hgmf12-fieldguide_we.. - Duluth Homegrown Music Festival

Transcription

www.duluthhomegrown.com · Duluth, MN · Sunday, April 29 – Sunday, May 6, 2012 · 14th annual Homegrown Music festival · 03
Happy 44
Birthday,
Starfire
th
Notes from the
2012 Homegrown
Steering Committee
Although the annual Homegrown Music Festival continues to grow each year to more
ridiculous proportions, there
are still scores of Duluthians
who have no idea the event
exists. That’s probably for the
better, because if some of
those people found out they
might try to wreck it.
to play the NorShor Theatre
in a weekend event that was
somehow considered to be
kind of a big deal at the time.
This year there are 167 bands
on the Homegrown schedule, not counting all the
DJs, photographers, snake
handlers, belly dancers, stilt
walkers, fire jugglers and ass
fondlers. As if all the official
shenanigans aren’t enough,
there are a bunch of bands
poised to perform unsanctioned shows at basement
parties, street corners and
perhaps even some reputable business establishments
that don’t see it coming.
For the uninitiated who
have stumbled
upon this Field
Guide, however,
all the secrets
are freely
relinquished,
for better
or worse.
The further
you read, the
more intricately
and explicitly
the local
music
scene’s
incestuous
and hedonistic
inner workings
are revealed.
On this page,
we lay out the
simple and bare essentials that Homegrown
veterans have read over and Starfire, by the way, was
over again, year after year. masochistic enough to stick
with leading the organizaLet us begin.
The Homegrown Music Fes- tion of Homegrown for sevtival is Duluth’s eight-day en years, finally relinquishcelebration of local music. ing control before the 2005
Other art forms are com- festival. Since then, no one
placently accepted into the has managed to last more
fold as well, in order to keep than two years at the helm.
sensitive painters and poets Walter Raschick is the new
meat; this year is his first as
from crying.
Homegrown director. EveryHomegrown was founded by
one should coddle him and
Scott “Starfire” Lunt in 1999,
maybe he’ll stick around for
when he booked 10 bands
three years.
The nonprofit Bridge Syndicate is Homegrown’s fiscal
agent. The average person
on Homegrown’s steering
committee doesn’t actually
know what a “fiscal agent” is,
but we respect it and know
it’s important.
Things to keep in mind while
attending the festival:
1) Don’t blow your whole
load by Tuesday. This is an
eight-day festival. Only the
strong will survive. Oh, and
by “load” we mean your glitter load. You are planning
on glitter bombing your favorite banjo player’s beard,
aren’t you?
2. Don’t wreck things
for everyone else.
We all get a bit
carried away,
but if you start
a fight, drive
drunk or piss
on a sound
engineer you
are the kind of
person we wish
would have never
known
about
Homegrown,
which
was
going
good until
you came
along.
3. We repeat the
bit about not driving drunk because it’s
important and because
there is no excuse for it.
There are plenty of buses, cabs
and conspicuously sober drivers available to service you.
4. Remember the bands, the
sponsors, the venues and
the volunteers — and keep
them holy.
Above all, have a happy
Homegrown and enjoy the
rawk and/or roll devil music. There will be miracles all
around you if your heart is
open to them.
04 · 14th annual Homegrown Music festival · Sunday, April 29 – Sunday, May 6, 2012 · Duluth, MN · www.duluthhomegrown.com
photo by
day-by-day
val is about to touch down on the
very ground beneath us, and we
will certainly be forced to assimilate. In order to survive and prosper while existing in this bizarre
Day One: April 29th Homegrown world, we first must
learn to adapt to a new way of life.
Ideally this breakdown of each inday -to - day stories by Ben Torgerson
dividual day will guide us to a new
understanding of Homegrown
There’s nowhere to run. The 14th and its ways, although you’re still
annual Homegrown Music Festi- likely to be eaten alive. That’s a risk
Sunday
BILL SCHWALBE
we’re all willing to take, so keep
reading and take note.
Since the “calm before the storm”
is for procrastinators, we skip it
entirely this year and get right into
the thick of it. At 5 p.m. the Duluth
Art Institute will hold its opening
reception for the Homegrown:
Visual Arts Edition exhibit. The
collection will be focused on the
visual arts ephemera related to
Homegrown music — album art,
gig posters, flyers, oh my! A little
chicken even told us there might
be an antique wristband from the
very first Homegrown on display.
this monster of a local music scene,
including artists’ depictions of night
life in the Twin Ports (sweat/beersoaked beards optional).
Krista Suchy, the exhibit’s curator, will speak on her efforts in
putting the work together. As
with any good speech, beer,
wine and cheese will follow. Tim
Kaiser will begin blowing our
minds playing his space-age machines in the same space starting at 6 p.m., with Brian Barber’s
artwork acting as the backdrop.
Dave Moreira, a.k.a. SkatRadioh,
will be showcasing his art at the
exhibit, consisting mostly of poster
work done for local house shows.
After getting full on beer, cheese
and experimental music, Homegrowners will have a chance to
test their I.Q. at Carmody Irish Pub
come 9 p.m. The “high stakes”
Homegrown Pub Quiz will be
complete with prizes that are sure
to astound. “I like to refer to them
as fantastic,” says Carmody bartender Devin McKinnon, who will
be doing his best to stump us all.
Make sure to brush the cobwebs
off those dusty Homegrown memories, as questions will all be based
on the festival past and present.
While crafting your buzz don’t
forget about the fresh batch of
Homegrown Hempen Ale that
will be flowing like a waterfall inside Tycoons Alehouse at 7 p.m.
Mayor Don Ness will be in the
house to say a few words, followed by music and Hempen Ales
to your heart’s content. The traditional “New Band Night” hoopla
continues this year at Pizza Lucé.
Although the titles of the various
nights of Homegrown have been
done away with this year, the
lineup at the Looch was still put
together as a showcase of bands
that have recently formed.
Day two: April 30th
Monday
The Monday formerly known as Ancillary Arts Night is still heavy on the
ancillary fun. It begins with a flash
in the Zeitgeist Building Atrium,
with the opening reception for
the Homegrown Photo Show: Rent
Money! Come to the lobby at 4 p.m.
to gaze at photography inspired by
“When I moved to Duluth I surrounded myself with artists and
musicians,” Moreira says. “Creating poster art for the housevenue circuit is a very unique, intimate place to share ideas and
feelings with the people who
see it. I’m not a musical performer, but the art gives me a chance
to share the stage with many of
my friends and musicians that I
respect.”
Other artists in the show include
Andrew Perfetti, Matt Stengl, Tommy Kronquist and Jason Kokal.
For another Homegrown take on
photography get to the Duluth
Photography Institute at 5 p.m.
for its show, Local Walk. Photos
here will take you on a visual stroll
through Duluth, with local artists’
lenses standing in as your pictorial pupils. Staring is inevitable with
work from Ryan Tischer, Jeremiah
Brown, Gage Salyards, Christina
Micheletti and Anne Woster.
The Homegrown Music Video
Festival begins when random
renegade filmmakers are randomly-assigned a random song
submitted from a random Homegrown band. The randomly resulting music videos will be screened
for the first time at Zinema 2 at 6
p.m. Before you start throwing
elbows to get to the front of the
ticket line, know there are encores
throughout the rest of the week.
Bring out your inner beatnik by
coming to Teatro Zuccone at
7:30 p.m. for the Homegrown
Poetry Showcase, complete
with musical accompaniment
by Jesse Hoheisel, Kathy McTavish, and Richie Townsend. Poets
dropping rhymes and knowledge include Sheila Packa, Gary
Boelhower, Yvonne Rutford, Liz
Minette, Trevor Kaldor, Parnell
Thill, Paul Lundgren, Mary Bue,
Jen Derrick, Tera Freese, Jasmine
Baumgart, Devin McKinnon,
Nathan Ness, Bob Monahan and
Kyle Elden. The event is coordinated by Elden, who is board
chair of the Lake Superior Writers, a group that supports writers and fosters the area’s vibrant
literary community.
Day three: may 1st
Tuesday
Get your May Day baskets delivered early, especially if you
missed the Homegrown Music
Video Festival on Monday. The
first encore will be showing at
Teatro Zuccone at 5:30 p.m., and
will be followed by a showcase
of young bands that are learning
their craft at Duluth’s Music Resource Center.
The Music Resource Center Duluth is a pilot program modeled
after similar programs in Charlottesville, Va. and Cincinnati,
Ohio. Sessions are held at Sacred
Heart Music Center, where kids in
grades 6-12 have the opportunity to attend after school, getting
mentored by local artists, sound
engineers and industry professionals such as Alan Sparhawk of
Low fame and Eric “Swansonian
Institute” Swanson.
to shed light on their hard work
and hard rawk. And for all you
little ones plucking away at your
dad’s five-stringed acoustic guitar
in the basement, the Music Resource Center is already accepting
rockers for the next phase of the
program, starting on April 2.
You thought that was it? Silly
chicken, the beat goes on with
music on the Hillside at Sacred
Heart Music Center and Twins
Bar, and in Canal Park at Lake
Avenue Café and Grandma’s
Sports Garden. Study the schedule and particularly take note of
the lineup at the Sports Garden;
this may be the most powerpacked Tuesday night in Duluth
music history.
Day Four: may 2nd
Wednesday
Wednesday marks a few firsts for
the Homegrown Music Festival.
This year, Homegrowners must
buy a full-week wristband in order
to gain access to the Wednesday
night show that features Trampled
by Turtles. Before you turn into
Homegroaners, just think of it as a
buy-one-band-get-166-free sale.
Keep in mind that admittance to
Students learn every aspect of this show is first-come, first-serve,
the music industry while writ- and will reach capacity.
ing songs, learning instruments, The upper-level of Clyde Iron
recording, performing live, and Works will be used for Homeeven developing a stage pres- grown for the very first time,
ence. Crystal Pelkey leads this with an interesting mix of artists
progressive program and has sharing the stage for late-night
big plans for its future.
shows. Turtleheads should be
“These kids get a chance to work
with and be mentored by some
of the most respected professional musicians in the area,”
says Pelkey. “They get to learn
everything there is to know. I
wish this was around when I
was a kid.”
Students in this real-life school
of rock go through an eightweek stint, meeting three times
a week.
sure to stick around, as the upstairs shows start just after TBT
finishes up. Across town, R.T.
Quinlan’s Saloon will be hosting an uncharacteristic weekday
show, while the Red Star Lounge
keeps the martini glasses rattling with endless DJ’ed beats.
Not ready to end your humpday
yet? Festival director Walter Raschick wants to remind everyone that he and Homegrown’s
Three standout bands from the steering committee openly enprogram will be showcased this courage the unofficial happenHomegrown Tuesday in an effort ings going on throughout the
week — basement shows, mime
photo by
Day Five: may 3rd over in that strange foreign land.
The goal of the exhibit is to show
the broad, unique spectrum of
visual artistic talent the city of
“People are not done partying at
1 a.m. when the music stops,” Ra- Cross the bridge if you dare and Superior has to offer.
schick says. “We fully endorse any experience the appropriately- “This show consists of a wide variartist getting involved in what- titled Soup Town art show at the ety of artists and styles all displayRed Mug Coffeehouse in Superi- ing their talents and inspiration,”
ever ways they can think of.”
or at 6 p.m. Artists who are work- says Jeredt Runions, who is coorJust don’t confuse the word “ening, living, studying and creating dinating the various art shows for
dorse” with the phrase “accept
across the harbor will showcase Homegrown. Artists with work on
legal responsibility for.”
just what they’ve been up to display include Anndrea Ploeger,
troops, preserved-duck-egg eating contests and whatever other
weirdo shenanigans ensue.
Thursday
BILL SCHWALBE
Molly Martin, Letisha Rice, Tiffany
Wang and Kaoru Midorikawa.
Stick around Soup Town until 9
p.m. for music at Bev’s Jook Joint,
Norm’s Beer and Brats, the Main
Club, and Thirsty Pagan Brewing
until way past your bedtime. Also,
don’t forget to clone yourself
in order to attend shows going
down at the very same time back
in Duluth at Chester Creek Wine
Bar and Burrito Union. Just make
photo by
sure your evil twin doesn’t end up by a joint art show called Abstract
taking over Homegrown in order Obscure at Beaner’s Central startto create a dystopian musical hell. ing at 5 p.m. and the Ochre Ghost
Gallery starting at 6 p.m.
art. Music is to follow at Beaner’s
Central, starting at 6:15 p.m. Both
venues are open throughout the
rest of the night.
“The world of art is so open and
full of ideas that sometimes artDay Six: may 4th
ists can’t decide what to paint
first,” says Jeredt Runions, who is
organizing the shows. Local artists
Susan Loonsk, Tonya Borgeson
Things start getting pretty abstract and Dusty Keliin will be showcasand obscured on Friday, ushered in ing their own abstract styles of
Now that you’ve appreciated your
fair share of fine art for the day,
you must press on and keep music
on the mind. And there’s plenty to
be had tonight, with shows spread
like a rash all over downtown Duluth’s Homegrown hotspots. Venues range in nature from Harbor
Friday
LARAMIE CARLSON
City Int’l School Theater to Legacy
Glassworks, so surely you can find
the best of all worlds.
If the cloning thing doesn’t work
out, remember to mark your
Homegrown treasure maps with
three Xs over the Fitger’s Brewing
Complex that night, as shows will
be happening at Rex Bar, Fitger’s
Brewhouse and Red Star Lounge.
If you don’t care to see the famous
Crew Jones banjones-ing at the
photo by
Rex in the wee hours of the morn- tend you’re fancy with bloodshot
ing you have ice water running eyes at the Chester Creek Café for
the Pre-Kickball Mimosa party at
through your veins.
10 a.m. Stay for music until it’s
time to start stretching for the
Homegrown Kickball Classic at
Day Seven: may 5th high noon. Watch the Friday and
Saturday night bands fight it out
on the hallowed ground of the
Chester Bowl Park kickball field.
On Saturday all hell breaks loose. After you take a mimosa nap,
Keep your pinkies out and pre- break-dance over to the Prøve
Saturday
Gallery for the opening reception of the art show Saturday
Morning Cartoons. Artists and
enthusiasts will be celebrating
the urban side of art, including
street stenciling, graffiti and cartooning, starting at 7 p.m. DJ J.
J. Lawrence will be on the ones
and twos, spinning jams to add
to the overall atmosphere inside
the gallery. Jeredt Runions is organizing this exhibit in hopes
Jason Kokal
to “highlight the area’s vibrant
youth street culture.”
With nearly 50 bands performing throughout the day, Saturday is traditionally Homegrown’s
most thorough endurance test.
The festival’s 12-person steering committee worked hard to
put together exciting, nontraditional sets, fitting bands together like a giant Homegrown
jigsaw puzzle.
photo by
Day Eight: may 6th For those who missed the encore, Chester Creek Café will be
screening the Homegrown Music Video Festival one last time in
That much is clear when looking The day after. Just when it seemed its basement theater at 2 p.m.
at the set for the Rex Bar at Fit- that everyone was safe, there’s Meanwhile the only officially
ger’s — a calculated progression one more day of Homegrown family-friendly set of the enthat starts off with dub music, on bliss. You can start by going to tire Homegrown Music Festival
to Retribution Gospel Choir, fol- Pizza Lucé for some brunch, mu- will be well underway. The little
lowed by reggae and finishing sic and a bloody Mary if you’re in ones are sure to appreciate Mary
Bue’s set at noon; she agreed to
with Teague Alexy. This was no need of sustenance.
write a set full of children’s songs
accident.
“We do our best to put bands
that make sense, but don’t usually play together, at the same
venue,” Raschick says.
Sunday
LARAMIE CARLSON
just for this gig. At 2 p.m. Taste
the Feeling closes out the Sacred
Heart show with Homegrown’s
youngest performer. The trio’s
piano and guitar player, Anika
Fernholz, is 7 years old.
The light at the end of the tunnel appears when Club Saratoga opens its famous doors to
the Homegrown festival for the
very first time in history. It’s being done up right with an avant-
photo by
RICHARD NARUM
garde set that will guarantee “That’s kind of what Homegrown
maximum weirdness. We’re told is all about.”
