![]() The ever-smiling Holm works the crowd at POVs. "They sing Zac Brown that's my favorite album right now. "They sure sound good," said Bryan Carlson, 27, of Blaine, at his baptismal Holm encounter at POVs in Andover in March. Yep, Johnny Holm's money songs are "Sweet Caroline," "Piano Man" and just about anything by AC/DC. They sing a wide variety of music - from rock to pop to Neil Diamond." "I love the way he interacts with the audience. "He's very entertaining and a lot of fun," said Krupa, 37, who got hooked on Holm in the early 1990s as a St. She and her pals always arrive before showtime so they can stand right in front of the stage for the entire night. ![]() Marcia Krupa of Elk River will routinely travel up to 40 miles to see Holm, which she does about 10 times a year. His itinerary includes the World's Largest Office Party in La Crosse, Wis., the prom in Northfield and Steamboat Days in Winona, Minn., as well as countless county fairs and college gigs. He sells three hours of music-fueled fun to far-flung places in the five-state area. Holm's name isn't painted on the walls of fame at First Avenue, blurbed in City Pages or hyped on the Current (89.3 FM). "What I'm about is engaging an audience and involving myself with them and them with me." I'm real ADD, so my brain can't figure out where it's going," said Holm, who lives - where else? - in suburban Chaska. His may be the only band in Minnesota that goes from a Garth Brooks country classic to a Naughty by Nature hip-hop party anthem. For four decades, he has been packing Upper Midwest bars, ballrooms and bowling alleys, churning out songs that everyone knows from the radio. ![]() Midway through its first set, the Johnny Holm Band travels from "Life in a Northern Town" to the one-two punch of "Billie Jean" and "Stayin' Alive," and the dance floor is jumping as if disco never died.Ī crinkly-faced leprechaun in a baseball cap leads this jubilant celebration. And another 40 want in to see the band that rules the suburban circuit. Twin Cities suburbia.īogart's, a nightclub in a bowling-alley complex, is jammed with more than 500 party people. Or maybe in downtown Minneapolis at the trendy Envy or Aqua. "I'd expect this in Atlanta or Chicago," grumbles a twenty-something dude standing in line. The wait to get in is at least an hour on this Saturday night.
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