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Duluth Stamman Dancers at the Duluth Folk School. Photos by Jill Fisher.

The summer music scene is suddenly upon us as evidenced by the schedules released for the many seasonal outdoor concerts on offer: The City of Duluth’s Music in the Park Series (Tuesdays – to be held at Lincoln Park this year), Glensheen’s Concerts on the Pier (Wednesdays), Pier B’s Courtside Concerts (Wednesdays), Superior’s Porch Fest (every other Thursday) and Rocky Wall Entertainment’s Music in the Park Concert Series in Silver Bay (Fridays).

These will be supplemented by the annual festivals at Bayfront Park, including Rock the Bayfront associated with the upcoming Grandma’s Marathon this weekend.

The calendar for lovers of live music will be full up.

Of course, there are the regular venues that also feature outdoor music in this season.

First and foremost is Earth Rider in Superior, along with Bent Paddle, Ursa Minor, Duluth Cider, Wild State Cider and (new to me) The Back Alley, all in Lincoln Park. Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake also provides outdoor music for its patio customers during warm weather, whenever it arrives!

And these are supplemented by backyard and garage concerts that appear to be proliferating.

Then there are the ongoing indoor gigs that feature many of our favorite local bands. (Sacred Heart Music Center is an exception, which doesn’t schedule concerts during the summer months.)

The annual Pete Fest at Wussow’s had its five-day run from Thursday through Monday, June 4 through 8. The Curmudgeon and I were only able to get out to the Sunday show with three bands: Rich Mattson and the Northstars, The Gemstones, and Hypochondriac.

The first two listed are among our favorites as they always deliver great shows. The latter, a six-member band brand new to us (though they did perform during Homegrown) seemed pretty raw. We’ll be on the lookout to see how they develop.

Homegrown Tomatoes at Sir Ben's.

We made our way to Sir Ben’s on Tuesday, June 9, to hear another quality local group, Homegrown Tomatoes. The C and I first discovered it back in July last year. Then it was a trio comprised of Sonja Martin (acoustic guitar), Harrison Olk (banjo) and Nate Hynum (mandolin) with them trading off on lead vocals. However, the group since expanded to include Lee Martin on pedal steel guitar and newcomer to Duluth’s music scene, Elsa Krantz, with her electric bass guitar and a lead vocal or two.

The Homegrown Tomatoes performed some originals, did justice to a few covers and even sang a wonderful gospel tune.

For those interested in ethnic Scandinavian fare, there was the 4th Annual Duluth Stämman presented by the Nordic Center of Duluth.

The two-day event on Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13 (if you don’t include the “Pre-Stämman” fun the Thursday before), included traditional Nordic music, dancing, language classes and more.

Lauluaika performing for the contradance at the Duluth Folk School.

I made sure to look in on the Contradance that took place on Thursday at the Duluth Folk School in Lincoln Park. The old-time dance music was provided by Lauluaika, with members Daniel Kiuru-Ribar (acoustic guitar), Lofta Kiuru-Ribar (fiddle, vocals), Johanna Santa Solem (fiddle), Ralph Tuttila (mandolin), Eric Platt (mandolin), Justin Ciletti (harmonium, standup bass) and Tamara Baker (percussion).

This dance, in which I’d guess about 60 folks of all ages participated, was one of the most joyful events I’ve been to so far this year. There were smiles all around as the final “Long Dance” had dancers and band members joining hands and spiraling into a tight group.

Afterwards it was announced there was a Nordic jam happening at nearby Bent Paddle, so off I went to experience that as well. Lots of fiddles, a standup bass, several accordions, a guitar or two filled the music room. Good times, good times!

Friday, June 12, we stopped in to hear a few tunes by the Wetland Willows (husband and wife Caleb and Brooke Anderson) at Northern Waters Smoke Haus, which was quite nice. I knew of them as members of the Holy Hootenanners, but not as a duo.

Joe Anderson and Charlotte Dike at the Alhambra Lounge.

Later we got out to Alhambra Lounge where, as it happened, Joe Anderson on tenor saxophone and Charlotte Dike on piano, played some lovely and jazzy romantic tunes. That place just might get to be a regular listening venue if the likes of them keep getting booked there.

On Saturday, June 13, the C and I headed west to Grand Rapids for Rapids Brewing Company’s 5th Annual Festival Rialto — despite the forecast of cloudy, cool and windy weather. The flyer posted on Facebook listed 12 acts, which is all it took to get me back there for a second time after a two-year hiatus.

I was up for seeing five of the acts again. Of the remaining seven, I may have seen one briefly a while back, the rest were unknown to us; an attractive combination of old and new.

The headliner, Wild Horses, was scheduled for 9:30 pm start time so I knew it was unlikely we’d be able to see them and make it home at a decent hour.

The first act was Paul Lawrence, who has played gigs at Wussow’s. He was the frontman playing electric guitar and singing original compositions. Two were inspired by the year he spent in Taiwan and are on his record Taiwan Winter.