Todd Gremmels will debut part Ben Torgerson is a Duluth-based writer, pizof the rock opera he’s work- za slinger and rapper who writes by day and
ing on. Then the jazz beats of conquers Homegrown by night. Catch him
Strange Meeting lead the way at your local disc golf course.
to the final act of Homegrown
— the Silk Sheiks.
“All three bands are different, and
they’ll all make the stage their
own,” festival director Walter
Raschick says of the ’Toga show.
Too Much,
The Magic Bus
Your guide to getting around downtown Duluth
Homegrown is once again offering free shuttle service
via the magic trolley replica bus on Friday and Saturday
nights from 7 p.m. until 1 a.m., thanks to the generous
sponsorship of the Duluth Transit Authority and Greater
Downtown Council.
The Homegrown Trolley will operate in Downtown Duluth
on Superior Street between Fourth Avenue West and Eighth
Avenue East, serving venue locations every 20 minutes.
The trolley will stop at the Fitger’s Brewery Complex, Carmody Irish Pub, Teatro Zuccone, Tycoons Alehouse, Pizza
Lucé, R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon and Roscoe’s Pioneer Bar.
Homegrown
Price Guide
Weeklong Pass
All Eight Days • $25
Single-day Weekend Pass
Friday or Saturday • $15
Single-day Weekday Pass*
Any Weekday • $5
* The Trampled by Turtles exception:
The $5 single weekday pass does
not include the Wednesday night
show at Clyde Iron Works. To attend
that show you must have a weeklong pass, which will be available
at the door. There will be limited
space at this event because, this just
in: Trampled by Turtles is a popular
band. So arrive early, the TBT show
will be first come, first serve.
Advance Homegrown tickets are
available at the Electric Fetus. During events, admission wristbands
can be purchased at any venue that
requires them. For more information and schedule updates, check
out DuluthHomegrown.com.
Venues
on large field at end of roadway West End; now a restaurant, bar
and concert venue. Must be 21 or
through park.
820 Tower Ave.
older; paid admission required.
(715) 392-3580
Bev’s Jook Joint
Coffee Shops, Churches, Drinking establishment in SupeGalleries, Bistros & Schools rior. Must be 21 or older; paid admission required.
Burrito Union
1332 E. Fourth St.
(218) 728-4414
burritounion.com
Amazing Grace
Bakery & Cafe
394 S. Lake Ave.
(218) 723-0075
amazinggracebakery.com
Burrito joint in Duluth’s East Hillside with award-winning Fitger’s
Brewhouse beer. All ages permitted; free admission.
Carmody Irish Pub
308 E. Superior St.
Chester Creek Cafe
1902 E. Eighth St.
(218) 723-8569
astccc.net
Restaurant inside Taran’s Marketplace in Duluth’s Chester Park
neighborhood. Hosts Thursday
night show in its Wine Bar for people 21 or older. Saturday morning’s show in the restaurant and
Sunday’s encore screening of the
Homegrown Music Video Festival
in a conference room/theater in
the basement are both open to all
ages. Admission is free.
(218) 740-4747
Club Saratoga
Bakery and café in basement of
carmodyirishpub.com
331 Canal Park Drive
DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace in DuluIrish-themed brew pub in Down(218) 722-5577
th’s Canal Park. All ages permitted;
clubsaratoga.com
town Duluth. Must be 21 or older;
free admission.
paid admission required for week- Jazz bar in Canal Park. Must be 21
Beaner’s Central end events, free admission on or older; free admission.
Sunday and Monday.
324 N. Central Ave.
Clyde Iron Works
(218) 624-5957
beanerscentral.com
Chester Bowl Park
1801 Skyline Parkway
2920 W. Michigan St.
(218) 727-1150
Duluth Art Institute
506 W. Michigan St.
(218) 733-7560
duluthartinstitute.org
Located in St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center (a.k.a. “The
Depot”). Hosts its first Homegrown art exhibit this year, as well
as music by Tim Kaiser in its Morrison Gallery. All ages permitted;
free admission.
Duluth Photography
Institute
405 E. Superior St., Suite 140
218-393-2468
duluthphotographyinstitute.com
Downtown space created for photographers of all levels to exhibit
work. All ages permitted; free admission.
Fitger’s Brewhouse
600 E. Superior St.
(218) 279-2739
clydeparkduluth.com
brewhouse.net
Coffee shop in West Duluth with
(218) 724-9832
chesterbowl.org
beer and wine. All ages permitted;
Former hoist-and-crane manufac- Award-winning brew pub and resHomegrown Kickball Classic held turing plant in Duluth’s friendly taurant on eastern edge of Downpaid admission required.
town Duluth in Fitger’s Brewery
Complex. Must be 21 or older; free
admission.
Grandma’s
Sports Garden
Legacy Glassworks
30 W. First St.
(218) 720-0747
legacyglassworks.com
toric Felgemaker organ. All ages
permitted; paid admission re11 E. Superior St.
(218) 727-7400 quired on Tuesday and Saturday;
pizzaluce.com free admission on Sunday.
Pizza Luce
Glass-blowing shop in Downtown Restaurant/bar in Duluth TechnoloDuluth. All ages permitted; paid gy Village. Must be 21 or older; paid
425 S. Lake Ave. admission required.
admission required on Friday and
(218) 722-4724
Saturday; Sunday shows are free.
grandmasrestaurants.com
Giant nightclub/restaurant in Canal Park. Must be 21 or older; paid
admission required.
Harbor City
International School
Theater
332 W. Michigan St.
(218) 722-7574
harborcityschool.org
Located in Duluth Plumbing Supplies Building in Downtown Duluth. All ages permitted; paid admission required.
Lake Avenue Cafe
394 Lake Ave. S.
(218) 722-2355
lakeavenuecafe.com
Restaurant and bar in Duluth’s Canal Park. All ages permitted; paid
admission required.
The Main Club
1217 Tower Ave.
Pro
/ ve Gallery
Sir Benedict’s
Tavern on the Lake
805 E. Superior St.
(218) 728-1192
sirbens.com
Restaurant and bar at the eastern
edge of Downtown Duluth. Must
Duluth’s newest art gallery, lo- be 21 or older; free admission.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, allied, queer and intersex cated below Norway Hall. All ages
Teatro Zuccone
club in Superior. Must be 21 or permitted; free admission.
222 E. Superior St.
(218) 336-1414
Red Mug
(715) 392-1756
mainclubsuperior.com
Norm’s Beer & Brats
21 N. Lake Ave.
Coffeehouse
teatrozuccone.com
Rex Bar at Fitger’s
(218) 727-3871
916 Hammond Ave. Black-box theater in Zeitgeist Arts
(715) 392-2662 Building, Downtown Duluth. All
(715) 394-9689
redmugcoffee.com
normsbeerandbrats.net
ages permitted; paid admission
Coffee
shop
with
beer
and
wine,
required.
Music is upstairs at this two-level
located
in
the
Trade
and
Combar in Superior. Must be 21 or oldThirsty Pagan
merce Marketplace in Superior. All
er; paid admission required.
Brewing Co.
ages permitted; free admission.
1623
Broadway St.
Ochre Ghost Gallery
(715) 394-2500
Red
Star
Lounge
22 N. Second Ave. E.
thirstypaganbrewing.com
600
E.
Superior
St.
(715) 817-2212
(218) 727-7827 Micro brewery and restaurant in
redstarclub.us
Duluth’s smallest art gallery. All
Superior. Must be 21 or older; paid
ages permitted; free admission.
Martini bar located in Fitger’s admission required.
Brewery Complex. Must be 21 or
Twins Bar
older; free admission.
501 E. Fourth St.
1901 Broadway Street
600 E. Superior St. Drinking establishment in Dulu(218) 733-3090
th’s Central Hillside. Must be 21 or
rexbarduluth.com
Nightclub in basement of Fitger’s
Brewery Complex. Must be 21 or
Zinema 2
222 E. Superior St.
Roscoe’s Pioneer Bar
(218) 722-7300
zinema2.com
323 W. First St. Two-screen movie house in Zeit(218) 722-7100 geist Arts Building, Downtown
Drinking establishment in Down- Duluth. All ages permitted; paid
town Duluth. Must be 21 or older; admission required.
paid admission required.
R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon
220 W. Superior St.
(218) 722-3573
Drinking establishment in Downtown Duluth. Must be 21 or older;
paid admission required.
Sacred Heart
Music Center
201 W. Fourth St.
(218) 723-1895
sacredheartmusic.org
Former cathedral built in 1896 on
Duluth’s Hillside; home of Sacred
Heart Recording Studio and his-
Sunday, April 29 – Sunday, may 6, 2012
Homegrown:
the Apocalypse
14 Annual Homegrown Music Festival
th
photo by
Liz Lustig
Band Biographies
The Acceleratti
12:30am Fri 5/4 | Pizza Lucé
Singer Chad “Bo Bandit” Lyons
says the Acceleratii sound is a
“mish-mash of rockabilly, psychobilly, country, ’60s garage rock,
the Reverend Horton Heat and
Jerry Reed.” His abbreviated version of all that is “police-chase
raunchabilly.” Acceleratii shows
are neither calm nor sober affairs.
Swimming with Lyons in the sea
of empty beer cans are guitarist
Steve Mahlberg (call him Gomez),
bassist Ben Marsen and drummer
Scott Millis. The band released its
self-titled debut album prior to
last year’s Homegrown.
night house band at the Twins Bar
and gigging all over on weekends,
the boys have begun to record
their debut album with the apt
title Music For Everyone.
Ian Thomas Alexy
& the Deserters
10pm Fri 5/4 | Lake Avenue Café
Singer/guitarist Ian Alexy returns
to Duluth for Homegrown with his
band of Richard Medic on drums
and Carrie Deans on bass. Though
he has lived away from Duluth
in recent years, Alexy still performs regularly in the city where
he formed his other Homegrown
band, the Hobo Nephews of Uncle
Frank, with his brother Teague
Alexy. Ian’s bluesy folk reveals the
grit and road-tested refinement
of a seasoned performer, and he
isn’t afraid to rock out a bit when
the moment calls for it. He has
released two full-length albums
Actual Wolf and the 2010 EP Are You Listening
8pm Sat 5/5 | Amazing Grace
as a solo artist, and is working on
For Eric Pollard’s solo endeavor another solo record with a HalActual Wolf, the process is the proj- lows-eve theme, as well as another
ect. Using song ideas he’s stored Hobo Nephews record.
up over the past five years, he beTeague Alexy
gan honing them into shape since
12:30am Sat 5/5 | Rex Bar
returning from extended duty
touring with Retribution Gospel For a laid-back gentleman, folk
Choir. The rawboned-folk demos musician Teague Alexy sure keeps
are recorded quickly and openly a busy day-planner. For starters,
shared with the public, offering a he’s the co-founder and co-capunique view into Pollard’s inspired tain of the widely popular rootsmethod of performance, revision rock group the Hobo Nephews
and recording. Expect to hear the of Uncle Frank. When the man
final results soon on the forthcom- isn’t winning songwriting awards,
ing debut album Lightening and touring across the country with
the Wolf. Also look for Actual Wolf his brother Ian, or recording, he’s
to expand from a solo act into a working on promoting his own refull-on band sometime shortly cord label, Call it Correspondence.
after Homegrown.
Somehow he found time to put
forth a new solo album called This
The Adjustments Dance. He will be backed by an
10:15pm Tues 5/1 | Lake Avenue Café
ace rhythm section made up of
Though Alex Nelson, Justin Eric Pollard, Steve Garrington and
Lofquist and Tim Nelson have Marc Gartman.
played music together for over
The Alrights
a decade, their band is a rela11:30pm Sat 5/5 | Pizza Lucé
tive newcomer to the Twin Ports.
Upon arriving in the area from the This year’s Homegrown marks the
Iron Range a couple of years ago, final performance of the Alrights,
these folk-rock bluesmen hooked a band that has played the festival
up with bassist Ian Kvale and went nine straight years (not a record,
to work playing just about any but close). The combination of
place that has a stage and serves Toby Churchill’s thoughtful pop
beer (stage optional). Lately, be- music backed by one of the artween being the regular Thursday ea’s elite rhythm sections in Dan
photo by
Cosgrove and Chavo Amborn will
be sorely missed. When lists are
made of the best local albums of
the past 20 years, toward the top
of that list should sit High School
and Meeting of the St. Louis County League of Volunteer Astronauts:
Excerpts from the Keynote Address.
Diverse, original, danceable and
lyrically brilliant, the Alrights
have been one of Duluth’s finest
for a decade.
American Rebels
9:30pm Tues 5/1 | Twins Bar
American Rebels is a hardworking,
hard-rocking band that thrives on
feedback-fueled guitar, driving
bass and drums, teenage angst,
lost love, politics, Lake Superior,
race equality, freedom, rebellion and so on. The original trio
of guitarist Kyle Maclean, bassist
Heather Dean and drummer Scott
RICHARD NARUM
tal indie-rock trio made up of
musicians you may already know
from other bands. Bassist Jason
Kokal and guitarist/singer Jesse
Hoheisel also play with Equal
Xchange. Drummer Chris Barnholdt also plays with A Winter
Downpour. On record, Atlas Mts.
focus on textured sounds with ocAtlas Mts. casional dabbling into electronic
10pm Sat 5/5 | Lake Avenue Café
noises, but on stage the focus is
Atlas Mts. is a mostly instrumen- on rock, and on playing loud.
Millis has expanded to include the
“righteously endowed” (with certain inalienable rights, that is) Bob
Olson on guitar. The band is hard
at work on a debut album, crafting and completing songs at Sacred Heart Music Center with Eric
Pollard and Jake Larson.
Aurora & Her
Good Intentions
8pm Sat 5/5 | Teatro Zuccone
Aurora Baer moved back to Duluth
in 2009 and quickly found a regular
gig at Carmody Irish Pub as a solo
blues artist. Now she has a band
playing her original songs, which
have strayed a bit from blues to alternative country. The new group,
which Baer says is “a mishmash of
old friends,” is made up of Mark
Glen, Derek Rolando and Bill Meier.
Auruphis
11:30pm Fri 5/4 | Rex Bar
Songwriter Brian Ring used to
paint sonic landscapes for his
former band I Am the Slow Dancing Umbrella that would go from
beautifully mesmerizing to completely disturbing in the course of
three minutes. He used his next
band, Lion or Gazelle, to play up
to his indie-pop sensibilities. Now
with his solo electronica project,
Auruphis, he simply wants audience members to shake their
butts. Every third Tuesday, Ring
shape-shifts into club deejay
mode, bringing a new set of beats
to the Red Star Lounge for a wildly popular Back to Bassix dance
party he shares with hip-hoppers
Crew Jones. He has also released a
handful of online-only singles that
can be found on SoundCloud.
A Band Called Truman
11pm Mon 4/30 | Carmody
A Band Called Truman is the evolution of Chris Modec-Halvorson
and Leon Rorbaugh’s former band,
Sloe Loris. Teaming up with drummer Kelly Lussier and guitar player
Tom Wilkowske, they have shifted
away from their alt-country sound
to what Modec-Halvorson describes as “a sound rooted more
in 1970s rock and ’80s post-punk
pop.” He says the music slips from
straight-ahead rockers to freeform jazz/funk, and everything in
between. “It’s no-frills, no-attitude
music from four guys who have
been in the scene for over 50 years
combined. Fifty years!”
Batteries
12am Wed 5/2 | R.T. Quinlan’s
time. He’s drumming for Low
Forms, Hattie Peterson and Mary
Bue at this year’s Homegrown, so
his duties as singer/guitarist for Batteries are a definite change of pace.
With an often-changing lineup,
Frankenfeld persists as Batteries’
primary songwriter, maintaining
a 1990s alt-rock orientation that
somehow incorporates a 1960s
pop feel. Greg Cougar Conley has
moved from the organ over to (the
more familiar) second guitar. Renowned bass player Matt Mobley
is now on bass duties, while Scott
Millis (American Rebels and the Acceleratii) is on drums.
Big Wave Dave
& the Ripples
11:30pm Tues 5/1 | Grandma’s
Make space for Big Wave Dave and
the Ripples — they need it. The
dynamic eight-member group includes a four-piece horn section
that brings a classic soul sound.
