Duluth Band Profile: Mint Vintage
Mint Vintage began after a chance encounter and a few jam sessions. As the band explains, it’s not about notoriety. It’s about being yourself. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Upcoming gig:
May 5 at Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake during Homegrown Music Festival
Call for Homegrown photo banners
It’s time for our annual call for Homegrown banners for the top of the page. We’re looking for bands, friends, events, or general shenanigans. Keep in mind, the photos get cropped to extreme horizontal proportions. If you want to crop ’em yourself and send them, that’s fantastic, or you can send them uncropped and I’ll do my best to make them fit.
Click here for complete submission guidelines, but the basics are: 1135 pixels wide by 197 pixels high, e-mail them to banners@perfectduluthday.com. We’ll get them in the rotation during the Homegrown Music Festival, starting this weekend.
Duluth dances the “Nelken” line
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Responding to a worldwide call by the Pina Bausch Foundation, dancers from Duluth made a short video based on Bausch’s “Four Seasons” choreography from the 1982 piece Nelken. With just a few distinct gestures, the dancers describe the four seasons — spring, summer, autumn and winter. (more…)
2 Sleepy People – “Backstage”
Bands that were part of the first Homegrown Music Festival in 1999 tended to be long-running acts that played dozens if not hundreds of shows. Some recorded numerous albums, others put out just one album or at least a few scattered singles.
The exception is 2 Sleepy People, a short-lived act that is nonetheless remembered for stealing the show the one time it played Homegrown. Available above is a rare recording of the group, captured at the Shaky Ray Records studio in Duluth’s Hillside, one day before the very first Homegrown. The track was recorded by Mark Lindquist, who supplied it to Perfect Duluth Day for your pre-Homegrown 2018 nostalgia fix.
R.I.P. DJ Baby Judy.
Busy Bodies Tent #60 ~ Sons of the Desert
Did you know Duluth has a Laurel and Hardy society?
Me neither, until Tim Broman mentioned it: Busy Bodies Tent #60 ~ Sons of the Desert. I’d love to hear more about this organization from PDD readers.
Duluth Band Profile: The Latelys
Some groups find inspiration in Elton John, Billy Joel or Stevie Wonder. For The Latelys, it’s the theme song from Step by Step. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Upcoming gig:
May 4 at Rex Bar at Fitger’s during Homegrown Music Festival
Earth Rider expands brewing capacity
Earth Rider Brewery in Superior is expanding its production capacity. Tomorrow morning two more large vessels, a 40BBL fermenter and 40BBL brite tank, will be installed. Another expansion is planned for late 2018. Earth Rider began brewing operations in September and intends to expand distribution to Two Harbors this week.
Duluth Curling Club on the Shores of Lake Superior
This undated photo shows the old Duluth Curling Club perched on a bluff at the shore of Lake Superior. The building at 1338 London Road stood from 1913 to 1984. More Duluth Curling Club history can be found in “Postcards from the Duluth Curling Club.”
Aerial footage from Brighton Beach
Drone footage from April 21 at Kitchi Gammi Park in Duluth. Shot by Rajiv Vaidyanathan and Jay Vaidyanathan.
Ripped at Horseshoe Billiards in 2006
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. As construction continues on the new Ursa Minor Brewery at 2415 W. Superior St., this article harkens back to the days when the building was home to a pool hall and drinking establishment called Horseshoe Billiards. The article was originally published in the May 8, 2006 issue of the Transistor.]
I should know better than to expect middle-aged hustlers. I want to hang out with someone like Minnesota Fats tonight, and instead I’m surrounded by a crowd of mostly 25- to 35-year-olds who fall into two categories: 1) Unattractive men. 2) Unattractive women.
Now, I don’t require pretty faces to have a good time. But see, these creeps at Horseshoe Billiards are unattractive for reasons other than what nature dealt them.
There are a lot of men here wearing jerseys who obviously don’t play sports, for example. About half of these guys are wearing hats, and the ones who aren’t should be. (more…)
Just Coffee
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
A short film written and directed by Matthew Dressel, shot at the East End Cafe in Superior.
Selective Focus: Lydia Noble
Lydia Noble is an artist who loves making comics, and is also branching out into printed products like shirts and bags. She talks about finding work right after school, investing in her own career, and staying motivated to build her own business.
