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Cowboy Angel Blue at Mr. D’s. Photos by Jill Fisher.

It has been quite some time since I last saw Cowboy Angel Blue (CAB) in performance.

The trio consists of Bill Maxwell (guitar, lead vocals), James “Jamie” Paavala (acoustic guitar) and Billy Bulinski (bass, electric guitar). It’s a favorite band of several of my friends and one I highly regard as well.

So, when I was invited this past week to a friend’s 60th birthday party (Happy Birthday, Zane!) I was more than pleased to know that CAB would be one of two bands playing during the celebration on Friday, Nov. 14.

Mr. D’s in West Duluth was where the action took place and it is a great venue to hear and dance to live music.

For those who wonder about the origin of CAB’s name, see page 100 of Bob Dylan’s first published book Tarantula (1971 edition). That page has the chapter heading: “Cowboy Angel Blues.” I guess the “s” got dropped since the band doesn’t play much in the way of blues. Tarantula is a rather strange read of flow-of-consciousness prose with minimal punctuation. I wonder about those people who’ve read it cover-to-cover; talk about a “word salad!”

Bill Maxwell of Cowboy Angel Blue doing Jagger.

In any case, CAB plays lots of Dylan covers and has been a featured band during Duluth Dylan Fest for years.

On this occasion they got the party going with “Everything Is Broken” and “Things Have Changed,” two of my favorite Dylan tunes.

CAB also plays some good old surfin’ licks (Bulinski’s specialty), Rolling Stones hits (Maxwell does a hell of a vocal impersonation of Mick Jagger) and Neil Young favorites (Jamie’s forte) along with covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Clash and Chuck Berry songs.

There were some real oldies among their playlist, including “Love Potion Number Nine” a 1963 hit by The Searchers. These songs really brought out the dancers.

By the time Tombstone Chapel took the stage around 8:30 pm, the dance floor became even more crowded in response to their repertoire of rowdy rock and roll: southern, country, outlaw and classic. The last time I saw them was this past July at Earth Rider, another evening of good fun.

Tombstone Chapel

Mike Bail, who is cousin to birthday girl Zane, is lead vocalist and plays electric guitar. He is accompanied by Bob Bursell (electric guitar), Seth Anderson (bass), Steph Jago (keyboards) and Jim Hagstrom (drums).  Here again, there were covers of The Allman Brothers Band and others of this ilk which kept the place jumpin’ for a few hours.

I couldn’t tell you how long it went since by 9:30 I was spent. Clearly it was a fitting celebration that had a Sixties vibe, with party favors that included napkins that appeared to be old 45 records, peace sign cookies, necklaces and temporary tattoos and round wire-rimmed tinted glasses.

The next evening, Saturday, Nov. 15, there was another party of a different sort. The fun began at Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake, where Breanne Marie and the Front Porch Sinners celebrated the release of its second album, Two Trees, under the band’s full name (there are four earlier recordings by Breanne). It was produced by Jillian Rae, a Twin Cities singer-songwriter in her own right, and recorded by Rich Mattson at Sparta Sound.

Breanne Marie and the Front Porch Sinners

On this evening Breanne Marie’s backup band had Evan Tepler on guitar, Johnny Peterson on pedal steel, Kailyn Pelerin on fiddle, Matt Groom on drums and Tarek Makky on bass. Two of the players on the album were not onstage this evening: Dicky Brooks (who was running sound) had played piano for three songs while Duluth hip hop artist C-Silence is featured on the “Ida Mae” track.

Getting started at 8 pm, Breanne (who played both guitar and trumpet) started off with “I’m Gonna Bend” the first track of the new album and one of the most rousing, followed by “Dead Man Walking,” a cover of Kirk Kjenaas’ song recorded on the first Sinners album, Juniper. Another track from that album, “Central Hillside,” was also played. She chose not to perform all the songs on the new album since many were more low key than the mood this evening called for.

