Worker’s Playtime at the 331 Club featuring John Louis at 331 Club

A weekly happy hour hosted by washboardist Mikkel, featuring a different artist every time.

Mikkel Beckmen (washboard, wooden tray, and stomp box) has been a fixture on the Twin Cities scene for a number of years; some of the folks he's played with include Corpse Reviver, the Brass Kings, Charlie Parr, and Lonesome Dan Kase & the Crush Collision Trio.

Country troubadour John Louis wanders around this Twin Town of music, writing and singing heartworn country folk songs. John’s that guy on the bus who sits quietly, looking tired like the rest of us. The difference is he is sitting there composing a song about your life and those painful poignant moments you dust off on the way home between life’s chores. His songs show us our lives and the subtle but important things that become universally important hallmarks of our Midwestern journey.

Like church basement rolls at the funeral. Like the small moments on road trips filled with meaning, loss and memory. The tragedies and triumphs that break us and keep us going one more day, John glimpses it all through a poet’s heart. When he stands bravely on a stage with a guitar and begins singing, we get to see it too. And it makes sense for a moment.

The songs John writes keep winning awards from prestigious songwriting showcases. Including the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase, and the Great River Folk Fest songwriter contest.