Music
Cities Never Sleep – “Kokomo”
Duluth band Cities Never Sleep has taken a musical trip off the Florida Keys to the magical fictitious land of Kokomo. Joined by saxophonist John James Ryan Jr. from Keep Flying, the band perfects its chemistry by turning a Beach Boys hit from 1988 into a post-pandemic, pop-punk chroma-key party.
Steve’s Overpopulated One-Man Band – “Oatmeal Raisin”
Just in time for prom season, Steve Solkela and his Iron Range friends have a new music video for those left feeling alone on the shelf, like an oatmeal raisin cookie. Hey, sometimes the healthiest option gets picked last.
Anthony Bennett – “I’m a Politician”
Duluth’s Anthony Bennett has a new album set for release on May 28. Fun’s Over contains 12 tracks recorded during the pandemic, including the first single, “I’m a Politician.” (more…)
Charlie Parr – “Last of the Better Days Ahead”
Charlie Parr‘s next album, Last of the Better Days Ahead is due out July 30 on the nonprofit record label Smithsonian Folkways. The video for the first single is directed by Parr himself.
Homegrown 2021 Unofficially Unofficial Recap Video
The pandemic put the kibosh on official in-person events during the Homegrown Music Festival, but with restrictions easing up a bit there were numerous unofficial events accompanying the hours upon hours of online video content put out to avoid a superspreader.
In addition to the slaptogether kickball game, outdoor video art installation in West Duluth and the scavenger hunt, there were little bits of actual live music happening with limited attendance. The video above captures clips of some of the unofficial activities, with a note that nothing is officially unofficial, it’s all unofficially unofficial, really. (more…)
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day Seven
Saturday’s online Homegrown Music Festival content begins with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra‘s season-ending show, From Beethoven to Milhaud. At the 2:18:43 mark a big blawk of local rawk begins. (more…)
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day Six
A bit more than two hours of local rawk and/or roll comprise the Homegrown Music Festival‘s Friday content. (more…)
Video Archive: The Black-eyed Snakes – “Chickenbone George”
From the days when digital video quality was horrific, we present the Black-eyed Snakes at the Red Lion Lounge during the Homegrown Music Festival … two amazing decades ago.
Shot by Chris Bacigalupo on May 4, 2001.
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day Five
Thursday’s Homegrown Music Festival content is three and a half hours of livestreamed music from 2104. (more…)
Video Archive: Fred Tyson & the Tysonettes – “Pop that Thang!”
May 7, 2011 — Freddie Tyson and his beautiful backup singers perform “Pop that Thang” at Pizza Lucé during the Homegrown Music Festival.
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day Four
The stream of video goods from the Homegrown Music Festival continued on Wednesday with an encore presentation of the Winter Fiasco, originally released in January. This version is about half the length of the original, eliminating the interview segments to make it a full two-hours-plus of music. (more…)
Dave Mehling – “Will Bloom”
Duluth native Dave Mehling has a new ambient album, Tired Fruit, out tomorrow, May 7. “Will Bloom” is one of five tracks on the digital release.
Bandcamp waives its revenue share on the first Fridays of the month during the pandemic to help support artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic.
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day Three
Video of the Homegrown Music Festival‘s DJ livestream from the Embassy does not appear to be available in an embeddable format to show here, but it can be viewed on twitch.tv. (more…)
Superior Siren’s “Kill Your Darlings” solo EP out Friday
Laura Sellner of Superior Siren is releasing a solo EP — Kill Your Darlings — with a performance at 7:15 p.m. Friday at Earth Rider Brewery in Superior. (more…)
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day Two
Monday’s Homegrown Music Festival video content includes the annual showcases of poetry, photos and music videos … along with a short movie starring Teague Alexy. (more…)
Dave Simonett – “Central Hillside Blues”
Dave Simonette has a new EP out titled Orion. The first single, “Central Hillside Blues,” of course references the neighborhood in the middle of Duluth.
The EP is available via multiple internet platforms.
Videos: Homegrown 2021 Day One
The Homegrown Music Festival is underway, with video releases and livestreams throughout the week. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival 2021 Primer
The Homegrown Music Festival is pretty much all online again this year, but things are a bit more organized this time around, with planned video releases and livestreams every day, May 2-9. (more…)
Seaway in Song
News that the Esmond building in the Lincoln Park Craft District might soon be demolished leads Perfect Duluth Day to note that the structure once known as the Seaway Hotel in Duluth’s Friendly West End has at least twice been referenced in music. (more…)
Duluth record labels boosted the scene, but are going extinct
Compact discs and cassettes of releases from Duluth record labels fill a plastic bin at the Perfect Duluth Day headquarters. (Photo by Paul Lundgren)
Mark Lindquist, the chief purveyor of local albums at the turn of the millennium, thinks he can succinctly describe the difference between the best-known Duluth record labels.
“Chair Kickers’ put out the most gorgeous records,” he said. “Spinout had the most professional. Chaperone had the coolest. And Shaky Ray had … the most.” (more…)
Torment – “Drown in Piss” (Instrumental Playthrough)
Submerged in urine once again, Duluth band Torment continues to fine tune for the day when rock shows resume in full force.
Kweluude – “Bases,” “My Life” and “The Message”
Duluth artist Kwe Perry, aka Kweluude, has three tracks on the new Mixtape Project 6.0 release from DanSan Creatives. (more…)
The Slice: Homegrown Music Festival 2021
Duluth’s Homegrown Music Festival will be online again in 2021, due to COVID-19. In the clip above, festival director Melissa La Tour explains that musicians have submitted pre-recorded material that will be curated into daily releases on the festival’s YouTube channel.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Gaelynn Lea: Three Performances for MPR
Duluth’s Gaelynn Lea was the Current‘s Minnesota Music Month featured artist of the day on April 23. This video is part of a series the singer-songwriter and violinist contributed as educational videos to YourClassical MPR. (more…)