Spirited front man Dave Adams
and his mates perform a popular
weekly gig as Rex Bar’s Thursday
night regulars. Dave Mennes, Peter
Knutson, and Alex Piazza provide
the Ripples with a solid rhythm
section of drums, guitar and bass
while the horn section includes
Steve Rogers, Matt Wasmund, Pat
Sunderland and Alex Nordehn.
Billy Southern
10:15pm Sun 4/29 | Carmody
William Soderlind has been a
folk-roots-Americana fixture on
the Duluth music scene for many
years. He began playing guitar and
singing while stationed abroad as
a U.S. Marine in the 1990s. The latest incarnation of his band includes
Greg Tiburzi on the drums, the fabulous fingers of Andrew Lipke on
guitar and the steady upright bass
playing of Karl Anderson. Soderlind’s songs convey simple stories
and ideals of a world that revels in
the charming rural simplicities of
days gone by. Some songs to listen
for are “Old Tom Redd” and “Billy
Don’t Look Now.” Biochemical
Characters
11:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Burrito Union
Dave Frankenfeld has been busy Biochemical Characters is a threein the local music scene for some piece band focused on pioneering
photo by
Jason Kokal
the music genre of aggressive
Americana and the practice of
wearing winter hats indoors. In
February, they recorded a polka
in drummer Jay “Phat Phingers”
Walker’s kitchen, which is available
for the world to see and hear on
YouTube. Bassist Michael “Mr. Soul
Train” Gabler and guitar player Jay
“Sanchez Borealis” Sandal are not
afraid to announce what they need
and when they need it, and clearly
what they need is “a polka” and
when they need it is “right now.”
Bird by Bird
11pm Fri 5/4 | Lake Avenue Café
What started off as a recording
project for singer/songwriters
Kristy Marie and Emily Heart culminated in the very first show for
Bird by Bird shortly after last year’s
Homegrown. Joined by stand-up
bassist Mark Glen and multi-instrumentalist Waabi Furo, the
group finished recording its project at Beaner’s Studio while adding the finishing touches at Sacred
Heart Studio. They released the
album Are We Amish Yet last fall.
The songs offer refreshing positive messages through soft harmonies and airy melodies. Bird by
Bird has been featured on KUMD
and WWJC radio stations.
The Bitter Spills
8:15pm Fri 5/4 | Beaner’s Central
The Bitter Spills just “wanna
make some people smile when
they sing.” This mission began in
2006 when Grant Johnson and
Rich Mattson took their Minnesota rock-scene experience to far
folkier pastures. Since then, they
have picked and twanged their
way around the Duluth scene as
the Bitter Spills, settling at places
like the Carmody Irish Pub for regular gigs. The duo has hundreds
of songs in its live catalogue, and
has released five albums to date,
so crowds can expect a mix of traditional, original and even some
rawk and/or roll.
The Blasphemists
12am Fri 5/4 | Lake Avenue Café
Are they a Cramps version of Tom
Waits, or are they a Tom Waits version of the Cramps? Either way,
Adam “Doc Slide” Sundberg, Josh-
ua “Mohawk Schekel” Herbert
and Steve “Zeeter” Hamlin know
how to have fun with just a guitar,
drum set and trashcan. With an
all-too-serious scene taking over
the Twin Ports these days, thank
goodness for the Blasphemists.
They walk the fine line of playing
smart acoustic punk while dishing
out healthy doses of ridiculousness. For every bottle they smash
during their set, they insert an
equal amount of catchy satire. If
their MP3 download “They Don’t
Cross Mesaba” doesn’t joyfully
confuse a music fan, nothing will.
Bliss & Sitter
6:30pm Fri 5/4 | Harbor City
Kyle Sitter lays down live drum,
guitar, bass and auxiliary percussion loops for vocalist David “Bliss”
Kittelson in the experimental rock,
reggae and hip-hop project Bliss &
Sitter. Both have been performing
at almost every venue in the Duluth
area for over a decade. Their latest
release, titled Reincarnation, is available for sale online. Make sure to
give some room for the fire dancers, belly dancers, choreographed
dancers, glow sticks, fog machines,
lasers and black lights to get the full
Bliss & Sitter experience.
Boku Frequency
10:45pm Sat 5/5 | Carmody
Mixing funk, psychedelic, rock
and soul, Boku Frequency is a trio
of local music veterans who have
frequented venues such as the
Twins Bar and the long-lost Red
Lion over the span of their eightyear career. Terry “Red-eye Dread”
Gums is on lead guitar and is originally from Minneapolis. Thomas
“Too Sharp” Harris plays bass,
dances and hails from Chicago,
while drummer Tony “the Stick
Specialist” Dashiel brings his skills
to the Duluth music scene all the
way from Maryland.
The Boomchucks
The Boomchucks play the music of
train beats and heartaches. Brad
Nelson drums for the Black-eyed
Snakes and played in the Devil’s
Flying Machine with Charlie Parr.
Jamie Ness has had a well-known
solo career as well as success in
photo by
bands such as A.T.F. and Taconite.
In 2008 they came together and
released a record in 2009. Currently they are wrapping up a record
of Bob Dylan covers as the Freewheelers, to be released in May
during the Duluth Dylan Fest.
and free-range livestock and writer of free-range, indie rock songs.
Ryan Nelson and Brynn Sias have
become stalwarts in Fernholz’s
live performances over the years,
but he also likes to showcase his
talented sister, Diane Fernholz,
and other friends (Tony Derrick,
Bradical Boombox Marshal Tofte, Sean Beaverson)
10:30pm Sun 4/28 | Tycoons
and the side projects he has going
Brad Fernholz is a farmer of or- with them. “It all becomes some a
ganic vegetables, strawberries sort of live radio broadcast blar-
RICHARD NARUM
Street Video. Well, if that’s true,
Brandon Swanson, Jason Wussow and Bruce Rosera, then answer these questions for us: What
side of 8th Street Video do you
inhabit, and what about it makes
it such fertile ground for the everThe Branditos expanding cow-punk scene? And
12am Fri 5/4 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
why is 8th Street Video actually
The Branditos proudly (and often) located on 9th Street? Mysteries
proclaim they are the fastest grow- indeed. What we do know is that
ing cow-punk band this side of 8th the Branditos’ sardonic rockabilly
ing out of this radical boombox,”
Fernholz says. The music is well
rounded, with echoes of punk,
post-punk, a little touch of the
Flight of the Conchords and general lo-fi monkey business.
photo by
BILL SCHWALBE
is as intelligent as it is catchy, no wearing tuques instead of makematter what part of the East Hill- up. These guys take their writing
side they call home.
seriously, but are smart enough to
let it come out organically. Their
Bratwurst fifth album, Emancipation Blues,
12am Sat 5/5 | R.T. Quinlan’s
was released in January.
Tyler Scouton, Ben Tryon and JaBrown Eye Blue Eye
son Ratajek have put together a
7pm Tues 5/1 | Teatro Zuccone
very smart, tight industrial band
that crosses the blurry line be- Brown Eye Blue Eye is a young
tween self-indulgent, never-end- a-cappella trio that also incorpoing electronica and fun party rates piano. The Hatten sisters are
music and lands well inside the the senior members of the group;
realm of fun party music. High- Dylan is 13 years old and Jesse
energy and bopping, these beat- is 11. Galalee Wright is 10. They
sters have captured the essence have been honing their skills in
of light-hearted modern music. recent months at Duluth’s Music
This is music as far removed from Resource Center and with regusnobby electronic pioneers such lar gigs at Amazing Grace Bakery
as the Nice and Klaus Schulze as and Café. Though they are new
the Black Keys are from Dream to Homegrown, the Duluth music
Theater. “The Wedding Feast” is scene is in their blood. Galalee is
a song to listen for, layered and the daughter of Adeline Wright,
multi-dimensional, but by mid- who is wife and backup singer to
night, one might be in a state Rachael Kilgour. Jesse and Dylan
where it is more of an experience are daughters of the late Doug
than a recital. Hatten, who sang with Tangier 57.
The Hatten sisters also recorded
Breanne Marie “Apple Tree” with their father in
with Evan Tepler 2006 as My Sister’s Moon for the
10:45pm Sat 5/5 | Sir Benedict’s
compilation Treasure Chest.
Duluth native Breanne Marie DeMary Bue
Foe made her first big splash dur12pm Sun 5/6 | Sacred Heart
ing the Duluth Does the Grand Ole
Opry concert at Sacred Heart in Lake Superior has a hold on Mary
2010, performing the Dolly Parton Bue. The 2003 UMD psycholsobber “Coat of Many Colors.” Sev- ogy graduate has made forays to
eral months later, after appearing Florida, Rhode Island and Minneat Sacred Heart again to perform apolis, but always finds her way
“Wild Horses” with Derek Hol- back to the shores of the big lake.
znagel, she embarked on a series Most recently she studied yoga
of shows around the Twin Ports. in Seattle before returning to DuAlong the way, she began collab- luth in 2011 to teach the practice.
orating with Evan Tepler, a Minne- Her yoga studies pulled her focus
apolis native who has written and away from music for a while, but
arranged songs for Watching Iris, now she’s back to regularly perDrift Effect and the Attley Project. forming her moody, piano-based
pop. Recently she’s been recordThe Brothers ing her fourth album, Apple in
Burn Mountain the Ocean, at Sacred Heart Music
Center; it’s due out in August.
Ryan and Jesse Dermody share Bue will perform at Homegrown
a musical brotherhood as well as backed by Matt Mobley and Dave
one by blood. The two-piece gui- Frankenfeld.
tar and drum act zigzags across a
Bull Feathers
fast-paced blues-style playbook,
12am Sun 4/29 | Pizza Lucé
but doesn’t necessarily paint by
numbers. If the Jon Spencer Blues Bull Feathers is a new synthsoul
Explosion wiped away its New band composed of Greg Cougar
York hipster shtick, it may have Conley and Marcus Matthews.
sounded more like the Brothers The Superior natives have been
Burn Mountain, with members in numerous bands together
photo by
since the early 1990s, but nothing
quite like this. They describe the
sound as a mix of “1980s synth
pop with ’70s fuck music to form
a hybrid of sorts, bringing pleasure equally to the ear and the
ass.” Did they mean “funk” music? Does it matter? They finished
an album in January and released
the single “Shake” online. Look
for the full product soon.
Duluth in the process. He aims to
write songs that “help explain the
7:30pm Fri 5/4 | Harbor City mysteries beyond our normal consciousness.” It seems to be working
Raphael Tiller grew up in the Upper out just fine with lyrics like, “maybe
Peninsula playing violin. Like many freedom isn’t free, but I think you’re
people, things changed when he over-charging me.”
started listening to Bob Dylan and
Cars & Trucks
moved to Duluth. While the influ12:15am
Thurs 5/3 | Main Club
ence always remains, Tiller has
certainly come into his own style, This trio of Twin Ports natives
breaking guitar strings all over has been rocking the local music
The Cancer Romancer’s
Quivering Liver
BILL SCHWALBE
scene for years in bands including the Dames and Farewell Tour.
Together singer/guitarist Tony
Bennett, bassist Matt Osterlund
and drummer Mat Milinkovich
deliver loud, hooky rock and roll
that takes cues from 1960s Brit
rock. Making their Homegrown
debut in 2006, Cars & Trucks released their first album the next
year. They’ll follow up their 2009
sophomore recording, Mere Mor-
photo by
tals, with a new album tentatively Bird and Dosh. Durrant, along with
James Everest and Ryan Lovan, all
scheduled for a May release.
of the now-defunct popular MinToby Thomas neapolis group Roma di Luna,
Churchill have joined up with Churchill as
11pm Fri 5/4 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
his rhythm section. Fellow Alright
Toby Thomas Churchill, of long- Danny Cosgrove and the occatime Duluth mainstay the Alrights, sional guest round out the group.
released his first solo album in Toby is a Duluth native and has
2011. Death was recorded with been an active local/regional artMinneapolis engineer Ben Dur- ist for 17 years, performing in evrant, who has worked with Andrew ery Homegrown to date.
BILL SCHWALBE
and experimental rock. Circa A.M
12:15am Fri 5/4 | Pioneer Bar has released four full-length albums and has had several songs
This long-running Twin Ports trio featured on compilations.
is back after sitting out last year’s
Homegrown. Guitarist and proCowards
10pm Fri 5/4 | R.T. Quinlan’s
grammer Allen Cragin, bassist
Don Lisdahl and trumpeter Josh- As the old saying goes, “Cowards
ua Stern draw from a multitude of are everywhere.” In this case, we
influences—including their jazz are referring to the band, not the
and classical backgrounds — to un-brave. These speedcore noise
create a hardcore mix of industrial vultures may have unofficially
Circa A.M.
photo by
BILL SCHWALBE
disbanded in 2010, but not before
they went from Duluth to Minneapolis to all over Canada and
back. In that time they released
two albums, toured, and, according bassist Kyle Potter, “pissed
lots of people off with a wall of
noise.” All that in just two years
of existence. Now, moving forward to 2012, Potter and his band
mates, drummer Kyle O’Brien and
guitarist Kighle Ollah, have found
the courage to reunite Cowards
for Homegrown.
The Cutthroats
11:15 Thurs 5/3 | Main Club
Last year, members of this selfdescribed “sad bastard alt-country” band played Homegrown in
front of 1,200 people at Clyde
Iron Works. Old Knifey and the
Cutthroats used the event the
same way the Band used “The
Last Waltz” concert, inviting different musicians to perform with
them. It worked out just as well;
after wowing the crowd, Old
Knifey and the Cutthroats came
Coyote to a similar end as the Band —
10pm Mon 4/30 | Carmody they broke up. But now, Adam
“Old Knifey” Depre, Chris Kelly
In four years together as Coyote,
and Ben Berg are back, with new
Jerree Small and Marc Gartman
member Mark Glen on bass.
have put together a solid catalog of hypnotic acoustic folk. On
Danecdote
top of two studio albums, they
11pm Wed 5/2 | Red Star
released Live at Sacred Heart in A self-proclaimed “Audio Ninja,”
October and covered “Auld Lang Daniel Nelson has been pracSyne” on the compilation album ticing his musical martial arts
Hog Damage Collective Xmas Vol. at shows in the Duluth area for
II: Christmas at the Clubhouse, re- about two years now. The “Back
leased in December. Now they’re 2 Bassix” shows at Red Star have
at work on a third studio album. been his main showcase, offer“We’ve got about half the tunes ing remixes that vary from Nate
written,” say Gartman. “They’re Dogg to Duluth act I Am the
moody and spooky and, hopeful- Slow Dancing Umbrella. The first
ly, a step forward in songwriting.” Danecdote EP, Attention Debt,
They are often backed by Matt was released last summer, folMobley on standup bass.
lowed in the fall by a full-length
album, Mise en Place. ColCrew Jones debut
laboration
with Paul Broman in
12:30am Fri 5/4 | Rex Bar
January produced the Internet
Hip-hop act Crew Jones made its single “Let’s Make Babies.”
way from Grand Marais to Duluth
in 2002, quickly building a folDead Guys
lowing with the release of the
2003 album Who’s Beach. Found- Living and subsequently dying in
ing members Sean Elmquist and Duluth, three dead guys recently
Ben Larson, playing under the formed a blues-rock trio (stylististage names Mic Trout and Burly cally akin to the White Stripes and
Burlesque, have seen a handful of the Black Keys) that haunts Duluth
band members come and go in to this day. Imagine Dan Auerbach
the past 10 years, but they remain with an accordion and you get
the dynamic duo that makes the what Dead Guys are about. Sans
Crew Jones hip-hop magic hap- drum set, Jake Scott is left to beat
pen. Larson notes that he and his kick drum while wailing on his
Elmquist are “donating” their crunchy electric guitar, picking his
performance at Homegrown in smoky blues-bar banjo, or squeez“recompense for any and all So- ing the life out of his mournful pearl
cratic darkness” their distinctive accordion. Zac Roorda, formerly of
shows over the years may have Loup-Garou, sinks his tasty hooks
“stirred in the dew-eyed drink- into the mix as Josiah Early beats
waters of Duluth,” promising this his bass like a rented mule. Their
time to “seduce moms and dads, first songs were recorded in Scott’s
along with the usual art girls and living room and are available for
download online.
their boyfriends.”
