Run River North Shows off New Music at 7th St Entry

Last updated on May 20th, 2019 at 05:47 pm

Shiny Penny and Run River North power through.

Last night at the 7th Street Entry in downtown Minneapolis was a new experience for me. These two bands had to accommodate inconveniences to their sets and still both put on great ones.

Shiny Penny, coming from Kokomo, Indiana (about an 11 hour drive) is touring on some new music they’ve released in the last year, most notably “Love Isn’t Easy“. Their guitarist wasn’t able to make the show because of the birth of his child. Dean (vocals, keys, guitar) and Scott (drums) put on an acoustic set that was still very good, it obviously sounded very different than they do on Spotify, but Dean has an absolutely wonderful voice.

They have some great melodies, since it was acoustic, Dean really did most of the heavy lifting. They, funnily enough, wrote their set list on a napkin and forgot it. Some memorable covers they did included an acoustic version of DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear my Throat”. Scott, who is used to playing drums, played the guitar as well. It’s his second time touring with the band (if I heard that correctly). They ended their set with Bill Withers “Lean On Me”. All in all, a solid set.

Run River North released a new EP called Monsters Calling Home, Vol. 1. Run River North has gone through a bit of change in the last three years. They lost three members (bass, drums, and violin). Alex, the lead singer, discussed with the audience how hard it was to make music and how, as a band, they were trying to figure out if they can still tour.

Alex told the audience that the band had a bit of a day getting here. Their van’s gas tank got a tear in it and broke down about thirty miles from the city. Luckily, a guy found them and brought them here (classic Minnesota nice).

Alex does a great job of interacting and talking with the crowd. He introduces a song they wrote with Grouplove, called “Hands Up”. Which was great and also on their new EP. They have another great energy another song I like called “Casina“. Sally and Daniel did a great job backing up Alex on this song. Alex and Sally had a lot of great duet moments during their set as well.

The band did their bigger hit, “Run or Hide“, acoustically, which was a nice touch. It really lets Alex show his range. The crowd sang along too, which is always a good touch. This lead into “Growing Up”, also acoustically.

Alex tells the rest of the story, stating that he doesn’t know how they’re going to get to Seattle (which they are supposed to play on Tuesday). The band is stranded over the weekend. They immediately receive offers to drive them and to help which really shows how great of a fanbase RRN has here in Minnesota.

Alex introduces Fernanda Fuentes on the drums. She is deemed the reason they can do new songs. They play a new unreleased song they hope to come out with soon called “Wake Up” that they wrote with the Wrecks.

The song really showed how, as a band, they seem to have their mojo back. The whole band has done so much to keep going, you have to give them kudos for pulling together after losing members and getting back to it. They are making more music and I look forward to hearing their next EP, “Monsters Coming Home, Vol. 2” when it’s done.

I was fortunate enough to talk with Alex after the show, and he felt great, he said he is playing his most authentic self. It is incredible to see their various musical influences from where they started, with mostly folk (Alex used to term “Asian-Mumford”) and combining that with their rock and electric influence to make great music.

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