Laamar & Lanue at Dakota Jazz Club

Laamar is the latest project led by Minneapolis-based singer, songwriter, saxophonist and composer Geoffrey Lamar Wilson. Wilson is the former frontman of Brooklyn-based Jus Post Bellum, also known for his multilayered looped saxophone performances and catchy podcast ditties (Terrible, Thanks for Asking). This latest project blends his idiomatic inspirations bridging folk, soul, R&B and country into a collection of songs with a constant ear towards issues of racial and social justice, and the shared human experience.

Feeling detached from her previously released work, Duluth’s Sarah Krueger set out to Hive, a small studio nestled near the river in her hometown of Eau Claire, WI. Krueger assembled a cast of collaborators to help flesh out a collection of songs that would later become the catalyst for Lanue.

In Lanue’s self-titled LP, Krueger continues to amplify her knack for straightforward and earnest songwriting while maintaining a vocal delivery that sits like honey over layers of warm synths, guitars, and percussion. Ranging from confessional to nostalgic, each track is brightened by a lush lift while continuing to rest inside the framework of the folk tradition.