Bagger '97

About

Recorded by Patrick Dundon at the Bagger ’97 practice space, late ’90s Minneapolis, MN. If there is a spiritual centerpiece, a recorded messiah, an origin myth, for the Royalty, Etc. Records label, it would be this very recording. These twenty songs, recorded onto a digital 8 track and rough mixed to a single cassette, would become some of the most beloved songs of our microcosm, even though they were lost for several years. The strength of these songs is so significant that they would be covered for years to come by multiple descendant bands. It became a necessity to directly release this seminal recording, freshly captured from the single surviving master cassette. Party smart and wisecracking, the banter of Tim Uhl and the late, great, Steve Wharton was to become legend. Master drummer Jay Cassidy partied his way to quitting the drums for over 15 years immediately following these recordings. The dysfunctional trio blew up, leaving nothing but a few cassette live recordings from the Red Sea bar on the Minneapolis West Bank, and this, the closest thing to a studio album that they ever attempted. “The Baggers were very hesitant to record” recalls Dundon. Fortunately, they were recorded, and these slick, short, and casually macho songs would go on to be played and played and played…