Best Old Bands Volume III: Barbara Cohen and Little Lizard
The third in a continuing series on the Twin Cities’ most lasting artists and architects.
Photo: Elana Stanton
Back Together Again: Barbara Cohen (vocals, songwriter and more), Marc Anderson (percussion), Jacqueline Ultan (cello), Jeremy Ylvisaker (guitar).
After a musical whirlwind took her half-way around the world and to increasing renown as a singer-songwriter, film and TV composer and music producer/engineer, Barbara Cohen (Farm Accident, Brother Sun Sister Moon) is back to her roots -- physically and musically -- with the original members of free-range folk-pop ensemble, Little Lizard, March 1 at Hook and Ladder (postponed from December 28).
Editor’s Note: Having followed her career as an admirer and reporter since the ‘90s, I knew Barbara Cohen was perfect for this series. She could write the book on building a multi-faceted, full-time career in a competitive commercial industry. No easy feat for a deep woman of substance in today’s environment. What follows is merely an overview of her transitions and reinventions while grinding away in L.A. What did she learn about herself in La La, and what did she rediscover about Minneapolis under California sun?
The long tail of Little Lizard
By Jim Meyer, 2/20/25
I’d been seeing online ads for a Barbara Cohen and Little Lizard reunion show since last Halloween, but I figured it was one of those Hollywood Homecoming gigs we often see around the holidays. So I was a little surprised to see Cohen in the audience at a Matt Wilson Orchestra/Starfolk show at the Parkway Theater November 8th. That’s a long time for a Californian to hang out and watch the days get darker and the temps go lower.
Seems I was the last to know Cohen had returned to Minnesota four years ago after becoming well-established as a film and TV composer, music producer and supervisor in Los Angeles, with a long list of credits on IMDB. Though she has left L.A. she has re-centered herself for numerous next possibilities around the Twin Cities.
While the pandemic brought most of the world to a screeching halt, the industry shutdown was an opening for Cohen -- a multiple Minnesota Music Award winner and State Arts Board recipient -- to move her operation back to the Midwest, to resume a teaching career at her old school -- MacPhail Center for Music -- and reunite with both her immediate family and her foundational musical family and broader creative communities.
`I don’t want to just dog on LA, it can be such an easy target. There are a lot of beautiful things about it,’’ says Cohen, who lived a short hike from magnificent Griffith Park. ``You can find some of the best players in the world on pretty much any instrument you can dream up. If you need an oud player – and I did need one for a score – they might be in the next town over. Or at Cal Arts, or you can have recent grads from Julliard or Eastman School of Music on your stuff. But in an industry town like L.A. it’s tricky to get people out to hear live music. It’s not like here.’’
A keen early interest in theater has served Cohen well, informing her film scoring with an actor’s understanding. After starting her B.A. at University of Minnesota where she also undertook Rarig Center productions, she was accepted into North Carolina School for the Arts theater program. She stayed for two years before heading back home where she joined In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, creating puppets and writing and performing in plays for and about local communities around the state.
She was living six to an apartment on Park Avenue along with songwriter Paul Chamberlain until the idea of a band became too good to ignore. They were soon joined by bassist Pete Mathison, Robert Earl Hughes from HOTB, and drummer Greg Traxler from the Crops to form the classic Farm Accident. ``At the time, I didn’t know much about bluegrass or country, but the harmonies were so awesome. We were just this eclectic alt-country party band with really dark lyrics. People danced like crazy and it just blew up.’’
Though she’d been gone for more than 20 years, Cohen still knows the local artist landscape well. The 21st century version of ``Little Lizard 2.0’’ has crept out for occasional previews at alternative venues such as Bella Luna Studios at Wolf House in northeast, or the magical Open Eye Theater at 24th and 5th.
On March 1 they’re returning to the main stage of Hook and Ladder, only the band’s fourth booking in two years as the foursome works around all their jam-packed performance and teaching schedules. It was actually cellist Jacqueline Ultan’s idea to re-form. ``I just thought why not get the band back together after 27 years,’’ Ultan explains. ``We’d all grown up and done so many varied things in our careers. I was curious and confident that we could make something familiar but new. Everyone in the band is so open and generous in collaboration and Barb’s songs are so emotional and beautiful, it seemed like it would be easy.’’
Cohen and Ultan actually started the group as a duo on the old ``three-top’’ stage of the 400 Bar. Cohen recalls nervously shoegazing for the first half hour of the set, then dared to look up to find a roomful of folks digging in. The duo soon added percussionist Marc Anderson (from Steve Tibbetts). Last into the group was a relative no-name at the time, then-19-year-old Jeremy Ylvisaker on bass (now on guitar). Together the four created a most unusual sound on the local scene, like Morphine meets Emmylou Harris without the bari sax.
``We were touring a lot in the Midwest. We had a wonderful booking agent who hooked us into the colleges, which was great because colleges would pay to offset the bars that might not. But you had to go out cold, open for people, maybe you’d get on college radio. But a lot of it was just elbow grease, keep playing, keep doing it. Later we finished an east coast tour that was kind of hit and miss. We came back exhausted, and simultaneously asking questions about our own futures and purpose in life. We did a final show at 7th Street Entry that was like an Irish wake. I was so sad, but it was a great last show.’’
