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Laurie BoeDee during the Duluth Does Elton John concert at Sacred Heart. Photo by Michael Anderson. 

Some places just attract music and musicians. Think New York City (well that attracts everything), Woodstock, Laurel Canyon, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Kansas City, Austin. Minneapolis should probably be on the short list, too. Based on the quality of musical newcomers to our region, might the Twin Ports evolve into something similar to Austin, Texas? A former Austin resident and eight-year transplant to Superior, Wis., hopes not!

Our transplantee is Laurie BoeDee – a rockin’ mama if there ever was one (albeit she’s sans offspring). She plays guitar (electric and acoustic), bass, banjo, almost any string instrument, and keyboards. As a long-time resident of Austin she witnessed that city’s transformation from a groovy, laid back and quality local music scene to a national corporate-dominated, money-grubbing, traffic snarling, metro music mess due in large part to the South-by-Southwest music festival held there. (That music event has grown from 700 registrants in its first year, 1987, to more than 161,000 attendees in 2018, per Wikipedia.) She doesn’t miss it at all.

BoeDee feels she’s experienced musical resurgence and peak creative expression here in the Northland. That’s saying something given her resumé. Born in Denver, Colorado, her parents split when she was quite young; their joint custody arrangement had her father hauling her off on weekends to folk concerts (she’s met Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Mimi Fariña and Peter Yarrow, among others), exposing her to the jazz of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughan. Pretty much all of the musical stylings were imbued with social activism. So she was soaking up many currents of music at a young age.

At age 10 she became “hell bent” to obtain a guitar and proceeded to learn to play it. An early guitar instructor furthered her musical influences by turning her onto the blues of artists like John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins. By the time she was a teenager she was writing songs herself. 
Graduating from high school at age 16 she headed to Galveston for what was supposed to be a two-week visit to her brother. While there she was hired to sing folk songs at a beachfront wine bar and ended up staying in that city for six years. This was the typical period of living with roommates and working various day jobs to keep afloat (among them car sales!) while continuing to play whatever music gigs were available. She’s paid her dues!

Relocating from Galveston to Austin in her early 20s expanded her musical outlook. BoeDee began to get bored with folk music for the masses and started pushing the boundaries of her own repertoire. This included getting further into rural blues and roots music, then city blues, funk and gospel. The latter category was enriched by her membership in a 60-voice African American church choir for almost eight years. She sings the praises of the authentic and relaxed, yet reverent, style of worship and musical expression of the Black church. And she notes this experience showed her that there are many fine musicians one would never hear playing in bar situations.

Another aspect of music she incorporated during her Austin sojourn was her work for the Austin Lyric Opera, running the organization’s guitar program for both children and adults. She was in that position for three-and-a-half years before taking a leap of faith to establish her own teaching studio in her home. She continued with that endeavor, averaging 55 students a week, until relocating to our region.

But that wasn’t all. BoeDee and several other female musicians formed a band, The Incontinents, with backup singers known as Miss Jones & The Furrballs. Their performances incorporated both music and comedy. (During her time here she has traveled back to Austin several times for reunion concerts with them.) 

Eventually she was immersed in music seven days a week. In recalling the day jobs and miscellaneous work she did to earn a living early on, BoeDee is proud that she’s managed to support herself as a musician for more than 20 years now. 

I was wondering how she was drawn to relocate to Superior. BoeDee explained she was visiting a friend in Two Harbors. She was here long enough to fall under the spell of Lake Superior and got the feeling that the Twin Ports had the quaintness and music community Austin was losing. 

Before heading back home she happened to drive by a house in Superior that was for sale and had an Open House sign out front. Impulsively taking the opportunity to tour the house and realizing how affordable it was, she took another leap of faith and decided to purchase it, completing the transaction long distance. When she arrived in Superior (at 3 am after a two-day road trip) with her belongings and helpful friends in tow, she had forgotten where it was located. Her pals were highly amused and, though eventually they were able to find it, she says she’ll never live that down!

Now that BoeDee has been living here these past eight years she has developed a great appreciation for the high quality of local musicians (in various genres) and the camaraderie of the Twin Ports’ music community. She mentions how collaborative, supportive and generous musicians are here, contrasting it with the highly competitive and hierarchical music scene she left behind in Texas. 

An example she gives is of Danny Frank of Smoky Gold fame calling her up “out of the blue” to invite her to fill in for Harrison Olk at a gig in Moose Lake this past summer. It turns out he had seen her perform at last January’s Duluth Does Elton John concert at Sacred Heart Music Center and was duly impressed with her guitar chops.

As she has become more imbedded in the music community here, her teaching background has manifested itself in “BoeDee’s Music School & Enterprises,” which focuses on teaching guitar, bass, vocals and coaching performance. Her business goals are “developing talent, building dreams and having fun.” One example of people she has coached is Bella Hanson who plays in several local bands, including the fabulous Soulhead. The two of them are working on a project together, which will be exciting to see. 

Besides the individual and group lessons she offers in space rented in the Concordia Lutheran Church complex in Superior, BoeDee teaches at Schmidt Music in the Miller Hill Mall. As someone who understands how powerful music can be in helping youngsters develop positive self-expression and confidence, she also assists the Concordia Church in its children’s and music programs. 

In addition BoeDee contributes to the Twin Ports music community by serving on the board of the nonprofit organization NoteWorthy Kids. Its mission is to make music lessons possible for talented, needy children in the Twin Ports area. She, along with several other area musicians, offers lessons through this program. 

Beyond this BoeDee canvassed to help elect Democrats in both state and presidential contests this past year, citing the urgency of these elections. 

This woman is a wonderful addition to and resource for our Twin Ports community on so many levels. She continually works to expand her own and others’ musical expression. Her outlook is optimistic and uplifting and she is a role model for those who are wanting to “follow their bliss” and trust the universe to support their efforts. 

In last week’s column I wrote about BoeDee’s energetic performance at Havana’s as a part of Homegrown’s Winter Fiasco, which included several of her original compositions. She has a propulsive guitar style that puts her in league with the top rockers in our area. 

Your next chance to hear Laurie BoeDee play is on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Sacred Heart Music Center’s “Duluth Does David Bowie” benefit concert where she will perform “Lazarus.” See the SHMC website for ticket information. Also she’ll be participating in this spring’s Homegrown Music Festival. You won’t want to miss either of those performances! 

UPCOMING: Besides the Duluth Does David Bowie concert noted above, you may wish to take in the Tribute to the Music of Buddy Holly and the Late ‘50s – Richie Valens, Big Bopper and Dion & the Belmonts the next day, Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Clyde Iron complex in Lincoln Park. It’s the 66th anniversary of the “Winter Dance Party” that was held at the Duluth Armory and is a benefit concert for the important adaptive reuse of the historic Armory building to house the Armory Arts and Music Center. The evening’s entertainment features Todd Eckart channeling Buddy Holly backed by Jimi Cooper, George Ellsworth and Matthew Groom. Get all the details and tickets at dulutharmory.org/events-1.