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Interested in all the great music from Minnesota -- from Dylan to Prince to The Jayhawks to Husker Du and MORE, I asked Twin Cities musician Kraig Johnson (Run Westy Run, Iffy, The Jayhawks, The Project) for his thoughts on the quintessential Minnesota song.  "I think of a song I heard when I was driving in my car the other day, is 'I Will Dare' by The Replacements.  Because, to me, that record, it just brings me back to a certain time, that year and everything.  And, I just thought it still just sounds so good to me, that song, you know?  It always will bring me back to Minneapolis and that time.  And, I heard it in my car the other day, and it put a smile on my face.  Oh, I love the intro to this!  And, there it is, you know?" 

Golden Smog's Weird Tales (1998, Rykodisc) is an amazing record, and one of its standout songs is "Jennifer Save Me."  Earlier this year, I interviewed Smog stalwart Kraig Johnson (right in the picture above; fellow Smogger Daniel Murphy is to the left) and asked for his thoughts about the tune that he co-wrote.  "I love that song," he said.  "We don’t play that one enough live.  That was interesting because we were recording the Sound of Lies thing with The Jayhawks, and it was just me and Gary [Louris] in the studio.  And, we started – I was just messing around with some chords . . . and, we didn’t end up doing it for The Jayhawks, but both me and him really liked it, and he’s like – do that for The Smog.  And, I was like, yes, we should."