The Minnesota Child
Los Angeles, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Stay with Me,” the latest single off The Minnesota Child’s upcoming (and first full-band) EP, Fireflies (independently out 2/1/2018). The pseudonym for Oakland, CA-based musician Ethan Buckner, The Minnesota Child’s heartland folk pop sound is reminiscent of LA’s The Morning Yells and Utah’s The National Parks (an Atwood favorite). But finding yourself in good company is not enough: The Minnesota Child stands out with a dazzling array of finely-executed harmonies and mesmerizing, poetic imagery.
Through some sort of musical magic, “Stay with Me” is a love song, a song of struggle, and a song of acceptance: From the heart, to the heart... [click link for full review] - Atwood Magazine
In these troubling and uncertain times, it’s important to remember that the natural wonders of life and the world around us and protecting those basic elements are at the heart of our state-of-affairs anxities. Oakland-based musician Ethan Buckner, operating under the moniker The Minnesota Child, holds these truths in his heart both in his work as an artist and as a full-time campaigner for Earthworks, an environmental nonprofit.
His gorgeous new EP, Fireflies, is a life affirming, joyful collection of songs that find the beauty in both the dark and the light. Drawing inspirations from Bon Iver and blending sounds like the distant cries of Jim James or the plaintive keys employed by Frank Ocean, The Minnesota Child’s latest is a modern swirl of indie, folk and pop that, while not overtly political, seeks to offer hope and solace in illuminating our best institutions.
To go along with a stream of Fireflies, we had Buckner break it down for us track by track. [click for more] - Impose
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
The Minnesota Child’s frontman Ethan Buckner picked up the guitar at 16 and started writing songs after he witnessed death for the first time. Ethan channeled his grief and love into his newfound passion for poetry and melody. The raw and emotional spirit of Ethan’s songwriting is infused into the lush indie folk/pop sound of Fireflies, the 2018 full band debut of now-Los Angeles based The Minnesota Child. Produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Blondie) and Ethan’s brother, drummer Matt Buckner, the album is "a life affirming, joyful collection of songs that find the beauty in both the dark and the light” (Impose). For fans of Head and the Heart, Justin Vernon, and Ben Howard, Fireflies is a soundtrack for a hike in the woods or a cruise on the open road.
After premiering Fireflies in 2018 by headlining San Francisco’s historic Great American Music Hall, Ethan went on to tour solo across the US and Canada, promoting the band’s record in between breathtaking visits to a dozen national parks. In 2019, after moving to Los Angeles, two songs from the record - Fireflies and Stay With Me - earned television debuts on MTV’s hit Teen Mom series. He is currently working on multiple collaborative singles to be released in the fall of 2021.
Ethan balances music with his work with the nonprofit Earthworks, where he works alongside Black, Indigenous, and working class communities to wage campaigns against big oil, gas, and petrochemical companies. His work for social change seeps into his music, as his anthemic songwriting encapsulates “my belief that even in dark and trying times, a just, equitable, thriving world is still possible.” Ethan’s juggle between environmental justice campaigning and pursuing his musical dreams has landed him on stages across the Bay Area and beyond, supporting artists such as Jewel and Howie Day.
Fireflies imbued powerful rhythms, intricate instrumentals, and lavish harmonies into Ethan’s songs, but the songwriting stays true to his Midwestern, singer/songwriter origins. Driving carefree through the redwoods along a cross-country road trip with close friends in 2011, Ethan chose the pseudonym The Minnesota Child because “the songs I write evoke a connection with home, whether that lies in a place, a person, or by finding a sense of purpose in life.”
Ethan’s heart-centered ethos comes alive in Fireflies, from the powerful choir-backed chorus of Home to the sentimental Stay With Me, “a luscious, earthy and uplifting exploration of struggle and hope, perseverance and recovery” (Atwood Magazine). To Ethan, “There was no question when starting this record that Fireflies was the anchor and the anthem. The song – and the title – encapsulate the themes of light and darkness, hope and despair, from the personal to the collective and back.”
Band Members
Links
