This is about 12Rods, a band from Minneapolis by way of Oxford, Ohio, who have existed in various incarnations from 1992 to the present day in 2026.
What follows is a handful of live recordings which the band has graciously allowed me to share on Live Music Archive with other past, present and future fans. In addition to the sets I personally recorded, there are also several recordings made by other audio archivists which are hosted there as well.
[links to recordings provided in posts below]
1992 – 1994:
Ryan Olcott : lead vocals, guitar (1992 – 2004, 2021 – present)
Daniel Burton-Rose : guitar (1992)
Matt Flynn : bass guitar (1992 – 1994)
Christopher McGuire : drums (1992 – 1999)
Ev Olcott : synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals (1992 – 2004)
1994 – 1996:
Ryan Olcott : lead vocals, guitar (1992 – 2004, 2021 – present)
Ev Olcott : synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals (1992 – 2004)
Christopher McGuire : drums (1992 – 1999)
Matthew Foust : bass guitar (1994 – 1996)
1998 – 1999:
Ryan Olcott : lead vocals, guitar (1992 – 2004, 2021 – present)
Ev Olcott : synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals (1992 – 2004)
Christopher McGuire : drums (1992 – 1999)
William Shaw : bass guitar (1998 – 2004)
2000 – 2004:
Ryan Olcott : lead vocals, guitar (1992 – 2004, 2021 – present)
Ev Olcott : synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals (1992 – 2004)
William Shaw : bass guitar (1998 – 2004)
David King : drums (2000 – 2004)
Former touring members:
Alec Tonjes : Drums (2023 – 2025)
Lars Oslund : Guitar (2023 – 2025)
Adri Mehra : Bass (2023 – 2024)
Efren Maldonado : Keyboards (2023 – 2024)
George Marich : drums (2003 – 2004)
Jacob Hansen : guitar (2002 – 2004)
Alejandro Urzagaste : bass guitar (1998)
Tal Tahir : bass guitar (1997)
I worked with 12Rods from mid / late 1995 through 1997 or so, leaving right about the same time they began touring to promote the album they were recorded for V2 Records, Separation Anxieties [silly me, thinking my day job was more important than touring, but it wasn’t the first or last time I made that choice]. I had just moved back to Mpls from Tampa [that’s a story in itself, believe me…], at the time Gay? was released, and saw them for the first time them in the 7th St. Entry, opening for one of my favorite groups, Fauna. Following a brilliant set and few spirited conversations with the band I felt like I had somehow just made four new cool friends. Within a year, Ev moved me and my audio archives into their house and garage (respectively), and for the most part, good times ensued.
For a while, I recorded the band in their basement, experimenting with different mixing techniques, etc, which was more intimidating than any of them probably realized at the time, considering that Ryan and Ev were skilled engineers in their own right, in contrast to my self-educated hands-on approach. Nonetheless, they were pretty supportive of my efforts, and it was definitely a valuable collaborative experience.
I was still living with the band when they went to record Separation Anxieties with Todd Rundgren, and although by some accounts that may not have been a high point in the band’s career, the fanboy in me really wanted to go on that trip with them, having grown up with Todd’s music. Why I didn’t at least go along for the ride, was the same reason that I eventually resigned from working with the band after they returned, and began organizing a tour – I was uncomfortable about taking that much time off from my day job, at First Avenue. Rob Curtis was recruited as a sound engineer for the subsequent tour, and that was the end of my tenure working with the band in any professional capacity, although some of us continued to stay in touch for a while.
Unfortunately, all of the recordings I made of 12Rods during that time, including several live shows, as well as the basement sessions, got away from me at some point. However, I was able to record the band a couple of times over the next few years at 7th St Entry and First Avenue, which are included in the collection at Live Music Archive.
A few personnel changes took place over the next few years, and the band called it a day in 2004, playing a farewell show at First Avenue on August 14, 2004, which they initially released via their website as mp3s – and are currently available as 24-bit files on the 12Rods bandcamp page.
James Francis Flynn – the brother of original bassist Matt Flynn – filmed a 12Rods reunion show on January 16, 2015, which is featured in his documentary film, “Accidents Waiting to Happen”. The commentary track by Ev and Ryan was interesting to hear, as well – and surprisingly, made a couple of connections to my time with the band!