The group must have ended well because the original unit is back, looking barely older than their younger selves, but all having gained vast musical and life experience. Anderson, ``The Urban Monk’’, is now a Zen Buddhist priest in addition to ongoing percussion work and his trademark Sound Bath Meditation happenings. Ultan, a member of the long-running Laurels Quartet, is the cellist of choice for just about any group in need; the Starfolk, Duo CORDA, Chris Lynch and Dust of Suns, and her own co-creation, Purple Orange (formerly Jelloslave). Ylvisaker is in constant demand with the Suburbs, Andrew Bird, and too many others to mention.
But none took a wilder career turn than Cohen, who glided into downbeat electronic pop in Brother Sun Sister Moon. It was a reunion with high-school bandmate Paul Robb of Information Society, who had tasted MTV stardom for hits such as ``What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy).’’ Robb and Cohen’s debut disc The Great Game (TRG Records,1997) set off one of the craziest press buzzes in local indie history.
``Paul’s studio looked like a set from Star Trek,’’ recalls Cohen, still with a sense of awe. ``Just a wall of synthesizers when synths were housed in brightly colored metal boxes with glowing lights and knobs, not a virtual instrument in your laptop. We would collectively write and arrange songs in the spaceship. For my part, I would describe sounds and feelings I wanted to hear in the arrangement, and Paul could make it happen. He’s a helluva producer, writer, musician.”
The record was picked up by Virgin Records, but the duo soon learned the hard lessons of the L.A. industry at a time when labels would oversign acts, then shelve and write off most of them, creating internal fights for the label’s greenlight. The agent who signed the duo left Virgin soon after, leaving them with new A&Rs from Bristol, UK, home of Portishead. Those Brits were not exactly looking for America. Soon Cohen and Robb were looking to end their deal and retain their recordings.
But those Los Angeles times were not without some sparkle; cocktail parties with Mick Jagger and Farrah Fawcett-Majors among others. The duo were featured on the lead single from Orbital’s The Middle of Nowhere. Cohen flew to London to promote the track and heard the song on the radio in a cab from Heathrow. But gradually Cohen’s career of near-constant forward progress hit a roadblock. The end of the century, the end of a relationship, and the end of the record deal were a time of serious contemplation and deep, dark self-assessment that she can look back on now with some humor and pride.
``Los Angeles can be really brutal, but I was a little reticent to go home, embarrassed after all this fanfare. `Hey everybody. How’s it going?’ she laughs with self-deprecation that punctuated much of our long talk. ``At that time, I felt humiliated, weird, and stubborn as I am, even though every third musician out there had the same story. I decided, `Dammit, I’m going to put together my own writing and recording studio, like Paul.’ When he and I split, we divvied up the gear and I taught myself to be a recording engineer. And though I was pretty depressed, I decided I’m going to make another record.’’
Both were excellent decisions. The resulting CD California (A Girl and Her Monster, 2003) is reminiscent of a now-unimaginable golden time when Lilith Fair was the top-selling festival in the nation, when Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star were million-sellers. The relaxed recording sessions sparkle with the sound of dobroes and mandos, steel guitar, penny whistle and some tasteful synth. Former Twin Citian Jimi Englund shows a wonderfully strong but soft touch on trap drums. It’s all topped by Cohen’s crystal-clear alto-soprano, and expert layers of multi-track self-harmony. It’s unfair that perhaps the least recognized work in her discography is one of the strongest works of her career, in which the growing songwriter and budding engineer captured a top-flight sound in a home studio, though it was no ordinary home.
``I decided to go back to what I knew: Folk music, acoustic music. I spent a good year and a half with a talented multi-instrumentalist, Cisco de Luna, and various musicians from our scene out there. It was all recorded in my apartment, a big old 1920s Spanish-style construction with tall ceilings, wood floors and a great natural reverb. Cisco brought some great gear, and I was babysitting a Hammond B3 and a Leslie amp that took up half the living room, but it sounded great. That was really freeing to get back to all that. I wasn’t at the mercy of all these opinions. I could really actualize what I heard. I can get pretty critical of my own stuff, but overall that album feels like a mature work, very much what I was trying to feel into about missing home, missing Minnesota and this music scene, and about trying to get back to myself.’’
``Home’’ by Barbara Cohen, California (2003)
Twenty years later, physical copies may be rare, but California is still available through the magic of Bandcamp and features strongly in Little Lizard’s new set list. At the time of its release, Cohen planned to rebuild her solo career the old-fashioned way.
``I figured I’ll start performing out here [L.A] and in two years, if I hit it hard and work it, I should have a following again. But that is not how it works out there. Minnesota really has a unique music scene. They love. . . live. . . music here. It’s really beautiful, it feels very Irish in a way, in that music is meant to be a communal experience. You go down to your local pub and hear your favorite band, and it’s accessible, it’s there for everyone. When you combine that accessibility with oftentimes very original sonic combinations and hyper-talented artists, you get a helluva music scene.’’
