Andrea Swensson presents Deeper Blues

The emotional, epic story of James Cornbread Harris–a self-proclaimed blessed dude and one of Minneapolis’s most influential musicians: James Cornbread Harris Jr., the songwriter, pianist, and consummate bluesman whose seventy years making music helped to shape the Minneapolis Sound. Andrea Swensson, takes us along on his musical journey from a first gig entertaining his fellow soldiers during World War II to his subsequent years playing music for audiences across Minnesota. Following Cornbread’s extraordinary life story, Deeper Blues is a unique history of Minnesota music that evolves into a heartfelt tale of reconciliation and forgiveness, all to the tune of the legendary musician’s signature sound.

Andrea Swensson is an author, podcast host, and music journalist in Minneapolis. She hosts the Official Prince Podcast and has contributed music journalism to numerous publications including NPR Music, Pitchfork, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, City Pages, and The Current, where she previously hosted The Local Show. Her first book, Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound, was released in October 2017 by the University of Minnesota Press and honored with a Minnesota Book Award in Minnesota Nonfiction.

Jim Walsh is an award-winning author, journalist, writer, and songwriter from Minneapolis. A columnist for the Southwest Journal and regular contributor to MinnPost, his work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, Super Lawyers, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, City Pages, and many other publications. He is the author of Fear and Loving in South Minneapolis (University of Minnesota Press, 2020); Bar Yarns and Manic-Depressive Mixtapes: Jim Walsh on Music from Minneapolis to the Outer Limits (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), Gold Experience: Following Prince in the ‘90s (University of Minnesota Press, 2017), The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting: An Oral History (Voyageur Press, 2007) and, with Dennis Pernu, The Replacements: Waxed Up Hair and Painted Shoes: The Photographic History (Voyageur Press, 2013). A father of two (Henry and Helen!) and sometime teacher at the Loft Literary Center, Walsh is the former leader of bands REMs, Laughing Stock, and The Mad Ripple, and the ringleader behind the 13-year-old singer/songwriter showcase The Mad Ripple Hootenanny. His new band Jim Walsh and the Dog Day Cicadas has recorded two releases, “Songs For The Band To Learn” (2017) and “Shout It Out To You” (2022). He lives in Minneapolis with his partner Mary Beth Hanson and their two cats, Rumi and Rilke.