Music
Matt Miller – “All Star” Music Video
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Local up-and-coming musician Matt Miller’s video for his new song “All-Star” shot by Max Fierek of Nionix Media.
Check Matt out on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/mattmillersongs and Max’s YouTube Channel at youtube.com/c/MaxFierek.
Dead Man Winter – “Destroyer”
The first video from the new Dead Man Winter album Furnace features cameos by numerous Minnesota music scene notables, including Duluth’s Al Sparhawk and two others who briefly called Duluth home, Haley Bonar and John Mark Nelson.
Dead Man Winter performs in concert Saturday at Pizza Luce.
Ear to the Ground: Charlie Parr
A session and interview with Duluth musician Charlie Parr filmed and recorded in Saranac Lake, N.Y., in July 2015. It’s part of Beehive Productions‘ “Ear to the Ground” series featuring sessions and interviews exploring the artists and places that make up roots music culture.
Upcoming Charlie Parr gigs:
Feb. 8 at Red Herring Lounge with Devil’s Flying Machine
Feb. 9 at Clyde Iron Works with the Boomchucks
Feb. 11 at First United Methodist Church
Bob Monahan gives Duluth music scene ‘some backbone’
This week’s issue of the Twin Cities tabloid City Pages is dubbed “The People Issue” and focuses on “18 who make Minnesota a better place to live.” Among those featured with the likes of Minnesota Vikings tight end and humanitarian Kyle Rudolph and craft beer entrepreneur Kathleen Culhane is Duluth’s Bob Monahan, owner of Chaperone Records and the Red Herring Lounge, referred to as “Duluth’s music mayor.”
Superior Siren – “Nightmare”
Another round of NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest is underway, with the winner to be announced in March. Duluth’s Gaelynn Lea took top honors in 2016.
Local band Superior Siren‘s 2017 submission is for a song called “Nightmare.” (The video was embedded here but has since been removed from YouTube.)
Blues Monday
Local blues band the Adjustments perform a cover of B.B. King’s “Sweet Little Angel” live in their home studio in Duluth on Dec. 29.
Audio and video recorded by the Adjustments, with help from Andrew Holien. Edited by Alex Nelson.
Bue headed to Taos, releasing EP in May
City Pages reports former Duluthian Mary Bue will soon be living in an adobe casita at Taos, New Mexico, as part of a three-month artist-in-residence program offered by the Wurlitzer Foundation. She’s performing a send-off show Saturday at the Icehouse in Minneapolis with Alan Sparhawk and Molly Maher. In May she’ll release an EP, The Majesty of Beasts, which was recorded in Nashville.
City Pages: Mary Bue powers through band split, divorce with desert session, yoga
“Duh-looth”
Thanks to howtopronounce.org we now have this clip to use as a sample in electronic instrumentals. Who would like to be the first?
(It’s all about that) Duluth Bass Player Adam Booker
Woot for the local artist, internationally recognized. In the Contrabass Conversations podcast from Prague, Duluth bassist Adam Booker is interviewed about …
- traditional jazz bass lines and what notes were really being played
- confessions from a former string neurotic
- what surprised Adam the most about academia
- Stefon Harris and his description of scales as a collection of emotions
- hanging up on Milt Hinton … and then watching Jeopardy! with him
- not just creating great bassists, but creating great people
Paul Metsa – “Christmas at Molly’s”
This video slideshow, produced by Andy Watson of ANDVD Media, was released just before Christmas. It features a song written by Paul Metsa in 1990 as a loving tribute to Molly O’Kash Muench Spaun, proprietor of Molly’s Bar in Superior. Spaun died in 2013 at the age of 99. Molly’s Bar closed in 2005 and became Tower Avenue Tavern.
2016: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
By no means is this a comprehensive collection, nor is it a carefully curated archive of the best. It’s just a bunch of 2016 concert posters the PDD crew was alert enough to toss in a folder for use in this feature. Enjoy. (more…)
Big Wave Dave and the Ripples – “Snow Pants”
Big Wave Dave and the Ripples are the subject of a WDSE-TV documentary titled Soul Brothers, which first aired in November. The video above is a clip from the documentary featuring the nine-piece funk-and-soul band in action.
Ingeborg von Agassiz – “Jolly Old St. Nick”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ0ut8AIkSE
A reharmonization and altered melody for the traditional holiday classic “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by Duluth’s Ingeborg von Agassiz.
PDD Quiz: Christmas City, Wonderful City
You’ve been hearing it. You’ve been humming it. You probably know it by heart. Or do you? How much do you know about Duluth’s official Christmas song? Let’s find out!
