Track 1: Cabin Fever
Winter is lingering on like a bad cold. While this will definitely go down as one of the worst subzero spells in recent history, there were some really fun moments in January and February that made the season more bearable. I’m referring to our series of Thursday night programs called Cabin Fever that invited artists to design and host events that were social, participatory, and slightly idiosyncratic—including a poetry and printmaking party, butter-making aerobics, B-movie bingo, and a collaborative song-writing session about the long northern winters called Fever Songs.
Oakland-based artist Lexa Walsh and local music hero John Munson (Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic, The New Standards) hosted Fever Songs, with support from artist Chris Larson who supplied the rustic cabin, musician Jerry Brownrigg, and sound recording engineer Richard Medek. It took a talented team to pull off a one-night-only recording studio and an engaged audience willing to put some time into composing a song. The lyrics people contributed were fantastic and covered a range of emotion, from hostility to humor. Lexa, John, and Jerry were masterful composers as they instantaneously interpreted the texts into sound, choosing a punk flavor for one or a folky melody for another. Enjoy the resulting tracks—proof that our creativity cannot be suppressed by a long Minnesota winter.
(Note: all songs were sung and performed by Lexa, John, and Jerry with help from some of the songwriters. Track 14, “Ukulele” was sung and strummed entirely by the songwriters, Anna Marie Vu and Dave Kaminski.)
Track 2: Cold Outside
Track 3: Days Are Getting Longer
Track 4: Dead Frog
Track 5: Die Right Here
Track 6: Fed on Potatoes
Track 7: Frankie Boy
Track 8: Hate Mix
Track 9: Minnesnowta Territory
Track 10: Polar Vortex Polka
Track 11: Sexy Long Underwear
Track 12: South Pitch
Track 13: Stinging Piggies
Track 14: Ukulele
Track 15: Winter is My Favorite Season
Track 16: 24-Hour Nurse
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