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Paul Metsa
Musician, Songwriter, Author... and more
 

Cats Under the Stars Celebrate 50th Anniversary + New Singles

w/ Paul Metsa, Tim O’Keefe, Jack Pasternacki, Joe Luoma, Al Oikari, Jimmy Anton

Sunday, December 28, 7 pm
Parkway Theater
4814 Chicago Ave S, Minneapolis

Concert Info & Tickets | Listen & Download

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Legendary Iron Range band Cats Under the Stars are re-releasing their 45 RPM single "Louie, Louie" / "Blue Ghosts" from 1982 (recorded at the Children's Theater studio) along with a previously unreleased rap song written by Cats guitarist Jack Pasternacki that Paul and Jack recorded in 1984 called "Under Grey Skies in the Buffalo Zone." This release coincides with the band's 50th Anniversary taking place at the Parkway Theater on Sunday, December 28, 2025. The Cats studied and played most styles of American music and were one of the first bands in the Twin Cities to play reggae and New Orleans music, along with swing jazz, blues, folk, and deep space improvisation. They played everywhere from the West Bank, Moby Dick's, the Union Bar, and the Cabooze to the A Prairie Home Companion radio show. They opened up for Ry Cooder at the Guthrie Theater and shared stages with Flora Purim and Airto, Robert Hunter, Mose Allison, John Hammond, Riders in the Sky, and Willie and the Bumblebees. They are also considered to be the first "jam band" in the Twin Cities before there was such a thing. The players include leader Paul Metsa (8 MN Music Awards), Tim O'Keefe (The Rose Ensemble), Jack Pasternacki (The Ranchtones), Joe Luoma (Alex Chilton and Del Shannon), Al Oikari (The Big Wu) and Jimmy Anton (Jonny Lang, Paul Westerberg.) They will be joined by Tom Lieberman, Sonny Earl, and the Tilt Town Titanettes. Going as long and strong as the Rolling Stones, The Cats were featured in the 1984 movie Wild Rose, filmed on the Iron Range about the first women miners. They are also one of the few bands with at least one portage together into the BWCA. See below for more info on the original press materials attached below.

Tickets and more information about this special December 28 reunion concert at
 https://theparkwaytheater.com/all-events/cats-under-the-stars-50.

 
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Upcoming Shows

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Paul Metsa & The Tilt Town Titanettes
Dec 19
Paul Metsa & The Tilt Town Titanettes
Paul Metsa & The Tilt Town Titanettes
Dec 26
Paul Metsa & The Tilt Town Titanettes
Cats Under the Stars Celebrate 50th Anniversary
Dec 28
Cats Under the Stars Celebrate 50th Anniversary

Featured Highlights

Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik’s book Blood In The Tracks Makes Finalist List For The 2024 ARSC Awards For Excellence

Association for Recorded Sound Collections | 06/17/24

Blood on the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians Behind Dylan's Masterpiece (University of Minnesota Press), authored by Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik, has made the finalists list for the 2024 Association For Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Awards for Excellence. Blood on the Tracks is listed as a finalist under the Best Research In Recorded Rock Music category.

Read the press release

See the full list of finalists for ARSC Awards for Excellence

Learn more about/buy Blood in the Tracks

Paul Metsa with harmonica player Sonny Earl (left) and bassist Jim Anton (right) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Calling audibles, Minneapolis singer Paul Metsa triumphs in his 40th anniversary celebration

With the help of friends from throughout his career, the captivating storyteller commemorated his first gig in the Twin Cities.

Minnesota Star Tribune | December 24, 2019

On Monday night, Minneapolis singer-songwriter Paul Metsa seemed almost as discombobulated at the Parkway Theater as the Vikings' offense did at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The difference is that while the Vikes had a playbook that went nowhere, Metsa worked without a setlist yet still managed to triumph. That's because he's a captivating storyteller, whether in song or in conversation, and an adept audible caller, especially when he gets help from his highly skilled musical friends.

