Two family acts graced the patio stage at Palmer’s Bar in Minneapolis for an evening of dreamy Americana and smart, fun country music.

The Jenkins Twins and The Sapsuckers. Photo credits: Michael Weiler.

The heat wave had finally broken the day before, and it was a beautiful, breezy-verging-on-windy evening in Minneapolis. The kind of day that might give a visitor the mistaken impression that we have great weather here, when in actuality, perfect days are rare, something we Minnesotans don’t take for granted.

In short, it was the best possible weather for a show on the patio at Palmer’s—one of my favorite outdoor venues, cozily tucked between the back of the bar and a tall apartment building, with a nice-sized stage and multiple seating areas. And hopefully it made the Twin Cities an attractive option for the opening act to return to on future tours!

I’d been hoping for a chance to see The Jenkins Twins live since I reviewed their breathtaking EP The Dance Hall of My Mind back in 2021. I’m a sucker for blood harmony, and Trevor and Trenton Jenkins showed me that twin harmonies (and unison singing) take it to another level entirely. They’ve also crafted an irresistible Americana sound that draws inspiration from influences as diverse as Roy Orbison and Bruce Springsteen but comes together as something fresh and distinctive.

But they’re Kentucky-based and most of their touring, at least since I’ve been following them, has been regional. So I was beyond excited when they booked a brief run of Midwest shows that culminated in Minneapolis, opening for one of my favorite Wisconsin bands.

Besides their four-song 2021 EP—which I’ve probably listened to at least a hundred times, often on repeat—I didn’t know much about their music, so I knew that even in the brief time they were allotted for their opening set, they’d be playing unfamiliar songs. On the way to the show, I found myself wishing I’d brushed up on their previous records, but at the same time I was excited to experience some of their songs for the first time as live performances.

I usually discover artists through going to concerts, so when I’ve gotten to know and love their studio sound first, I always wonder if they’ll measure up to it live. I arrived early enough to hear soundchecks, and any doubt I might’ve had was vanquished at the first note the brothers sang. I think I forgot to breathe for a few moments as their voices intertwined and soared together, giving new meaning to “breathless anticipation” as I waited for their set to start.

The Jenkins Twins. Photo credit: Michael Weiler.

After a few minutes that felt like hours, they were back on stage, and I was instantly swept away on a wave of beautiful sound. Although they were performing as a duo instead of the full band I was used to from their recordings, they managed to create a full sound with just an acoustic and an electric guitar and their voices.

As it turned out, they played only two of the four songs of theirs I know by heart, “Is This a Dream” and “Rose Red Dress.” Of the six other tunes they performed, four were originals I was unfamiliar with. It was love at first listen. Most of their songs center around romantic stories—some happy, some sad, some conflicted—but the vivid imagery and creative wordplay in their lyrics breathe new life into classic themes. “Here she comes, spinnin’ like a carousel,” they sing in “Rose Red Dress,” “through a beer-stained floor and a pedal steel swell.”

The last song of their set was a toe-tapping, crowd-pleasing rendition of Buck Owens’ “Love’s Gonna Live Here.” This brief taste of seeing The Jenkins Twins live made me eager to see more; hopefully they’ll be back our way someday, but if not, they talked about some Kentucky music festivals that sound like they might be worth a trip down there!

I asked if the unfamiliar songs were from their earlier albums and was excited to hear that they’re all new, and will be coming out on an album probably early next year! The sound will be different from Dance Hall, they said. I think they called the new style “desert-y,” and while I could’ve probed for more detail about what that meant, I prefer to use my imagination as I eagerly await the new record.

Next up after a short intermission was The Sapsuckers, who’ve had this fourth-Sundays monthly residency at Palmer’s since last fall. We’ve covered them a few times, reviewing a 2021 show at Icehouse, breaking the story about the residency, and featuring them as our very first guests on our podcast, so you know we’re huge fans of this duo (Joe Hart and Nikki Grossman)—and of the fantastic local musicians they assemble to play with them when they’re in the Twin Cities.

For this show, they were joined by the highly sought-after Dan Lowinger on electric guitar, Ryan Otte (who performs his own original country music under the stage name Cole Diamond) on drums, and bassist Eric Struve of too many great bands to list here. Grossman alternates between fiddle and acoustic guitar and sings lead for a majority of their songs, while Hart plays acoustic guitar and mandolin and harmonizes when he’s not singing lead.

The Sapsuckers. Photo credit: Michael Weiler.

They may not have the natural boost of blood harmonies, but Hart and Grossman are married and have a tight, almost psychic bond, so it’s equally thrilling to hear them sing together. They’re prolific songwriters with a knack for clever, playful lyrics that tell a wide range of stories, from the comedic “Beer in the Headlights” (about friends having an impromptu party on the side of the road when one of their trucks breaks down) to the bittersweet abandoned-lover ballad “Fools Were Made to Be Broken.”

They thankfully played one of my favorite newer songs, the puzzling but intriguing “Carla Joan,” a one-sided conversation related by an unreliable narrator who claims to not be Carla Joan even though she’s driving her car. As she tries to talk her way out of some kind of confrontation with an armed stranger (or are they?), she weaves a web of claims that may or may not be lies. Grossman’s vocals and Hart’s mandolin add a quizzical, mysterious air to this unique story song.

They played a lot of their uptempo songs and, by midway through their set, had a number of couples twirling around on the patio in front of the stage. Even though they had nearly 90 minutes to play, their set flew by as well. Luckily, they plan to continue the residency at least through September and possibly longer, and they have other upcoming gigs in the Cities, including at Eagles Club in Minneapolis.

The Sapsuckers have been working on a long-awaited new album, and they confirmed that it’ll finally be coming out—either in November or January, they predict. There’ll also be a separate two-single record, and they promised me that “Carla Joan” will be one of the two songs on it! With over 30 songs written but unrecorded, they have enough for two more albums after this, but we’ll have to wait and see when they get back to a studio. Having heard many of them live, I know they’re all album-worthy and need to exist in recorded form at some point.

Even though the show flew by, it was a gorgeous and entertaining night of music that made me think about the power of familial bonds—whether siblings or spouses—in crafting highly original songs and forming unforgettable vocal combinations. Keep an eye out for their upcoming albums, which I can tell from this show are both going to be spectacular, and do yourself a favor by seeing either act live the next chance you get!