Deja vu Drifters
9:30pm Wed 5/2 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
tic, shaky-voiced solo artist to an
engaging, electric-guitar-wielding
front woman of a four-piece bluesrock band. Her cathartic and emotional lyrics seem a perfect match
when paired with the punchy
rhythm section of bassist Amber
Johnson and drummer Jason Wussow. Lead guitarist Paul Duray adds
timely brushstrokes to the group’s
organic sound. After playing live
on the celebrated WDSE-TV program The PlayList and gigging all
over the Twin Ports, Don’t Sweat
September’s sound and fan base
has grown remarkably.
The resurging newgrass/alt-country
scene could probably take a history
lesson from the Déjà vu Drifters.
Three of its musicians — Steve Johnson, Mike Mattson and Rick Olson
— played in one of the area’s original bluegrass bands over 30 years
ago called the Sawtooth Mountain
Boys. Back then, instead of selling
out hipster music clubs and playing
festivals, these guys brought their
acoustic instruments wherever they
could find a gig; from rural threetwo beer juke joints to guest spots
on the iconic Chmielewski Fun Time
The DTs
television program. After decades
11:15pm Fri 5/4 | Pioneer Bar
of drifting, they’ve reunited — adding Greg Tiburzi on guitar — to This Duluth-based punk band
form an upbeat, Americana- began 15 years ago in Willmar,
but moved to Duluth in 2000 and
inspired ensemble.
began thrashing through HomeDiet Folk grown sets in 2003. Founding
11:45pm Fri 5/4 | Sir Benedict’s members Jedd Olson (guitar) and
Consisting of UMD students Dedric Seth Gronli (drums) have been
Clark (guitar), Boyd Smith (drums) playing a game of musical bassists
and Cloquet native Tony Petersen over the years, with the role being
(banjo), this young band can most filled by Ryan Nielson since sumreadily be described as a pop-folk mer 2010. The trio delivers a brand
band with a few original tunes. Imag- of broad punk reminiscent of the
ine Amos Lee leading Old Crow Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. Even
Medicine Show, Ray LaMontagne the slower jams inspire people to
sharing a stage with the Avett Broth- throw an elbow or two. The band
ers, or Bon Iver and the Del McCoury is working on a new album that
band birthing a wild Americana/ might be out in time for Homebluegrass love child. It’s not quite grown. The previous DTs release is
2004’s Never Could Say Goodbye.
folk, just a diet amount. Dirty Horse
11:15pm Sat 5/5 | Pioneer Bar
This Duluth band features the timeless rock-and-roll lineup of two guitarists (Andrew Olmstead and Nate
Case, who also handles vocals),
bassist (Brian Wells) and drummer
(Jake Palsrud, taking over for founding member Kyle Keegan). Formed
in 2010 by members of Heavy J
and the Fantastics and Brothers
Band, Dirty Horse’s laid-back rock
groove brings to mind Neil Young
and My Morning Jacket. The band
has released one EP, Tartan. Case
and Wells will also play with Sarah
Krueger at this year’s Homegrown.
Electric
Graveyard Afterlife
9pm Sat 5/5 | R.T. Quinlan’s
Only one band from the Twin
Ports is qualified to play a screamcore version of the Northland’s
catchiest and most annoying
commercial jingle. Electric Graveyard Afterlife’s ingredients include a drummer with no hands
(Ryan “Stubbs” Kastel), a bassist
with a beard (Nick Deluca) and
a singer with a loud guitar (Paul
Whyte). And why not throw in
some keyboards while we’re at
it (Tina Anne)? This may look like
a formula for disaster, but when
it comes to trash rock, much like
Don’t Sweat quantum mechanics, they make
September it work without anyone really
9:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Norm’s
knowing how. Speaking of meIn one year, songstress Jessica chanics … Arrowhead Auto Body,
Myshack has gone from an acous- don’t just go to anybody.
Emily Jayne
Father Hennepin
9pm Fri 5/4 | Teatro Zuccone
8pm Wed 5/2 | Clyde Iron Works
Emily Jayne Brissett-White is a
songstress and piano player with
a soft, breathy voice that evokes
ivy-covered woodland paths and
romantic shadows, while keeping
heads nodding with buoyant jazz
beats. Her latest album, Blue Plate
Fellas, was recorded at her home
in Cloquet, and features numerous local musicians. Her complex
piano chops and Berklee music
background will be backed at
Homegrown with the jazz/alternative rock trio of Travis Crotteau
on guitar, Mark Glen on bass and
Luke Perry on drums.
Homegrown is one of the rare times
local music fans can hear renditions
of the two songs that many consider the mantras for the festival.
“I Like it in Duluth” and “Homegrown” are both cover songs, but
when sung by the festival’s founder,
Scott “Starfire” Lunt, they transcend
the originals. The songwriting of
Starfire and fellow singer/guitarist
Ted Anderson has also produced a
number of favorites, all with an altcountry sound brought together
with Bob Olson on bass, Brad Nelson on drums and Susan Ludwig
on accordion and keyboard.
Equal Xchange
Fearless Moral
Inventory
Equal Xchange is a live hip-hop band
that borrows its sound from rock
and funk influences, as well as from
classic, old-school rap. Scene veteran Rain Elfvin (ex of Crew Jones)
handles vocals and spits out rhymes
about swimming in Lake Superior
and working at the Whole Foods Coop. Rounding out the band are Jesse
Hoheisel on guitar, Jason Kokal on
bass and Mat Milinkovich on drums.
Equal Xchange recently broke a twoyear hiatus, which followed the release of the band’s debut album,
recorded in honor of their original drummer, Brad Rozman, who
passed away in 2009.
10:15 Thurs 5/3 | Main Club
Fearless Moral Inventory’s humble beginnings as a duo in the
Twin Ports’ open mic circuit are
far behind them. The band is now
a crunchy quartet causing mayhem in its old stomping grounds.
Andrew Stern handles the vocals
and guitar, which can transform
from a growl to a squawk in no
time flat. Corey Gice pitches in on
guitar and pedals, while Christopher Berg’s low-rider bass lines
keep things catchy. Kai Bowen
handles the drums in what looks
and sounds to be a head-on collision of Sublime, the Black Keys
and Modest Mouse. Fearless MorExcuse Me, Princess al Inventory is working on new
material and ritually graces the
It’s the third Homegrown for these interweb with fresh songs.
talented-beyond-their-years teen
First Class Failure
rockers (who’ll fit in a festival per9pm Fri 5/4 | Amazing Grace
formance around studying for the
SATs). Co-founder and guitarist Jack First Class Failure needs a name
Campbell has been writing songs change, and not because this
inspired by girls and cartoons since pop-acoustic duo doesn’t come
fifth grade. He formed Excuse Me, across as “first class.” Grant MurPrincess with bassist Sam Wattrus ray and Zac Abukhodair’s emoin 2009 after the demise of a punk tionally charged vocals and synband they were in together, and copated guitar work definitely
they added violinist Greta Konkler warrant top-flight status. What
shortly after. Drummer Ben Oul- doesn’t fit is the “failure” part.
lette came along later, and after Going on tours of the Midwest
Konkler’s move to college, the and releasing a self-titled online
group brought in Kallie Gunsolus album while working as producon synth. The band’s infectious ers and promoters in the area’s
indie pop-rock tunes caught the youth music scene is anything
ears of Minneapolis’ SO-TP records, but a lemon. Here’s wishing the
which released the band’s second band’s forthcoming second alalbum, Stop the Flow, in 2011.
bum results in first-class success.
photo by
Five Pints a’ Rye
11:15pm Sun 4/29 | Carmody
If you want a real-life education in music, try your hand
playing the eclectic Bev’s Jook
Joint every Thursday. Performing a weekly set of originals for
a random collection of uppity
music-history nerds, Soup-Town
stumblers and rowdy college
kids can’t be easy. But the Ameri-
cana-music students in Five Pints
a’ Rye are definitely making their
bones. The ace backline of Andy
Bergstrom, Jeremy Calvosa, John
Lamar and Nate Hynum is led by
Adam Stariha on guitar/vocals.
They host their regular gig like a
mini-Austin City Limits by inviting guest musicians to share the
stage while honing their own
classic 1970s rock-inspired style.
Bill Flannagan
12am Sat 5/5 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
Making his 10th Homegrown appearance in his 15+ years playing
the Twin Ports, Bill Flannagan has
branded himself as the area’s foremost purveyor of rockin’ honky
tonkin’ blues. “I play mostly solo
acousto-electric-roots rockin’ kind
of stuff,” Flannagan says. “It is solo
acoustic, but it is not folky humming
BILL SCHWALBE
and strumming. It is rock and roll
— and loud when it ought to be.”
The Fontanelles
12:15am Sat 5/5 | Pioneer Bar
Native Duluthian David Mehling
founded this four-piece rock group
with fellow guitar player Darin Rieland after moving to the Twin Cities a few years ago. The lineup has
gone through a number of changes,
and now features Jason McGlone
photo by
on drums and Beau Jeffrey on bass.
“We are mostly energetic and entertaining, although sometimes somber and moody,” Mehling says. Last
year the band’s cover of Bob Dylan’s
“Not Dark Yet” was featured on the
compilation album Another Side of
Duluth Does Dylan.
we like guitar solos — and we’re not
afraid to admit it,” says Jacob Jonker, lead guitarist of the Formal Age.
The band made its debut at last
year’s Homegrown under the name
A Team / B Team and adopted its
current moniker shortly afterward.
Bassist Jason Rahman is a veteran
of the local punk band the UndeThe Formal Age sirables, while keyboardist Phil Mc9:45pm Fri 5/4 | Twins Bar
Grath, drummer Adam Helbach and
“We like melody, we like hooks and rhythm guitar player Ryan Wiisanen
are all Northwestern High School alums who were in the bands Weasel
and the Casey Dagans during the
late 1990s and early 2000s. The Formal Age crafts fist-pumping power
pop, working-class anthems and
hard-driving rock, with stop-ona-dime breakdowns and fast keyboard arpeggios. A collection of live
demos recorded at Beaner’s Central
and Thirsty Pagan Brewing were released in January on Bandcamp.
BILL SCHWALBE
Four Mile Portage
12pm Sun 5/6 | Pizza Luce
Tom Maloney and Brandy Forsman are a husband-and-wife duo
whose old-timey banjo/fiddle
songs have found a home as
background music at the Duluth
Farmers Market for over five years
now. Expect plaintive harmonies,
fast picking and a danceable beat.
You can also hear them guest on
photo by
Charlie Parr’s latest album, Keep writers moved to Norway and major changes ensued. Viv changed
Your Hands on the Plow.
its name to Fours and remaining
Fours members Ned Netzel, Chris LeBlanc
9:15pm Sat 5/5 | Legacy Glassworks
and Jason Hildebrandt teamed up
When these rock and roll slappies with new guitar player Derek Broperformed as Viv two years ago, it chu and completely restructured
was all about fun, rocking out, base- their priorities. These days, coming
ment parties, forgetting the words, off of a West Coast tour and a new
more fun, fooling around and then album, American Breakfast, it’s all
remembering the words. Yes, in about fun, fooling around, rememthat order. Then one of the song- bering the words, rocking out, more
LARAMIE CARLSON
fun, basement parties and then for- a bunch of names in a hat. Front
man Gall and drummer Ryan Nelgetting the words.
son were randomly teamed at the
Aaron Gall & 2010 Rock and Roll Kamikaze event,
the Likely Story which they won. As Paul Westerberg
9pm Tues 5/1 | Sacred Heart
used to say, “Smart things come in
Can we coin the phrase “after-bar stupid packages.” Beyond Gall and
party music” to describe Aaron Gall Nelson, the rest of the band’s lineup
and his merry band of misfits? Don’t has fluctuated, presently melding
blame them for the randomness of garage-rock vets Patrick Nelson and
style; their formation was basically Brad Fernholz with Alex Bauer, Jer(and quite literally) plucked from ree Small, Ian Koivisto, Amy Kozak,
Brandon Helberg and any number historic downtown Rhinelander
of other people who might wander landmark) and followed up with
up and cause problems on stage.
Ghosts of Swinetown Suck in 2010 (a
tribute to a bit of graffiti found on
Gallus the bathroom wall of a bar).
Drummer Ben Berg describes
the beginnings of his band as a
Homegrown Miracle. The ramblings of himself, guitarist Chris
Kelly and bassist Steve Karels,
after a rich 2011 night of the festival, gave birth to this new musical project. The rest, as they say, is
Homegrown history. The additions
of guitarist Zach Kerola and hornspecialist Sean Mahoney rounded
out a sound Karels describes as
“rawk and roll, Scottish Highland
folk, jam denial.” The group performed 40 shows in a four-month
stretch this past fall/winter, and
is pushing to release an album
before its Homegrown debut.
Marc Gartman’s
Fever Dream
8:30pm Sat 5/5 | Sacred Heart
Despite his reputation, Marc Gartman “doesn’t just play the banjo all
the damn time.” In a 180-degree
turn from his bluegrass past, he
serves up Marc Gartman’s Fever
Dream. A drum machine leads the
audience into tunes reminiscent of
1980s electronica and perhaps the
best drug trip of a five-or-moreyear battle with college. Gartman
is joined in this endeavor by Steve
Garrington, best known for playing
bass in Low. The duo has pledged
to have a yet untitled album for
sale in time for Homegrown.
The Ghosts
of Swinetown
The Good Colonels
11pm Wed 5/2 | R.T. Quinlan’s
The Good Colonels are looking
forward to releasing their sophomore album. Guitarist Codie
Leseman alludes to an exciting
Homegrown set as the experimental rock band plans to unleash these new tunes created in
a “hidden stronghold underneath
the ore docks.” Leseman is joined
by bassist Joe Conaway (who can
also be seen performing with
the Horror) and drummer Curtis
Mattson. The trio plans to fill this
year’s festival with “dancey buildups and epic climaxes.”
Good Knight
10:45 Sat 5/5 | Twins Bar
Duluth native Alex Knight has
moved to Minneapolis, but the
hip-hop artist remains connected
to the Duluth music scene, working such stages as Beaner’s Central and Grandma’s Sports Garden
in the past year. His song “Duluth
Minnesnowta” boasts over 10,000
listens on YouTube. Having already
released two albums (Northern
Exposure and 40 oz. Below Zero), the
man with the “unique rhyme delivery and classic golden age hip-hop
style” is in the process of finishing
his third full-length album, Northern Exposure: Volume II. He’ll be
joined on stage by David Kellner,
a.k.a. Killuh Beats.
Todd Gremmels
1:30pm Sun 5/6 | Club Saratoga
Members of Ghosts of Swinetown
describe their genre as “screwgrass,” an apt label for tunes that
shift from reggae to mournful blues
to toe-tapping bluegrass. From
humble beginnings at the storied
open mic nights at the Northwestern Lounge & Bar in Rhinelander,
the band has spread its territory
north to Duluth and south to Madison. The five-piece is made up of
Phyl Wickham, Bob Weigandt, Mike
Hill, Scott Kirby and Ellen Thomes.
They released their first album in
2009, Hotel Fenlon (named for the
To use his own words, Todd Gremmels is “deeply entrenched in the
fungus of the Duluth music scene.”
From his days with a group called
Matrix in 1977 to sharing the stage
these days with the Tico Three,
Rocking Hot Dogs, the Temporary
Service and Jason Wussow and
Friends, the guy continues to get
around. For Homegrown 2012 he
will be performing the overture
to his indie opera Giaha. To showcase this piece, Gremmels calls on
talents as diverse as Israel Malachi, Deborah Collins, Mark Glen,
photo by
BILL SCHWALBE
photo by
Aleasha Mellesmoen, someone
called “the Shark,” assorted UMD
musicians and choral members
and the American Legion Post 71
Drum and Bugle Corps.
