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Terri Lynn Owens
DREAMLAND
Blackberry Way Records is pleased to announce the arrival of Twin Cities music veteran Terri Lynn Owens first solo album “DREAMLAND.” The title track was composed for dear friend and music photographer Paul Lundgren. RIP
Produced by Michael Owens @ Blackberry Way & Mastered @ Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright
"I couldn’t love it more. An uncommonly beautiful, and often blues-ey rockin affair. Two things jumped out at me immediately - the exceptional singing, and the level of confidence in the performances. The quality of the song writing comes across loud and clear and the instrumentation is impeccable. Honestly, I love every track here. It has a very contemporary sound, at times it makes me think of current artists like Tristen or Jenny Lewis."-Peter Jespersen/Co-Founder Twin/Tone Records/A&R
Since the early 1980’s Terri Lynn Owens has performed with some of the most prestige’s Twin Cites bands including The Babysitters, Flamin’ Oh’s, Tetes Noir, Sonicbouquet & the April Fools.
The Idle Strand
Fight For Your Freedom
Originally released in 1985 under the title “Blackberry Way” The Idle Strands second album has been remixed by Michael Owens in 2025 @ Blackberry Way and Mastered by Frank Arkwright @ Abbey Road. Radio promotion by Tom Kay & Bobby Applegate garnered airplay around the country in 1985 along with rave reviews internationally including Nineteen Flights Rock Paris, Berlin City Magazine, Album Network, CMJ and The Mpls Star Tribune. The song "Tonight" appears in season two of Steven Soderbergh's "Red Oaks" on Amazon Prime TV.
Fight For Your Freedom, the 2nd album from Twin Cities trio The Idle Strand, is a feast of sound - killer, exuberant songs, expertly played and sung. Frontmen Michael Owens and Gary Menne sing nearly everything together and it’s their signature sound, brimming with melody and harmonies. Michael, Gary, and extraordinary drummer Kevin Glynn, write the stylistically varied material. First released in 1985, remixed in 2024, and mastered at Abbey Road. Catchy, thoughtful pop-rock that you won’t be able to get out of your head (the title song may actually resonate more in these confounding times than it did in its initial run).
-Peter Jesperson/Co-Founder Twin/Tone Records/A&R
The trio’s second album shows the players have a command of various styles of 60’s pop with an 80’s feel. The Idle Strand is on target with “Girl,” a dreamy number that evokes the Everly Brothers.- Jon Bream/ Mpls Star Tribune
“Good combination of X’s harmonies and the Smith’s guitar work…not to be missed.”- Rockpool Magazine
“Pop guitar band in the true sense of the word, merging the 60’s and the 80’s into one modern sound!” - Boston Rock Magazine
“Flirtations with Everly Brothers tributes and a range of styles from Fingerprints like takes to blues, surf licks and rockabilly-touched originals all from the endless corners of pop musicdom show they’ve got the chops to make the rock work on their own terms”- Martin Keller
BLACKBERRY WAY RECORDS adds another song to season 2 of Steven Soderbergh’s “Red Oaks” for Amazon TV. THE IDLE STRAND song “Tonight” appears in episode # 10. You can find some great reviews of the show below. We are proud to have currently placed 5 songs in this critically acclaimed TV show.
"The music really gives it a thing," "I thought it informed it so much." Says Paul Reiser who plays the character Getty a successful director and former Red Oaks member who also stared in Diner, Beverly Hills Cop and Aliens. One of the show's music supervisors, Devoe Yates, painstakingly dedicated himself to finding lost gems from the era that would evoke the early Eighties without relying too heavily on warhorse VH1 I Love the 80's staples. "I signed onto Billboard and went week by week through all the charts," he says. "I've been downloading all these soundtracks from the Eighties – Mannequin, Real Genius, Three O'Clock High. Some of them are hard to find." - Kory Grow/Rolling Stone Magazine
"A mash-up of The Graduate’s melancholy and Caddyshack’s teen hijinks" Steven Soderbergh Makes 80s Nostalgia Revolutionary"- Vanity Fair
"I was watching Red Oaks on Amazon Prime which takes place in the 80s. The soundtrack may be one of the greatest collection of 80s pop/rock ever in a TV show or movie. - Steve Hoffman Music Forums/Forgotten 70s/80s Rock/Pop
Swing Set
Life Speeds Up
For ten strong years, from 1983 to 1993, Swing Set reigned as the Twin Cities' finest exponents of hook laden, guitar driven pure pop. Their cool-edged, rock/pop sound sent the group's first album “Life Speeds Up” quickly into the top 50 of the U.S./Boston Rocks college charts and received commercial airplay and rave reviews in major international markets.
