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Lolos Ghost in Silver Bay. Photos by Jill Fisher.

Two music-in-the park events I took in this past week were The Gemstones at Lincoln Park pavilion on Tuesday, July 21, and the Twin Cities-based Lolos Ghost at  Silver Bay City Park on Friday, July 24.

Tuesday evening was cloudy and a fairly cool 68 degrees when The Gemstones began playing some favorite covers (“Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads was one), with a few original tunes in mix. I’ve reviewed this group several times the past few years so suffice it to say were their usual terrific selves, tight and definitely danceable!

On Friday evening, the Curmudgeon and I drove north to Silver Bay under a rather gloomy, overcast sky to hear Lolos Ghost, a Minnesota band new to us. This was the second time this band graced the Rocky Wall stage in Silver Bay.

At this performance, six of the full nine-member band were on stage. Each of them play with other bands, accounting for three of its regular members missing this concert due to booking conflicts.

Band leader and songwriter James Loney, (acoustic guitar, lead vocals) happens to share his birthday with Bob Dylan, but is 25 years his junior.

According to his online biography he has “surrounded himself with the best musicians that the Twin Cities has to offer.” Those musicians on hand this evening included Paul McFarland (bass guitar), Colleen O. (vocals), J.J. Benson (electric guitar), Terry Isachsen (electric guitar) and Joe Scanlan (drums).

Filling in for G.R. Svenddal on keys was Matt Fink AKA Dr. Fink, who played with Prince for 12 years in the bands The Revolution, New Power Generation and Madhouse.

Lolos Ghost has released three studio albums on CDs since 2014 plus a CD of a live performance, Sunday Sermon Live From the Driftwood in 2019.

The setlist for this 90-minute concert began with “Over the Ride” from the band’s upcoming album, The Glen Lake Sessions, and included several tunes from the eponymous 2014 album: “Waiting,” “I Believe” and “Helping You Along.”

One song (title of which I did not catch) was dreamy, sort of jazzy, tinged with a psychedelic sound and having a slow beat.

Their cover of Dylan’s “Slow Train” was not half bad (high praise) per the C.

After this came two more new tunes that will be on the band’s fourth album: “Suspicious Music” and “Black Dot Weekend.”

Loney announced the album release party set for Oct. 23 at Tuttle’s in Hopkins, Minn.

After that it was back to a track from their first album “Helping You Along” and another track that featured a cool guitar solo by J.J. Benson. Dr. Fink’s talents on the keys were showcased as well. The song “Back When Everything Was Real” from the 2017 album Stories from a Sideways Heart ended with a sustained ethereal moan by Colleen. Near the end of the concert we got to hear another tune, “Cheap Guitar” that is slated for the new album.

The Curmudgeon was quite impressed with Lolos Ghost’s performance while I was more ambivalent. I found the songs and lyrics, which other reviewers called “soulful,” to be somewhat depressing, made more so by slow tempos. However, I would likely get out to see them again, given the right opportunity.

Saturday, July 25, had oodles of music offerings such that it made it hard to decide which ones to take in. Since the C and I traveled up the North Shore to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Norwegian Leif Erikson ship’s permanent mooring at the Knife River Heritage and Cultural Center, we decided to check out the nearby Larsmont Trading Post for lunch.

I had heard this restaurant and gift shop is also a venue that provides Thursday open mic sessions as well as music on Friday and Saturday evenings. Although nobody was playing while we enjoyed our meal, we saw the stage setup and the music schedules for July and August. It looks to be a sweet place to enjoy the sounds provided by Northland musicians. (See UPCOMING, below.)

Willem Dafoe Fan Club at Clyde Iron

By the time we returned to Duluth, I had missed seeing Sonja Martin at Northern Waters Smokehaus and the first acts of the brand new Sturgeon Music Fest held at the Clyde Iron complex.

However, I got to the Sturgeon event in time to hear several tunes by the headlining act, the Willem Dafoe Fan Club. That band name intrigues me as I am a long-time fan of actor Dafoe (from Appleton, Wis.) who played Jesus in the controversial movie The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

The band members are Hollis Sparhawk (drums, Omnichord, vocals), Noah Ruona (electric guitar, vocals), Kenneth Bressler (synthesizer) and Angel Marshall (bass). The overall vibe of this group is similar to the slowcore music that defined Hollis’s parents’ band, Low, but there are definitely some faster tunes in its repertoire. Some of the lyrics are quite wonderful too.

