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Soren Staff of Them Coulee Boys performing at Sacred Heart Music Center on the last day of January 2025. Photos by Jill Fisher.

Sacred Heart Music Center was once again the place to be this past Friday, Jan. 31, when Them Coulee Boys were back in town to play this venue for the first time to a virtually sold out house. 

I’ve seen and written about this group a couple of times back in 2023, once at Earth Rider festival grounds and once at West Theatre (Reader issues Aug. 24 and Dec. 7, respectively), so I thought I’d check them out again to hear how they’re sounding these days. Not bad but I have to say it was the opener, Danny Frank & the Smoky Gold, that made the evening most memorable for many in the audience.
As fans of theirs know by now, the foursome that makes up Danny Frank & the Smoky Gold includes Danny, of course, (acoustic guitar), Erin Aldridge (violin), Harrison Olk (banjo) and Smokin’ Joe Scarpellino (bass). Each of them also contribute vocals. And on this occasion, as in the past, Danny’s wife Angie joined the group on one song.

Something I realized right away on this evening was the strong rhythms they produced without the aid of drums. As a dancer, I am partial to drumming to get me going. However, the music Smoky Gold produces had me doing my thing without that instrument in the mix.

Danny Frank & the Smoky Gold

Danny really wakes folks up with his strong high tenor voice, as he did in the opening number “Dead and Gone.” Second was another high energy number “What’s the Use” and following that was “County Line,” where Angie Frank contributed some nice high harmony. 

Most of the songs on Smoky Gold’s playlist this evening were new originals, though some debuted at the Singer-Songwriter Showcase Danny organized in 2023 and are on the album Live from the Heart,recorded at Sacred Heart. Danny noted that the band was working on a new album to be called Dedication and invited folks to support this endeavor as they raise funds via Kickstarter.

A lovely tune, “Mona Lisa’s Lover,” had lyrics that Northland folks could really relate to with references to the Northern Lights and soaring eagles. “Dark Times” was another winner that merged into “Precious Time” (written by Olk, who sang lead vocals on it). Then it was back to Danny singing lead on his “Out on the Prairie.” Nothing like keeping the vibe going!

As usual, Aldridge’s violin playing (is it “fiddling” when she’s with the Smoky Gold rather than the Duluth Symphony Orchestra?) elevates the band beyond what is expected of this genre-melding “Americana” group. 

New this time was a special treat when she took the lead playing the classical number “Caprice Number 24” by Niccolò Paganini, with the other three adding onto the end to create a genre they called “grassical!”

Danny Frank & the Smoky Gold with Angie Frank.

Next it was Smokin’ Joe’s turn to sing his own original song “The Rug.” It was a description of a nightmarish life that may be a cautionary tale as expressed in the refrain “Now I am so numb, I’ve never been young, I can’t help the feeling that something could have been done.” 

His lyrics also carried out the theme about time reflected in several of the numbers they performed.
The last song of their set was the acappella number “Savannah” that we first  heard in November 2023. Beginning with Danny singing the first verse, then each of them chiming in on subsequent verses ending with Joe adding his surprisingly deep bass to round out their exhilarating harmonies. It was rewarded with cheers, hoots and whistles as when we heard them at West Theatre back in November 2023. 

I don’t believe there’s any better musicianship and vocals than what you will hear from Danny Frank & the Smoky Gold.

After a brief intermission, Them Coulee Boys took the stage. Their name derives from what early French fur trappers called the glacial melt-carved river valleys – coulees – around Eau Claire, Wis., where the Boys hail from. 

Members of this five-piece band include Soren Staff (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), Beau Janke (banjo, electric banjo, piano, vocals), Jens Staff (mandolin, vocals), Neil Krause (electric bass, vocals) and Stas Hable (drums). 

Them Coulee Boys

The band has four full-length albums to its credit: I Never Lied About Being in Love (2014), Dancing In the Dim Light (2016), Die Happy (2019) and Namesake (2021), plus the 8-song EP Ten Years Tall (2023) with remastered tunes to celebrate their 10 years together. 

The Boys’ setlist included a sampling of songs from these earlier productions as well as tracks from their upcoming album No Fun In The Chrysalis that is due to be released later this month. 

The first tune they performed this evening previewed that album: “I Am Not Sad;” (released as a single in 2024) it began as a slow ballad with a raucous finish. Many of their songs had this change-of-tempo approach, which may be the influence of Trampled By Turtles on the boys (Dave Simonett of that band produced the 2019 Die Happy album). 

That was followed by two from Die Happy – “Midnight Manifesto” and “Pray You Don’t Get Lonely.” The following two numbers, “Tomorrow” and “Taker,” are evidently on Chrysalis.

Soren gave some background on the title track of Namesake, which refers to him being named for his grandmother. It was a sentimental number that just avoided being maudlin. 

As the Boys dove deeper into their earlier repertoire, including “Hammer” from I Never Lied…, “10 Ft. Tall” from Dancing, and “Just Friends” from Namesake, a large group of 20-somethings crowded up to the front to boogie to the tunes they knew so well, singing along and clapping as directed by Beau. They were a regular Greek Chorus backing up the Boys and singing the refrain from “I Won’t Be Defined.” When asked where they were from, they exclaimed, “Duluth!”

Overall this somewhat scruffy, yet talented band has found a dedicated following; and not only in the Midwest. Their upcoming tour includes Nashville and Pittsburgh, along with St. Louis, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. They’ve been on Camayo’s singer-songwriter cruise as well. 

After praising the Sacred Heart space as great to play in (the sound was really good) Soren announced that the Boys will be hosting the Lake Effect Music Fest at Big Top Chautauqua on Sept. 12 and 13, inviting the audience to attend the event. (See Bigtop.org for details and tickets.) 

Beau Janke of Them Coulee Boys

After the final number, “Phil’s Song,” the audience responded by enthusiastically demanding an encore even though the band had exceeded its allocated time. To appease their fans, Beau came out to play Sacred Heart’s Baldwin grand concert piano once again, which he had previously praised, saying it was way better than the keyboards they generally drag around with them. 

Then, Smoky Gold members joined Them Coulee Boys on stage to jam and perform Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going No Where.” Janke made a point of having Olk play his odd electric banjo. 

Interestingly, it was noted that although the 20-somethings knew the words to the Boys’ songs, they were not singing along to this classic Dylan number, as was the rest of the (much older) audience who knew the words to this one!  

Fans of Them Coulee Boys at Sacred Heart.

UPCOMING: Good things come to those who seek out residencies by our local groups. Saltydog is back on the Cosmic Stage at Bent Paddle on Mondays throughout February, along with special guests each week. 
The other residency of note is Erik Koskinen on Thursdays at Earth Rider’s tap room, Cedar Lounge. Several other places have musicians in residence including Teague Alexy at Sir Ben’s on Mondays, the Repairmen at Fitger’s Barrel Room on Thursday evenings and, at the Rathskeller: The Hot Club Of Duluth on Tuesdays, Kroma on Wednesdays and jazz on Thursdays all month. 

And don’t forget Jazz at the Depot on Saturday afternoons through April. Gee, how could we ask for a better selection? See you out there!