Anyone with any knowledge of the Minnesota music scene over the last several decades will recognize the name City Mouse. On Saturday, Dec. 30, the Mankato-based band will celebrate its 35th anniversary at T.J. Finnegan’s Pub in downtown Mankato starting at 8:00 p.m.

Actually, only one of the original band members remains, Minnesota Music Hall of Famer Billy Steiner, but at least 30 musicians have gone through the band, including notables like Mary Jane Alm, Lonnie Knight and drummer Steve “Tilly” Thielges, who has since done gigs with the Temptations and Gene Pitney. Many of the former members will be playing with the band Saturday night.

City Mouse is one of those groups that could’ve been famous had it been able to score attention outside its own backyard. In fact, Steiner and company flirted briefly with the L.A. scene, but the record label that showed the most interest ended up signing Pure Prairie League instead.

If you want to hear a great, national-quality folk/country/rock band at 1970s prices