An Intimate Evening with Jeff Engholm— Into the Blue Album Release Show
Every song tells a story, but some stories take years to fully assemble. Join us at the Gnarly Bard Theater on Friday, November 20th, for a special solo performance by Jeff Engholm celebrating the arrival of his new album, Into the Blue.
This record is a milestone collection built from three years of continuous writing and individual single releases. For the first time, these songs are gathered together under one cohesive banner—creating a sonic mosaic of resilience, isolation, and growth.
Performing completely solo, Jeff Engholm will peel back the layers of these studio releases to expose the raw heart of the songwriting. The setlist weaves through a vast spectrum of moods, including:
- The fun, gyrating rhythms of "The Tick Tock Twist"
- Heartfelt, vulnerable portraits like "Fairy Tale Eyes,” “Thoughts in the Rain,” and “Castaway”
- Lyrically sharp rockers like "I Swear," "Just the Same," and "Playing the Game"
- The atmospheric, searching sound of and the poignant title track, "Into the Blue."
Witness the culmination of a three-year creative journey in the most fitting environment possible—the warm, acoustic intimacy of downtown St. Cloud’s premier listening space.
Jeff Engholm has worn many hats as a bassist, singer, songwriter, actor, producer, recording engineer, conductor, and teacher. Instrumentally, he is primarily a jazz and rock bass player and has played for 30 years in the George Maurer Jazz Group, which performs throughout the Midwest, including at the renowned Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. As a vocalist and guitarist Jeff performs in “Takin’ It to the Limit”, an Eagles tribute show, “What’s Going On”, a tribute to the music of the Vietnam era, “Floydian Slip”, a Pink Floyd tribute, all with the Fabulous Armadillos, and “Rumours and Dreams,” a Fleetwood Mac show with Minnesota Music Hall of Fame members Pamela Helmer-McNeill and Mary Jane Alm. His own band, the Collective Unconscious, is a conglomeration of four studio albums of their own original music and large productions performing classic albums in their entirety, including the Beatles’ Abbey Road, the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Band’s The Last Waltz, CSNY’s Déjà vu, and “Wings Over America,” a tribute to Paul McCartney and Wings. Jeff released a solo album in 2020 titled “Little Big Things” and has put out 12 singles in the past three years (the album is coming soon!). He is a recording engineer and consultant at Rockhouse Studios in St. Joseph, working with and for the late 60’s pop sensation Bobby Vee and his sons, and has produced and engineered a multitude of projects in every genre. As an actor, he has performed leading roles in Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, Godspell, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Children of Eden, and has music directed and acted in many other shows around Minnesota. Jeff has his master’s in music education and has been teaching string orchestra and choir at St John’s Prep in Collegeville, MN since 2010.
