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Mary Bue at Sacred Heart. Photos by Jill Fisher. 

Playing catch-up to know of and hear the many remarkable Duluth musicians has been an ongoing project for me since starting to write this column three years ago. 

One of these talented folks is Gaelynn Lea Tressler, who was the opening act for Mary Bue at Sacred Heart Music Center on Friday, March 28. Although I was told about her and perhaps had even heard her (prior to writing about music for the Reader), this concert was an opportunity to discover firsthand what her many fans have understood for some time. 

I admit I had high expectations, and with those, some trepidation about reviewing this concert. 

Being something of a Luddite I’ve relied almost exclusively on live performances for the topics of this column, eschewing the availability of streaming and online sources to shape my musical knowledge and tastes. My purchases of vinyl and CDs have generally been made after those live performances I’ve been impressed with.

When I finally got around to it, I found lots of background information about Lea and her music online: Wikipedia, Ennyman’s Territory blog, a review by former Reader writer Paul Whyte (8/18/2016 issue) and her own website. These sources tell of Lea having pitch-perfect hearing, discovered in fifth grade, which led her to take up the violin while still in elementary school. After being trained in the classical mode throughout her school years she gravitated to Celtic and folk music. 

Gaelynn Lea

Lea has collaborated with Alan Sparhawk on the 2012 Murder of Crows, as well as with other well-regarded musicians and has since released four of her own albums. In 2016 she broke through to the national music scene when she won the second Tiny Desk (music) contest sponsored by National Public Radio with her composition “Someday We’ll Linger in the Sun.” 

By 2022 she was composing original music for the revival of Macbeth on Broadway.

Back to the SHMC concert: Lea was joined on stage by Minneapolis guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker and a sign language interpreter, Doug Bowen-Bailey (who gave wonderful visual expression to the songs). 

She began with an original song “Watch the World Unfold” from her 2016 album, The Songs We Sing Along the Way. The lyrics to this song are rather depressing — “Pushing up, pushing up, Through the dirt just like a seed, But you’re never quite a flower, You feel more just like a weed” – but the haunting melody somehow mitigated them. 

Lea’s eerie violin accompaniment, with overlapping electronic loops on this and other numbers, together with her poetic lyrics, conveys other-worldly facets of her work.

Lea’s voice is mezzo-soprano, and while some have described it as ethereal, I also heard a sharp, piercing quality that gave several of the songs she performed a not unpleasant edgy quality. Thank goodness for her perfect pitch or otherwise it could have been excruciating. 

Her recent composition “Perfect” was a virtual clarion call. This is not to say there weren’t softer, more nuanced tones to many of her other tunes, for example “Grace and a Tender Hand.” 

Lea also performed her winning Tiny Desk entry, noted above, along with “Let It Go,” “Lost in the Woods,” “The Long Way Around” and “Bird Song.” The one instrumental she played was the Finnish folk song “Metsakukkia” which wound up her set. 

I appreciated that her songs were quite short, providing a good sampling of her repertoire, many of which have a spiritual message and insights. 

Sacred Heart may be the optimum place to hear Lea in live performance as the acoustics supported her vocals and violin beautifully. 

From this concert alone, I am ready to concur with her many fans that this music is unique and well worth listening to. At the same time, Lea’s music may be an acquired taste for some. I say this after listening to her recordings online subsequent to this concert, finding that the tunes and lyrics linger in my head, which leads me to want to hear more.

Lea has toured widely and soon she’ll be at it again with her upcoming tour of the UK in May, along with her husband and helpmate Paul Tressler. But music isn’t Lea’s sole artistic expression, she also paints. There were some charming postcards with reproductions of her “outsider art” on sale during the SHMC show. 

She is also active on behalf of folks with disabilities (some say “diffabilities”) as co-founder of RAMPO (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) and has served as a member of the Grammy Board of Trustees.