Another was about the movie Shawshank Redemption and the character in that film played by Morgan Freeman. He also covered Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me A Reason”—the second time hearing it within a week. Cool stuff. 

He had three men backing him up: Ryan Young on fiddle, Bill Quinn on pedal steel guitar and “High Rev” on drums.

The festival had two stages. The main one faced the Rapids Brewery’s patio and lawn, while a smaller second stage was located at the rear of the property under a tent. This setup was great for smooth transitions between sets and afforded four hours of virtually uninterrupted music on either side of an hour-long intermission.

Solo singer-songwriter Laura Hugo, a native of Arizona, but who has called Minnesota home for the past 16 years, played on the second stage. She has a fine voice, which was particularly moving on her composition “Where To Go To Grieve,” that is the title track on her first EP release. She’ll be having a release show at the Icehouse in Minneapolis on July 30.

Between Howls at Rapids Brewing Company’s 5th Annual Festival Rialto .

Back on the main stage we got to hear our own local duo Between Howls do their thing — and they did it well as usual! “Freight Train” “105” and “Letter To Our Senator” were among the original numbers they played. Ren’s powerful voice gets better every time I see her and I made note of Nick’s nice slide guitar work on the Senator number.

Next up on the rear stage were the “Penny Peaches,” a family trio made up of two young women, Hattie and Grace (both on acoustic guitars) and their father, John Peach backing them up on drums. They had just released a single the day before from a soon-to-be released EP, The Garden. They have a release show for that on Aug. 8 at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

Kelley Smith was joined by Jed and Ariana LaPlant of Wild Horses Rapids Brewing Company’s 5th Annual Festival Rialto .

Kelley Smith was a new voice for my ears and a beautiful one at that. She played both acoustic guitar and banjo. Her original compositions had some penetrating lyrics — such as one called “Birdman” with a vulture analogy.

I found her voice to be comparable to Dolly Parton’s, her lyrics Joni Mitchell-like and having a little “hitch” ala Iris DeMent. I was told that she is a good friend of Jed and Ariana LaPlant of Wild Horses and those two joined her on stage for several numbers. I especially appreciated hearing Jed’s acoustic guitar playing since time wouldn’t allow us to hear him later that evening.

Sugar on the Roof

The last set before the intermission was by Sugar on the Roof, which was introduced as being half from the Range, half from Duluth. Megan Renolds is a gutsy, personable singer and her husband cranks it up on trombone; they are based on the Range. Clancy Ward on fiddle and Jen Krussow on upright bass are, of course, known and appreciated musicians here in Duluth.

I really dig this group with its early 20th century, depression-era rags and boogie woogie sounds and was blown away by their rendition of one of my old favorites: “Shimmy Like My Sister Kate.” Their cover of the Patsy Cline hit “Walkin’ After Midnight” was swell.

Thomas Sticha.

The last act before the intermission was the St. Paul band led by and named for Thomas Sticha. He had four players backing him up — Dan Lowinger (electric guitar), George Hadfield (bass guitar), Mike Gunvalson (drums) plus a female vocalist whose name I did not get. They were a hoot, with tongue-in-cheek songs like “Pete” and “Cowboy Casserole.” They have a residency on Tuesdays at the White Squirrel in St. Paul, where I will likely check them out.

The surprise treat that was not listed on the festival’s flyer was the Grand Rapid High School Jazz Band. Those kids could swing, which bodes well for more good jazz in these parts in years to come. Hayton Jackson played drums and also sang “Georgia On My Mind.” You could tell he was a bit nervous at first but warmed up to the sentiment of the tune by the end. He had a strong voice with a wide range.

The Mike Munson Trio, which hails from Winona, was first up on the main stage after the intermission. Here’s an act I had really been looking forward to but I was somewhat let down as he wasn’t playing his usual roots music I had anticipated. That will teach you – high expectations can easily lead to disappointments. I’m not saying they weren’t good, just different. He had Pat Keen backing him on bass guitar and Mark Larson on drums.

A highlight was inviting Kelley Smith to join him to sing harmony on a cover of Dylan’s “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power).” I’ll likely have the opportunity to see this trio again and when I do, I’ll keep my expectations in check.

By this time the C and I were chilled to the bone. The temperature never exceeded 58 degrees and the winds made it feel like 47 degrees for the entire 7 hours we were there. Hence, we left for home earlier than expected. We saw only a couple numbers by Forge North (liked them) and missed the bands Tattletale, Good Morning Bedlam (which I had seen at the Minnesota State Fair a couple years ago) as well as the headliner, Wild Horses.

It’s likely we’ll attend Festival Rialto in the future when the weather promises to be warmer!

UPCOMING: “Time Strolling: 800 years of Recorder Music” promises to be a unique concert. It will be performed by Four Fipple-Flute Friends (Shelley Gruskin, Bill Bastian, Karen Keenan and Penny Schwarze) at the Nordic Center at 23 N Lake Ave. in downtown Duluth. The hour-long concert is slated to start at 3 pm Sunday, June 21.

And be sure to get out to some of the outdoor concerts I listed above during our short summer season.

See you out there!