Pop Wagner, Rina Rossi - April 15, 2026
Rina Rossi came by PS&W just ahead of the 2026 Twin Town Old Time Music Festival to talk about the activities, concerts and workshops, which were set to be held in St. Paul and Minneapolis Thursday April 16 through the following Monday, with everything from Irish tunes to fingerstyle guitar workshops to Appalachian clogging to old time and bluegrass jams, a talent contest, and square dancing. And she brought her friend Pop Wagner, who brought his guitar and did a little preview, as we all gathered around KFAI’s one currently working microphone
The Subatomic Eel - Fishing for Garbage
Mark isn’t convinced he knows what he’s even looking for…
The Subatomic Eel - Mailbag in the Spaceways
Mark is stuck in a traffic jam, but at least he finally got your postcards…
The Subatomic Eel - Icky Wants to Stay
Mark discovers the truth about the Kwik Trip and learns what this little dog has really been up to…
The Subatomic Eel - Cheeseburger Synthesis
Mark has escaped the waterfall and washes up at a Kwik Trip…
The Subatomic Eel - Kites in the Waterfall
Mark has found some new friends on his way through a petrified forest…
The Subatomic Eel - Games in the Storm
Mark has landed on Earth’s second moon while he tries to make sense of a new reality…
Blue Groove - March 4, 2026
Adelle Hyrkas and four others who form the band Blue Groove came to KFAI’s P, S & W Wednesday with two guitars, a mandolin, banjo and a ukulele bass to give us a taste of some bluegrass tunes one might hear at the upcoming Minnesota Bluegrass Winter Weekend - details in the link
The Subatomic Eel - Backward into the Future
Mark is stuck behind an impossible barrier. But maybe with some well-placed trust and curiosity, he can find a way though…
The Subatomic Eel - Stuck Behind the Haze
Mark has embarked on his mission to find Sun Ra. His radio receiver is broken, but his transmitter still works. He’s stuck just outside the orbit of the moon, his ship has collided with an impenetrable and mysterious haze…
USPOP - February 25, 2026
Peter and Kent, two members of the American Brit-pop band USPOP, came by P, S & W to play a few tunes on acoustic guitars and talk about their upcoming show at Zhora Darling (Feb 27), their new album (“Yer Welcome”) and how much louder their electric guitars will be (very much louder)
The Subatomic Eel - On a Mission to Find Sun Ra
Mark boards his spacecraft, The Subatomic Eel, and leaves earth on a mission to Saturn to find Sun Ra…
Jillian Rae (and Eric) - February 18, 2026
Jillian Rae and Eric came by KFAI’s world headquarters in February, sharing a couple songs and feelings, including a recently recorded song about the federal government’s incursion into Minneapolis. They were set to play along with other local acts Sunday, February 22, 7pm at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis, in a benefit concert to help with food and rent for 50 families
Curtis and Loretta - January 7, 2026
Local musicians Curtis and Loretta hauled a harp, mando-cello, resonator ukulele and a few other instruments up the stairs at KFAI on an early January morning, in advance of their January 10 show at Ginkho Coffeehouse in St. Paul, where they were set to debut their recently restored golden harp. They played a few lively tunes on the radio, and chatted with Paul about folk music on the beach, touring in Europe and the 12,500 moving parts on the instrument they will showcase.
The Voice of the Thinking Man - 10/15
Bushwhack your way through the impenetrable jungles of minor inconveniences! If you pour your creamer into your mug before your coffee you won’t have to wash a spoon! Label the inside corners of your fitted sheets so you never have to put it on the wrong way! Label the top side of your USB drives and the bottoms of your own feet while you’re at it, this is serious business. These are life hacks.
I’ve been spending my time worrying about time. Which is… less than ideal. More than anything I worry about the empty promise of saving time. It makes about as much sense as thinking I’m saving gravity if I sit on the couch. I don’t need to take the small enjoyable moments out of my day to magically fabricate fifteen minutes at the end of it - I need to retire and take all of it all to use at my own discretion. Meanwhile, I’m happy that time passes, and I’m happy that one day mine will be run out.