One such moment occurred when they identified a video clip from a bill they shared with Gusto Busto, at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis – which I recognized as a show I ran the sound for, on the venue’s minuscule 8-channel Mackie console. [I actually still have one of those myself, and still pull it out on occasion, for DJ gigs and other projects.] The other connection was near the very end, when Ryan mentioned the band being on the road, and how I used to record all of their shows back then. It was gratifying to catch a small nod to my time spent with the band, while catching up with what they continued to do, moving forward.
In 2024, Ryan was back on the road with a new 12Rods line-up, and I was able to reconnect with him when the touring band featuring Lars, Alec and Adri played at Holocene in Portland, Oregon, and they spent the next few days staying at our home for part of the Pacific NW leg of their tour. As of 2026, Ryan embarked on a solo tour, and I’m looking forward to re-connecting again in the not-too-distant future!
12Rods • 1999-09-04
Mpls, MN • 400 Bar
Mill City Festival
all-ages show
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
William Shaw
Christopher McGuire
This fileset was downloaded from a bit-torrent site around 2006, so while it’s not one I personally recorded, I did make a couple of minor adjustments – notably, to separate the songs from the in-between interim bits, plus a minor volume shift in track 10 due to some excessive feedback. Additionally, I found a little bit of info about the Mill City Festival, and included that with this fileset.
The sound quality is a more harsh than some of the others I’ve uploaded to LMA, but it does have some historical merit, as I no longer have any of the recordings I made of the band when I worked with them around 1995 – 96, making this the earliest 12Rods recording in my archives, and one which also features the original drummer. It’s listenable enough if you boost the low end a bit, and bring down the high end somewhat. I could have spent more time trying to process it into perfection, but there are a lot of recordings in the archives which are still vying for some attention. Besides, I think it’s always better to provide a raw capture for general listening, so people can adjust it to their own liking, which is harder to do when something has already been over-processed.
Caveats about the sound quality aside, it’s a great performance, mixing some early versions of newer songs, with a few older classic hits. Hope you can dig it!
As of 2025, there’s a nice online review of some of the Mill City Festival sets, by Ray Stiles:
This is just a partial list of artists who performed at Mill City Music Festival in 1999
[Saturday, Sunday, Monday, September 4, 5, 6]:
Badfinger
Willie and the Bumblebees
The Hypstrz
The Jayhawks
Low
12 Rods
Savage Aural Hotbed
Bob Mould
Mason Jennings
Semisonic
The Big Wu
Koerner, Ray & Glover
Larry Graham & Graham Central Station
Prince
The Time
Recorded By: unknown
Transferred / edited / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12Rods • 2000-08-12
Mpls, MN • Lyn-Lake Street Festival
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
The Lyn-Lake Street Festival is a local one-day event staged at the intersection of Lyndale Avenue and Lake Street in South Minneapolis – which also happens to be the the boundary for four different neighborhoods. As I recall from my time living in a few of those neighborhoods, this event generally took place in early Spring, and featured a smattering of local talent from various genres and eras. This set by 12Rods is an audience recording provided by fellow audio archivists Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn. I only made few minor volume adjustments to compensate for a severe volume change at the beginning, where it sounds like the taper may have gotten closer to the stage, and didn’t adjust the levels right away. Additionally, the gain was adjusted for all tracks, in an attempt to balance the stereo image. No further processing has been applied in this transfer. Special thanks to Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn for making this available, for the rest of us to enjoy!
Recorded By: Jonathan Haynes
Recording provided by: Don Osborn
Transferred / edited / re-tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12Rods • 2000-10-13
Mpls, MN • The Lab
After Art Crawl Party
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
This audience recording also comes from fellow audio archivists Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn. The only changes I made were to eliminate some micro gaps between tracks, adjust the gain to balance the stereo image, and re-track everything to separate the songs from the interim bits.
If this is the venue I’m thinking of, it was in Dinkytown, possibly situated in or near other former popular spots including Purple Onion and Espresso Royale. But hey, I’ve been out of that loop for years, so I’ll update this if I get any more confirmation about The Lab. Special thanks to Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn for making this available, for the rest of us to enjoy!