Remixed by Michael Owens in 2024 @ Blackberry Way & Mastered by Andy Walter @ Abbey Road, Swing Sets debut album “Life Speeds Up” roars back to life in stunning fashion. Several tracks from “Life Speeds Up” find themselves in hit TV shows including Stranger Things & The OA on Netflix, Red Oaks on Amazon and Young Sheldon on CBS. First released on vinyl in 1986, the remixed version is now available for purchase on CD’s & Downloads for the first time. The opening track Blackout first released digitally on “Mini Hits of Minneapolis Vol 2” (The Best of Blackberry Way) has generated over 166,000 All-Time streams on Spotify.
"Elegantly simplistic, reminiscent of REM and The Pretenders." -ALBUM NETWORK- "They've got the chops and the sense of style that show cool confidence...what a nice record." - ROCKPOOL MAGAZINE- "The Soul Remains" the bands second release was named "Best Local Pop Record" by MPLS ST PAUL MAGAZINE Feb 1991.
The band found a significant following in Europe. Popular YouTube station 80zforever called Life Speeds Up “a brilliant alternative/Indie album, with no fillers. It’s a strong record from the beginning to the end.”
The Hero”, from their third album “Dig”, played in regular rotation on Cities 97 & “Don't Look Now” from the Soul Remains played in regular rotation on REV105 in Minneapolis.
Airplay around the world has included Valley FM 89.5 Canberra Australia as well as Ardenn’ Café Radio Charleville Mezieres, France. Swing Set was featured on THE NEW MUSIC RADIO SHOW presented by Andrew John on RADIO SEAGULL Bridgend South Wales in the UK. The Indie Cast Network Indiana, Spiders Dirty Rotten Weekend Canton Ohio, SDC Star Radio Denningan California, WKKC Pirate Radio St Lucie Florida, KDTN Radio One California, Bear Radio Buffalo NY, Radionomy Much More Music Radio Liverpool UK, Indie 104 iRadio Los Angeles CA and Sound Machine Radio Moyock NC. Sound Machine Radio is broadcast in over 100 countries. They are part of the Sony PSP/PS3 & Nintendo Wii system and they transmit worldwide thru this network. Swing Set was featured on The Artist First Radio Network world wide broadcast on 6/15/17. The average listening audience for this show is 98,000 listeners.
The Idle Strand
I'll Love You Today
After the breakup of Fingerprints in 1979, founding members Michael Owens and Kevin Glynn along with bassist Gary Menne formed The Idle Strand. The first two albums “Cut and Run” & “Blackberry Way” placed several tracks in the national college radio charts in the 1980's along with rave reviews internationally including Nineteen Flights Rock Paris, Berlin City Magazine, Album Network, CMJ and The Mpls Star Tribune to name a few.
“Good combination of X’s harmonies and the Smith’s guitar work…not to be missed.”- Rockpool Magazine
“Pop guitar band in the true sense of the word, merging the 60’s and the 80’s into one modern sound!” -Boston Rock Magazine
“Flirtations with Everly Brothers tributes and a range of styles from Fingerprints like takes to blues, surf licks and rockabilly-touched originals all from the endless corners of pop musicdom show they’ve got the chops to make the rock work on their own terms”-Martin Keller
The third album “I’ll Love You Today” sadly never saw the light of day, although three tracks were included on the compilation “Mini hits of MPLS Vol 2. Two of those three tracks have garnered placements in two TV shows. “She’s Got Everything” finds itself in ABC TV’s “Wicked City” starring Jeremy Sisto. The track “Follow That Girl” was placed in Steven Soderbergh’s “Red Oaks” starring Paul Reiser on Amazon TV along with “Tonight” from the album "Fight For Your Freedom."
