Steve Almaas & Ali Smith

Singer/songwriter Steve Almaas rose from New York City punk of the late '70s into a well-respected artist during the '80s and '90s. Almaas wasn't a part of the whole corporate scheme of things, having played in various bands during the decade of big-hair metal and warming synth pop. Born to Scandinavian parents who emigrated to Minnesota, Almaas' adolescent years were spent exploring the Minneapolis post-punk scene, making music with the Suicide Commandos long before the haven days of Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, and Soul Asylum. Beat Rodeo followed in the mid-'80s, shortly af...