Recorded By: Jonathan Haynes
Recording provided by: Don Osborn
Transferred / edited / re-tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12 Rods • 2000-11-02
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
Here’s another audience recording from fellow audio archivists Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn. Other than a minor gain adjustment, no further processing has been applied in the analog > digital transfer. Special thanks to Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn for making this available, for the rest of us to enjoy!
According to the setlist fm site, Ryan Adams was on the same bill [!]. Although I was employed at the venue during this time, I have no recollection of this, but I’ve seen more unlikely bills – The Wallflowers and Shellac at First Avenue in 1997 comes to mind. As it turns out, there *is* a Ryan Adams set from 7th St Entry dated Nov 1, also a set from the Turf Club in St. Paul dated Nov 2, posted on Live Music Archive. So, I missed this one somehow.
Recorded By: Jonathan Haynes
Recording provided by: Don Osborn
Transferred / edited / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12Rods • 2000-12-02
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
afternoon (all-ages) show
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
live sound: Andy “Al” Gustafson
Finally, one of my own recordings! It was great to be able to catch up with 12Rods again, after a number of missed opportunities, although a couple of the faces had changed since I had last seen them a few years earlier. In particular, I was eager to see how Dave King lent his formidable skills to the group, having only seen him perform with Happy Apple up to this point. Suffice it to say, the band sounded as fresh and original as ever, and old favorites were familiar without sounding dialed in. It had been a while since I had seen 12Rods play an all-ages show, and although this crowd on this occasion seemed a bit subdued, that was no reflection on the band’s performance, and there were clearly a few enthusiasts in the room.
This is strictly an audience recording I recorded with my trusty PZMs suspended from the ceiling in the Entry, so I could focus on the show, and not have to fuss with gear during the set. A couple of minor adjustments were made to balance the stereo image, but that’s about it.
Recorded / transferred / edited / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12Rods • 2000-12-02
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
evening 21+ show
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
live sound: Andy “Al” Gustafson
Two sets in one day! This almost made up for all the times I had missed the band during the past couple of years. Although both sets started out with the same newer material, by the end of the night the remaining songs were changed up enough to include just about anything I wanted to hear.
Recorded / transferred / edited / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12Rods • 2001-06-01
Mpls, MN • Turf Club
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
How was it that I never saw 12Rods at The Turf Club? Well, thanks to this audience recording from fellow audio archivists Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn, at least I can hear what I missed. The only changes I made was a slight gain adjustment to balance the stereo image, and re-tracking everything to separate the songs from the interim bits. Call me fussy, but there you go.
Special thanks once again to Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn for making this available, for the rest of us to enjoy!
Recorded By: Jonathan Haynes
Recording provided by: Don Osborn
Recorded / transferred / re-tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
12 Rods • 2002-10-15
Mpls, MN • First Avenue
Ryan Olcott
Ev Olcott
Bill Shaw
Dave King
…and introducing:
Jacob Hanson [“the new guy”]: guitar
12Rods
Halloween, Alaska
plus one other band
One last audience recording from fellow audio archivists Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn, this time in the Mainroom, and featuring a shift in the personnel – the only recording in the archives with this line-up, in fact. The only changes I made to this fileset was separate the songs from the in-between interim bits. Oh – it sounds like there may have been a spontaneous mosh pit during Terrible Hands – go figure.
Special thanks once again to Jonathan Haynes and Don Osborn for making all of these recordings available, for the rest of us to enjoy!
Included with this fileset is a brief radio ad from Radio K [990 AM] for a local band showcase:
Thursday 2002-08-04
Mpls, MN • First Avenue
Radio K all-ages showcase
Lily Liver
God’s Favorite Band
Fauna
Adjustable Boy
King Can
Recorded By: Jonathan Haynes
Recording provided by: Don Osborn
Transferred / edited / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
I always say this, but it is well worth your time to track down any of the band’s releases:
Their newest release can be purchased directly from the band:
Other releases by the band are listed on the discogs site
Download or stream all sets by 12Rods from Live Music Archive
Comments are closed.