Art Hounds: A pop-up publishing house and eye-popping theater magic

Hot Off The at the Soap Factory

This week, the hounds track down a day full of blues and roots music, magical (and free) theater for all ages and zinesters running a temporary publishing house.

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Rolf Erdahl is a bass teacher and bassist in the Vecchione/Erdahl Duo. He liked Open Eye Figure Theatre's Milly and Tillie so much that he's planning on seeing it for a second time this weekend. Rolf loves how this slapstick, magical show reminds him of the feeling of possibility that he had as a child. The show is free and can be seen tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at 7pm.

Tom Haakenson, chair of liberal arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and one of the editors of the online journal Quodlibetica, thinks you should try to get published this weekend. Hot Off The is a pop-up publishing house that is offering a behind-the-scenes look at publishing, from taking submissions to printing and binding books. They'll be at The Soap Factory every Thursday, Friday and Sunday through Aug. 22.

Danette Olsen is the executive director of Festival Theatre in St. Croix Falls, WI. She's really looking forward to this weekend's Red House Barnfest. Danette is impressed by the line-up of blues and roots musicians, but she's especially excited to see Danny Schmidt. This Austin, TX-based singer-songwriter is being compared to everyone from Bob Dylan to Greg Brown, but she thinks his unique voice should be heard live. The Barnfest starts at 1:30pm at the Hobgoblin Music Outdoor Amphitheater outside of Red Wing.

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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.