Group Too
11:45pm Fri 5/4 | Carmody
Beginning as a duo, Bob and Carol
Flatt’s blues/Americana act expanded four years ago with the addition
of Greg Tiburzi on drums and then
scene last year, releasing a couple
songs on the Internet and playing
her first Homegrown. Since then
she’s stepped up her performance
schedule, which included a female
acoustic showcase at Teatro Zuccone in March benefiting Life House,
an agency that helps at-risk home Emily Haavik less kids become healthy, positive
9pm Thurs 5/3 | Chester Creek Café
adults. The singer/keyboardist has
Born and raised in Duluth, Em- been playing with a number of
ily Haavik broke into the music supporting musicians, and expects
again two years ago with the addition of Israel Malachi on lead guitar. “We have performed in coffee
houses, bistros, casinos, various eating establishments, bars and outdoor festivals,” says Bob Flatt. “Our
music has ’60s and ’70s flavor.”
Eve Utyro
fellow UMD student Jordan Meyers will join her on guitar at Homegrown, with Jason Noe and Luke
Hirsch potentially joining in.
The Half Hearts
12:30 a.m. Thurs 5/3 | Norm’s
The Half Hearts would be the
perfect house band in a sort of
masquerade dream attended by
Stevie Nicks, Freddie Mercury and
Robert Smith. Continued on pg. 40 »
photo by
The band’s very existence proves
all things work out for a reason,
as the group was formed after its
members dealt with heartache,
floods, recession and campaign
politics. Each member of the
group contributes vocals to its
cabaret of a sound, with Flip Arkulary’s crunchy guitar riffs, Robert Cox’s driving bass and Mitch
Miller’s succinct drums. When Kay
Stresman and Theo Brown’s key-
boards are peppered in, the result
has been dramatic, catchy and
sometimes even eerie. The band’s
debut album Uptown Sound was
released in August.
Jim Hall
7pm Sat 5/5 | Amazing Grace
Perhaps best known for his work
with Azure du Jour, Duluth native
Jim Hall was also a member of several other now-defunct local bands
such as Wet Dog, Spotted Mule
and Lo-Fi. He has been playing folk
and blues in the area for four and
a half decades and, having played
every Homegrown except the first
one, shows no sign of quitting any
time soon. He may very well be the
most printed name in the Transistor’s weekly event calendar, usually strumming in a corner at Carmody Irish Pub or Sir Benedict’s
Tavern on weeknights.
RICHARD NARUM
Hard Feelings
10:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Bev’s Jook Joint
From the hardcore ashes of their
former band Nordic Waste, guitarist
Pat Laney and drummer Mike Wilson put together a new group that
sounds more upbeat and catchier.
Not much more upbeat though;
thankfully, they kept the snot-nosed
punk vibe. They’ve also slowed it
down (a little), stripped it down and
moved away from the repetitious
double-time tempos to make way
for a bit of country-trash thump and
slap. Seth Borovsky, who also plays
with Laney in the Undesirables,
has been the steady bassist for well
over a year, replacing Trevor Peterson. Hard Feelings released a tape
in 2010 and recently recorded new
songs for a 10-inch vinyl split EP.
Hattie &
Her Man Band
trio is prepared “to weird out random show-goers and get loud
with a unique sound.”
Humanoid
7:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Red Mug
Kyle Alan Maclean is an indie
rock/pop songwriter who works
guitar, vocals, sampler and radio.
He started Humanoid a decade
ago as an acoustic solo act, but
it evolved into a four-piece rock
band. By 2010, Maclean had deevolved, though, and brought
Humanoid back to its solo-act
status. “Think of the love-child
of Nick Drake and Hank Williams,
with Bob Dylan as the Godparent,” Maclean says in describing
the intimate and melodic mood
he creates in Humanoid. “Subject
matters include love, death, peace
and the pursuit of the American
dream.” Making a guest appearance with Humanoid at Homegrown will be Mary Bue.
Matt Mobley, bassist for Hattie
and Her Man Band, describes the
group’s music as “pre-apocalyptic
Swedish hair-ballads.” Hattie Petersen sings and writes the songs.
She’s played around town for
over 15 years — sometimes solo,
sometimes with her other band,
the Black Frames. Her songs are
spare and sad, and she sings them
in a voice full of soul, but coated
in ice — as if Etta James had been
Scandinavian and from Duluth.
Charity Huot & the
Dave Frankenfeld joins Mobley in
Summit Hill Band
the rhythm section on drums. The
group hopes to have its debut al- 12am Wed 5/2 | Clyde Iron Works
bum out in time for Homegrown. Even though Charity Huot’s music
may fit right in on a hot summer
The Hobo Nephews night in Austin, Texas, this singof Uncle Frank er/songwriter from the north is
12:30 Tues 5/1 | Grandma’s
purely Minnesotan. Having played
Teague Alexy and Ian Thomas around the upper Midwest and
Alexy make up this back-porch beyond for years, Charity has defoot-stomp band. Since releas- veloped her chops in the alternaing their third full-length album, tive folk scene. Her soulful vocals
Traveling Show, the Hobo Neph- blended with her own musical
ews have toured from New York style make for an irresistible comCity to Key West to San Diego to bination for folk, jazz and rock
Seattle. This summer they plan to enthusiasts alike. Armed with her
host their second annual North- recently released second album,
ern Train Music Festival — on A New Beginning, and a rotating
their back porch in Holyoke, 30 cast of backing players, Charity is
miles south of Duluth. A fourth ready to make this year’s Homegrown a memorable one.
album is in the works.
The Horror
I, the Sky
“No one, including ourselves, is
quite sure how to describe the
music we play,” says drummer
Anders Lundahl of the Horror.
“Someone said ‘Star-Wars-Core’
at one of our first shows. I’m not
sure how descriptive that actually is, but I’ll take any Star Wars
association I can get.” Lundhal is
joined by bassist Joe Conaway
and guitarist Billy Wagness. The
Ashton George (formerly of Blue
Water Dance) and Leif Hinkle
(formerly of Lions and Creators)
formed this acoustic duo last summer. “Two guys, two acoustics,
singing and such,” is how George
describes it. Videos for four of
their new songs were recently
produced by Mason Lehto and
Max Caven. I, the Sky is poised to
record its debut album this year.
10:30pm Fri 5/4 | Rex Bar 9:15pm Tues 5/1 | Lake Avenue Café
photo by
WALT RASCHICK
Iron Range
Outlaw Brigade
Phil Jents &
the Farsights
12:15am Fri 5/4 | Tycoons
9:30pm Sat 5/5 | Pizza Lucé
The YouTube video for the title
track from the 2011 studio record Shootin’ Shells & Raisin’ Hell
seems to sum up Iron Range
Outlaw Brigade pretty well:
burly men in flannel, denim and
facial hair; an aggressive twostep beat set off by pedal-steel
guitar; lyrics like, “I got a gun
in one hand and a bottle in the
other”; many shots of firearms,
beers and sweaty honky tonkin’.
Founding outlaw Kirk Michael,
who plays acoustic guitar and
sings, says the band, formed in
2008, plays cow punk or dirty
country — “Good-time drinking music. Tales and ballads
of growing up on the old Iron
Range and in the north woods.”
He’s backed by “The Gentleman” John Peterson on pedal
steel, Dustin Savela on bass and
Jay Benson on guitar. Various
guys fill in on drums. In addition to their full-length album,
they have also released a live
split album with Wyatt Famous,
recorded at Beaner’s Central.
Phil Jents and the Farsights began
as a humble, folky duo, with Phil
Jents on acoustic guitar and Ryan
Nelson on drums. Their style fit right
into their month-long residency at
Fitger’s Brewhouse, but when bassist Brynn Sias approached the duo
to jam, the Farsights went electric.
Since plugging in and turning it up,
the trio has been playing a sort of
electric folk/punk combination that
could shatter a Brewhouse pint,
with fast-driven hooks that make
audiences want to scream along.
James & Younger
9:30pm Fri 5/4 | Pizza Lucé
Indie-pop outfit James & Younger returns to Homegrown with a
new album and a new drummer,
still focused on Rochelle Luoma
and Nate Mattson’s founding
philosophy of making music
they like. Jeremie Olson is the
new man on the sticks, keeping things steady for bassist
Ethan Thompson and keyboardist George Elsworth. The band
released the digital album Sleep
in the Sea in February.
Jaze with
DJ Delgado
10:15pm Sat 5/5 | Tycoons
Jesse “Jaze” Unger and DJ Derek Delgado have been rocking
shows since 2003, handling the
house-party rocking workload.
Unger says he and Delgado are
planning for a busy 2012 with
their label, Blaze it Records,
recording more local talent such
as Strictly Hammers.
Junkboat
Members of the rock band Junkboat paid their dues in the late
1980s and early ’90s during the
height of Minneapolis’ burgeoning music scene with iconic groups
like the Glenrustles, Smut and Urban Guerillas. Now older and more
mature, they’ve traded in fauxripped jeans and faded T-shirts for
real-life Iron Range Carhartts and
flannels. Their dedication to quality songwriting has also matured.
Germaine Gemberling’s countryfried vocals/lyrics lead the way for
Rich Mattson, David Loy and Al
Schroeter to hammer in a sundry
of musical nails. They released a
self-titled album in 2011 and have
been featured on WDSE-TV’s The
Playlist and KUMD.
Tim Kaiser
6pm Sun 2/29 | Duluth Art Institute
Tim Kaiser must work out of the
laboratory of a mad scientist.
More of an artistic inventor than
straight-up musician, his videos,
recordings, conceptual performances and atmospheric creations have brought him from the
Twin Ports to Hong Kong and just
about everywhere in between. If
Frank Black had studied rocket
science (or owned a junkyard) instead of starting the Pixies you’d
end up with something like Kaiser’s latest album Number’s Station. He once said that he is making folk rock from the future. It
sounds like our fates are about to
get a lot more interesting.
The Keep Aways
12am Fri 5/4 | R.T. Quinlan’s
Sarah Krueger
10:30pm Wed 5/2 | Brewhouse
A native of Eau Claire, Sarah
Krueger has lived and performed
music in Duluth for roughly seven
years. Though still an acoustic,
solo performer at heart, Krueger’s
soulful folk-rock is often amplified in the live setting by former
members of the Cutthroats (Caleb
Anderson, Kyle Keegan and Nate
Case) and Brothers Band (Brian
Wells), and current members of
Retribution Gospel Choir and Low
(Steve Garrington and Eric Pollard)
— depending on who’s around.
Krueger has several live performances scheduled for 2012 (which
KeyPortal included a SXSW spot in March)
11pm Fri 5/4 | R.T. Quinlan’s with more to be announced in
Guitarist Chuc Grammond and support of her latest full-length
vocalist Phil Casper started their release Dancing with Phantoms.
black metal experiment in 2008.
Legitimit
Aiming to reach beyond the trap11pm Wed 5/2 | Clyde Iron Works
pings of the underground hardcore genre, KeyPortal pushed the Lawrence LeTourneau’s self-created
hip-hop machine has been up and
sound into dark and unorthodox
running for over a decade. In that
corners. Wanting to expand even
time he has played about every
further, the duo sought out and
venue in the Twin Ports, gone on
landed “the best metal drummer
two nationwide tours, released two
around” in Chris Beber. Beber, in
albums, and helped raise thousands
turn, brought along his longtime
of charitable dollars for the American
bassist Phil Haglund, which transCancer Society and Salvation Army.
formed the group in to a finely
His conscientious lyrics can also be
sharpened blade of provocative
heard on three albums he recorded
noise. They have two albums with his crew Kritical Kontact. For
worth of worked out material his solo gigs he not only spills forth
they plan on officially releasing intelligent poetry, he backs it up
in the future. For the time be- himself with homemade beats and
ing, four demos can be found on smooth-as-silk samples.
reverbnation.com.
Is it punk? Is it metal? Is it awesome? Yes, yes and more yes. The
Keep Aways have been a staple in
the Duluth rock scene for over a
decade. Guitarist and lead vocalist Mindy Johnson and bass player
Nikki Moeller have established
themselves as premier rawkers in
this town, and with the addition of
drummer Chris “Dubz” Warne seven years ago, have easily become
one of the most consistently solid
acts around. If you enjoy hard riffs,
wicked screams and a pounding
back beat, this band is for you.
Lion or Gazelle
Kritical Kontact
The trio of Jesse “Jaze” Unger,
Lawrence “Legitimit” Letourneau
and David “Bliss” Kittelson have
not been performing around
town as often as they used to, but
these cross-country traveling hiphoppers haven’t given up. They all
have splintered off into side projects but the promise of a special
occasion is apparent, as they are
uniting for their seventh consecutive Homegrown. A new recording of the group is in the works,
and with that, the possibility of
this unrelenting hip-hop group
playing more shows in the future
alongside their solo endeavors.
For years Brian Ring built up a reputation in Duluth for being unpredictable, experimental and perhaps
aloof. With his latest band, Lion or
Gazelle, Ring has clearly decided to
move in a different direction, writing songs that are catchy, moody
and accessible. Teaming up with
Jake Willis, Matt Mobley and Anton
Jimenez-Kloeckl, Lion or Gazelle is
more of a pop project built around
familiar instruments (drums and
acoustic guitars) while keeping with
his roots in electronics. Another
thing about Brian Ring: He likes to
put out lots of recordings. Currently,
there are 10 Lion or Gazelle EPs for
free download on BandCamp.
9:15 Fri 5/4 | Legacy Glassworks
Lions & Creators
Low Forms
7:15 Sat 5/5 | Beaner’s Central
10:30pm Sat 5/5 | Pizza Lucé
The release of the EP Growing in October brought the indie, ambient,
post-rock band Lions & Creators
favorable attention. Tight guitar
and pounding drums combine well
with lyrics centered on a theme of
home in the band’s six-song recording. Lead singer and guitarist
Tanner Groehler started the band
two years ago, with bassist Blake
Pekkala joining within the first year
and drummer Nate Adelson entering the lineup in the second year.
The trio has found its niche, playing
multiple venues in the Minneapolis
area as well as having a recent review on the AbsolutePunk website.
The members of this power-pop
three-piece would like to think of
themselves as nondescript, but
there’s more to Pete Biasi, Dave
Frankenfeld and Jeremy Ehlert than
that. With no real plans of recording
an album, Low Forms instead goes
out on anonymous D.I.Y. tours of the
Midwest, usually finding opening
slots for other cities’ local favorites.
Over the past two years, the band
has built up a solid set of 15 or so
original tunes. Adding a bit to the
mystery is that the members of such
a structured band with simple punk
songs also play in different groups
with atypical formats like Total Freedom Rock and Strange Meeting.
LongHammer
11:45pm Fri 5/4 | Twins Bar
Here’s introducing the first Twin
Ports party band since Bone Appetit that doesn’t waste time
meandering through art-school
noise or roots-rock self importance. LongHammer pretty much
sticks to the best parts of juvenile
rock and roll: eyeliner, hot riffs,
loose chicks, tight pants, big anthems, pounding drums, spiked
wristbands and more hot riffs.
Seemingly too young to really
care about anything more than
rocking out, front man Nate Michaels’ Bon Scott-like vocals have
put all the Twin Ports shoe-gazers
and nature-boy fakers on official
notice. The new deputy in town
is joined by Matt Golke on guitar,
Orion Jackson on bass and Jesse
Lee Graphton on skins.
Lookdown Moon
11:45pm Sat 5/5 | Sir Benedict’s
Malec
8:15 Sat 5/5 | Beaner’s Central
Hard-rock quintet Malec plays a
melodic variety of heavy music
augmented by the vocal harmonies
of Sam Burr, guitarist Josh White
and bassist Kevin Malec. Along with
guitarist Shawn Burr and drummer
Will Stensby filling out the sound,
Malec is preparing new material for
live performances and continuing
work on a new full-length album a
few years in the making.
Malibu High
After experiencing over two decades of Duluth winters, clever
wordsmith Keith Ambrose Nelson
had enough and decided to turn
the bleak season on its head. Enter his solo project, ironically titled
Malibu High. Trying to capture the
absurd juxtaposition of his own
cold weather existence with that
of the mindless/shirtless California youth culture, Nelson has put
together a collection of quick-witted, and at times hilarious, songs.
He moves easily between the intelligence-infused numbers like
“Horatio to Hamlet” to bouncier
tracks like “Contract Void.” If you’ve
ever worn wrist sweatbands to a
bar, chances are you are the subject of a song by Malibu High.