Next on stage came the headliner: the beautiful and barefooted Mary Bue. This concert celebrated the release of her ninth album The Wildness of Living & Dying. Several members of the rockin’ backup band she had with her had played on this album. They included the previously mentioned accompanist to Lea, Jeremy Ylvisaker, plus Julia Floberg (cello, vocals) and Steve Price (bass guitar). Substituting for Richard Medek the drummer who played on the album was Noah Levy. Bowen-Bailey continued to provide sign language interpretation for this portion of the concert.

Bue plays both piano and acoustic guitar, and began by accompanying herself on Sacred Heart’s Baldwin grand piano, which she praised for its sound. 

She recently returned from India where she guided a spiritual retreat. Such experiences clearly fuel much of her musical and lyrical output and these we got to hear with her performance of the 10 tracks on Wildness. 

One of them is “Draw Blood” with the brilliant line: “you can’t love if you can’t laugh.” So true!” 

Toward the end of the album tracks they played was the lovely “Thinking About You.” This song showcased her softest side and her rounded vocal tones, which provided an interesting contrast with Lea’s. 

There was a sweet sympatico between these two female performers. Both lyricists reveal their spiritual natures and hard-won understanding of life’s difficulties and rewards in their songs. The concert finale had Bue and Lea joining their voices on Bue’s “Majesty of Beasts” and the song “Gorgeous,” to the delight of the attentive audience.

Rich Mattson and the Northstars

Next stop on this blustery Friday evening was R.T. Quinlan’s to catch the last few numbers by Rich Mattson and the Northstars. The “wall of sound” this band delivers was definitively different from the Bue concert and made for some great dancing. The Curmudgeon is a big fan of this group, saying that Rich is a true rock star!

While the C and I squeezed in several other music events during the weekend, including an acoustic Boxcar set at Sir Ben’s, I’ll keep this report short by noting that we made it up to Two Harbors for the ninth live “Cabin Fever Reliever” benefit for KTWH community radio on Sunday afternoon, March 30. 

This was a first time for me. I was spurred to make the trip by the promise of seeing the Hot Tamales Cosmos amongst the various groups donating their time and talents. It was only the second public appearance by the new all-female group, which I had been alerted to by folks who witnessed their first. 

It’s comprised of Boss Mama Colleen Myhre (acoustic guitar), Sonja Martin (acoustic guitar), Erin Aldridge (fiddle), Jen Krussow (upright bass) and Jocelyn Mickelsen (vocals). Each sang and they certainly had terrific harmonies, blending their voices on Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” Myhre’s originals “Lonesome Rooster” and “Charlotte’s Café” and Leadbelly’s “Bring Me a Little Water Sylvie.” 

I will look forward to hearing more from this group in the future.

Hot Tamales Cosmos

Others performing at the benefit concert included poet Shelley Getten, singer-songwriter Kaylee Matuszak (who also served as emcee), Jon Edwards, The Berzerk Blawndz (with Matuszak, Steven Solkela, “Saxy” Joe Anderson and Pete Anderson of PB&J) and the Fish Heads. Members of this latter group are Kim and Mike Monson (both playing acoustic guitars and bass ukelele) and Paul Jones (pedal steel guitar). It was especially good to hear them again as they are semi-retired from performing. Kim’s rock solid voice, with a low range, gave us a thrill with her wonderful rendition of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.” Their cover of Pink’s “What About Us?” was very fine, too. And their ACDC portion of the show included the fun and fabulous “Monster Truck.” 

All the musicians came together to play the Doobie Brothers’ “Listen To the Music” for a rousing conclusion to the afternoon concert.

UPCOMING: I just learned that the Sunday blues jams at R.T. Quinlan’s, hosted by the Last Highway Band, are back! So keep on the lookout for the next one. 

Another jam series I’ve heard tell of is hosted by Traxx Nelson of Born Too Late at the Superior Tavern on Tower Ave. in Superior, Wednesdays from 6-8 pm.

With the usual plethora of music coming up this week there are two I’m sure to attend: Janie and the Spokes’ gig at Sir Ben’s on Friday, April 4, at 6 pm and the Reggae luminary Rik Jam, accompanied by Dal-Wayne at Bent Paddle on Saturday, April 5, also at 6 pm. See you out there!