HartBeat

A Skaggs Family Christmas Volume Two album cover.

Snow flake's a fallin', my old home's a callin'

12:45 PM, Oct 29, 2011

With autumn closing in or closing out in some areas, what better time to start building that Christmas music collection?

'I'm never going back to my old school'

11:23 PM, Sep 2, 2011

If you have ever traveled "to the North Country fair, where the winds hit heavy on the borderline," you may have noticed a large building in the downtown Duluth area with a large clock tower.

The rain, the Capitol and other things

1:51 PM, Jun 1, 2011

The law making process at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul is into the special session laps. Some bills have been apprehended in the gubernatorial veto speed trap while other legislation, same sex marriage is taking a detour straight to the November 2012 ballot.

It's All Happening at the Zoo

7:44 AM, Mar 31, 2011

At the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, the political animals are pacing the halls and legislative chambers

Just pick up the telephone

3:58 PM, Feb 25, 2011

In the subterranean bowels of the building where the Hartbeat distills information from a variety of platforms, there are no windows.

This makes the environment safe from the ravages of winter weather. The other journalists and I feed information both written and audio visual onto the multi platforms of Capitol news on which we balance. The fluid nature of the legislature provides us with material, but we often don't know if is sunny or cloudy outside the thick walls.

The Train Kept a Rollin'

9:20 AM, Jan 7, 2011

The opening day of the legislative session found this Hartbeat blogger pulling my camera and tripod around the Minnesota Capitol looking for different angles on a story that is repeated yearly.

Two Christmas discs to expand your holiday horizons.

There's a New Kid in Town

8:41 AM, Dec 17, 2010

I never know when the idea for a Hartbeat will drop onto my plate. For this Hartbeat, it dropped into a steaming bowl of pho.

Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)

8:13 AM, Nov 18, 2010

This Hartbeat was inspired by a t-shirt. My friend, Jeff Phillips, brought it to me from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. The graphic is pretty simple--an image of an AM car radio dial.

Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Band.

Express Yourself

7:50 AM, Oct 7, 2010

During these colorful days of autumn, there is no shortage of political candidates expressing themselves. The airways are brimming with harvest baskets of media ads, debates, hand shaking and door knocking. For as long as these politicians have sought approval from voters, musicians have been looking for fans for their own self expression.

Now I've Got My Magic Bus

9:10 PM, Sep 2, 2010

Take measuring spoons and fill them with: clear blue skies, a frosted cake shaped like Minnesota, an eager pack of jackals, one large bus and a candidate for U.S. Congress and you have a recipe that permits an office seeker to pull some earned media (unpaid face time) out of the election oven. It's even better if they can serve up morsels to a public and press unsure of their hunger for anything other than deep fried cheese curds.

Hartbeat Blog: Play Guitar, Play

9:39 PM, Aug 16, 2010

A horse swished its tail in the summer heat, fretting about the buzzing flies. The aromas of cooking food mingled with the odors of manure. Canopies protecting food and tables from the threat of rain were set up on an expanse of grass. From two out buildings, the sounds of wood being sanded emitted. As I maneuvered the Hartbeat mobile into a parking space on a freshly mowed field, I thought that it seemed like a good place to start on a journey of the healing power of music. When I opened the door to a workshop filled with people building guitars, I knew I had come to the right place. I was about to enter a two day experience with a group of volunteers building guitars from kits that would be given to veterans in need of this healing power of music.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

11:12 AM, Jul 31, 2010

It's not just beer that makes Milwaukee famous. Also born in Milwaukee, Guitars for Vets, is a non-profit with a mission: "enhance the lives of ailing and injured vets by providing them with guitars and music instruction. Through self expression and the healing power of music, it is the intent of Guitars for Vets is to restore the feelings of joy and purpose that can be lost after suffering trauma."

Keep on Pushing

2:45 PM, Jul 7, 2010

I had the opportunity to participate with Hartbeat co-curator, Vivian Hart in the Hudson Relay For Life on June 25th. Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society's annual event to raise funds and awareness about cancer. We were two of four Honorary Co-Chairs and we spoke at the opening of the luminaria ceremony. The theme of the event was: A Community of Super Heroes...Fighting for a Common Cause!

Aethan Hart at KDAL in 1976 with a CP 16-A camera.

Summertime Blues

3:56 PM, Jun 12, 2010

The magic of summer comes to us in these northern climates with the warmth of the sun and the promise of long hours of daylight

Eric Eskola and Rick Shefchik at Mt. Royale in Duluth sometime in the mid 70s. Aethan Hart Photo

Ladies and gentleman...Eric Eskola has left the building

6:36 AM, Jun 2, 2010

The golden horses on top of the Minnesota State Capitol have one less rider. The Hartbeat won't be able to call across the hall of the basement press area for confirmation on a song lyric or musical artist. My colleague, since we were teens, is mounting a new steed and traveling a different trail along the side of the mountain. The Jackal Den will have a changed atmosphere now that one of its vets is over the wall and running for the tree line. This edition of Hartbeat will add to the lore about Eric Eskola from the perspective of one who knew him back when we worked together at the Broadcast Center for the Upper Midwest located in the heart of one of the Big Baghdads by the lake.

Tony Joe White at the Duluth Arena in 1972. Photo by Aethan Hart

It's a jumping little record I want my jockey to play

8:37 PM, May 9, 2010

Members of the honorary Hartbeat Staff and the followers of this free-falling blog have procured their music in many ways over the years. The formats changed: 78, 45 and 33 1/3 rpm records, reel-to-reel, cassettes and eight track tapes; compact discs, mini-discs and computer files. But the desire to own the music that evoked feelings has not changed and holds a special place in the personal life journey of Hartbeaters.

Taking care of business with Bachmann-Palin overdrive

1:27 PM, Apr 19, 2010

As the political Cuisinart speeds up from low speed to the ice crushing mode, the intensity of political events increases as well.

Got me up, down, down, up anyway you want to

9:16 PM, Mar 28, 2010

As the lawmaking clock ticks toward the legislative Easter/Passover break, more of the public want to have their voices penetrate the political din inside the Capitol. In these days of mid-session, vetoes and court cases have created an atmosphere of urgency for those wanting to get the attention of lawmakers and Governor Pawlenty.

The cover of the next big country album.

Got a postcard from Elvis

7:51 AM, Mar 12, 2010

Members of the Hartbeat Herd (or is it Hartbeat Heard?) have read in previous blogs about a musically talented young man from Louisiana who has captured the interest of millions of YouTube viewers. James Dupré has posted over 100 videos of himself singing and strumming at home in front of his webcam. His cover versions of songs by Vince Gill, John Anderson, Merle Haggard, Ben E. King and many others have begged the question: when will he have a cd of his own and break into the world of music? The wait is over.

Don't let me be misunderstood

2:39 PM, Feb 24, 2010

In all of the conversations that I had with Ron Maddox since I first met him in 1978, I never misunderstood him. He was always forceful, clear and concise in his opinions. He called himself an idea man, a booster, a promoter--a man concerned about the person not fortunate enough to afford a cabin on a