Rivers & Roots Fest

Some bands become part of the community story.

For years, Lucky Stars Band has brought Lao music to celebrations, temple festivals, New Year gatherings, and cultural events across Minnesota and throughout the country—creating the kind of moments people carry with them long after the music ends.

For many, their sound feels instantly familiar.

The melodies.
The rhythms.

The feeling of hearing songs that have brought generations together on dance floors for years.

Their music carries the spirit of mor lam—one of Laos’ most recognizable musical traditions, rooted in storytelling, melody, and celebration.

It’s a sound that continues to connect elders and younger generations alike through memory, movement, and shared experience.

That spirit lives at the heart of the Salavan Stage at Rivers & Roots—named after Salavan Province in southern Laos, home to the iconic Lam Saravane rhythm that helped shape Lao musical culture and celebration.
Wherever Lucky Stars performs, people gather closer.

People dance.
People sing along.
That’s what live music is supposed to do.

More than a band, Lucky Stars represents a living tradition—keeping Lao music alive through performance, celebration, and community across generations.

Catch Lucky Stars Band live at Rivers & Roots.

Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.
Mah der. Mah muan. Mah muan num gun.

Some sounds are inherited.
Others are transformed.

Gumby, also known as Pryce, is a Lao hip-hop artist who weaves traditional morlum elements into a modern sound—creating something that feels both familiar and new at the same time.

It’s in the melodies.
The textures.
The subtle echoes of something older, carried forward through a different voice.

With over two decades in music, his work reflects a deeper intention—to keep cultural sound alive while allowing it to evolve.

The result is something that resonates across generations.

Elders hear what they recognize.
Younger audiences hear what they can claim as their own.

That’s not just music.
That’s continuity.

Catch Gumby aka Pryce live at Rivers & Roots.

Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.

Mah der. Mah muan. Mah muan num gun.





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Some voices don’t need to be loud to be felt.

GY Yang is a Minnesota-born Hmong American pop/R&B artist known for a soulful voice that carries emotion with ease—smooth, expressive, and instantly recognizable the moment it hits.

Blending contemporary sound with cultural influence, her music moves between softness and strength—songs about love, distance, and the moments that stay with you longer than expected.

Since emerging in 2021, she’s quickly become one of the rising voices in the Hmong music scene, with her breakout track “Ib Xyoos” reaching millions.

But it’s not just the songs—
it’s how she delivers them.

Live, her voice lands differently.
Closer. More real. Harder to forget.

Catch GY Yang performing “Missed Call” at Rivers & Roots.

Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.
Mah der. Mah muan. Mah muan num gun.

Not every artist needs an introduction—
sometimes you just need to hear them.

Pong Vang is part of the local wave of artists coming out of Minnesota, bringing sound, style, and presence shaped by community and lived experience.

Rooted in the Hmong music scene, his performances carry a sense of familiarity—something that feels close, real, and connected to the people in the crowd.

From local stages to audiences around the world, he’s spent years doing what he loves most—connecting with people through live performance.

If you haven’t heard him yet—
this is your chance.

Catch Pong Vang live at Rivers & Roots.
Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.
Mah der. Mah muan. Mah muan num gun.

Some DJs play music.
Some DJs move the crowd.

Lil Crazed—also known as DJ AleXplain—is a Cambodian American hip-hop artist and DJ known for the kind of sets where the energy doesn’t sit still. From the first track to the last, he reads the room, builds the moment, and keeps the crowd right where it needs to be.

It’s not just what he plays—
it’s how he works the crowd.

Call and response.
Hands up.
Everybody locked in.

From Minnesota to stages around the world, he’s built a reputation for turning sets into full-on experiences.

And if the moment’s right—
he might grab the mic and remind you where it all started.

When he’s on—
you’re not watching. You’re in it.

Catch Lil Crazed live at Rivers & Roots.
Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.
Mah der. Mah muan. Mah muan num gun.

Some voices don’t just sound good—
they bring something back.

Jack GV is a Hmong American singer-songwriter known for ballads that carry real emotion—the kind that stay with you long after the music fades.

There’s something about his voice.
The way it holds memory.
The way it makes a moment feel familiar, even if you’ve never heard the song before.

With millions of views and a catalog built over years, his music has quietly become part of people’s lives—soundtracking moments you don’t always have words for.

And when you hear it live, it lands differently.

It takes you somewhere.
Back to a feeling.
Back to a moment you didn’t realize you still carried.

Catch Jack GV live at Rivers & Roots.

Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.

Mah der. Mah muan. Mah muan num gun.

TwinCitiesEvents

Before the wave—there were the ones who helped start it.

Illphatic + Yungin are part of a generation that helped shape the Midwest Asian hip-hop sound—blending hip-hop and melody at a time when the scene was still finding its voice.

From Cuff Yo Chick: The Album to tracks like “Got Somebody” and “Look At You Now,” their music carried a sound that people still recognize—and still run back.

It’s that mix of bars, hooks, and real crowd energy that defined a moment—and still hits when it comes on.

Now they’re bringing it back to the stage.

For some, it’s nostalgia.
For others, it’s a first time.

Either way—you’re going to feel it on the Salavan Stage.

Catch Illphatic + Yungin live at Rivers & Roots on Saturday, May 16.

Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.
Mah der. Mah muan. Mah man num gun.

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This is the set where the crowd takes over.

One song turns into ten.

Strangers turn into your people.
And suddenly… nobody’s standing still.

DJ YoFabs moves across Hip-Hop, R&B, EDM, Latin, and global sounds—blending the familiar with the unexpected in real time.

Songs you know. Sounds you didn’t expect.

All building into one shared moment.

If you know—you know.
If you don’t… this is where you find out.

Catch DJ YoFabs at Rivers & Roots.
Ancient fire — modern soul.

Be there. Tag your crew.
Mah der. Mah muan.

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