Read the full article

Paul Metsa’s Walkin’ In A Woman’s World Now Available in Partnership With Rock the Cause Records

Available Now On All Digital Platforms

Get Out And Vote 11/15/24

“Walkin' In A Woman's World is dedicated to the women who raised me but also those who inspire me the most, especially my Mother, Bess Margaret Paul, whose face graces the cover of the single. It is also dedicated to the memory of Kitty Genovese, Carin Streufert and all victims of violence against women and girls. My hope is that Walkin' In A Woman's World will activate voters to understand the issues facing women today, and get to the polls to ensure a new path forward with joy, so let's not stop running until we are Walkin' In A Woman's World.” — Paul Metsa

Read more
 

In Remembrance and Celebration of “Spider” John Koerner

 

Paul Metsa and “Spider” John Koerner. Photo: Rubin Latz.

Watch the 6/23/24 Facebook Livestream of the “Spider” John Koerner Tribute/Memorial Gathering @Cabooze Bar (Mpls)

See and hear Paul Metsa playing the Tribute/Memorial to “Spider” John Koerner at the Cabooze Bar (Mpls) June 23, 2024.
Also featuring the Cactus Blossoms, Pop Wagner, Liquor Pigs, Jack Klatt, and Charlie Parr!

Watch Livestream

Listen to Wall of Power Radio Hour Tribute to Spider John Koerner (Part One – June 8, 2024)

We had three soulful chats as we celebrated the life, times, and music of the late great Spider John Koerner. The guests included folk and blues musician Charlie Parr, longtime Twin Cities folk singer Charlie Maguire, and record store owner, producer and longtime Koerner friend Mark Trehus.

Listen to Wall of Power Radio Hour Tribute to Spider John Koerner (Part Two – June 15, 2024)

We continue our Tribute to Spider John Koerner with three great guests: Tom Nelson (Tom’s Burn’t Down Cafe- Madeline Island, WI), Jack Pasternacki (Cats Under the Stars) and ace guitarist Dakota Dave Hull.

Watch Wall of Power TV Interview with Spider John Koerner (Part One — February 2022)

Koerner, Ray & Glover were folk rock pioneers who appeared at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival and achieved iconic status despite a handful of recordings and little Professional management. In February of 2022, Paul Metsa caught up with his old friend Spider John Koerner at Palmer's Bar in the neighborhood where it all began.

Watch Wall of Power TV Interview with Spider John Koerner (Part Two — February 2022)

Part Two of our Metsamerica Special recently shot at Palmer's Bar (in the neighborhood where it all began) Paul Metsa sits down with the one and only Spider John Koerner. Taking a break from KRG, John looks up Willie Murphy and heads for Hollywood!

Watch Wall of Power TV Interview with Spider John Koerner (Part Three — February, 2022)

Part 3 wraps up a great interview with Paul Metsa and the one and only Spider John Koerner. From building a career, a boat, his own telescope and finally getting the recognition KRG deserved for so long, the 83-year-old's stories ONLY get better!

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Paul Metsa’s Books

Blue Guitar Highway

This is a musician’s tale: the story of a boy growing up on the Iron Range, playing his guitar at family gatherings, coming of age in the psychedelic seventies, and honing his craft as a pro in Minneapolis, ground zero of American popular music in the mid-eighties. “There is a drop of blood behind every note I play and every word I write,” Paul Metsa says.

Alphabet Jazz: Poetry, Prose, Stories, and Songs

Alphabet Jazz is a collection of poetry, prose, stories, and songs that Metsa wrote between 1984 and 2022. Metsa describes it as "a personal diary of sorts- midnight blasts of inspiration, love letters in poem, personal tributes to musicians and friends who have passed on, true stories, letters to the editor and friends, and songs I have written along the way that I still perform."

Blood in the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians behind Dylan's Masterpiece

The story of the Minneapolis musicians who were unexpectedly summoned to re-record half of the songs on Bob Dylan's most acclaimed album

Bob Dylan in Minnesota: Troubadour Tales from Duluth, Hibbing and Dinkytown

Bob Dylan was born in Duluth in Minnesota, grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota and cut his musical teeth in the folk scene of Dinkytown, Minnesota. This travel guide brings together wonderful stories from these key locations and the roots and early life of Bob Dylan.

Featured Videos

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Minnesota State Arts Board and Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment logos.

Paul Metsa is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.