Pop Wagner at White Squirrel Bar (June 29, 2026)
Pop Wagner was brilliantly playing that old-time country and western music (as well as part time comedian) the day before his 77th birthday in his quarterly residency at the White Squirrel Bar in Saint Paul.
The temperatures had suddenly soared in Minnesota, shooting well into the high 90’s, with a humidity that made it feel like soup (and like 103 to boot). In these conditions, one must retreat into the darkest of indoors and the White Squirrel Bar gave respite with an early evening set from country artist Pop Wagner, who has a quarterly 2026 residency (every fifth Monday).
Pop Wagner is a long-time musician living here in Saint Paul, and I love the quote from Ron Miles on Wagner’s website: “Renaissance cowboy/raconteur”. His history is quite impressive, singer, fiddler, guitarist, square dance caller, lasso / trick roper(!), and more. He’s been at it in various forms from A Prairie Home Companion to being in an award winking opera over his five decade career. Appearing as a trio (vocals/guitar, fiddle/mandolin/vocals, and stand up bass/vocals), it was a perfect group for these originals and covers that evoked an old time country vibe, reminiscent of Woody Guthrie. It took a minute to click, but I realized it was AJ Srubas on fiddle and Rina Rossi on bass, who we last saw as part of Steam Machine in January 2026. Guess Who’s in Town was pure old country picking and was a great preview of the evening. I was somehow very pleased that Wagner’s voice was as seasoned as you would hope for this genre of music. Oklahoma Hills got some of the required yearning for the old place/times/emotional states and had our fiddle player hand plucking for a bit. Noting it was an “out of season” number, Wagner fitted his harmonica (though he had to make a last minute switch to the B instead of the D he had initially put in) for a great intro to Rolling on a Winter’s Night. It also got the first of the mandolin, and in the hands of a good player like Srubas, that’s one of the most gorgeous instruments you can get. Jealous Hearted Me had the Srubas and Rossi on vocals, and was a silly bit of fun. Cleo’s Gator was a Tex-Mex sound that continued the humor and mandolin that was perfect for the style. An audible had a Delmore Brothers cover of False Hearted Girl, which was described as “being salty”, and lyrically that was spot on. We also got our first bass solo and the band was clearly on top of things. Impressionist Two-Step was a hilarious mash up of impressionist painters in lyrics with that country picking music. (Side note: that multiple people could sing along to the fairly rapid chorus of artist names was nothing short of impressive.) The first set ended with Otto Wood, which got us our needed outlaw song and headed to a small break.
Set two had a change up of instrumentation, as Wagner also took to fiddle and Rossi moved to guitar. That dual fiddle obviously made a very different sound, and they started with a “philosophical number” in a Gid Tanner cover of Dance All Night with a Bottle in Your Hand, and we were forewarned of the sad third verse (the humor from Wagner was a calling card all night). Seneca Square Dance was a perfect instrumental and evoked those large dance halls and barns full of dancers. Silver Creek Hasty was a very belated fiddle tune to the original idea (40 years ago!), but it was good that the song had finally been written, and it continued the Midwest/Southern dance theme. We were informed that Wagner has a show at 331 Club in Minneapolis tomorrow for his 77th birthday, which got a clever and quick Happy Birthday strum on the fiddle. Closing on Apple Brandy, Pop Wagner had kept the crowd entertained and cool, and it’s worth finding one of his many gigs this summer.