There are 11 tracks on Two Trees, including two of “Half Truths” that showcase different ways of playing that song. The first is a quiet tune in which Breanne Marie’s voice is at its very best. This version has a nice pedal steel accompaniment that gives it depth of feeling. The second version is totally upbeat, which is how it was performed at the party. Both have cussing in the lyrics — I guess this is how these folks live up to the name “Sinners”!

The murder ballad, “Ida Mae” is unique with C-Silence providing both vocals and rap.

I especially enjoyed “Under the Grove,” about one’s final resting place under an old oak tree, which despite the topic of death is a lively tune. The title track derived from a writing workshop assignment with the word “slump” when Breanne observed that one of two trees outside her window was dead and slumped into a live one.

Her lyrics lead into a message of holding on to each other and “you are not alone.”

“Dashboard Dandelion” was another up tempo ditty expressing that even the loss of someone can leave you “grateful for the memories.”

One of the more country-sounding songs was “Mirror Ball Wife” that told of a choice between a flashy partner versus one that would be lifelong. Two other tunes on Trees “Carried Me Through” and “Most of All” were heartfelt ballads.

Despite not hearing all of the songs on Trees it was a great start to this Saturday night and it wasn’t over yet!

The supremely confident band, Yeah Scherz, took over the stage at 9:25 pm and continued rockin’ the night away. Between ending each song with “you’re welcome” rather than “thank you” and announcing that the audience would say “they f**kin’ rip,” the band lived up to its own hype.

Yeah Scherz

Dicky Brooks and Tarak Maddy did double duty playing with Kyle Scherz this evening. I need not say more here since I wrote a positive review of their Oct. 11th gig at Bent Paddle (published in the Oct. 16 issue of the Reader).

A second 60th birthday party took place on Sunday, Nov. 16, with the private event held at Sir Ben’s for Janie Aase, namesake of Janie and The Spokes. It was another evening of schmoosing and song, with the place packed by the time the music began at 4:45 pm.

Instead of hearing Janie play with her husband Peter Aase and other band members (she has two bands — Janie and the Spokes and Shelter From the Storm), four solo singer-guitarists provided party music.

First up was Gina Lee, with a bit of hand drum accompaniment by new hubby Marvin Pomeroy now Marvin Lee. She performed some nice love songs.

Gina Lee & Marv Pomeroy

Cameron Mathews, someone new to me, took the stage next. He was good, I’ll want to hear him again without all the conversations I got involved in.

Same goes for Tom “Tommy” Mobry, who was in a songwriting group with Janie.

Cameron Mathews

Tom Mobry

Lastly, multi-instrumentalist Garth Anderson, who plays in both Janie’s bands, concluded the evening’s entertainment. Garth also plays in several other bands: Landscapes, the Repairmen and the newest, Krona. He launched his set with his tender ode to our city, “Hello Duluth.”

These were all good times with good friends and good music. The celebrations of life are what we all need to experience, especially in our tumultuous times.

UPCOMING: This Thursday Mike Munson will perform at Bent Paddle from 5 to 8 pm in conjunction with an outdoor gear drive for CHUM.

Then the next evening, starting at 5:30 pm, is the annual Christmas City of the North Parade through downtown Duluth — lots of music to be heard there with marching bands and songs of the season. I love a parade! But gee, there are two other shows that I’d be sorry to miss: Locomotion and Gemstones will be playing at Wussow’s beginning at 7 pm and there’s Death Valley Yacht Club + Roadside Lupines at Earth Rider’s Cedar Lounge starting at 8:30 pm. Then there’s the post-parade offering at Sir Ben’s: The Jambronies beginning at 9 pm.

And don’t forget the Fourth Sunday Blues Jam at R.T. Quinlan’s from 5 to 8 pm on Nov. 23. I also want to mention that The Swongos plus Coop & the Kooks will be at Cedar Lounge starting at 7 pm that same evening. Hard choices ahead for us live music lovers!