All posts tagged: Lao Minnesotan

On tour: MN metal band debuts “The Color Clear”

Published by Leslie

Minnesota-based metalcore band, Reflections, officially released their third album, The Color Clear, on September 18, 2015. The four person band features two Lao Americans, guitarist Patrick Somoulay, and bassist Francis Xayana. LLOTP caught up with Francis to find out more about their latest album and life on tour. Tell us a little bit about Reflections. Who’s in it? How did it get started? Reflections has been a band since 2010, but didn’t get active until 2012. It started off as a project between our guitarist, Patrick Somoulay, and our vocalist Jake Wolf. I came into the picture soon after and also our drummer, Nick Lona. I play bass for the band, but I also take care of the business and branding aspects. Our genre is metal. What’s it like to be a Lao American kid in a rock band?  I never once felt like I ever had a disadvantage in being in a band because of being Lao American. I suppose it doesn’t really make me feel special or different than anyone in that sense. But as of …

Running Home documentary comes to Minneapolis

Published by littlelaosontheprairie

Meet us at the movies, readers! Co-sponsored by Little Laos on the Prairie, Running Home will be screening this Friday, June 19th, 2015 at 7:00PM at Sushi Tango located at 3001 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408. Q&A with the amazing Lao American women of the film will follow. Running Home follows Lao American ultra marathon runner, Nang Dunn on a personal journey: a goal to come full circle and cross the finish line in the village where she grew up as a child. She teams up with runners Nancy Southasarn and Sirivanh Ketavong on a anti-trafficking campaign that evolved to become the first ever ultra marathon relay in Laos, spanning 130 miles across 3 provinces in 3 days. All proceeds will benefit survivors of human trafficking and the next Run Laos Challenge hosted by Village Run Foundation and Village Focus International. Learn more: http://www.villagerun.org/.  -Staff, editor@littlelaos.org