Next up in our series of people at work, Rick Allen and Janelle Miller of the Kenspeckle Letterpress.
We interviewed Rick and Janelle while they were working to get pieces ready for their current show at Siivii’s Gallery in Canal Park.
Music: “Gone from Minnesota” by Loup-Garou.
(When we last saw our heroes…)
Suddenly, the light was upon them! Surrounded by flames 20 feet high! The rebels cowered in fear and shielded their eyes. A thundering voice boomed, “I AM STARFIRE!!!”
Then the light dimmed. When they dared to look up, they expected to see a God-like creature. But such a creature was not to be found.
Instead, there stood a pleasant looking young man in a flannel shirt.
I’m in the middle of recording my 4.5th record “Apple in the Ocean” at Sacred Heart Music Center. Moving back to Duluth from Seattle, this was one of my goals of returning to town — to record in that stunning cathedral and work with my talented musician/sound engineer friends and play that gorgeous grand piano. I’m proposing to you to help support my project — and I’m over halfway there! You can pre-order the record and get some other goodies too at my Kickstarter page.
Thank you so much for your support and it has been pretty awesome to be back here and reconnect with so many of you. Wonderful musical, artistic and community things are happening, just as I remember it!
Ten days before Homegrown 2012, Coolio came to Duluth. I find myself looking back and wondering how the hell I ended up at that show, standing in the back next to Jellybean Johnson, listening to a mid-1990s rap star talk about eating sushi at Black Water and how “Duluth bitches are all dimes.”
FYI — the Trampled by Turtles show at Big Top Chautauqua on June 15 is not sold out. I’ve heard a number of rumors that there are no more tickets left, but grounds passes — ‘rain or shine’ — are still available.
Did anyone notice the low number of female performers at the Homegrown Music Festival this year? I did. There seemed to be about eight male performers for every one female. If you don’t want to count just look at the steering committee, it’s pretty representative of the entire festival. There are a few wonderful women and a bunch of men.
The ladies are around performing with a variety of styles unique to themselves and Homegrown! They may be harder to find in that giant Homegrown Field Guide, but if you looked closely you’d find some on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, not peak days. Often these women have to be underground, persistent or be extra bad ass, which they are, to get noticed. They often try harder and get less recognition.
I don’t want to start a fight, maybe just a good discussion, I’m just saying we noticed.
Ultra Day at Amazing Grace. I didn’t know what to expect from a band with punk-rock roots at the Grace, but these guys were good! They matched their sound and volume to fit the venue, and even did a couple a cappella numbers.
As usual, the Homegrown Music Festival has generated huge quantities of buzz, and remains a real showcase for what’s happening in the Northland. I was especially interested in the Homegrown arts facet, caught every opening and even the Lake Superior College opening that was not part of Homegrown … and a little music as well. So much to see and not enough time to write about it all. I did sum up my Friday and Saturday evenings this morning on my blog at Ennyman’s Territory.
Kudos to all organizers, volunteers, bands, and artists who once again made this a very special week for the Twin Ports community.
Patron of the arts enjoying a set of images at Prove Gallery Saturday night.
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Bratwurst – 13.6 percent
Gallus – 9.6 percent
Tangier 57 – 7.2 percent
The Blasphemists – 5.6 percent
The Surfactants – 3.8 percent
Big Wave Dave & the Ripples – 3.1 percent
The Keep Aways – 2.9 percent
Dead Guys – 2.9 percent
Sexhawk – 2.4 percent
Various other bands – 48.9 percent
Huge thanks to Walt Dizzo, the steering committee, all the volunteers, and the artists for making the 2012 version of Homegrown one of the best. Now, for the sake of recording history, please post your favorite moments from the week – the best shows, the best overheard comments, the most memorable moments…
New video from Teague’s brand new album This Dance.
The 2012 Homegrown Kickball Classic has already been referred to as the “most pathetic in Homegrown history,” and if you were there you would know this as fact. There were beer bongs. There was a full-body chicken suit. There were children who may or may not have been scarred for life. Through it all, Saturday’s team came through with a 6-4 victory, but it wasn’t pretty.
Our story begins in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety eight, A.D. in a city built upon a hill, overlooking the greatest of the Great Lakes, the Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas – Duluth!
For those too young to recall, these were dark days in our fair city. The musical landscape was largely barren – a virtual wasteland of yellow beer and cover bands. A dark cloud hung perpetually heavy upon the arts community. A fog of pessimism and oppression obscured the vision of what this city could offer and whispered a sinister, “move to Minneapolis.”
In this darkest hour, a small group of rebels were desperately fighting to establish a foothold for original live music and authentic culture. One dark and dreary night they gathered at Enger Tower. Among the rag-tag group of rebels – Bacigalupo, Monroe, Lindquist, Brewhouse Boys, The SparHawk, and Rick Boo.
