Mary Strand Setlist

Take Your Time
Different Kind of World
A Place to Roam
Quarter to 10
For All of Us (Dear Taylor)
The Me I Need to Be
If We Could
Least of All Her
Alexa Please
Wanna Talk Dirty

Set Times

Turf Club
St Paul

DOORS
7:00PM

MARY STRAND &
THE GARAGE
8:00PM

RHETT MILLER
9:00PM

Tour Dates

Nov. 20 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
Nov. 22 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
Nov. 23 – Tulsa, OK – Mercury Lounge
Dec. 3 – Madison, WI – Atwood Music Hall
Dec. 4 – Milwaukee, WI – Vivarium
Dec. 5 – Davenport, IA – Raccoon Motel
Dec. 11 – Washington, D.C. – Union Stage
Dec. 12 – Wayne, PA – 118 North
Dec. 14 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
Dec. 19 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
Dec. 29-31 – Evanston, IL – SPACE

Getting close to the start of the holiday season, the weather in Saint Paul was still pretty excellent, making the walk to Turf Club simple and enjoyable. At the end of that stroll was an evening of authors but, more importantly, alt rock & country musicians headlined by Rhett Miller.

Mary Strand and the Garage got things going. Strand may be late to the music world, but she’s had a fascinating latter stage career change to the arts. Leaving the legal world over a decade ago, she’s actually made her way as a successful writer, including a four book YA series based on the Bennet Sisters of Pride and Prejudice. Beyond that, she also started writing and performing music, with her debut album in 2023 and her newest, I Don’t Need Your Permission, released in August of 2025. Normally a quartet, they appeared as a duo (vocals/guitar, guitar/backing vocals) which included Ryan Smith of Soul Asylum, who is a major part of the Twin Cities music scene (we last saw him playing with Willie Wisely & His Belle Bottoms in Lakeville in July). Starting with Take Your Time, Strand was all business in leather jacket and rocking on guitar and singing. A quick thanks to the crowd and Strand was back to it, with Smith providing higher harmonies and softer guitar on his acoustic to her alto vocals and electric guitar. A bit of a joke (“It’s a one car garage tonight!”) about the fact that the other two members of the band were not on stage (drums & bass, presumably because Miller was playing solo) was pretty funny, as they started into A Place to Roam.

I’m always interested in catching a a band play a more stripped down sound and how the simpler music and lyrics have to carry farther. It caused a bit of discussion on who should start songs with no drummer, and it was fun to watch Strand and Smith carry things forward. For All of Us (Dear Taylor), was based on a writing prompt and was part of an anger that drove her recent album. Strand’s sound was a pretty clean indie rock, even in this simpler duo arrangement. Some amusing banter between Strand and Smith was emblematic of their ease in playing together and was delight to watch. If We Could let both vocalists shine and was a pretty excellent number. We had a couple of moments late in the set where the lack of the full band made things momentarily dicey, but they eventually settled out on the positive side. Finishing on Wanna Talk Dirty, Mary Strand closed an effective thirty five minute set.

Up next was Rhett Miller. Lead singer for alt country band Old 97’s, Miller also has a lengthy and impressive solo career, with ten albums, including 2025’s A Lifetime of Riding by Night. Like our opener, he is also a published author, and the merch table included some children’s books in addition to the music. Coming to the stage solo and on acoustic guitar, Miller started with Jagged, setting the tone with a high energy, lyrically depressing number. You often picture alt country as depressing, down tempo music, a la Uncle Tupelo, but Miller wasn’t having that at all in the early going. His guitar work was pretty brilliant and it was clear that Miller wanted people to move and be part of the evening.

Miller noted he had a vocal cord surgery at the end of 2024, and that is absolutely worked. Proving it, he went into a song with high falsetto, and you could tell Miller was so excited to be back at his apex and This Is What I Do was nearly magical. The audience responded to that and the positive cycle between them and artist was in full gear. Single guy on a guitar can go lots of places, but Miller was intent on driving the pace higher and was a ball of energy. A pretty hilarious moment about needing readers to see his set list got a music stand delivered to stage, and Miller amusingly sighed, “I think I’m entering a new era”. Designs on You had Miller in a nearly Springsteen mode, and the crowd was ecstatic in response. Pulling across his whole solo history, he leaned towards an older number to have the audience sing along. Barrier Reef (an Old 97’s number) was outstanding and had Miller in full performative mode. Jesus Loves You was another powerful rock & roll song and the crowd was on it for the “take me to the river” lyrics to the close. Come As You Are, off the new album, was an alt country classic and Miller kept the tempo fast.

Miller was absolutely soaring on vocals, and he was dealing aces. Champaign, Illinois had a long intro that had Miller in Dylan-esque narrator mode. His killer humor was key and the set up to Rollerskate Skinny was self-deprecating and also a fantastic number. Doreen was a late number and had the guitar sounding more like a bass at times. Back for the encore, Miller went into Question and had the crowd hanging on his every movement. Miller ended as he started: high energy, great vocal work, and an infectious enthusiasm that had the crowd bubbling with excitement as the show finished.