Music

The Keep Aways at Tom’s Burned Down Café

.. and then the woman with the green hair appears.

The Hoot Owls – “Flippin’ Bird”

Duluth band the Hoot Owls released this song in 2007 on the album Alien Scrapyard. Now a delightful video has emerged.

Perfect Duluth Day Outdoor Summer Concert Primer 2015

Summer will soon be upon us, and with summer comes live music galore. Venues like Bayfront Festival Park and Big Top Chautauqua host major touring acts throughout summer, along with a number of smaller summer concert series put on by Lucius Woods Performing Arts Center, Bayside Sounds, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and Chester Creek Concert Series. There are also a handful of weekend festivals around the region, from Sturgeon Lake on over to Rhinelander and Cadotte. Here’s a look at some of the summer 2015 highlights.
 

Hobo Nephews of Uncle FrankJune 9
The Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank
Chester Bowl Park
The Chester Creek Concert Series continues with brothers Ian and Teague Alexy playing songs from their new album American Shuffle.

MystikalJune 12
Hip Hop Fest SJ1
Embassy Bar
A weekend long hip-hop festival will take place in Sturgeon Lake, with artists such as Prof, Rittz, Twista and Mystikal performing throughout the weekend. On-site camping is available.

michael frantiJune 13
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Big Top Chautauqua
Michael Franti & Spearhead hits the stage under the Big Top with hits such as “The Sound of Sunshine” and “Say Hey (I Love You).”

glorianaJune 19
Grandma’s Marathon Big Top Opening Night
Canal Park
County band Gloriana comes to Duluth to kick-off opening night of Grandma’s Marathon weekend. Fellow country act Hitchville is also on the bill.

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Rich Mattson and the Northstars album out

Rich Mattson and the Northstars 2015

Youa Vang has the story for City Pages: Rich Mattson & the Northstars channel Iron Range on new LP

Here is the iTunes link and the CD Baby link for the album.

Duluth release party is Friday, June 5, at the Red Herring.

Here is the link to PDD’s list of local albums released in 2015.

Charlie Parr – “Over the Red Cedar” (Live in MPR studios)

The Farsights – “Heaven” (Live at Homegrown)

Duluth band The Farsights perform at Tycoons Alehouse during the 2015 Homegrown Music Festival in this clip from the May 21 episode of WDSE-TV’s The PlayList.

Feeding LeRoy – “Telluride Song” (Live on The PlayList)

Duluth band Feeding LeRoy performs a song from the Love is a Gamble EP on the May 21 episode of WDSE-TV’s The PlayList.

Mary Bue – “Cheribum”

New video by Mary Bue from her recent album, Holy Bones.

Charlie Parr: guitar virtuoso, friend, barefoot prophet

Charlie Parr Duluth

Charlie Parr is one of the most unusual and fascinating individuals I’ve ever met. He has lived in my neighborhood for years, but for some reason I hadn’t summoned the courage required to knock on his door until only recently. Finding him to be as accessible as an open book, I unexpectedly encountered a kindred spirit while making a friend. I don’t come across many kindred spirits, so this is worth writing home about.

Read more about this fascinating, one-of-a-kind soul here.

Adam Booker – “Unraveled Rival” (Live on The PlayList)

Duluth jazz bassist Adam Booker performs a track from his new album Unraveled Rival on the May 14 episode of WDSE-TV’s The PlayList. Booker’s band features Ryan Frane on keyboard, Tim Stratioti on trombone and Ben Ophoven-Baldwin on drums.

Monster Mob – Human Centipede

Monster Mob logoDuluth punk band Monster Mob has announced it will accept donations for Safe Haven Shelter at all of its shows in 2015. Upcoming gigs are May 22 at Sclavi’s Italian Restaurant and May 30 at the Red Star Lounge.

The band released its debut EP in March.

Homegrown 2015 Slideshow Retrospective

View the full set of 124 images from Homegrown 2015 on Flickr. (more…)

Here is my entire eight days of Homegrown 2015 in one video

Starling of Athens – “The Lord is Not My Real Dad”

This video by Brian Barber was part of the 2015 Homegrown Music Video Festival. Click that fancy link to view more videos from this year’s festival.

The Rosewood Wonder

Photos by Jamie Merideth

Photos by Jamie Merideth

The view from the fourth floor of DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace is amazing. Outside the windows are the icons of Duluth: Lake Superior and the Aerial Lift Bridge. On the inside sits Mike Furo, quietly bringing new life to old musical instruments as the owner of Rosewood Music. (more…)

Trampled by Turtles – Live at First Avenue

Listen to the Turtles Saturday night show (5/2/15) at First Ave.

01. New Orleans

02. Codeine
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Who won Homegrown 2015?

Photo by Melissa La Tour

Photo by Melissa La Tour

Which band altered the most souls, inspired the most hedonism and deserves to wear the championship belt this year?

The poll is now closed. Here are the results:

Bratwurst – 12.7 percent
The Blasphemists – 10.2 percent
The Electric Witch – 6.8 percent
Sweat Equity – 5.1 percent
Various other bands – 65.3 percent

Is it the music, the artistry or the stinky meat? Duluth music fans continue to love Bratwurst … despite, or perhaps more so because of, this year’s controversy. (The band denies any involvement in the Pig Head on Statue Incident. Duluth police and the humane society are apparently investigating.)

Photo by Cory Fechner

Photo by Cory Fechner

Photo by Judy Weber

Photo by Judy Weber

This is the third time in four years that Bratwurst has won Homegrown. It is also the third time in a row that the Blasphemists have finished second in the voting.

Danecdote (featuring Brian Ring) – “I’m Gonna Say You Will”

This video by Garrett Tiedemann was part of the 2015 Homegrown Music Video Festival. Click that fancy link to view more videos from this year’s festival.

The Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank – “Old Number Four”

The Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank‘s new album, American Shuffle features the song “Old Number Four,” an ode to retired Packers/Jets/Vikings quarterback Brett Favre. As of this morning, the YouTube upload of the song (embedded above) had reached nearly 30,000 listens.
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Thank you, Mayor Ness, from Homegrown

Folks from the Duluth music and arts scene say thanks to the mayor for his role in improving the Homegrown Music Festival in specific and Duluth in general. Video by Dan Branovan.

Three more artists this week … Coldsnap, Koshinski, Dalbec

Dalbec Photography

Three more artists to mention: (more…)

Mayor Ness “Potholes Song” – 2015 Homegrown Proclamation


Video credit – Melissa Ginger
See the full Duluth Homegrown Music Festival schedule here –> https://goo.gl/svBlGe

The Best of Clyde at the 2014 Homegrown Music Festival

Here are highlights from the big Homegrown 2014 show at Clyde Iron Works, (via The PlayList) featuring Actual Wolf, Southwire and the Black-eyed Snakes with Charlie Parr.

Homegrown Music Fest Hashtag Feed #hgmf15

Follow the Homegrown hashtag #hgmf15 on Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to view the live feed.

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Homegrown Music Festival 2015 Primer

Homegrown 2015 Field Guide Homegrown 2015 Mayor McChicken

The eight greasiest days of the year are underway. Here are the various links, hashtags and other tidbits to keep everyone moderately enlightened.

Homegrown website
Event schedule on Homegrown website
PDD Homegrown Chicken App (schedule optimized for smartphones)
Homegrown Facebook page
Homegrown Twitter page
Seasons 1 and 2 of Seth Langreck’s Duluth Band Profiles
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