Cohen did a short Midwest tour with Ylvisaker behind California, but times had changed, and soon Cohen made an important change as well. She caught a break being invited to the Sundance Film Composer Labs in 2005, which opened her mind and also new doors in the music industry. ``When Jer and I finished those dates, I came home and I felt like `I just want to get a dog and be a studio rat.’ I don’t think of myself as introverted, but for a time in L.A. I really was.’’
After completing the Sundance Labs fellowship, then adding a Bachelors in Music Composition in 2017, Cohen dedicated herself to film and television work. It may sound like a dream job, but Cohen shattered my illusions that the composers get big bucks, and months of leisurely creative time as the dailies are shot. At the independent level, music is usually the last element developed. Composers get about a month if lucky and are limited to whatever small budget is left over to negotiate their own payment, plus fees for needed performances and rehearsals.
``Every project is a completely new puzzle to solve. If it’s set in a different country, then you’re just cramming about the instrumentation. Many scoring projects can feel like you’re just getting it done by the seat of your pants. It’s terrifying and exhilarating.’’
Photo: Tony Nelson
Cohen and Little Lizard live at the Hook: ``Minnesota really has a unique music scene. They love. . . live. . . music here.’’
At an age and a point in life when many musicians might decide they’ve had enough, Cohen appears to be on a whole new roll, combining creative confidence with an ever-expanding skill set and `bi-coastal’’ network of educational and artistic connections. She sounds truly amped about collaborating with MacPhail’s Electronic Music and Recording Arts chair Michael Cain, the pianist heard on many Jack DeJohnette records and other works on the revered ECM Records label. She has long-range plans for new works at the Cedar Cultural Center with Prairie Fire Choir and is set for another film project with 2024 McKnight Media recipient Christine Kunewa Walker.
While Cohen’s many career twists and turns may seem like off-roads at times, it’s all part of a cohesive sound and vision. From Little Lizard or Brother Sun Sister Moon to her renewal on the California solo disc and now to her advancement within Little Lizard 2.0, it’s all had a serious dramatic quality, for which a turn into scoring films seems utterly natural. It will be interesting to hear Little Lizard -- their latest performance since last April -- now that the group is both more tight-knit personally, yet more subtle and spontaneous musically. That leaves Cohen with a challenging role as both the vocal leader but also a careful listener responding to the creative waves flowing around her.
``They are all so elevated as players after all this time,’’ says Cohen. ``It’s a little more ambient now. Jacq and Jer are deep into the sound design potential beyond the basic tone of their instruments. I think we’re at a place in our lives and our playing where everybody’s game to explore more, to see where it goes. And there’s not this pressure of a record deal or all that stuff which is so not the point. The point is to play music together and the only pressure is to write good songs and make them sound interesting. To us, and hopefully the audience.’’
Barbara Cohen & Little Lizard Reunion Concert w/ special guests Adam & Ava Levy | Facebook
Music | Barbara Cohen (Bandcamp)
A little more about the members of Little Lizard:
Marc Anderson performs another of his Sound Bath Meditations April 11 at Cedar Cultural Center with cellist Ultan, drummer Davu Seru, and bassist Natalie Nowytski of chamber-pop trio Follow the Firefly.
Learn more on Marc and RSVP to future Sound Baths at about | Marc Anderson
Keep up with Jacqueline Ultan’s many works at these various links (and beyond).
The Dust of Suns Ensemble performing Sunday February 23 at Berlin in North Loop Minneapolis.
After a COVID hiatus (and dropping the name Jelloslave), double-cello quartet Purple Orange may be more visible this coming year. Keep up with them at (2) Facebook, but it may be more effective to follow Ultan on her personal Facebook for the many group gigs, special accompaniments, commissions, and some delightful emergency bookings that arise.
Jeremy Ylvisaker will be part of a must-see creation at Open Eye Theater in south Minneapolis. Playwright Kevin Kling and violinist Gaelynn Lea tell their stories of overcoming accessibility adversity in the original new work Invisible Fences. Ylvisaker has a musical role and theatrical part. INVISIBLE FENCES — Open Eye Theatre opens March 6.
Among his pop and rock involvements, Ylvisaker performs with Alpha Consumer at Lutsen Mountains, Grand Marais March 19, and the Suburbs at First Avenue April 4. He’s also recording young artists such as L.A. transplant Misty Boyce, Courtney Collins of Madison, and Mickey Mahoney.
Minneapolis native Jim Meyer was a music reporter at City Pages, Star Tribune, and Sam Goody/Best Buy a century ago. He’s a willing patron of the arts but won’t turn down gig invites, free demos or story ideas at meyerforhire@yahoo.com.
A more detailed and visually appealing version of the footnotes above are at my other 2/23/25 Substack post: Mpls. Outside/In Volume I: Little Lizard; Kevin Kling + Gaelynn Lea; Metzger, with Seru/Kinney/Cartwright at Resource.