and never lift the needle. That’s what I take with me into our sets - we just coast.

GW: Speaking of your influences from the 70’s, if you could create any supergroup (dead or alive) who would you include?

PF: I would take Parliament Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, Chaka Kahn, Taka Boom, Hubert Laws on flute, Roy Ayers would direct...and I would front that.

GW: YES you would! I can’t wait to see you play. What do you hope to put out there today?

PF: I can’t wait to get up there. It’s needed with what just happened in Charlottesville. I believe in the vibrational tonality of music. You know, how it heals on a metaphysical level. Even if you’re not listening to it, it still goes through your body.

GW: Yeah, it’s like a universal language.

PF: Exactly. I’m hoping to lift some spirits today.

And she sure did.

Listen to PaviElle's neo-soul prowess here: https://pavielle.bandcamp.com.

It was a rainy autumn night in Minneapolis, and a quiet hung loudly in the air. A get-home-and-stay-in-your-PJs kinda feel, one would never suspect a dance party to be brewing. But there sure was. The Twin-Cities based seven piece, PHO, was slated to hit the stage at First Avenue’s 7th Street Entry, and with opening acts like Black Market Brass and Purple Funk Metropolis, the crowd was in for a local funk trifecta. Despite the weather, everyone was ready to move their feet.

PHO opened up the sold out show with “Still Waiting,” perfectly priming the audience to revel in what the band has coined to be “Minneapolis sound.” Though their instrumental funk leans traditional with super tight arrangements, “Still Waiting” showcased the hometown heroes’ ability to leave some room for improvisation and featured clean brass, dueling guitars and space funk keys.

PHO released their debut album, Cash It, in 2015, but really picked up steam in 2016 after Prince gave the guys a nod via Twitter, eventually inviting them to open for Larry Graham at the notorious Paisley Park. The Purple endorsement launched a series of high profile gigs for PHO, and they played alongside jam-funk heavyweights like The Motet, Dumpstaphunk, and Dopapod in the forthcoming months. What’s more, their sophomore album, two, landed #10 on the Relix Radio Charts after launching earlier this year.

PHO’s 7th Street show mostly pulled from two, including its popular tracks “Phanthem” and “Dr. Drake.” “Tomorrow in Texas,” on the other hand, had a totally different sound. More of a rock-oriented jam, this one featured spooky hypnotic flurries that reinforced the band’s musicianship. In between each track, guitarist Spencer Christensen took the role of hype man, inviting hoots, hollers and slow claps from the audience, teasing with questions like, “is it alright if we break it down for y’all?” The guys also pulled favorites from Cash It, like “Hennepin” and encored with “#2.”

Though a young band, PHO never fails to sweep an audience into their euphonic soundscape, and we’re looking forward to catching them throughout the Midwest and Mountain regions this fall. As virtuosos in the world of funk music, PHO creates a collective sound that’s polished, balanced and intoxicating –the kind of music you can’t say no to. Wherever you are, do yourself a favor and check them out.