Ann and Jason Loop are playing
their eighth Homegrown as Lookdown Moon — not counting their
gigs under the band names Twilight
Fair (2002) and Mayfly (2001), which
add up to technically make this their
10th Homegrown. The husbandand-wife duo has been performing in Duluth since 1999, joined for
most of the past decade by Dan
Westholm on drums and, in recent
years, by Steve Isakson on lead/slide
Manheat
guitar. Their acoustic sound has
10:15pm Fri 5/4 | Pioneer Bar
been described as an eclectic mix
of genres powered by soulful vocals It wouldn’t feel like Homegrown
and guitar-driven melodies.
without Duluth’s premier “post-
photo by
slop” trio somewhere in the mix.
Jay Whitcomb (bass and vocals),
Brennan Atchison (drums) and
Jake Larson (guitar) draw on early
hardcore influences and slurred
post-punk riffs resulting in a tremendously loud, fast yet tuneful
presence. Manheat, on the heels
of the 2011 release Hotel Suicide,
is recording new material with
Eric Pollard (of Retribution Gospel
Choir) on board as producer.
Markus J. Dandy & the
Complete Lack Thereof
9:45pm Sat 5/5 | Carmody
With a dynamic composition of
sounds such as acoustic punk, angry Americana, folk, even obsessive
compulsive-disorder rock, Markus J.
Dandy & the Complete Lack Thereof possess a unique sound all their
own. Singer/songwriter/lead guitarist Mark Blom, formerly of Shapht
and the Best Banned Ever has performed in the Duluth area since the
mid 1990s. Developed in style and
lyrical quality, Blom has placed second twice and third once in Beaner’s annual songwriter’s competition as a solo artist. Mark Glen (bass)
and Tyler Dubla (drums) joined in
September 2011. Each member’s individual talents blend together well
and the band plans to release an EP
by the end of Summer 2012.
LARAMIE CARLSON
Kathy M cTavish
8:30pm Fri 5/4 | Legacy Glassworks
Cellist/multimedia artist Kathy McTavish has spent recent years contributing her music to film, theater
and art installations at several Duluth venues including Teatro Zuccone, Sacred Heart Music Center and
the Duluth Art Institute. In addition
to her collaborations, McTavish’s
solo performances and composi-
photo by
tions have transitioned over time
from classical to free-improvisational cello. Her dynamic, experimental
live performances explore the coming together of sound and performance space resulting in unique,
ambient exhibitions. McTavish will
also be backing this year’s Homegrown Poetry Showcase.
Robi Meyerson
7pm Fri 5/4 | Amazing Grace
Richfield native Robi Meyerson has
made Duluth her home for a dozen years now, recording five folk
albums and two children’s collections. “I keep a busy schedule singing out in the community at senior
homes, resorts going up the shore,
restaurants, children’s events,
fundraisers, coffee shops and special party events,” says Meyerson.
“Although my passion is in my own
songwriting, I also love to do sing-
a-longs with folks of all ages, doing
songs they love to sing.” She has
worked with a number of local musicians, including Les Hazelton and
Timothy Soden-Groves.
Modern Gentlemen
9:45pm Sat 5/5 | Twins Bar
MCs David Kittelson (a.k.a. Bliss)
and Cory Jezierski (a.k.a. MC1980),
and DJ Mike Gross (a.k.a. Dr. Mantis
Toboggan) have been busy build-
WALT RASCHICK
ing their Modern Gentlemen résumé, writing, recording, playing
shows, touring and working with
such indie hip-hop artists as Mac
Lethal, Eyedea and members of
Doomtree, among others. Modern
Gentleman’s rapping covers topics
such as smoking weed, drinking,
hanging at the clubs and picking
up girls. But don’t let that fool you.
These guys are hard-working and
serious about their art, and are
photo by
currently working on a new album freaky verse for over 10 years,
but for his transcendental noise
and videos to hit the road with.
project that goes by Auntieflow
DJ Bob Monahan on Soundcloud.com, he replaces
& MC Auntie Flow ink on paper with rhythms inside
7:15pm Fri 5/4 | Legacy Glassworks
reverberations, and the words
People who used to frequent the disappear into a vast expanse of
NorShor Theatre’s 1990s resur- meaningless over numerousness.
rection may recall a young curly Or … he just gets weird at home
blonde mop-top who acted as with a mic and Pro Tools. Either
Duluth’s unofficial poet laureate. way, it makes for some healthy
Bob Monahan has spewed out chaos and musical entropy.
The Moon is Down
Bill Schwalbe
to Nazi takeover by intentionally
self-destructing. Cody Paulson,
Ben Butter and Rock Bokusky are
also in the band, which has included many other Duluth musicians,
and which released an EP called
This Machine, in 2011.
Glenn Maloney says his voice has
been compared to “broken glass
on gravel,” which is probably perfect for anachro-folk-punk or murderfolk (Maloney’s descriptions)
Mr. Kickass
songs by a band whose name was
7:15pm
Sat
5/5
|
Legacy
Glassworks
inspired by a John Steinbeck novel
that, Maloney says, is partially about Mike Fradenburgh and Jedd Ola country whose peasants respond son met at the Red Lion bar during
photo by
Homegrown 2001, decided to join
forces, and started a punk band
called the Lovers. The name Mr. Kickass would come later. Fradenburgh
and Olson have led various incarnations of the band to the stage over
the years, but it has been a trio of
late, with Jake Daire on drums.
duo of Gaelynn Lea and Alan
Sparhawk, which formed when
they created a live soundtrack to
the 1920 silent film The Penalty
in October. Neither are strangers to the local music scene. Lea
is formerly of the duo Gabel and
Gaelynn (which featured Andy
Gabel) and also plays in another
The Murder of Crows new duo, Snöbarn (with Ariane
Norrgard). Sparhawk is known
The Murder of Crows is the new for three popular bands — Low,
LARAMIE CARLSON
Charlie Parr, Colleen Myhre’s gritty
songwriting is as rawhide tough
as it is genuine. She has released
two albums worth of acoustic
storytelling and is often joined
by multi-instrumentalist Tony
Petersen. Her first, Rivers Run Dry,
was appropriately recorded in her
living room deep in the Mahtowa
Colleen Myhre woods. For her newest effort, Ride
of My Life, Myhre traveled to SparPart Lucinda Williams and part ta Sound to record with awardRetribution Gospel Choir and the
Black-eyed Snakes. Their violin/
guitar duo plays long, winding,
hypnotic instrumentals that seek
to create a kind of mental journey
they refer to as “ideal bird-watching music.” A few vocal songs are
thrown in for good measure.
photo by
winning producer Rich Mattson.
On stage, her rustic persona can
entertain both a honky-tonk’s
hardboiled regulars and tranquil
coffee-house crowds alike.
Next of Kin
10:45pm Fri 5/4 | Sir Benedict’s
Over the past year, Next of Kin
has been getting its sound down
to sweet science. Often starting
with guitarist and vocalist Sonja
Bjordal’s acoustic song structures,
the backing three-piece will jam
out the balance resulting in what
the band refers to as psychedelic
folk music. Lee Martin on slide,
Marios Glitsos on bass and Walter
Wedan on drums each take turns
with solos for most of the band’s
dozen or so originals. For their
weekly Wednesday gig at Carmody Irish Pub they go by the moniker of the Mud Puppies, though
the sound remains similar. They
have recently started recording a
debut EP at Sparta Sound.
Bryan Olds Band
These funky folksters began writing together a mere two years
ago when rhythm guitarist and
vocalist Bryan Olds and lead guitarist Tarek Makky first traded
harmonies together. From there,
they quickly added bassist Eric
Berggren and drummer Ethan
Skelton to provide a solid backbeat to their developing style of
heartfelt lyrics and earthy structure. James McKeown adds the
finishing touches on keyboards.
After performing at local college
hangouts with a mixture of classic first album can be streamed at
covers and originals, they worked thepeoplesayfox.com.
out their songs for a debut fullPhillip of Nazareth
length album to be released be9:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Bev’s Jook Joint
fore Homegrown.
Philip of Nazareth plays speedy,
Peer Precious sloppy punk songs with titles like
8:15pm Sat 5/5 | Legacy Glassworks
“Alien Ass Farm.” Bassist Andy
This trio has not been afraid to Pletcher describes his band as “a
drop it all, hit the road and export bunch of apathetically determined
its punk-rock sound across the dweebs who spend more time
country. In just over two years as getting messed up than focusing
a band, the group has toured the their talents on finishing songs.”
southern states twice and spent Perhaps that gets to the heart of
time this past fall performing up their messy, joyful sound. Eric Busand down the west coast. The ker and Josh Mutchler trade the
group includes Connor Lynch on guitar solos, and Cory Coffman’s
bass, Kyle O’Leary on drums, and drumming keeps things from flylocal catalyst Mike Wilson on gui- ing apart. They are working on the
tar and vocals. They recently re- follow up to their debut EP About
leased a 12-inch record, Bless This Fucking Time.
Mess, split between two labels
Planemo
— Dirt Cult Records and Anti Civ
11pm Sun 4/29 | Pizza Lucé
Records.
Historically, indie-rockers play
The People Say Fox music to get out of working.
12am Sat 5/5 | Lake Avenue Café
For Planemo, playing music was
Nate Adelson — one of the Du- something that happened while
luth East High School grads who working. Matt Donoghue, Jacob
started the People Say Fox in 2008 Swanson and Zach Anderson met
— describes the band’s sound as at their former place of employ“indie rock along the lines of Co- ment and found they shared a
peland, Mew, Death Cab For Cutie deep side interest in thoughtful
and Coldplay, focusing most on music. From there, they began
dynamics, energy and emotion.” writing, rehearsing and playing
Adelson plays guitar and piano. shows at the Twins Bar in Duluth
Mike Billig also plays guitar, as and Thirsty Pagan Brewing in
does singer Nate Holte. Rio Daugh- Superior. Their Bandcamp.com
erty drums. They’ve shared stages demo is startlingly polished for a
with Motion City Soundtrack, simple living-room recording by a
Cloud Cult, Quietdrive and Fare- group that has existed for barely
well Confidential. If their new re- a year. Expect even bigger things
cord isn’t out by now, it should be from these newcomers if they can
very soon. Their entire self-titled find time to be lazy musicians.
BILL SCHWALBE
Poor Howard
In just four years of existence, bluesrock band Poor Howard has gone
through eight drummers. That’s two
percussionists every 12 months or a
new one every 26 weeks. Veteran
guitarists Vincent Cadillac and Howlin’ Andy Hound must wear them
out with their fast-paced, foot-stomp
style inspired by ol’ school country
bluesmen like John Lee Hooker and
Lightnin’ Hopkins. And it can’t help
matters having the prolific angry
wordsmith Patrick McKinnon on
the microphone. They have a debut album out on Children of Devol
Records and hopefully can kidnap a
drummer in time for Homegrown.
Portage
9:45pm Thurs 5/3 | Thirsty Pagan
When starting a somber, acoustic-guitar duo in Duluth, it makes
sense to record an album in the attic of an old mansion overlooking
Lake Superior. Titling the album
The Unsalted Sea and naming the
band Portage — a solemn term
describing the labor of hauling
water transport over land — completes the motif. Trent Waterman
and Adam Rosenthal started writing songs together after graduating from college in 2011 with
art degrees. As their project progressed, it grew louder and began to incorporate elements of
rhythm and blues, much to their
own surprise. Since releasing their
debut album, they’ve added Jason Hildebrandt on bass and Dave
Mehling on guitar and keys.
Portrait of a
Drowned Man
Matt Ray & Those
Damn Horses
Portrait of a Drowned Man has created moody soundtracks in the Twin
Ports for close to a decade. Starting
in 2003, the band sought to perfect
no-wave orchestrations that can go
from uncomfortably quiet to roaring tempest in a heartbeat. Paul
Connolly, Justin Kervina and Jesse
Hoheisel’s guitar attacks are now
backed by Krist Whelan on drums,
who replaced former member Mat
Milinkovich this past winter. Before
taking a brief hiatus in 2006, the
group released a self-titled album
and performed live extensively to
support it. In October another collection of sleepy symphonies was
released, titled Great Grey.
Get ready to stomp your feet, clap
your hands, and howl to the moon
as Matt Ray and Those Damn Horses once again bring their “forgetwhat-troubles-ya” Americana to the
Homegrown stage. Banjo? Check.
Fiddle? Check. Jug? Check. Harmonica? Check. This band has all the ingredients to make you jump out of
your skin and forget you’re just two
hours from the Canadian border.
Add a little (or a lot) of whiskey and
you may as well be in the foothills of
Kentucky under a blanket of stars.
Matt Ray works banjo and guitar, Eric
Krenz handles guitar and jug, “Trapper” Al Ranfranz blows harmonica,
David “Flea” Tech saws the fiddle,
Aaron Kaercher beats the drums and
Kyle Westrick pokes the bass guitar.
11:30pm Fri 5/4 | Pizza Lucé 8:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Bev’s Jook Joint
Presently Skyward
Curren Effinger and Hannah McDaniel may not have graduated
from high school yet, but their
two-piece indie-blues band has
some old-fashioned soul to it.
Effinger’s vocals and left-handed
Stratocaster hums and purrs along
with McDaniel’s punch-down
drum beats. The shared songwriting duties and developed stage
presence go well beyond their
teenage years. Bands like this
don’t come around very often
and the hype is usually short lived
when they do. Thankfully, Presently Skyward seems in no rush to
make its rock-and-roll bones.
Prince Paul & the
Conscious Party
11:30pm Sat 5/5 | Rex Bar
This eight-piece roots-reggae ensemble brings big, low grooves,
conceptual lyrics and ripping
horns. Front man “Prince” Paul
Robinson resonates energy-filled,
soulful lyrics, with the heavy
backbeat created by Dave Johnson on drums and Dave Mennes
on percussion. With Rob Jones
on keyboard, Pat Powers on guitar, Sthen Burg on bass, and the
horn section of Psycho Capone
and Matt Livingston the musical
talent is brimming. The band has
recorded two albums — Live at
the Nomad World (2005) and One
Drop in the Water (2008).
Bill Reichelt
After 28 years of dividing his time
between playing in bands like Dog
Pookah and conducting sound
experiments, Bill Reichelt now devotes most of his time to designing
electronic instruments and music
applications. He recently developed an iPad app that functions
as an FM synthesizer. His goal is to
make the creation of electronic music a tactile experience, which, with
the technology available today,
is as easy as “x = sin(y + z*sin(w))”
according to him. Reichelt will be
performing “a nice, quiet, pastoral
kind of music” at this year’s Homegrown using his custom app.
Remote Viewfinder
9:30pm Fri 5/4 | Rex Bar
Travis Hendershot, Tobin Deck and
Noa Daniels of Remote Viewfinder
hold an official Duluth record of
sorts for longest street performance. They once played an impromptu three-hour free show
next to the water fountain on the
corner of Superior Street and Lake
Avenue. It broke the previous busking record set by a quartet of synthetic potheads who “free-style
rapped” while standing outside
the Last Place on Earth for two
hours and 47 minutes in November
2010. Street performing aside, for
over five years these dynamic noise
photo by
artists have created scores of great the original lineup remains intact.
trancelike soundtracks for avant- Cliff LaVingne joins Munthe on classic grunge guitar while bassist Chargarde movies yet to be made.
lie Milkey and drummer Al DeTray
The Resonance provide the quiet/loud, quiet/loud
11:45pm Sat 5/5 | Twins Bar
backbeats. While on hiatus, they
In the early aughts, Dan Munthe and have kept their chops while playhis alternative heavies were an insti- ing in their popular side project
tution in town, playing most Twin Blue Horse and recently began rePorts’ music spots and releasing a mastering some older tracks to be
five-song EP. Though they have not released for their upcoming 10-year
performed out as often since then, reunion celebration.
Retribution
Gospel Choir
10:30pm Sat 5/5 | Rex Bar
Clearly, the people who refer to Retribution Gospel Choir as a “Low sideproject” don’t know what they’re
talking about. From the onset, Al
Sparhawk accomplished the task of
making this band’s songs and style
stand out as much as his acclaimed
work for his other iconic group. With
WALT RASCHICK
help from bassist Steve Garrington
and percussionist Eric Pollard, any
performance can go from 1970s
psychedelics to red-light district
dub-bass to slow, haunting harmonies and back to total anthem rock
in a heartbeat. And, when the audience is lucky, the well-dressed boys
might just seriously freak out for a
few moments of chaotic, sweaty
fun. They released The Revolution
EP in February.
photo by
Hannah Rey
drums. Their first album, Matchstick
Hearts, is in the works.
