Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller did on Friday after a battle with throat cancer. The band was among those that first helped to show me that there was something beyond the usual pap on the radio. Along with the Replacements, Husker Du and many others, Soul Asylum opened up a whole new world to my teen-aged self. As a budding music journalist at my college paper, I interviewed Mueller for a story to preview a show the band played in Iowa City. I don't recall much from that chat now, but I do remember how nice he was. I had been disappointed not to talk to lead singer Dave Pirner (college and small market papers almost always get the bass player), but his open, easy demeanor helped me to get over the nerves associated with talking to someone from a favorite band. I learned over time how to separate fan from reporter in my approach, and Mueller served as a test subject for my self-taught rock crit 101 course.

In other Minneapolis-related rock news, Bob Mould tells Billboard.com that fans shouldn't expect Husker Du to follow in the footsteps of peers like the Pixies, Gang of Four and Slint and reform. "Been there, done that," he says, adding that his two-song reunion with Grant Hart at, coincidentally enough, a benefit for Mueller last year, was a one-off. He does say he has been trying to get back the rights to the band's catalog on SST for a proper reissue project, but a lack of cooperation from Hart and bassist Greg Norton (who, in keeping with my above thesis, I have interviewed) has thus far stymied those efforts.