Kaleb Braun-Schulz and Ben Scruggs feel a bit like two sides of the same record.
One is sort of finding his way through the uncertainties of youth while the other looks back on his experiences of that same time with a sense of appreciation, growth and maturity.
As performers in the Mankato music scene, they will come together at Hold Each Other Close — A Dual Album Release party made possible through a Minnesota Arts Board grant — plus the completion of their respective albums — to benefit the Arts Center of Saint Peter.
The event at Mankato Brewery is more than just an album release.
“We want to be able to put back into the arts community regionally as well,” said Braun-Schulz, 25, front man for Kaleb Braun-Schulz & The Nightingale Band, who are releasing “The Things You’ve Kept You’ll Keep Until.”
“It feels like a celebration of arts and music in Mankato, yeah, and kind of unique for a record,” added Scruggs, 39. His band, Poor Lemuel, will release “All About the Days I Knew You Were Really Mine.”
Before each of their bands take an hour to play, there is a showcase of other original folk and pop music from Mankato: Mal Murphy, and the duo of Colin Scharf (Silver Summer, Good Night Gold Dust) and Laura Schultz (Given Names, Good Night Good Dust).
Braun-Schulz received the grant and has been utilizing local artists in the production and creation of the album, which was produced and mixed by Scharf. Local artist Marne Stover is creating a backdrop for the release party, and local artists designed CD artwork and posters.
“I felt like it was kind of big risk,” Braun-Schulz said of the album, which is his first not recorded by him at home. On the earlier works, he also played most of the guitars and bass. He gave up much of the instrumentation to The Nightingale Band in what felt risky to him.
“It was like, I’ve got these players that are willing to work on my songs with me. It was taking a chance, you know, putting my trust in them to sort of elevate the material that I had written to a whole different place,” Braun Schulz said.
“It’s sort of about the desire to kind of not listen to the negative voices or the negative perceptions that we have as people,” he said of the album. He strives to look forward to the time when we can break free of whatever is holding us back.
“I think there is a through line of finding a peace within yourself and within your environment,” he said.
Scruggs said much of the Poor Lemuel album was recorded in November 2022 in south Minneapolis, with overdubs done over the next year and a half. Another of his bands, Bee Balm Fields, released an album in the meantime, which prompted discussions with Braun-Schulz on mutually beneficial releases for their respective works.
They decided on the dual release, at which everyone paying the $15 admission will receive a copy of each album on CD.
Scruggs thinks there are parallels between the albums, even though the artists are in different places in life.
“I’ve got two kids, and when I was writing most of the songs, my kids were young and I was a young family man who was also trying to be a musician and trying to live life and trying to do everything,” Scruggs said. “And with the knowledge that this is a moment in time that’s going to pass and just trying to soak it all up.
“Most of the songs on my record are fun. It’s easy to listen to, it’s cool to rock out to. There’s like a bit of nostalgia to all of the music.”
When working with Braun-Schulz on his album, Scharf said he worked to utilize some of the tricks he and partner Tyler Vaughn have developed over their previous recording sessions to help bring out a musical force that is, as Darth Vader would say, “strong in this one.”
They had worked on a smaller project previously, so this full album built on their established collaborative rhythm in further showcasing what Braun-Schulz wants to say musically, Scharf said.
“This was one band on 10 songs, and it was just really cool when you listen to the album, front to back, you’ll notice a lot of sounds and tones and ideas that kind of thread through it,” Scarf said.
He said he is willing to work with an artist in whatever capacity they want, whether it’s just hitting buttons on the recording to helping them develop their voice. And as Braun-Schulz noted, Scharf felt he helped him take his recording to the next level.
“You have got to go to the studio, work with somebody else and get your songs out of your head, you know,” Scharf said. “Otherwise, you’re never going to grow.”