Peer into the Ears of Dan Wilson and Al Franken

Trampled by Turtles

Speaking of country, I'm a big bluegrass fan. I got turned on to this band by Tom Saxhaug, the state senator from Grand Rapids. I thought it was a little suspicious that he spent most of our first meeting telling me how great their new album was. And wouldn't you know it, his son turns out to be the bass player. But the album really is great. This New Year's Eve, Franni and I will be at the TBT show at the Orpheum.

Steve Cohen

Bill Weaver

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More About

• Dan Wilson
• The Dixie Chicks
• Mike Doughty
• Rick Rubin
• Musicals

Fountains of Wayne

Specifically, their song "Better Things," which is a cover of a Kinks tune. I think it's going to be our campaign song because of its message, which is that better things are up ahead.

The Grateful Volunteers

Okay, this is kind of a cheat. The Grateful Volunteers are a Dead cover band composed of some great DFLers who are kind enough to play at some of our events. And even kinder-enough to let me sing once in a while. Specifically, "Brokedown Palace."

Call Time: The Musical

This warrants some explanation. As you know, running for Senate requires that I raise a great deal of money, especially since Norm Coleman has the deep-pocketed special interests on his side. So I spend hours and hours a week calling people to ask for support. To keep myself from going crazy, I've been entertaining myself and Kris Dahl, my "call time manager," by composing and singing hundreds—no, thousands—of songs for a musical based on call time titled Call Time: The Musical. Some songs are only 15 seconds long, such as "I Left a Message and I Hope They Call Me Back." Or, "I Don't Think That Was His Office Number (I Think That's His Home)." Most of the songs have original music, but some simply use existing tunes, such as "Pick Up the Phone, Arlen Lundahl," to the tune of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita. I should probably have just put "Springsteen" for this, huh? (I really like his new album.)