There are a lot of great bands that are from Minnesota but few, if any, have endured as long as The Lamont Cranston Band.

(Photo Courtesy:

I was first exposed to the Lamont Cranston Band when I worked at a place called the Zodiac Lounge in Moorhead, Minnesota back in the mid 70's. They would play there maybe a couple times a year. The place never rocked like that for any other band.

There is that story that the Blues Brothers came about after John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd joined Cranson on stage in New York City. Al Fanken was then a writer for SNL and brought Belushi and Aykroyd to a club to see Lamont Cranston.

In an interview I did with Dan Aykroyd, he stated that Pat Hayes of The Lamont Cranston band was probably one of the best blues harp players in the world.  High praise.

The band, after all these years, still plays a pretty heavy schedule. Catch them when you still can. They won't be around forever, although it's hard to imagine them not being here forever.