The Crush Collision Trio play a timeless yet thoroughly rocking version of the
country blues, a genre that came to prominence during the early part of the 20th century in America, and has been enjoying a bit of a renaissance since the
 "0' Brother, Where Art Thou?" sound track was released. Mandolinist Matt Yetter, washboard player Mikkel Beckman, and singer/guitarist Dan Kase play a much rawer, more visceral kind of music than was found in the Coen brothers' film. The roots of nearly all modern American music, be it blues, folk, country, punk, rock, or hip-hop can be heard in the trio's passionate paean to a time gone by. This is the rare group that continually draws diverse audiences made up of blue-collar workers, aging hippies, and Uptown scenesters to all of its performances.

The heart and soul of the Crush Collision Trio is "Lonesome Dan" Kase. Kase grew up in Michigan and fell in love with the country blues as a teenager. He's quick to admit that his preferred choice of music was rather odd for a teen. "Yeah, it's kind of funny," Kase said. "I didn't lis- ten to a lot of music growing up. I'd heard music before, obviously, but this was the first kind of music I was exposed to that I really felt close to. I started delving into it, and 13 years later I'm still doing it. I just love the history of it, and I love the music. If not the best of American music, it's certainly some of the best, and it's just some- thing that really affected me."

After teaching himself to play the guitar by listen- ing to old records, Kase set off for Denver at the age of 19 in search of a scene that would share his affinity for early American music. After playing some solo shows and form- ing a group similar to the Crush Collision Trio, he found that Colorado was not all he expected it to be, and he moved to Minneapolis a little more than four years ago. "Minneapolis has been great," Kase said. "This has been good as far as a city to live and play in."

As "Lonesome Dan", Kase soon became a Thursday night fixture at Dusty's Bar and Grill in northeast Minneapolis. His percussive foot- stomping and high-energy singing and guitar playing caught the ear of mandolinist Matt Yetter one evening. Yetter started playing guitar when he was in college, and later played guitar in a local "eclectic rock/reggae band." Yetter started plucking the mandolin a few years ago simply because, "I had one laying around, and I started playing it." After playing a bit together, the two soon joined up with washboard player Mikkel Beckman.

Beckman began playing his strange musical instrument quite by accident. "I was hanging out over at [former local folk musician] Charlie Parr's apartment, and he was playing and I started banging on a beer crate. Then he took me down to Steeple People [Lyndale Avenue thrift store] and there was a washboard hanging in the window. He bought it for me because he wanted me to start playing [gigs] with him. It was kind of bizarre how it worked out."  The three originally got together for a one-time gig, making a rather inauspicious albeit well-received debut at a family reunion in Ham Lake a couple of years ago. "We liked the way it sounded," Beckman said. "Then Dan invited us down to his Dusty's gig a few times and from there it's kind of taken off. It's been a nice surprise how it's gone. We got together for a one-time thing, and now we're playing three or four times a week."  In addition to providing a steady stream of gigs, this "one-time thing" spawned two stellar CDs, 2003's self-titled debut, and last year's "Cold In Hand". The two releases feature a blend of Kase-penned originals, as well as heartfelt covers of songs by old country blues artists such as the Mississippi Sheiks, Blind Boy Fuller, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. When asked if he ever plans to release an album composed of all original material, Kase responded with a modesty that many musicians would do well to follow. "I'm a slow writer," he said. "And I probably only write four or five really good songs a year."

The trio's music appeals to a wide array of people, and each mem ber has his own theory as to why that is. "In high school I listened to a lot of poppier punk, late '70s stuff before hardcore, which in its own way has a lot of similarities to what we do," Beckman said.  "They're both kind of basic and simple. People with a lot of different class and ethnic backgrounds seem to enjoy it and I like that. It's a unifying kind of music."

Kase seemed to concur. "Both young and old like it," he said. "You get older folks that like the blues, and you get younger folks that like god knows what, but they like it too. So it's nice. It's higher energy music."  "I've always liked lots of different kinds of music," Yetter added. "This is something that's a little more bare bones with a lot of life. It's got a lot of roots to it. You've got the roots of rock-n-roll, and blues, and country, and bluegrass."

Thus far, Kase has been happy with the music scene in the Twin Cities and all of the support he and his bandmates have received over the years. "I'm surprised it's gone this way," he said. "That's why I'm so impressed with Minneapolis. It's very responsive. We've sold a lot of CDs. It's not only good to sell them, but it's a good sign that people are actually listening and taking it in. That's real nice."

Lonesome Dan/Crush Collision Trio play every Thursday night at Dusty's Bar and Grill, as well as the 1st and 3rd Teusday of each month at the Kitty Kat Club.