The weather is warming up here in Minnesota meaning that Summer is right around the corner.  It also means that the Music In The Zoo summer concert series put on by our friends at Sue McLean & Associates and Subway is ready to kick off.  This concert series takes place at the Minnesota Zoo Ampitheater in Apple Valley, MN from June 6th to August 20th and features numerous national bands from various musical styles and genres (including a Hanson reunion!)

There are typically a ska band or two thrown in the mix, but this Summer there seems to be a bunch of different ska and reggae groups playing:

Friday, June 25th — The Wailers, The Aggrolites
Wednesday, June 30th — Buckwheat Zydeco, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
Thursday, July 22nd — Squeeze, The English Beat
Saturday, August 7th — Jimmy Cliff

Tickets for these shows and any other Music In The Zoo concerts can be purchased HERE.  Stay tuned to MNSKA for chances to win tickets to these one-of-a-kind shows!

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Teachers and parents in today’s society tell us that we are all winners.  I, however, know that there are only 3 winners…in our Cherry Poppin’ Daddies contest, that is.  This decidedly non-Midwestern episode of the Midwest Ska Moment has me announcing the lucky contest winners.

Track of the Day: “Hi and Lo” by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

This episode is brought to you by the Fancy Pants Gangsters, a Twin Cities netcast network and MNSKA, Minnesota’s Ska Community.  If you are in a ska or reggae influenced band and would like to be featured on the show, email Courtney at MSM@fancypantsgangsters.com

If you would like to download this episode or subscribe to this podcast via iTunes, please CLICK HERE

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MNSKA.com is proud to present our latest contest courtesy of Rock Ridge Music.  The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies have released a brand new full length album Susquehanna and a compilation of all of their ska tunes called Skaboy-JFK.  In honor of this occasion, MNSKA.com and Rock Ridge Music are giving away both albums, along with an out-of-print signed 7″ vinyl split with Reel Big Fish entitled Vacationing In Palm Springs!

To enter the contest, simply email us at mnskanews@gmail.com and include Cherry Poppin’ Daddies Contest in the subject line.  When you enter the contest, you will also be added to the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies mailing list to keep you up to date on upcoming tour dates and events!

Grand Prize: A signed 7″ vinyl split with Reel Big Fish Vacationing In Palm Springs, Skaboy-JFK CD, and Susquehanna CD

Second Prize: Skaboy-JFK CD, signed Cherry Poppin’ Daddies poster, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies T-Shirt

Third Prize: Susquehanna CD, assorted Cherry Poppin’ Daddies pins and stickers

On February 1st, I will randomly select the winners.  What are you waiting for?  You gotta play to win!  Best of luck!

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As we posted earlier, the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are back in action with not 1, but 2 new releases; the brand new full-length album Susquehanna and the ska collection Skaboy JFK.  Right here on MNSka.com, you can stream the songs “Hi and Lo” and “2:29.”  As singer Steve Perry explained in his recent interview, he originally wrote the song “Hi and Lo” for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.  When they decided they didn’t want to use it, Perry recorded it with CPD for the new album.

“Hi and Lo” from Susquehanna

“2:29″ from Skaboy JFK

You can download the song “2:29″ HERE.  Stay tuned to MNSka.com for a chance to win signed CD’s, 7″s, signed posters, stickers and all sorts of other goodies from the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies courtesy of Rock Ridge Music.

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Everyone knows of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies due to their crazy radio exposure for their swing hit “Zoot Suit Riot” in the late ’90s.  But if you’ve been following the band from the start of their career, you’ll know that they have incredible range musical genres from rock to calypso to ska.  The group has just put out a new album Susquehanna that exemplifies all the different styles they are capable of.

Noise Complaint Radio out of Philadelphia, PA talked to singer Steve Perry (no, not that Steve Perry) on the phone about the band, the new record, and how they’ve been successfully proving that they are more than a swing band.  Perry also discusses the new release Skaboy JFK, which is a collection of all the ska tunes they have written as a way to package an album that’s just for ska fans.  You can stream the interview below.

Stay tuned to MNSka.com for your chance to win the new Cherry Poppin’ Daddies CD’s, courtesy of Rock Ridge Music!

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(The song) finds the Daddies trying their hand at ska-punk á la the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, skipping along at a pleasant upstroke-heavy speed before arriving at a breathtakingly epic chorus to rival “The Impression That I Get”; with powerful guitars and a fantastic hornline, lead singer Steve Perry strongly, earnestly yelps “I’ve been high / but mostly low / A lifelong lodger on a dead-end road / But I like mine / to shine like gold / The darkest hour turned brighter than a rose.” This is ska-punk at its absolute finest, a product of quality songwriting and musicianship, and a song that is possibly better than Reel Big Fish’s entire repertoire; ska fans burnt out on the superficially sunny and wacky vibe that the genre’s adopted since its mainstream explosion would be hard-pressed to argue.

You can read the rest of the review here.

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