The Fontanas
"FROM THE ASHES OF IDIOT SAVANT,THE FONTANAS"-Billboard Magazine
"IT WAS THE TAIL END OF 1980’s, the golden era of MTV. And the urban icebox of Minneapolis was red hot. Prince, The Replacements, Husker Du, The Time, Soul Asylum, The Wallets, The Jayhawks and The Suburbs were all in their prime. Into this crowded field, looking to join the party, came The Fontanas." The Fontanas coulda/shoulda been contenders. They had two things that made them stand out. Prolific songwriter Brian Drake knew how to meld pop hooks and impassioned refrains to big beats. He wrote catchy songs, a selling point in any era. Still does, these days for The April Fools. Then there was chromatic harmonica wizard, Clint Hoover. To the standard time-hallowed line-up of two guitars, bass and drums, The Fontanas added a harmonica virtuoso who could hold his own with any six-string hero. Hoover was amazing. Still is, lately in his adopted home of Pittsburgh. Which is not to ignore the fine rhythm section. Todd Miller could deliver a slew of cool guitar riffs, at times recalling “the quiet Beatle,” George Harrison. Check out “Push Comes to Shove” for ready evidence. Brian Valenchenko added solid bass and back-up vocals. And Jon Schrader’s drumming was aerobic and punchy, a huge sound befitting the era.-TomSurowicz
Dan O'Kane with The Model Citizens
An Ordinary Urge & It's The Renaissance
Dan O'Kane started playing in bands in the late '80s while attending the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. O'Kane's first band, the Ripchords (1978) was popular on campus and on the local dance scene, belting out original songs and classics in an infectious punk-a-billy style. The Lincoln's Historic DrumStick Bar and Restaurant was the biggest rock club west of the Mississippi, hosting all the national club acts on their way through the Midwest. Dan O'Kane with the Model Citizens were mainstays at the Drumstick. They opened up for the likes of REM, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Modern English. The Documentary "Remember The Drumstick” about the infamous rock club is an "Official Selection" of the Chicago Indie Films Awards 2022.
The track "A Brand New Landscape" from their 1985 release on Blackberry Way appears in season one episode #9 of the hit series Acapulco on Apple TV.
Dan O'Kane with the Model Citizens toured throughout the Midwest during the 1980's.
An Ordinary Urge (1984) and It's The Renaissance (1983) Remastered by Michael Owens @ Blackberry Way 2023
The Robert Wilkinson Band
Lost and Found
The Robert Wilkinson band was formed in the early 1990's with Ben Kaplan, Bob Burns & Gary Snow joining Robert in his new endeavor. The band performed locally in Twin Cities clubs as well as music festivals like St. Paul’s RiverFest. The band was picked to serve as Chuck Berry’s back-up band at the final incarnation of RiverFest in 1990.
In 1991 the band recorded “Lost and Found” at Blackberry Way and sadly the record was not released as the band broke up. Now Remastered by Michael Owens @ Blackberry Way and Andy Walter @ Abbey Road “Lost and Found” finally sees the light of day.
“I had a chance to listen to the Robert Wilkinson Band recordings and after just a couple of plays so far, I love every track. These recordings coulda been recorded years ago, coulda been yesterday. This is timeless stuff”. Peter Jesperson-Twin/Tone Records co-founder/A&R“
Fingerprints
Where The Beat Goes On
24 Tracks from 1977-1979 Newly Restored and mixed by Michael Owens @ Blackberry Way and Mastered by Andy Walter @ Abbey Road 2022
"I really loved Fingerprints. They were such an under-appreciated band. They had a rockin’ feel. Their live shows were incredible with the lead singer doing backflips during the show". David Pirner/Soul Asylum
"The Fingerprints record sounds amazing--so tight, punchy, and spirited. I'll definitely play on my show tomorrow!"
Kevin Cole-KEPX Seattle Wa
"For a band that remained little known outside its hometown, Fingerprints made forceful, fast, diverse and forward-sounding music. With respectable songwriting and solid musicianship (including occasional sax and keyboards), augmented here by a dynamic 2022 remix, they offer high-energy rock and roll of the sort Eddie and the Hot Rods (“Kind Affection”) and the Damned (“Don’t Wanna Talk”) were making around the same time."
Ira Robbins-Trouser Press
The April Fools
Wonderland
Released in 2021
Wonderland, the fourth effort by The April Fools reflects the ongoing evolution of composition from the band in their established eclectic fashion - featuring lush harmonies and exquisite guitar interplay sure to captivate diehard fans as well as first time listeners. From the opening notes of Loretta Lane to the closing refrain of Another Go Around, The April Fools take you on a journey of imagination, heartbreak and loss, pandemic voodoo, and even a robbery gone wrong in a blend of Classic Rock meets Americana in a style unique unto themselves.
"Listened to The April Fools new album and I think it's outstanding. I love how it kicked into gear right from the top"- Peter Jesperson
Minnesota quintet, The April Fools, dive deep into the musical rabbit hole on their fourth album, Wonderland. Combining 90’s indie Rock, 60’s psychedelic rock, outlaw country and a sprinkling of jazz, The April Fools create a mind-bending soundscape that defies easy classification.
Brian Rock-Turnstyled, Junkpiled-Roots Music Magazine