Bringing the World to the Twin Cities

It’s not the challenges, however, that Kubeczko focuses on. He’s more apt to discuss the musical high points. Of particular note, he recalls DiFranco’s 1993 Cedar debut. “We brought in Ani for the first time to about forty-seven people who paid,” he says. “We gave away a bunch of tickets to make the room fuller. It was obvious the moment she hit the stage that ‘Wow, this is something special.’”       

“Another magic moment,” he says, “[was] when Martin Hayes, the Irish fiddle player, was touring with [local guitar wizard] Dean Magraw. John Williams, the concertina accordion player from Solas, was in town. The three of them had never played together before, and when John came onstage, the magic between Dean and John and Martin was incredible. The audience broke numerous chairs that night, jumping up on them and screaming and dancing.”

He also mentions great performances by artists who’ve since died, including Warren Zevon, who started his final tour at The Cedar when he was dying of cancer, and his close friend Frankie Kennedy of the legendary Irish band Altan. “Having Frankie come back and do one more tour before he died, that show was really an emotional one,” Kubeczko says. “What a sweet flute player. What a sweet, sweet man.”

Kubeczko admits that between state arts board cuts and the challenges of getting foreign artists into the country, running The Cedar is still a fiscal challenge. He rattles off a list of shows he’d love to book, if only the money was there—three nights with Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, a DJ set by Mr. Scruff, and a sampling of England’s Big Chill Festival. But it’s more of an exercise in dreaming than self-pity. There’s a sense that the groundwork for moving forward is being laid.

The Cedar has recently added a development director and in February hired an executive director, allowing Kubeczko to focus on artistic direction. With these changes, he says, “we can really put our little space up alongside the Walker and the Ordway as a key presenter of this kind of music.”

There’s also a second Live at the Cedar CD due out later this year. Having already listened to 1,500 recordings for Visionaries, Kubeczko believes they have a jump on this next disc, which will feature collaborations. “We’ve put together some strange people over time,” he says, recalling when local improvisers Eight Head jammed with Altan and the time Bill Frisell collaborated with American fiddler Bruce Molsky, Senegalese kora player Solo Cissokho, and Swedish fiddler Ellika Frisell. (The two Frisells later found out they are distantly related.)

“It’s my way of sharing my work,” Kubeczko says. “Some people can write a book. I can make a compilation. And that’s a joyful thing to be able to share.” 

Bill Snyder writes about music for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.