(crowd cheering) (lively music) - 7th St.

Entry, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

One, two, one, two, three, four!

(lively music continues) - [Narrator] Welcome to "Stage," featuring your favorite local musicians and the artists they want you to know about.

♪ I give up ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ I said you're better than love ♪ ♪ I get up ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ You say you're shrouded in doubt ♪ ♪ You get up ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ I think you're wearin' me down ♪ - [Narrator] Unforgettable performances and the stories behind the music.

- [Caroline Smith] You're gonna hear a lot of stories tonight.

If I can get real with you and I think I can.

(jazz music) - [Chan Poling] I don't know if I should be real this after all these years.

- [Matt Wilson] I never would've thought that.

I always thought it was just so heavy.

- Sometimes you just do something and it takes you 30 minutes and all of a sudden we got nominated for a Grammy.

(crowd cheering) (upbeat music) When you put yourself out there as an artist, it can be obviously very vulnerable.

- I've had to become braver as I realize how humiliating this can be.

- Being a weirdo, shy kid who didn't quite fit in, music was such a salvation.

Music was like where I found my power.

(upbeat music continues) - Tonight will be the first time that we've performed together.

If it goes really poorly, let's promise to remain friends and I apologize.

♪ I got a bad habit ♪ ♪ I'm smoking too much ♪ ♪ Of drinking on stage ♪ ♪ I got bad habit ♪ ♪ Of living rich on minimum wage ♪ - Songwriting bypasses your conscious brain.

Otherwise, there's that front brain that's like, "Nobody wants to hear that."

You just have to be able to write without that voice catching on.

Wait a minute, you wrote a whole song, but, wait, and it's like, no, it's too late.

- How's everybody doing tonight?

Sometimes people ask like, "What kind of music do you play?"

Folk, Americana, soul, R&B, country.

(crowd laughs) It rolls off the tongue.

♪ Honey that's all right ♪ ♪ Ooo ♪ ♪ Honey that's all right ♪ ♪ Ooo ♪ ♪ Honey I don't know ♪ ♪ Ooo ♪ - We ask our audiences to reach inside yourself and do a little screaming with us.

Does that sound okay?

Do a little screaming.

(crowd cheering) ♪ Bad day ♪ ♪ I guess I never really had a bad day ♪ ♪ Bad day ♪ ♪ I say ♪ - We have a lot of the punk ethos.

We just decided that we were just gonna do it and we waited for no permission to do what we're doing.

(upbeat rock music) Woo!

It's a beautiful little spot, isn't it?

It's nice.

- There is something so magical about this place.

- [Chan Poling] In our scene, if you didn't have a major record deal, what was wrong with you?

♪ Go ♪ (upbeat rock music continues) - I was convinced that I couldn't do music and have a baby.

Oh my God.

They like held a funeral for my career.

♪ Watch out ♪ - Could music heal the state of the nation?

I don't know about that, but it could help.

(crowd cheering) - Thank you very much!

PBS!

PBS!

- [Crowd] PBS!

- I don't know if this has ever been chanted like this, but I'm here for it.

(crowd laughing)