Boiled in Lead

Live: Minneapolis (Menton, Miller, Stenshoel); St. Paul (Magraw); the Arrowhead (Anders)

On their 906 billion myspace friends (at presstime): “That’s a misprint—it should read ‘906 bazillion.’” (Miller)

On keeping things fresh after twenty-four years: “Since we consider almost any source fair game, there’s always some new rhythm or style to tackle. My latest obsession is the Swedish polska and how it can be combined with an Irish slip jig and a Turkish karsilamas. Also, we’re using more improvisation, which always keeps things fresh.” (Stenshoel)

On Dean joining the band: “BiL’s always had a wider dynamic range than most. Dean brings new realms of quiet to the mix. Now we can turn the volume to minus eleven and plus eleven.” (Miller)

Best thing about the Twin Cities music scene: “I’ve been in the scene since the sixties and find that a long and complex subject.” (Anders)

The worst thing: “The struggle for employment, income, and recognition.” (Magraw)

On their album: “We’re not sure what to expect ourselves! It will whistle, sing, and stomp.” (Menton)

On the band's name: “It’s from an Irish song called ‘The Two Sisters’—a story of love, jealousy, murder, thievery, retribution. Jealous of the attentions of a rich young suitor, the older sister tossed the younger into the river to drown. At the end, ‘the eldest sister was boiled in lead.’” (Miller)

Band highlights: “Playing the Town and Country in London, playing the Winnipeg Folk Festival, winning Minnesota Music Awards.” (Stenshoel)

On band disappointments: “Because we are all busy with various other projects, it’s been difficult recently to schedule as many gigs as we would like to.” (Stenshoel)

“Not fishing enough on tours.” (Anders)

On each other's nonmusical contributions: “Drew brings beer, Robin brings his dog, Dave brings polskas, Dean brings the noise and the funk, I bring green tea.” (Menton)

“All kinds of very strange personal problems.” (Anders)

On having Todd back: “Besides his musicianship, he is a very funny, smart man. After all these years, it felt like we picked back up right where we left off.” (Stenshoel)

“Todd left the band?” (Anders)

On what they're listening to: “I enjoy the mix of styles on KFAI’s Fubar Omniverse and International Jazz Conspiracy shows, and KBEM’s String Theory show. About a year ago, my daughter and I started going to the American Swedish Institute on Thursday nights to learn Swedish fiddle tunes, so I’ve got a lot of those floating around in my mind.” (Stenshoel)

“Old and new British Isles folk, Joanna Newsom, Howlin’ Wolf, Medieval vocal music.” (Menton)

“I keep an ear on a number of music blogs, so I hear a lot of new tracks that way. These four are high on my personal charts—from Sweden, Ranarim’s new record Morning Star, Tenacious D’s The Pick of Destiny soundtrack, Circulus’s Clocks Are Like People, and Spit to See the Shine, a compilation of Twin Cities female bands from 1987 to 1998, which I helped to produce.” (Miller)

“Nature.” (Anton)

“Carnatic Bhajans, Dhrupad Rudra Vina, Lester Young circa 1937 to 1941, Johnny Hodges, lullabies, birds, Irish singers.” (Magraw)

Catch Their Act: March 17. First Avenue, 701 1st. Ave. N., Mpls., 612-332-1775, boiledinlead.com