Carpet Booth owner reflects on Rochester’s Yung Gravy performing at State Fair

(ABC 6 News) – A southeast Minnesota musician took the spotlight at the Minnesota State Fair Wednesday night.

Yung Gravy, who was born and raised in Rochester, is a rapper who got his start at the local recording studio, Carpet Booth Studios.

Zach Zurn is the owner of Carpet Booth and helped produce some of his largest singles. He’s never been to a show at the state fair grand stand before, but is proud to attend his first show there to see a friend perform.

“Matt, who is Yung Gravy, is honestly one of the hardest working most humble musicians that I work with. We sit in this studio and we just work our tails off for hours, and hours, and hours slaving over the craft of all the minutia of all his songs,” Zurn said.

Zurn is a massive advocate for the growth of southeast Minnesota based musicians, and having these moments of one of the artists he’s worked with getting on the state’s biggest stages is very rewarding for him.

“I think we have one of the most underrated music scenes in the world here in Minnesota, which I am very grateful to be apart of. So to see any of those artists get those opportunities just makes me super proud,” said Zurn.

While the spotlight on Southeast Minnesota musicians took focus on Yung Gravy last night in St. Paul, Zurn is wide-eyed for what’s to come in the live local music scene in the months to come.

“These are all folks that are just starting out right here in Rochester or the city. I’m such an advocate for how the Rochester music scene has grown. In the last five to six years, I feel like it’s quadrupled in size and the amount of people that want to be involved.”

The grand stand performance is Yung Gravy’s third in his home state over the last year.