The Minnewiki: Minnesota Music Encyclopedia
Minnesota Public Radio is publishing the Minnewiki which is "an online reference about music-related artists, groups, and venues with a Minnesota connection."

There's a 'Random Page' link on the left which is a good way to explore the site. There's lots of interesting tidbits. Bob Dylan has one of the lengthier writeups. I found out that Peter Himmelman, Sussman Lawrence's lead singer, is married to Bob Dylan's daughter, Maria. This page was odd but eventually linked to the Fort Wilson Riot page (a band).

There is a timeline within the Wiki with links to individual years. I found a year with a random page link but there doesn't seem to be a link from the home page. I searched on 1965 and came up with this List of Years but they need a home page link.

The home page only has a few links to content. The Categories page has more including a Jazz category. All typical wiki world -- a dash of chaos mixed with wonderful surprise and a teaspoon of befuddlement.

I hope this catches on and people begin adding to it and reading it. I see some self-promotion among the articles but for many smaller bands, it's probably the only way they will get in the wiki whether they are currently making music or made it back in their day. No problem as long as we are honest.

Omigod. Judy Garland isn't there. I hope that's corrected soon. Hmm. I could add her and provide a link to Wikipedia's article.

Searching around for any Iron Range rockers with very little luck. Of course, Paul Metsa is mentioned along with his original Minneapolis band, Cats Under the Stars but no other content on his page and the band link goes to an empty page where you can add the content. The Range had a very vibrant rock-and-roll scene in the early seventies.

Wiki software is Mediawiki.


- posted by Peter Fleck @ Permalink 11:59 PM [to Del.icio.us]