I think the idea of the life hack sells you the greatest lie: that the little everyday things you do are not worth your time. That you taking care of yourself and taking care of your life is not worth your attention. That your attention is better spent on a dream someone else wants to sell you. In a world where milliseconds of your attention can be hyper-monetized by every screen and surface, it clearly is the most valuable thing in the world, imagine how powerful it could be if you use it on yourself and the people you love. Think about how much corporations are fighting for it, think about how much you are worth.
I like to wash the dishes and vacuum my floor and run to the store for something I’m out of and come home and swear because I realize I’ve gotten everything else other than the one thing I needed, and I do it all over again. I enjoy the petty war against my own stupidity and my occasional triumph over it. Which is probably why I do not change.
I also don’t want to feel like my creative output peaked as a baby when I filled my diaper and everybody cheered. It’s these moments of quiet self reflection that I realize maybe it did. The life hack does not make you better, it lies to you and tells you that you are not good enough as you are. I got a hack for you right now, too busy to clean the bathroom? Just pee the poop off. See. Gross physically and metaphysically.
I think it is right and good to take the scenic route when it feels right. To lose yourself fully and eat a pizza crunch at 3 am with your best friend because this messy and perfect moment of your life is happening right now. And will again. And again. Forever. Tomorrow is coming and you will be exactly who you are right now. There is no rubicon to cross, no perfect self to become, only a chance to play in the river once in a while. Maybe I can see past the mess and chase after the me I want to become. I can hear peels of hope ring in the quiet moments where I’m wasting my time wondering about nothing at all in particular. Just taking the pieces of an old dream and putting them back together.
I invent little ways to make my life more challenging, I suppose I feel like my own zookeeper in this way; I know the monkey needs to fling his own poo at something once and a while so I might as well build him a target that’s easy to clean. Stop buying and start doing, so on and so on. Make your life harder - you know in normal ways that won’t kill you and are within reason, keep all your fingers and toes if you still have ‘em, for example - pour the coffee in first then splash in a little whipping cream. Stir it in and make tiny vortexes in the liquid. Use two spoons if you can. Luxuriate in the drink and the cleaning up. Learn to paint and cook from scratch, and remember first to invent the universe. Read a book for once in your miserable life and get your screen time down to zero. I don’t want to hack my life to pieces so I can gulp it down faster, I think I’m not trying to save time so much as accept that it’s passing and savor it, not unlike it’s a popcorn kernel I finally pried out after hours of wiggling - I’m fully engaged in the moment and satisfied with a job well done.
Michael Gay - October 8, 2025
Michael Gay came by P, S & W, without his Dang Band, but with a guitar! It was a couple days before he was set to play at Dusty’s Bar — Oct. 11, 8pm, along with Brandon Good and Creekbed Carter Hogan — here’s a sample!
Ben Cook-Feltz - July 30, 2025
Ben Cook-Feltz has released a tribute album to Harry Nilsson, a song-for-song cover of Nilsson’s 1972 “Son of Schmilsson” - and he brought a few tunes from it, with a very small piano, to KFAI’s Poetry, Science and Wrestling to premier in the early morning at the end of July. He’s set to play the tunes again with a big crew of special guests live at the Parkway Theater August 10, 2025
Rosie Daze Band - July 23, 2025
Five of the six members of Rosie Daze Band graced KFAI’s studios in July (2025), just after 7am — they played a few tunes, and talked about their upcoming engagements at the Minnesota Bluegrass August Festival, which is set to take place August 7-10 in Richmond, Minnesota. Free admission this year!
Laamar - July 9, 2025
Geoffrey Lamar Wilson - known on stage as LAAMAR - came by KFAI July 9th (2025) to warm up for a lunch hour show the same day at the Landmark Center in St. Paul, and to talk with Paul about making music in the Twin Cities and beyond. He played a few tunes, and then accidentally dropped and broke his guitar on the way out of studio four! Here's hoping the memories remain, and the Martin D-35 is repairable.