An active member of the Wildwood Band, Hannah Rey Dunda is
branching out into the solo scene
for her first Homegrown performance. She writes her own songs
in the vein of strong female indiefolk singers, with creative lyrics
and mellow guitar tunes. Her first
full-length album is planned for
release this spring, and she has
developed a fan base that reportedly includes none other than Two
Harbors Mayor Randy Bolen. Sexhawk
Rosebud Social
6:15pm Sat 5/5 | Beaner’s Central
Cory “Hotrod” Ahlm and Aaron
Ashley of the now-defunct band
Bone Appetit return with their new
outfit backed by guitarists Jeff Foline and Chris Whittier and drummer Ryan “Kid” Koivisto. Describing
their sound as “power-metal meets
Sunset Strip sleaze,” Ashley says the
band is “mine and Hotrod’s attempt
to ride the glory years of Bone Appetit well past the expiration date
of good taste. The Keep Aways once
claimed their music was for kids
who failed shop class, and Sexhawk
lowers that standard by showing
up for school hung over …” Mr.
Ashley’s comment continued from
there to describe something best
left out of this publication.
These songsters from Grand Rapids
have been the poster boys of musical consistency. But now, after two
decades, four albums, endless set
lists and hundreds of flannel shirts,
Rosebud Social has made a slight
The Silk Sheiks
change. New member Brian Kislea
steps in to help guitarist Tom Keteri
and drummer Patrik Olds belt out Now nearly three years running,
their honest-to-goodness, heart- the Silk Sheiks are the local masin-their-hands rock and roll.
ters of funky instrumentals. They
play the songs that have you askRoxie Magistrate ing your friends “what movie is
11:30pm Mon 4/30 | R.T. Quinlan’s
this from again?” Dan Anderson
After playing Pizza Luce at last year’s leads the band with his keyboard
Homegrown New Band Night, Iron surfing skills, riding waves of HamRange band Roxie Magistrate is mond organ glissando. Local pros
back with its 1970s folk-rock jams. Ben Marsen on guitar and Ethan
Originally formed by Sela Oveson of Thompson on bass add to Anderthe Gypsy Prophets and Derek Lee son’s melodic structure while Ryan
of the Tisdales in 2010, the band has Jazdzewski backs them all up on
expanded to include Erik Krenz of drums. They have hinted at adding
Matt Ray and Those Damn Horses some singing into their repertoire.
on guitar, Josh Palmi of Lost Chil- On top of that, there may be a live
dren on bass and Brian Tekautz on recording in the works.
BILL SCHWALBE
Sing!
A Women’s Chorus
and cultures in order to serve as a
“ladder for the soul.”
Sing! was founded in 1999 by director Mags David to develop a
non-traditional style of choral singing, provide musical experience for
community women, and to serve
as a vehicle for David’s original
compositions and arrangements.
The ensemble, open to all interested women, meets through the
Duluth Public Schools Community
Education program. Its music includes folk songs, traditional music
from West Africa and originals. The
sound is full-voiced and natural,
delivered with animation and joy.
The singers include Bev Berntson,
Britt Jones, Cherie Hamilton, Cyndy
Klinksiek, Debbie Renier, Diane
Daniels, Emme Sjoberg, Georgann
Petrich, Jeanne Filiatrault Laine,
Jessica Roskoski, JoAnn Stanley,
Joyce Parker, Judy Ilse, Kathy Maki,
Mary Beth Nevers, Mia Johnson,
Nancy Aldridge, Sally Grames, Sue
Doering, Susan Koschak, Theresa
Neo and Vicki Sanville.
10:30pm Fri 5/4 | Pizza Lucé
8:30pm Fri 5/4 | Harbor City
Snobarn
Snöbarn means “snow children” in
Swedish, which is fitting enough
for a young Minnesota indie-folk
duo. Ariane Norrgard and Gaelynn
Lea have been playing together
for over a year now, combining
their vocal skills with (mostly) uplifting lyrics, intricate instrumentation and pleasing harmonies. Norrgard, a Cloquet native who broke
into the Duluth music scene six
years ago, plays guitar. Lea is from
Duluth and plays violin and bells.
Soma
10pm Wed 5/2 | R.T. Quinlan’s
Michael Trepanier and Tim Simmons
of Bury the Sun started this progressive, post-metal band last fall. After recruiting former Pennies for a
Dime and Portraits for Judith bassist
Dustin Fennessey, they set about
writing music Trepanier says is “not
easily stereotyped by the conventional confines of a genre.” Instead,
he says the band members seek “to
Adam Sippola break through creative boundaries
11am Sun 5/6 | Pizza Lucé
by pushing their musicianship to
Adam Sippola brings his improvisa- different avenues of sound.”
tional, experimental sound back to
the stage at Homegrown this year. Somewhere But Who
9:45 Sat 5/5 | Sir Benedict’s
Also a member of the bands Cold
Current and Hidden Roots, Sippola The musicians in Somewhere But
showcases his unique method of Who are almost finished with their
live-looping to create improvised debut album, a three-year recordand composed pieces with a rich ing project at Clubhouse Studio.
vocal foundation, highlighted by Bryce Willet heads this rock trio
didgeridoo and percussion. This on guitar and vocals, with Guy
musical experience crosses genres Merolle on drums and Andy Lipke
photo by
on lead guitar. They utilize their
combination of acoustic and electric guitars to create tunes steeped
in folk, blues, jazz and soul music.
Southwire
10:15pm Friday 5/4 | Tycoons
Southwire offers audiences a deal
— inspiration and understanding
for the price of your attention. The
intoxicating tone of Jerree Small’s
voice united with the family Jones
makes for a performance that feels
like a campfire sing-along, but one
where everyone is too enchanted
to even think about singing along
(nor dare question how they got
that piano out to the beach). Ben
Larson slows down his soulful
spoken word observations and
punctuates the tales spun by Small
while they trade turns on piano and
acoustic guitar. Keeping them both
in time is drummer Sean Elmquist
RICHARD NARUM
who pounds out the arithmetic Music Studio. In his review of the
album for the Duluth News Tribune,
keeping this equation balanced.
John Ziegler wrote that So Close has
So Close “a folk-based sound that centers on
10:30am Sat 5/5 | Chester Creek Café
acoustic guitar rhythms and fiddle
So Close is a three-piece acous- ornamentation, with vocals that
tic folk trio featuring Logan Amys, have an appealing earnestness.”
Sarah Glitsos and Haley Lawson.
Stel & Lefty
The band formed in early 2008 and
8pm Fri 5/4 | Amazing Grace
recorded its first full-length album,
Adolescence, in the summer of 2010 Larry “Lefty” Sandmann and Brian
with Eric Swanson at Sacred Heart Stelmaszewski have been playing
photo by
the area for the past dozen years or
so as an acoustic duo. Their musical style consists of original tunes,
covers and instrumentals, usually
heard at Thirsty Pagan Brewing in
Superior, where they play every
second and fourth Friday of the
month. Artists they cover include
Bob Dylan, Marshall Tucker and Neil
Young, as well as a variety of blues
and folk-style tunes. Stel & Lefty
played on the Blues Train during the
Bayfront Blues Festival last fall, and
have played as part of Grandma’s
Marathon as well. Music fans may
recognize Lefty from his bass work
with the Fractals and Prince Paul
and the Conscious Party.
just recently, members have collaborated in various ensembles for
many years, as each player is a degreed alumnus of the UMD music
department. Harnessing a diverse
repertoire, the group will do its
take on songs by Bill Frisell, Queen,
Strange Meeting Gillian Welch, the Beatles and Dave
Holland, as well as original comWhile this “space jazz” crew be- positions. Jeremy Ehlert provides
gan performing in its current trio atmospheric, effects-laden guitar
setting around the Duluth area work while Matt Mobley swings for
BILL SCHWALBE
the fences on the upright bass and
Matt Wasmund dishes out a hefty
serving of saxophone.
Strictly Hammers
This experimental hip-hop group
takes some cues from other Minnesota hip-hop bands, yet mixes
it up with guitar instrumentals juxtaposing the pumping
bass. Emcees Crimson (Matt Ihle)
photo by
BILL SCHWALBE
and AvanteGato (Matt Brutger)
handle the rhymes, with Nemo
(Rob Plourde) on guitar and
Midi_Vil (Nick Pawlenty) turning
the tricks as DJ/producer. “We are
not your average hip-hop group,”
Pawlenty says. “We are trying to
push the envelope in the message and the sound that derives
from it. Every show is something
fun, new and different.”
The Surfactants
The Surfactants play dark, newwave electro-rock that combines a love for old-school metal
with a fascination for modern
saw-tooth rhythms. Formed
in 2005, the band has forged a
style all its own, with heavy guitars (Brett Molitor and Greg Conley), stuttering beats (Zac Bentz),
screaming synths (Steph Bentz)
and pounding bass (Eric Anderson). Unique front-man Marcus
Mathews works the stage like a
young Bill Batson, prowling the
audience like a hyped-up jackhammer of emotion. The Surfactants released a new album, Our
Dead Bodies, last fall.
Suzy Q
6:30pm Thurs 5/3 | Red Mug
Performing originals such as “Stupid in Love” and “Dang,” Suzy
Anderson mixes her melodies between hip-hop sounds, jazzy rock
and blues. Her vocals are deep
and enchanting one moment,
then upbeat and moving the next.
“My music is a little dash of everything,” she says. “From pretty piano to upbeat songs that make you
wanna boogie, to base-bumping
tracks with flute melodies and
classic hip-hop undertones.” Her
powerhouse sound is reminiscent
of Latin pop star Shakira and comparable to the Dresden Dolls of
hip hop. The debut Suzy Q album,
Cupcakes and Battle Axes, was released in March. Sweetgrass
10pm Sat 5/5 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
Sweetgrass plays everything
from rock to bluegrass, originals and covers, old standards
to new favorites. All Sweetgrass
band members share the vo-
cal performance, with Anne Fisk
performing rhythm guitar and
percussion, rallying the crowd
with sweet ballads and hardcore
Greg
blues. Singer/songwriter
Tiburzi pounds out drums and
percussion. John “Otis” Engstrom
plays lead guitar. Diane Eck is the
sparkplug of the group on bass
guitar, and is also “The Queen of
West End.” Steve “Chief” Johnson
plays mandolin and fiddle.
Tangier 57
Someday in the future, when psychedelic lounge music is all the
rage, we will be able to say, “Tangier 57? Oh yeah, we were totally
into those guys like 10 years ago!”
If Lawrence Welk conducted Captain Beefheart performing They
Might Be Giants’ greatest hits,
you’d get something close to the
beautiful, nerdy sounds created
by Darin Bergsven, Brian Barber,
David Syring, Paul Wartman, and
Chris Bacigalupo. Their new album This is People! was released
in August, and the music video
for “There is a World” is perhaps
Duluth’s most delicious piece of
visual art ever created (at least the
nacho-cheesiest).
Taste the Feeling
2pm Sun 4/29 | Sacred Heart
Brad Fernholz has played in bands
with the aging hipsters that rocked
the first Homegrown, and also with
his sister, so the next logical step
is to rock out with his kids. Anika
Fernholz (age 7) plays piano and
guitar, and Gavin Fernholz (age 10)
plays drums and guitar. Both sing,
but Anika brings the rock-star diva
attitude. Poppa Brad plays whatever the kids tell him to as the family
band brings youth folk rock to the
Homegrown stage.
The 13th Choir
10pm Sun 4/29 | Pizza Lucé
Describing themselves as “hard
rock, except when we’re not,”
members of the 13th Choir have
a wealth of Homegrown experience. Amy Ugstad (formerly
of Eeriearq) and Tommy Pearson (formerly of Malec) are the
senior members of the band.
Andy Morrow and the favorite
photo by
nephew of Greg Cougar Conley, Joel Conley, round out the
lineup, mixing grunge, blues,
metal and anything that attracts
attention. Their credo: “To ascend, to rock, and to break the
spheres wide open.” eder have played the Twin Ports
for over a decade with different
hard rock projects. When they
formed This is Now three years
ago, they decided to skip over
the hardcore genre’s stereotypes
and fill the gaps with good ol’
fashioned head bangin’ metal
This is Now music. Filling out the line-up with
Jeremy Malecki’s guitar work and
Founding members Dan Holmi, the enigmatic Richie Redbeard
Jesse Johnson and Garrett Schro- on vocals, the band has released
WALT RASCHICK
a dynamic electric-pop group.
While still possessing the soft/
sweet musical back-n-forth between Dan Dressers’ strumming
and Stephanie Longstreet’s harmonica, this group has now tastefully added drums, bass and fuzz
Three Song Sunday pedals. They will release their first
full-length album Don‘t Be Sad on
These former members of the Me this spring, and hope to presBrushstrokes have evolved from ent their new songs with a full
a moody acoustic-guitar duo into band for this year’s festival.
a self-titled album and plays the
region regularly. It also might be
the only band in town that includes dog tags among its merchandise, so fans can show they
are “T.I.N. Soldiers.”
photo by
BILL SCHWALBE
Thunder Brothers
Timber & Steel
11pm Sat 5/5 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
Thunder Brothers has been playing the Duluth area for over a
decade. With roots in blues and
rock, the band is composed of Bill
Berguson and Walt Beier on
guitar, Mark Eskola on bass and
Jason Noe on drums. Noe comments on each member: “The
bassist has a degree in music and
teaches orchestra and is musically
smarter than most first chairs in
the Duluth Superior Symphony
guitarist is
Orchestra. The lead
self-taught from a blues and rock
background with an innate ability to understand it all. The second guitarist is from an orchestra
and progressive rock background
with an ability to create beautiful
order in madness. The drummer,
however, is an idiot.”
Timber and Steel is a countryfolk band influenced by the likes
of Townes Van Zandt, John Prine
and Kris Kristofferson. Local
songwriter Eric Rhame brought
together a group of musicians in
2008 to record his album Timber
and Steel. They kept the album’s
title as a band name and continued playing together. Timber and
Steel is composed of Rhame on
guitar and vocals, Steve “Chief”
Johnson on fiddle and mandolin,
John Erickson on upright bass and
Greg Tiburzi on percussion. Their
Homegrown performance will include new songs from Rhame and
Tiburzi, along with songs from
their previous recordings.
Greg Tiburzi
The Tisdales formed out of singer/
guitarists Rich Mattson and Tony
Derrick’s previous projects — Ol’
Yeller and the Hotel Coral Essex,
respectively. Once the microphone feedback and guitar distortion cleared, the strange brew
grew more potent with Jason Kokal’s bass and Derek Lee’s drums
added into the mix. With rolling
bass lines under their garage guitar-driven hooks, these Northland
rock vets released their third album, Supercaldera, in March.