Since I came in a bit late to this final set of Sturgeon Music Fest, the first tune was “Murder,” with the cautionary line “all of this magic must have its cost.” The second number “Shame” was striking for the groovy bass playing by Angel. On “1 2 3” Noah sang lead, displaying the range of his voice including some fine falsetto. On the tune “Misery” I noted that Hollis’s voice has a rather thin, closed but intense sound that comes across nicely with the right amplification.

Several other tunes, including “Falling Faster” wound up the show. There was a very young crowd in attendance; indeed I was the oldest person there, undoubtedly the age of most of their grandparents! Even so, next chance I get I’ll make sure to see their entire performance.

Since that show ended at 8 pm, there was still more music to come on this Saturday evening. I skedaddled over to Earth Rider in Superior where there were two shows going on simultaneously. I had thought the advertised three-band line-up would be playing outside on the festival grounds stage, but no, they were all inside on the Cedar Lounge’s stage.

Heavy Metal outdoors at Earth Rider

Instead, it was the second day of a festival of heavy metal bands sponsored by Sasquatch 92.1 FM radio in Duluth. Yikes! I took a brief look-see at one of the bands but quickly determined that the high volume angry screeching and discordant sounds were definitely outside my comfort zone.

That was not the case for a fairly large crowd of young adults (many in goth costumes) there to bask in the blasts.

So inside I went on this perfect warm summer evening to hear Nolen Sellwood, Mud Puppies and the Death Valley Yacht Club.

First up was Nolen Sellwood who was joined by Jacob Jonker, a guitar instructor in UMD’s music department, making for an accomplished acoustic guitar duo. This is actually the third time I’ve seen him — once last year in a solo performance at Wussow’s and in 2024 at an “Emerging Artists” concert hosted by MPR’s The Current.

Jacob Jonker and Nolen Sellwood

All but two of the songs were originals by Nolen. The one cover I was privileged to hear was “Spencer The Rover” by John Martyn. I suspect we’ll have opportunities to see him again and enjoy his creative output.

Then it was on to Mud Puppies — that also played earlier in the day at Sturgeon Music Fest. This was the second time seeing this group in action. They played on Earth Rider’s outside stage (in very cool weather) back on June 27 (reviewed in the July 2 issue of the Reader).

Hearing more of this band I sensed these guys had a sound similar to Buddy Holly, on several original compositions, especially when lead singer Jacob King Downs switched to his tinny sounding “metal guitar.”

The Mud Puppies

Jacob even has something of a Buddy Holly look about him and I appreciated how he sang with total conviction.

Lead guitarist Scion Jorden had some very fine licks during this set and bassist Roland Struckman provided some earthy tones.

Another impressive addition to this performance was that of Dan Westholm, who was filling in on drums. You never would have guessed that he hasn’t been playing regularly for quite some time or hadn’t had rehearsals with this band. It was a fun set.

Death Valley Yacht Club

The final performance of the evening at Cedar was the duo Death Valley Yacht Club, comprised of Charlie Jacobs and Alex Oberton. Their opening Simon and Garfunkel riff was just a short sound check, but it certainly suggested that their compositions are heavily influenced by that duo. Their wonderful harmonies cemented that notion.

These two also demonstrated some very nifty guitar picking and were able to create a ringing sound with their acoustic guitars. Their theme song and clever band introduction was the memorable “Death Valley Yacht Club”!

Like the previous two acts, they played mostly all originals, with only a couple of covers. These are two young men I will definitely get out to see again.

UPCOMING: The Silver Bay Music in the Park series continues this Friday, July 31, with Nashville-based Jeff Dayton & Friends. If you are a Glenn Campbell fan, this is the concert for you, since Dayton (a Minnesota native) was Campbell’s band leader for 15 years. I’m betting there’ll be a number of Campbell covers played at this show. Music starts at 7:30. 

If driving to Silver Bay seems a bit too far, consider taking in the gig by Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo at the Larsmont Trading Post, located on Scenic Highway 61, halfway between Knife River and Two Harbors. That is certain to include some Dylan covers for us Dylan fans. Music starts at 6 pm.

See you out there!