HYSELL RELEASES NEW EP OCT. 9

Longfellow-based songwriter Joe Hysell will celebrate the release of his new EP, "Still Gonna Try," with a hometown show at the Hook & Ladder’s Mission Room on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Sharing the stage with fellow local acts The Ramblin’ Mercenaries and Luke Warm & the Cool Hands, Hysell is bringing his Americana/outlaw country sound back to one of the neighborhood’s most beloved music venues.

“This community has supported me for years, and it feels right to celebrate this milestone here in Longfellow,” says Hysell. The new EP has already drawn the biggest response of his career, making the upcoming show a highlight for both the artist and the neighborhood music scene. In the last 15 years, Hysell has released two albums and four EPs.

The Longfellow neighborhood inspired the new record. He was sitting out on his back porch, reflecting on the many losses he's experienced in the last 18 years, when the refrain came to him: "Sometimes its hard to carry this broken heart around." "Burn It Down" was inspired by the fires in the neighborhood after George Floyd's murder. "Rebuilding always" is a core value of his work, according to Hysell.

Hysell is part of a group starting the Southside Minneapolis Youth Sports Association, which will begin offering youth basketball leagues (4th, 6th - 8th) this fall.