The Tisdales
Greg Tiburzi is one local musician
and songwriter who is involved
in no shortage of projects. He
draws from influences including
rock from the Chuck Berry era on
out, pop, folk and world music to
compose his songs on guitar and
harmonica. He believes in music’s
power to heal, as well as its ability to connect us to others and
to ourselves. His latest project,
Bridged Again is a collection of
songs about the Twin Ports. TiTrampled by Turtles
burzi also plays guitar for Déjà vu
Drifters and drums for Sweetgrass, Besides a career that has found
Timber and Steel, Group Too, Billy the group opening for Willie NelSouthern and Wes Hadrich.
son, debuting at #1 on Billboard’s
chart, performing at
The Tico Three bluegrass
this
year’s
South by Southwest
10pm Thurs 5/3 | Chester Creek Café
and Bonnaroo music festivals,
For close to seven years, Israel the boys in TBT also gave the proMalachi has put elements of ceeds of a sold-out local concert
rock, blues and electronica in a to Duluth Public Schools and doblender and pressed the button nated the sales from a recent sinmarked “smooth.” His instrumen- gle (a cover of the Pixies’ “Where
tal creations would fit perfectly is My Mind”) to WhyHunger. Tim
inside the soundtrack for any Saxhaug plays bass, Dave Carsouth-of-the-border
road-trip roll is on banjo duty, Ryan Young
movie. As the lone producer/gui- saws away on the fiddle, Eric Berry
tarist/vocalist for the Tico Three, musters a melody or two on his
it is hard to fathom that Malachi mandolin, while ring leader Dave
has released 40 (yes, 40!) albums, Simonett provides most lead voperforms in the area over 100 cals and all acoustic guitar. The
times a year, and still finds time group’s sixth album, Stars and
Satellites, comes out in late April.
to play in three other bands.
photo by
Triplekoin
10:15 Sat 5/5 | Pioneer Bar
Triplekoin was formed in Duluth
in 2002 and has been a regular fixture in the Twin Ports music scene
since releasing the album Undecided in 2005. Fronted by the guitars and vocals of brothers Cody
and Brandon Behrends, the bluesy punk-rock group features bassist John Cox and drummer Brett
folk group through many classic styles of traditional music. He
also wields a bouzouki, an Irish
instrument, though the implication of “two” in the band’s name
sticks. Dave Carroll is the other
banjo player in the group, and
Nick Klee, a 21-year-old mandolin
Two Many Banjos player, has been added for more
12:30am Sat 5/5 | Pizza Lucé
stringy goodness. Matt Mobley
While maybe not always playing lays it down on bass and Bryan
a banjo, Marc Gartman leads this “Lefty” Johnson is the percussive
Sundgaard. They can typically be
found jamming with any and all
of the other local bands that frequently haunt R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon. Their sets usually consist of
mostly original tunes smattered
with a few popular covers.
BILL SCHWALBE
element. Homegrown will be Two
Many Banjos’ final Duluth performance for a while; Gartman is calling it a “pre-hiatus show.”
Ty Cobb
9pm Fri 5/4 | R.T. Quinlan’s
Tattooed thrashers Cody Paulson,
Ben Butter, Jay Benson and Mike
Ferrin have played the past five
Homegrowns in other regional
metal groups like Bear Garden,
photo by
Lament of Aporia, Voyages, Books
on Tape, Wyatt Famous, the Moon
is Down and so on. Joined together under the name of baseball’s famous anti-hero, the band Ty Cobb
extols the virtues of beer, bud,
whiskey and maybe a skate park
with some Slurpees. The release
of the forthcoming album Gang
Violence has been postponed due
to some hang-ups, but is still a
work in progress.
Anderson on keys and some
yet-to-be-determined
special
guests.
Freddy
delivers
the
soul
and funky ’70s beat during his
Fred Tyson knows how to bring always-memorable Homegrown
the funk. Linked to Duluth at the performances.
pelvis, he can round-the-clock
party until your beard falls off.
Ultra Day
9pm
Sat
5/5
|
Amazing Grace
Tyson will be backed this year
by Eldo Abrahamson on drums, Formed in Solon Springs in 2008
Ethan Thompson rocking the by triplet siblings Cody, Caleb
bass, Ben Marsen on guitar, Dan and Corey Utyro, punk rock
The Fred Tyson
Funk Tsunami
RICHARD NARUM
group Ultra Day was originally
a Decemberists cover band.
The trio began writing its own
music in the summer of 2010,
and shortly thereafter added
hometown friend Kyle Rudd on
keyboard and guitar. They are
now being produced by Aaron
Armstrong of Wisconsin’s Deep
Water Music record label and released their new album Stay Put
or Carry On in January.
photo by
Uncle Kenny
9:45 Fri 5/4 | Sir Benedict’s
Uncle Kenny is a one-man outfit
featuring the man himself, Kenny
Kalligher. He plays original songs
on his acoustic and electric guitars. A born, bred and buttered
Duluthian, with his deep, gravelly
baritone and reflective lyrics, Kalligher sings about his experiences
growing up in the Zenith City. Hey,
he saw Grand Funk Railroad play around the Twin Ports under different monikers for the past three
the Duluth Arena in 1974.
years. Though shows by this particThe Underwriters ular outfit are few and far between,
all the members have been a part of
Led by songwriter Lee Martin from the Duluth music scene for the betNext of Kin, the Underwriters is an ter part of the past decade.
original alt-country/rock group
The Undesirables
from Duluth. Martin is backed by
Wally Wedan (also from Next of Kin),
Adam Staupe, Mike Miller and Russ This self-proclaimed “countrySackett. The band has been playing punk” group was born about 10
RICHARD NARUM
years ago in a home on the Duluth Hillside. Featuring Pat Laney,
Seth Brovsky, Jay Rahman and
Shanna Willie, the band has been
known to play such exotic places
as Thunder Bay while pulling shenanigans like staying up past 10
p.m. on a weeknight. They believe Minnesota is more trendsetting but Wisconsin is way more
hipster; the two compliment each
other nicely. Their favorite color is
blue. They like sports. Between
the four of them they have one
wife, a couple of kids, a roommate, a cat, a dog, three houses,
four sisters, three brothers, and
20 years in college. They like the
weekends and would rather be
at the cabin. But in the meantime
they look forward to yet another
Homegrown.
Uprising
11:15pm Fri 5/4 | Tycoons
As unlikely as it may seem, the
Arrowhead region of northern
Minnesota plays host to authentic Caribbean reggae music.
Lead vocalist Dexter Baxter hails
from the island nation where the
genre was born and naturally
uses it to pass along his positive messages. Andrew Perfetti’s
guitar work safely incorporates
blues and rock riffs into the carefree sound created by bassist
Tal Lindblad and drummer Luke
Perry. Janna Dreher provides nuance with keyboards. If a largescale party has happened in the
Twin Ports recently, chances are
Uprising played. Performances
include the Dragon Boat Festival,
Bayfront Reggae and World Music Festival, Northwoods Music
Festival and the Duluth-Superior
Pride Festival.
Ryan Van Slooten
11:45 Thurs 5/3 | Thirsty Pagan
An old hat to Homegrown, Ryan
Van Slooten has been playing in
the area since the second Homegrown in 2000, having stints with
local bands Bone Appetit, Rock
Brigade and the SuperTacks. In
recent years, Van Slooten has effectively stepped out of the shadow of his hard rock past, defining
himself as a singer-songwriter. His
songs are full of chiming guitars,
lush vocals, and always from the
heart, as evidenced on his first two
solo albums. His latest release, The
Overhead Low, was released last
fall and showcases the maturation of an emerging talent.
guitar at local nursing homes.
His bailiwick is generally Johnny
Cash and other classic country,
but he often performs rich, soulful versions of ageless classics
such as “Down in the Valley” and
“You Are My Sunshine.”
Matt Wahl
1pm Sun 5/6 | Sacred Heart
Matt Wahl and his family are relatively new to the area, having
moved to Duluth in 2010. Calling
his music “the fun side of life,”
he introduces the ukulele on top
of his typical guitar/harmonica
sound. “It’s about having fun and
enjoying yourself as much as possible,” he says. “It’s about staying
a kid at heart, laughing a lot and
making it a point to look at the
world in a way that feels good. As
strange as this may sound, it’s like
Jimmy Buffett meets Tony Robbins (the self-help guy)! You’re
feeling great with a fun, sunny attitude but you didn’t have to run
off to Key West to get that way!”
The What Four
10:45 Thurs 5/3 | Thirsty Pagan
That What Four describe themselves on Facebook as “four musicians on the prowl, making each
young lady melt, one peekachoo
at a time.” The prowlers — Paul
Newberg, Tom Berrigan, Andy
Hauswirth, and Luke Perry — have
been rocking the Duluth-Superior
area for several years and were recently named one of the top five
local bands by the radio station
Mix 108. The group specializes in
rock and performs several original
songs, along with a never-ending
variety of covers.
A Winter Downpour
After a long winter of hard drinking and passing out to his favorite
Songs Ohia records, Alberto Serrano Rivera decided to step away
from fronting punk rock bands
and pick up an acoustic guitar. He
taught himself how to play it and
began writing and performing as
Vintage Val A Winter Downpour with longtime
10pm Fri 5/4 | Fitger’s Brewhouse
friend and bassist Chris Barnholdt.
Val Turcotte is a retired Esko resi- After a move from St. Cloud to
dent who spends much of his Duluth he added Paul Connolly of
spare time performing with his Portrait of a Drowned Man on sec-
photo by
ond guitar. Recently, former Turbo up in 2002 and formed Words to a
Rathvon drummer Ken Nyberg Film Score. Self described as emo
rock, they toured the Midwest exwas added to the lineup.
tensively with the likes of the Swiss
Words to Army, the Black-eyed Snakes and
a Film Score Low before disbanding in 2005. But
11pm Sat 5/4 | Lake Avenue Café
just because they’ve started other
Two parts of Farewell Tour (Mat acts (Cars & Trucks) and businesses
Milinkovich and Matt Osterlund) (New Vintage Amplifiers), it didn’t
and two parts Man in Water (Nic stop them from finally releasing
Patullo and Tim Curtis) teamed a much anticipated full-length
WALT RASCHICK
album in 2008 and performing a friends has had a somewhat rotating cast of players since forming
handful of reunion shows.
about a year and a half ago. BassJason Wussow ist Mark Glen holds seniority over
& Friends drummer Tyler Dubla, but it’s un11:45 Sat 5/5 | Carmody
known exactly who else might
“Bring your dancing shoes and take the stage with them at Homeleave your winter depression be- grown, as Wussow notes that
hind,” says local band namesake “guests are common and smiles
and Beaner’s Central coffee-shop are frequent.” The group plays
owner Jason Wussow. His band of dance music that crosses bound-
photo by
While this division still exists, it
has become less apparent since
the members decided playing
slow songs was “effin’ boring.” After a brief hiatus with no practice
space, Anders Lundahl, Alexandra
Evens, Dave Mold and Ben ButWyatt Famous ter, have returned for their third
Homegrown with plenty of highThere was a time when Wyatt Fa- energy barn burners and cowboy
mous treaded the line between boots to spare. This will be your
folk-punk and cutesy folk-rock. last chance to catch Wyatt Famous
aries from fast shuffles to 1920s
Charleston rhythms to obscure ska
covers — a bit of a throwback to
Wussow’s first band, Fluxskapacitor, which took its sound around
the country during the 1990s.
WALT RASCHICK
in action as the band will be parton a second EP. All members coning to seek other punk ventures. tribute to the elegantly layered
vocals, creating a sound that
Xhaust would fit in at any point in the
10:45pm Fri 5/4 | Twins Bar
past hundred years. Kyle Ollah
The hard-rocking quartet of plays guitar over Chris LeBlanc’s
Xhaust returns to Homegrown sweeping drums to create a backafter a break and some lineup drop for the group’s powerful vochanges. Lead singer and gui- cals. Derek Brochu also picks the
tarist Dan Krause and his band guitar and pitches in on clarinet
mates play loud, thrashy, original when appropriate. Matt Mobley
rock. With longtime drummer plays bass in Yester on nights
Jake Alvar, Xhaust has been one when he’s not busy playing with
of the Twin Ports hardest working every other band in Duluth.
bands, and this looks to be a return to form. Guitar player Conor
Glenn and bassist Aaron Androsky are new to the band.
Yester
Yester may sound like the Fleet
Foxes and some other really hip
bands, but they really just like to
sing together. Started just over a
year ago, the group has already
completed an EP, a tour of the
West Coast, and has begun work
photo by
2012 Homegrown
Kickball Classic
Saturday, May 5 | High Noon
Chester Bowl Park, 1800 E. Skyline Parkway
Friday
is the
Gomez
of Kickball
Last year’s kickball game might
be the least memorable Homegrown event of all time, because
it was so awesome no one seems
to recall much of what happened. According to the surviving scorecards, the Friday Rawkers defeated the Saturday Rollers
by the measure of 6-3.
The first play of the game was indicative of the entire afternoon.
2011 Homegrown Kickball Friday’s Chris “Dubz” Warne bootClassic Revisited
ed the ball at Saturday’s Adam
by Paul Lundgren
“Old Knifey” Depre, who let it
LARAMIE CARLSON
bounce off his chest. It was the
first of 13 errors that would plague
the Saturday team.
The Friday team committed its
own share of errors — six; and
not a single run was scored by
either team that wasn’t the result of an error. So the old axiom that big games are won and
lost by defense rings true, even
though in this case it refers to
an elementary-school game
played by drunk and out-ofshape adult dirtbags.
Jay Benson was named the Least
Valuable Player of the game for
his continued failure to do anything but screw up from the beginning of the game all the way
through to the bitter end.
Cory Ahlm walked away with the
Most Valuable Player award when
he decided that he was entitled
to it even though Ryan Nelson
and Ryan Van Slooten had better games. No one is quite sure
how the award committee came
to agree, or who is really on that
committee, or if there ever actually was a decision. The prevailing
theory is that Ahlm was chosen
out of spite, because Nelson and
Van Slooten were vehemently
lobbying for the honor and it was
considered funny to let spite be
the determining factor.
A Saturday player who claimed
he was “Jesus” was never really proven to be in a band,
but played anyway and did really well. Alex Roslansky had a
Sharpie mustache drawn on his
nipple, and then a few months
later he actually decided to get
a real tattoo of a mustache on
his nipple. Some guy played the
game in purple pajamas. Such is
the influence of Homegrown.
Jason Cork served as umpire because Rick Boo failed to show up.
That, of course, had no impact on
the game whatsoever.
When it was all over and the crowd
dispersed, the irresponsible louts
that partook in this abomination
to athletics left a tremendous
amount of garbage behind. Chad
Lyons was among the last to leave,
There was a DJ playing reggae and he picked up after everyone
music throughout the game, because he was concerned about
which drowned out a lot of Fri- the environment.
day pitcher Chad Lyons’ smack
Paul Lundgren is the manager of the
talk. This was considered both Saturday kickball team and clearly an
a blessing and a serious disap- unreliable source of information on
exactly what happened during the game.
pointment.
photo by
Homegrown
Band
Etiquette:
Do
s and
ally, really, really liked it, or just really liked it. This is the only proper
way to gauge artistic criticism.
4. Don’t improvise. Everyone is already familiar with your songs since
you posted that coffee-house performance on MySpace. Even the
smallest change will cause large
portions of the audience to leave.
5. When registering for Homegrown, do use lots of exclamation
points after each sentence. For
example: “We play soul, funk and
blues!!!” Also, assign each band
member’s name a different emotiby Mark Lindquist
con. This will surely persuade the
1. Do make sure to wear a suit and booking committee to slot you in
tie or an evening gown for your per- as headliners for Saturday night :o).
formance. I mean, it is the 8 p.m. slot 6. Don’t learn to cover Rebecca
at Roscoe’s Pioneer Bar, after all.
Black’s pop hit “Friday” unless
Don’ts
you’re scheduled to play on Saturday. This is called irony, and audiences will find you mysterious for
using it. If they don’t get it, immediately follow with “Ironic” by Alanis
3. If you see a local celebrity at Morissette. Now they totally get it!
your show, afterward do keep ask- 7. Between songs do tell the audiing how much he/she liked your ence something personal about
set. Then keep asking if he/she re- yourself so everyone will feel like
2. Don’t start off new band night
by screaming, “This goes out to
all the mutha’ f#@&in’ playa’ haters out there!” and then cover the
theme from Northern Exposure.
liz lusting
10. Don’t cancel the show just because you forgot your drummer has
to work in Minneapolis that night.
Simply show up the next night at
8. Don’t waste time tuning your gui- the same time and pretend like
tars on stage. Ask the sound guy or nothing happened. Those Homebartender to do it for you since they grown potheads won’t notice.
don’t look very busy right now.
11. If you want to support yourself
9. Do keep the phone number of playing music, do treat your band
the venue you’re playing on your like a business. Like any other
cell-phone speed dial. That way, business you’ll have to stop readif you’re having a bad set, you can ing Bob Dylan’s biography and
quickly call in a fake bomb threat start studying up on U.S. Taxation
and people will have something Code Title 11, focusing specifically
else to remember your show by. on Chapters 7 through 11 (also
(Note: Don’t use a real bomb.)
known as “Bankruptcy Law”).
they know you better. This will help
them identify with your music and
provide an explanation for why
every song is about the fear of lice.

hgmf12-fieldguide_we.. - Duluth Homegrown Music Festival

Transcription

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