Music
The Crunchy Bunch DJ collective made a podcast highlighting local DJs, artists and musicians
As the Crunchy Bunch, we’ve been DJing for almost nine years now, and we decided it was time to try something a little different. We started making a podcast that would feature new beats that we discover, as well as a sit-down, relaxed chat with a local face.
So far we’ve had DJ Kevin Craig, DJ Walt Dizzo, and the newest episode with Chad Lyons in the studio.
Check it out at thecrunchybunch.info! We’re still exploring ideas and trying to make it better and better each episode.
Enjoy 😀
The Little Black Books – “A Plum”
From Mark Lindquist’s basement in Baxter comes the new single by the Little Black Books, “A Plum.” The song will be available Nov. 21 as a flexible two-track record on Lindquist’s Baxtrax label. The video was shot in Duluth at R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon.
Not Bluegrass
Old-time music is better than it sounds. Old-time, not bluegrass. Of course it’s futile to argue tastes in music. Foolish to judge the listening choices of another. Folly to debate ones’s aesthetic preferences. But having said that, may I add: bluegrass sucks.
Ha! Just kidding, bluegrass. You know we only tease you out of envy for your fancy shirts, and amazing chops, displayed in those talent attacks had most every solo. And you’ve got as many virtuosos per capita as any genre out there, though they be virtuosos with the souls of bean counters. Ha! Did I say that? Just kidding, bluegrass.
Of course there’s some overlap between the styles, bluegrass having “evolved” out of old-time, around WW II. It’s not like there’s a tidy trench between the two, over which we lob our slurs and brickbats. But for the most part bluegrass emerged around 1945 as Earl Scruggs (forgive him Lord) invented his 3-finger style of banjo picking that, along with fairly specific instrumentation, defines the style. Still, the term “bluegrass” is often misused to label anyone playing that assortment of stringed instruments. There’s a local pop band most always labeled “bluegrass” because of the instruments they play, but it ain’t so. How do I know? They don’t suck.
Sorry. I really should see a shrink about this hot-lick envy. Treat these deep-seated fears of Stetsons and bolo ties. Having spent so much of my life high and lonesome you’d think I’d better appreciate those mountain harmonies. (more…)
The Electric Witch – “Hallowed”
Just in time for Halloween, the Electric Witch released its first official video, “Hallowed.”
Produced by Mike Scholtz and Valerie Coit. Music by Zac Bentz. Lyrics and vocals by Marcus Matthews.
Rich Mattson and the Northstars – “Castles”
Rich Mattson and the Northstars have released a new album, Aeroplane Mode. The video for the single “Castles” is a bit of space rock put together by Reggie Pype.
Glen’s Neighbor – “Time To Go”
Here’s the video for the latest single from Duluth-based bluegrass band Glen’s Neighbor off the album Your Unknown. Directed and edited by Shane Rock Nelson with cinematography by Dan Huiting.
Bob Dylan on cover of final Village Voice print edition
The 62-year-old New York-based news and culture paper Village Voice published its final printed edition on Sept. 20. It features Duluth-born Bob Dylan on the cover — a photo taken on Jan. 22, 1965 in Christopher Park near the old Voice offices.
The Voice announced in August it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to a fully digital format.
(more…)Charlie Parr interview for Issue magazine
In this interview for Issue magazine, Duluth musician Charlie Parr discusses his musical influences, his writing methods and his experience recording for the first time ever using a full band. Video by Jan-Willem Dikker.
Parr’s new album, Dog, is out now on Red House Records.
Piano teacher has openings for new students
Openings for piano lessons for the 2017 school year and beyond! Email [email protected] or call 218-464-3287. (more…)
Charlie Parr – “Peaceful Valley”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkdelUlaLXE
“Peaceful Valley,” from Charlie Parr’s album Dog is a fantasy of closing the door, drinking coffee, listening to records and becoming a good recluse.
Animation by Jake Huffcutt.
Charlie Parr discloses depression in City Pages feature
Duluth musician Charlie Parr is featured in this week’s issue of the Twin Cities tabloid City Pages. In an interview with freelance writer Erica Rivera, Parr acknowledges a life spent battling depression and suicidal thoughts.
“It affects everything that I do, all day, every day — and all night,” he says.
Story link: Man of constant sorrow: Charlie Parr’s quiet battle to stay alive
Parr performs at Sacred Heart Music Center on Thursday in support of his new album, Dog.
Breanne Marie and the Front Porch Sinners – “Carousel”
New video for “Carousel” by Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners. Shot at Chester Bowl by Michelle Truax of Duluth.com. From their upcoming album Wildflowers & Tumbleweeds, recorded at Sparta Sound with Rich Mattson.
The record release party is Saturday, Sept. 16 at Beaner’s Central. (more…)
Nat Harvie Trio – “Nat Harvie’s Birthday”
Directed by Caitlin Nielson. Crowdfunding campaign info at indiegogo.com.
Bob Dylan Hates Me
Absurd animated tales of encounters with Bob Dylan from filmmaker Caveh Zahedi.
