Upset Duluth: Famous Kaylee Edition

The latest addition to Perfect Duluth Day’s ongoing “Upset Duluth” series features a true innovator in the field. Kaylee Matuszak flashes her frown in not one, but two photos in the Duluth News Tribune story “Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center to face peak season with skeleton crew.”

Upset Duluth, of course, highlights Duluth News Tribune photos of people who are upset. Usually the photo subjects appear with arms folded or gesturing with their hands in some way, but Matuszak deploys two new techniques: arms behind the back and staring forlornly into the distance. It’s simply exceptional work. Further props to DNT photographer Wyatt Buckner for capturing the displeasure.

Rafe Carlson – “Dirt Road to Heaven”

Hermantown native Rafe Carlson has a new single, “Dirt Road to Heaven.” The song is a tribute to his uncle, Jim Carlson, who died in January from glioblastoma brain cancer. The lyrics are all about hunting, fishing and growing up in northern Minnesota.

Rafe Carlson’s summer tour has him opening for country superstars Riley Green, Jon Pardi, Megan Moroney and more, with numerous stops in Wisconsin and Minnesota throughout May and June, including a performance at Rock the Bayfront in Duluth on June 21.

JamesG – “Winning Hand”

Former Duluthian James Geisler plays the cards he’s dealt in the video for his latest JamesG track, “Winning Hand.”

Homegrown Music Festival 2025 Primer

The 27th annual Homegrown Music Festival is underway. As usual, Perfect Duluth Day presents a rundown of updates, sidebar details and notes of peripheral or unsanctioned interest.

Duluth in space

PDD Quiz: April 2025

Test your knowledge of recent headlines with this month-in-review quiz!

A PDD quiz for the birds soars your way on May 11. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 8.

Lana Del Rey gives Duluth cold props

Last summer Lana Del Rey received the National Music Publishers’ Association Songwriter Icon award in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. Her acceptance speech included a brief mention of Duluth.

Footloose monkey afield in Fairmount Park in 1941

Carl Kuchenbecker was apparently responsible for nine primates disappearing into the woods near Kingsbury Creek during his many years as proprietor of The Same Old Place in West Duluth. The story of a “ringtailed monkey” named Bobby landed on the front page of the Duluth Herald on Oct. 18, 1941.

Postcard from the Same Old Place in West Duluth

This postcard image, touched up a bit from an eBay listing, shows The Same Old Place tourist information center and cabins at Fairmount Park in West Duluth.

Wolf pack howling into the wintry darkness

The Peatland Pack, the largest pack of wolves in the Voyageurs National Park area, was caught on a trail camera this winter howling in chorus. The main wolf that is standing up howling in the clip is the breeding female of the pack, and three others show up on camera, but the pack is composed of at least nine wolves.

The video is from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the ecology of wolves in the park.

Emily Haavik – “If I Were a Ghost”

Duluth native Emily Haavik has a new single, “If I Were a Ghost.” The acoustic video was shot by Charlie Steen.

Emily Haavik & the 35s play at the West Theatre on April 30 as part of the Homegrown Music Festival.

Our Home in West Duluth

This photo is dated April 19, 1910 — 115 years ago today. It shows a house with two adults standing against a wooden fence and a child sitting on the fence. The image is from a postcard with writing indicating the house was in West Duluth.

The Slice: Warrior Printress

Warrior Printress Letterpress and Design is a Duluth print shop that uses new and old technology. Janelle Miller works a printing press that is more than 100 years old. Stacie Renné stacks letters into a frame one at a time while creating a new piece.

In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.

Future of Duluth’s Galley Hop still unknown

Graphic of participating galleries for the 2016 Gallery Hop, including Duluth Art Institute, Siiviiss of Sivertson Gallery, Lake Superior Art Glass, Washington 315 Gallery and others. Photo courtesy of Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop on Facebook.

Five years after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of what would have been the 30th annual Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop, no plan is in place to bring the event back. But its organizers are still considering some type of reboot.

PDD Shop Talk: The Usual Spiel

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Keeping Duluth’s Duluthiest website running with new content every day has been an ongoing financial challenge for more than 21 years, but Perfect Duluth Day is still here, still free to read and still kicking out the daily goods. Advertising revenue keeps the operation going, but donations help us do more and do it better.

That’s why we occasionally toss up a post like this one to remind everyone that donations are a big help.