Homegrown band registration ends Christmas night
Duluth-area musicians interested in performing in the 2017 Homegrown Music Festival must make their intentions known by filling out a registration form at duluthhomegrown.org. The deadline is Dec. 25 at midnight. The eight-day festival runs April 30 to May 7.
Superior record store announces closing, huge inventory for sale
Vinyl Cave owners Tom Johnson, left, and Tom Unterberger will close the Superior record store Dec. 31. They hope to sell the store inventory to a single buyer.
The largest used record store in the region will go out of business this month after owners struggled to meet the demands of younger music lovers buying and selling collectible vinyl on the Internet.
The Vinyl Cave, 1717 Belknap Street in Superior, will close its doors Dec. 31. Owners Tom Unterberger and Tom Johnson hope to find a single buyer for an inventory that includes more than 10,000 albums, 300,000 singles, rock memorabilia and vintage stereo equipment. (more…)
Forget the Nobel Prize ceremony, this place is more important
Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan’s parents, Beatrice and Abram Zimmerman, are buried at Tifereth Israel Cemetery in Duluth.
I didn’t get an invitation to the Nobel Prize award ceremony for Bob Dylan in Sweden yesterday. Instead, I visited a memorial to the most important people in his life: His parents.
Abram and Beatrice Zimmerman are both buried in Duluth; the same city they brought Bob Dylan into this world more than 75 years ago. The same city where I live.
So on a bright blue, wonderfully cold day, I stepped into my pick-up truck, dropped a Duane Eddy CD into the player and drove 15 minutes to Tifereth Israel Cemetery. Somehow it seemed more important than anything happening in Stockholm.
Read all about it here.
Doomtree – “Fresh New Trash”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhR_cvLscJY
PDD alum Kahla Statema directs this unofficial video for “Fresh New Trash” from Doomtree’s 2011 album No Kings. Rapper Andrew Sims is currently on tour, with stops planned at Papa Charlie’s in Lutsen on Feb. 4 and the Red Herring Lounge in Duluth on March 10.
Dance Attic – “Startin’ a Fire with You”
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Happy holidays! Jimi Cooper and Suzi Ludwig of Dance Attic bring the holiday cheer for this year’s PDD Christmas video. The song is from the band’s first album, tentatively scheduled for release in April.
A big thank you to the Homegrown Music Festival for sponsoring the video. Band registration is happening now, the Homegrown Winter Fiasco is Jan. 13, and the full-on eight-day extravaganza happens April 30 to May 7.
A big tip of the western hat also goes out to Darryn Wallace, who made Dance Attic’s snappy outfits.
Visit the PDD Holiday Video Showcase to view a collection of clips featuring the ghosts of Christmas’ past.
Sarah Krueger – Northern Air 5-track EP
Duluth musician Sarah Krueger “holed up for a couple evenings in St. Paul” in November with her “good homie Jordan Taylor to record some holiday songs.” The result is the five-song EP Northern Air. Listen here for free, or name your price to download from Bandcamp.
Emily Haavik – “New Beginning Girl”
Duluth native Emily Haavik returns home from the Twin Cities next weekend to release her debut album You Were the City. The CD release party is Dec. 11 at Beaner’s Central.
The album was recorded last winter by Jason Wussow in the basement recording studio at Beaner’s. According to Haavik, the song “New Beginning Girl” is the “catchy” one.
The Little Black Books – “Barstool Christmas”
Directed by Kirk Kjenaas.
Low – “Some Hearts (at Christmas Time)”
Duluth band Low released a new Christmas song today. The band is touring the United Kingdom during the first half of December.
To friends who have moved away and friends who have passed on this year. To one and all, especially those who are alone, we wish you a Merry Christmas and new hope for the new year. May we all find ways to lift each other. — With love, Mimi, Alan and Steve
The digital single is available from Sub Pop Records.
Dead Man Winter – “Destroyer”
Trampled by Turtles frontman Dave Simonett will release a new album with his side project, Dead Man Winter, on Jan. 27. The album is titled Furnace and the first single, “Destroyer,” is embedded above.
“Destroyer is about … well … destroying,” Simonett told American Songwriter magazine. “I wrote it while confronting the feeling that every time I get some stability in my life, career, relationship, artistic, my tendency is to fully tear it apart. I should really stop doing that. Sometimes it honestly feels like I’m allergic to happiness. Or maybe chaos is where I am ultimately most comfortable. Though, to be honest, I’d hesitate to ever call myself comfortable. Life’s a funny little devil, ain’t it?”
Dead Man Winter will perform in Duluth on Feb. 18 at Pizza Lucé.