LN: I graduated a few years ago with a BFA in Entertainment Design with a concentration of Comics in Sequential Art. Nothing makes me happier than making comics. Comics is a way I can express my wildly varying emotions with my love of illustration. The comics I’ve made have varied from one panel digital comics to a 50-page water colored graphic novel. Lately I’ve been working exclusively with my tablet drawing digitally. When I moved back to the Twin Ports I was told to invest in myself as an artist, so I bought a large Wacom tablet. I draw on the tablet and it pops up on Photoshop, where I can swiftly change colors, draw and re-draw lines, experiment with fonts and textures. It makes the process of drawing and illustrating much more effective- especially when working with clients and doing freelance work. (more…)
Description of a Ride on Duluth’s Incline Railway in 1926
“A 1926 Description of a Ride on Duluth’s Seventh Avenue West Incline Railway” has just been posted at the Duluth Public Library’s Vintage Duluth blog.
In Volume I of his two-volume 1926 novel The Duke of Duluth, author Thomas Shastid, a Duluth physician, depicts a scene in which the main character, John Gridley Smith, who is visiting Duluth, is walking on West Superior Street and comes upon the entrance to the Incline Railway on Seventh Avenue West. On pages 74 to 80, Shastid describes the Incline and John’s ride up to the top …
Charlie Parr has the “Best Song to Cry To”
This week’s issue of City Pages is the annual “Best of the Twin Cities” edition. It’s typical for one or two Duluth persons, places or things get a mention. This year it’s Charlie Parr, whose song “Sometimes I’m Alright” was named Best Song to Cry To. (more…)
Duluth Band Profile: Boreal Forest
Boreal Forest thrives off ambiguity. With the group’s debut Terraform, band members define not only their musical approach, but also their lives after high school. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Upcoming gigs:
Duluth Book Releases in 2018
A Nice Relaxing Sea Cruise
Dale R. Botten
Page Publishing
(Jan. 18)
Web Watching: A Guide to Webs & the Spiders that Make Them
Larry Weber
Adventure Publications
(Jan. 25)
Chance Poems
Poems by Michael Kleber-Diggs, Julie Gard, Sheila Packa and Kathleen Roberts
Edited by Kathleen Roberts
Wildwood River Press
(Feb. 3)
Duluth Band Profile: Pale in Comparison
Matt Biggs and Andrew Olson of Pale in Comparison bring ’90s era punk into Duluth with American Train Wreck. The band’s approach carries on a family tradition. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Upcoming gig:
May 4 at Beaner’s Central during the Homegrown Music Festival
No Wings to Speak Of vs. Gronk’s Enger Tower Burger in 2008
Uploaded to Flickr 10 years ago today — April 16, 2008 — is this montage of shots by photographer Jules Ameel. The six members of Duluth band No Wings to Speak Of are shown at Gronk’s Grill and Bar in Superior devouring a six-pound Enger Tower Burger.
The Brothers Burn Mountain – “Lord of Night”
The Brothers Burn Mountain have recorded a new album at their off-the-grid cabin studio in northern Minnesota. Blue Spruce is slated for release this fall. The single “Lord of Night” features Ryan Young of Trampled by Turtles on fiddle and Colleen Myhre on backing vocals.
Three Videos: Raging Spring, Exploding Waves, Oscillating Ice
Video #1: “A Raging Spring in Duluth, MN” by Abby Smith (more…)
PDD Quiz: Duluth Rocks
With Homegrown Music Festival just around the corner, we’re all aware that Duluth rawks. But how much do you know about Duluth rocks? Test your knowledge of local rocks (and rock-related things) in this week’s quiz!
The next PDD Quiz, reviewing the headlines of April 2018, will be published on April 29. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by April 26. (more…)
Dere iss somebody yet in Duluth dot vants to see somebody
Once again we feature a “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, similar to “Duluth vas dere best” and others shown in the recommended links to this post. (more…)
Such Magnificent Ghosts
Back in January, Don Ness emailed me something like, “Hey, Anna. I’m hosting a party at the NorShor Theatre on March 3 and I’d like you to tell some stories. Would you do a reading?”
Ness, as you probably know, is the former mayor of Duluth and, as you might not know, a positive master of understatement. I figured he was inviting me to perform at a little reading party. You know, 50 people or so in the NorShor’s mezzanine. And then a friend of mine messaged me a poster for a Low concert in the NorShor’s 632-seat theater. I zoomed in to see the date, to see if I could go, and saw MY NAME ON THE BOTTOM OF THE POSTER — and I, embarrassed and panic stricken that my name had somehow gotten on the bottom of this poster, looked at the date, and was like, “And I can’t even do it then, because I’m gonna be at Don Ness’s party!” Took me like ten seconds to figure out this was the thing Don had invited me to. Lord.
The truth is, when Don asked, I responded that it meant a lot for me to be a part of such an event — and I knew he knew exactly what I meant by that. I was honored to do it. The following is a transcript of what I read to that 632-person crowd. (more…)