Duluthian Sadik Hakim featured on Jazz Profiles blog
“In 1982, the music world lost a legend with the death of Thelonious Monk. At Monk’s funeral, thousands gathered to pay their respects. One of Monk’s former colleagues sat at the piano and played, according to legendary jazz writer Ted Joans, “a sad but soulful” version of Monk’s own “’Round Midnight.” That pianist was Duluth-native Sadik Hakim, who played and recorded with jazz icons from the 1940s to the 1980s. Down Beat magazine described him as “one of the unsung veterans who helped forge the bebop revolution.”
Sadik Hakim: A Remembrance by David Ouse
Iron Range to host inaugural craft beer festival
The Iron Range’s first craft beer festival is on tap this Saturday in Virginia. In addition to a craft beer village, the Olcott Fountain Brew Fest will feature food, live music and kids’ activities.
The event is a fundraiser organized by the Olcott Park Fountain Restoration Committee, whose mission is to restore the park’s historic fountain to its former glory.
“It’s the first brew fest north of Duluth. We seem to have a lot of interest from all over the Iron Range, which is awesome,” says Carly Gobats, who curated the event’s brewery and music lineup and serves as the its volunteer coordinator. (more…)
Witness Relocation
When I moved to Duluth from San Francisco in July 2004, my fiancé Jeremy and I rented a first-floor apartment in a 100-year-old house on Third Street. The elegant flight of stairs inside our foyer was an egress for the upstairs apartment, so we had to keep the door between us unlocked. Jeremy didn’t seem worried; he had been living in Ely, where everyone leaves their keys in the ignition. Turned out our upstairs neighbors were a couple of women who rescued abandoned baby animals and nursed them with eye droppers. I stopped worrying about it, too.
From our back porch we grilled brats, drank Lake Superior Special Ale, and gazed at the brewing company’s namesake. I had never had a porch, a grill, or a view this pretty. As I looked across the blue water I felt my shoulders relax. I felt off the map, like a witness relocated: no one from my past life could find me here unless I wanted them to.
Then one morning in the window of Positively 3rd Street Bakery I saw someone from my past on a poster for the Bayfront Blues Festival: Koko Taylor. Now I was old enough to see her sing. The last time I was not, and that was a long time ago. (more…)
Girl from the North Country reviews are in
The Stage, a weekly British newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry, has compiled reviews of the new Bob Dylan-inspired play set in 1930’s Duluth. Girl from the North Country, written and directed by Conor McPherson, opened earlier this month at the Vic Theater in London.
Critic Fergus Morgan notes the show “boasts a large, diverse cast, and 20 Dylan songs from across his career, pared down and rearranged for the stage by Simon Hale and performed by a live, onstage band.” The setting is described as “a run-down Minnesota guesthouse during the Great Depression. We’re in Duluth, Dylan’s place of birth, seven years before the singer-songwriter entered the world.” (more…)
Clare Means – “Duluth Song”
Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Clare Means was in Duluth recently for a performance at Wade Stadium. While here she recorded a “Duluth Song” and released this video, set to images of the Western Duluth Little League Intermediate Division District Tournament Team, which defeated Lake Park 15-5 on July 11 to claim the 2017 Minnesota state championship.
Glitteratti – “Ask the Mrs.”
Here it is, the debut single from Duluth band Glitteratti‘s album In Pasadena, schedule for an Oct. 10 release.
Mike Watt at the NorShor Theater: “Eyegifts From Minnesota”
The documentary Eyegifts From Minnesota, by Bill Draheim, follows Mike Watt and his band at the time, the Jom and Terry Show, as they drive into Duluth and load in for a performance at the NorShor Theater on May 28, 2002. They tour the old R. O. Carlson’s bookstore, do some sightseeing in Canal Park and spend the night at Shaky Ray Records before heading south for shows at the Turf Club in St. Paul and the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.
Watt wrote extensively about the tour, and the Duluth stop, on his “Our Oars Became Wings” Tour 2002 Diary. He marvels in the diary and in the film about seeing Lake Superior for the first time. He also mentions in the diary getting a tour of “the secret tunnels” under the NorShor and how it “feels haunted down there.” (more…)
Sweat Equity – “Hot Shower”
Duluth’s Paul Broman and Kevin Craig started reviving the Minneapolis funk, soul and synth-pop sound with their band Sweat Equity in 2013. Finally, the video for their single “Hot Shower” has arrived.
RoofTop Fable – “It’s All So Complicated”
Duluth band Rooftop Fable will be hosting a release party for their album “Nuanced” on Saturday, July 22 at Blacklist Brewing. The event will also feature Emily Jayne & The Blue Plate Fella’s, Honest Maude, The True Malarkey and cabaret performances by The Duluth Dolls.
The video above is from the album and features aerial acrobat and contortionist, Cheryl Birch, and was filmed at Ignite Studio in downtown Duluth by Brian Barber.
Actual Wolf – “Baby Please”
“Baby Please” is the first single off the Actual Wolf album Faded Days, available now digitally and on cassette. The record release is scheduled for Sept. 15.
Eric Pollard, aka Actual Wolf, splits time between Duluth, Grand Rapids, Nashville and so on.
The video is directed by Erik Nelson.