Beyond Prince, Beyond the Minneapolis Sound

Few musical cities have created a sound as instantly recognizable as Minneapolis in the 1980s. And St. Paul Peterson was right there in the middle of it.

As a young musician, he became part of Prince’s extraordinary musical universe – first joining The Time and later becoming the voice and frontman of The Family, a band whose brief existence left a lasting mark on the Minneapolis sound.

Their story also includes the original recording of “Nothing Compares 2 U” – a song that would later travel far beyond Minneapolis and become one of the most recognizable songs of its generation.

But St. Paul Peterson’s musical story doesn’t begin and end with Prince.

Across the decades, he has developed his own voice as a singer, musician, songwriter and producer, working with an impressive range of artists while continuing to carry the musical spirit of Minneapolis forward.

In this interview, we revisit some of those defining moments, the music, the people and the stories behind them – but we also talk about life beyond the history and the journey of an artist who is still very much moving forward.