This is about The Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota, a group that existed in Minneapolis, MN during the years 1997 – 2002. What follows is a live recording which the band has graciously allowed me to record back in the day, and share on Live Music Archive with other past, present and future fans.
This also about the man behind the voice and guitar heard in this group, courtesy of one Al Sneve – a transplant from South Dakota in the early ’90s, who many of us in the Twin Cities quickly came to know and accept as one of our own. In a music scene where the protocol often seems somewhat de rigueur to be in a half dozen or more bands at once, few seemed as prolific – in my mind anyway – as the seemingly omnipresent Al Grande.
An understated lyricist with a hushed, penetrating register reminiscent of My Dad Is Dead’s Mark Edwards, or Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, Al demonstrated a cheeky flair for slice of life themes that could be moody and introspective, yet catchy and upbeat. Al was also quickly recognized as a consummate guitarist, contributing his skills to a handful of bands over the years, including Push On Junior, Uberscenester, and Murderapolis, as well his own groups, Box Of Steaks, and The Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota, to name a few – not to overlook Fiasco, which was essentially an updated version of Box Of Steaks, featuring 2/3 of Plate-O-Shrimp as the rhythm section.
I met Al shortly after he migrated to Mpls from South Dakota, and he had already established a name for himself in the terrific but largely unacknowledged band Box Of Steaks. I’m certain that I recorded Box Of Steaks a few times, but if I did, I would have given the tapes to Al, because back then I usually just gave the tapes to the bands, who vetted them and sometimes made a copy for me, if they remembered. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of tapes that way. Within a couple of years Al was working with Push On Junior, but eventually that line-up changed as well, and for one reason or another, I most likely missed a couple of other bands Al was involved with over the next few years.
A handful of years down the road, and the stars aligned momentarily, providing me with an opportunity to catch up with Al’s new combo, verbosely christened The Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota – initially reuniting Al with former Box Of Steaks drummer James Kelly, and Nan Madden holding down the low-end rhythm. The band released a self-titled cassette with this original line-up, but by the time of this live set, the drum kit would be manned by Jay Donahue, who would continue to work with Al in Fiasco, just a year later.
It seems unlikely that this would be the only time I ever recorded BBLIM, but it does seem that this is the only recording I have in the archives, and one that features Jay Donahue as the drummer instead of James Kelly. This is a pretty decent-sounding and cohesive set, including a smattering of songs from the excellent BBLIM full-length CD, Move To Canada, along with a few tracks from Al’s elusive collection of solo works, Ten Songs I Wrote and Two I Didn’t, plus a couple tracks that I’ve yet to see anywhere else. This modest set could serve as a good introduction to the band, focusing in particular on the wide range of styles and songwriting, suggesting that there is certainly a lot more where this came from.
As a side-note to this show, this may have been been the only time I recorded Panel Of Experts with their original line-up, before they invited me to become an honorary member of that band, so we could participate in one of the Cover Band Contests that Al curated over the years, an annual fundraising benefit for local food shelves. I don’t recall recording any bands that Al actually performed with for any of those events, but in 2003, I was playing with the band that won the contest – Panel Of Experts, performing a set of songs by The Clash – and Al presented us with a case of Night Train. Woot!
There are certainly a few more bands I missed since then which featured Al’s deft guitar histrionics, but even though I couldn’t be everywhere at once, I’m glad to have been able to capture what I could, and to preserve these performances so they can be shared with other past, present and future fans. If you dig The Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota, be sure to check out the sets by Murderapolis, Push On Junior, and Fiasco.
While visting my hometown during 2023 to attend a record manufacturing conference, I bumped into Al at a local record fair, selling vintage vinyl with Dale T. Nelson [Ottos’s Chemical Lounge] at The Hook & Ladder. It was great to re-connect, talk shop, and catch up a bit about bands past and present. Shortly after I returned to the Pacific Northwest, Al e-mailed me to see what recordings I might have of his former bands, even offering to reimburse me for any expenses (not that I would have taken his money, of course), but that turned out to be the last time we connected with each other.
In May 2026, I spent some time back in Minneapolis to discuss future plans for archiving a lot of the music which I recorded back in the day – much of which is featured on this very site, in conjunction with the audio files hosted on Live Music Archive. While in town, I learned that Al was no longer in this mortal realm, having departed only a few months earlier.
It was brought to my attention that there will be a celebration of Al’s life on August 5th, where friends and family can gather to share their memories, and rewind some of the music Al was a part of. Although I can’t be there in person, I will definitely be there in spirit. I’m aware as always, that not everyone shares the same memories or recollections of people and places past, but these are some of the memories I have and would like to share. With that in mind, I’m dedicating this set, along with the others I’ve already mentioned, to the creative spirit that I was able to know as Al Grande. Al – thanks for all the music over the years. You are certainly missed, my brother…. although I’m fairly certain you’re still here in spirit as well.
[ link to recording will be provided in post below ]
Al Grande: vocals, guitar
[Box Of Steaks, Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In MN, many others…]
Jay Donahue: drums
[Box Of Steaks]
Nan Madden: bass
The Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota • Thursday 3 October 2002
Minneapolis, MN • Urban Wildlife
stereo audience recording
duration (46:33.09)
[01] start (00:57.57)
[02] unidentified title (02:24.63)
[03] The Fridge is Empty (07:55.20)
[04] What Didn’t Happen (03:29.71)
[05] unidentified title (04:51.52)
[06] interim / tuning (03:05.61)
[07] Nowhere Is Somewhere (04:09.35)
[08] interim / tuning (01:14.34)
[09] Fuck. Fuck? Fuck! (05:16.35)
[10] interim / tuning (01:02.32)
[11] Santa’s Shitlist (05:11.33)
[12] Evil (06:53.41) [end truncated]
Al Grande: vocals, guitar
[Box Of Steaks, Push On Junior]
Jay Donahue: drums
[Box Of Steaks]
Nan Madden: bass
bill:
Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota
Panel Of Experts
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
As always – it is definitely worth your time to track down any of the band’s releases!
The band’s 1997 self-titled demo cassette has been spotted on the discogs site.
Tracks from their subsequent CD album Move To Canada, and Al’s collection of solo works, Ten Songs I Wrote and Two I Didn’t, have been spotted on the ReverbNation site
Download or stream all sets by The Busiest Bankruptcy Lawyers In Minnesota from Live Music Archive
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