MINNEAPOLIS -- They're a knee-slappin' bluegrass duo heading out on an adventure of a lifetime.
"This is a childhood dream of ours," says Joe Mailander.
Mailander, along with his lifelong friend Justin Lansing, make up the Okee Dokee Brothers musical group. The two young guys depart Wednesday on a 30-day excursion along the Mississippi River. They will canoe from Itasca State Park to St. Louis, Missouri, camping, paddling, and making music along the way.
"Our whole mission as a band is to write songs about the outdoors and inspire kids to explore nature, take some risks, and have fun rather than watching TV and playing video games," says Mailander, the group's guitarist.
It's an adventure Huck Finn would be proud of.
"We were inspired by characters like that," says Mailander. "We grew up building rafts along the creek in our neighborhood."
Justin and Joe had planned to leave from the river's edge in St. Paul, but due to high water levels and quicker-than-usual currents, the two will leave from the headwaters instead and skirt around the Twin Cities before picking up the river where the Mississippi isn't so mighty.
"We don't want to capsize," chuckles Lansing, the other "Okee Dokee" on the banjo. "No matter how much you plan, Mother Nature has the final call."
The two will canoe over 600 miles and will wrap up the adventure in early July. A filmmaker and river guide will join the band, too.
"Our goal is to release an album and a DVD for kids and families," says Lansing. "We want to encourage kids to be creative with their time."
The river musicians will update their website along the way with pictures and video and hope to release their Mississippi adventure project next Spring.
"We're ready to go, we're pumped."
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)