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Mary Cutrufello at Wussow’s Photos by Jill Fisher.

In my last column I gave a shout out to Tim Nelson of Earth Rider Brewery for bringing us locals interesting music from afar.

This week I have to praise Jason Wussow for his keen ear that alerted him to the extraordinary sounds produced by Mary Cutrufello. He deserves thanks for bringing her back to West Duluth on Friday, Sept.11, to reprise the solo show he first heard her play at the Alhambra Lounge, across Central Avenue from Wussow’s Concert Café, on Saturday, May 9. I happened to be at her May show myself (with only a handful of others in attendance) and was duly impressed.

I was most happy for the opportunity to hear her again.

Cutrufello is definitely one of a kind. She has a remarkable background: born and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from Yale with a major in American history then found her way to Houston, Texas, where she spent most of the 1990s.

By way of creds, she’s appeared on The Tonight Show (see YouTube for that performance plus others) and twice on Austin City Limits. Bruce Springsteen has been a major influence on her and you can tell.

In addition, she has toured widely, appeared in all 50 states and several European countries. And now she’s based here in the Twin Cities for us to enjoy.

Much of her background she shares in banter from the stage. Now, there’s a fine line to walk between entertaining by sharing stories and playing during a musical performance.

In this case, her stories proved to enhance her overall performance. Indeed, she had the timing of a standup comedian, which had us laughing and enjoying everything she had to share, such as: “RodeoConnecticut.” Those are two concepts not normally linked — but she does it and then explains (on her website) that “Rodeo is real. Connecticut is real. RodeoConnecticut is not.”!

So what made this show so wonderfully compelling?

First off, she has a distinctive and muscular voice with a lot of gravel and grit besides powerful, full-throated expression.

Second, the lyrics of her songs range from funny to insightful, poignant without self-indulgent navel-gazing. I laughed so hard I cried during her song “Sonic Girls,” which, by the end, left me with a lingering sense of sadness and empathy. There aren’t too many songs that can span that emotional range. The details of the observations in her songs are priceless.

Third, her guitar chops are superb, which she does not outrageously flaunt (no musical masturbation here!) but sneaks just enough instrumental interludes to let you know she’s no wannabe. She’s the real deal.

What I especially enjoyed on this evening were her original country tunes. One was “Crazy All Over Again.” In it she evokes a sound that seems a mashup of Willie Nelson and Buddy Holly while tying it to the early country classic “Crazy.” Just brilliant.

Even more fabulous was “Santa Fe Railroad,” which showcased her yodeling. (I love yodeling!)

I really couldn’t get enough of her music so I bought a couple CDs and have been enjoying them since.

For those who might be interested in hearing this phenomenal performer live, Cutrufello plays regularly around the Twin Cities at places like the Dubliner, White Squirrel, 331 Club and Hell’s Kitchen. Check her out at: marycutrufello.com.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Boss Mama was the first opener on this Friday evening. She was her usual, inimitable self.

A second opener was a young performer, Willow Sowada. She sang mostly original songs in a low sultry voice.

Between these three female performers, one could appreciate the range of original material and distinctive voices they showcased.

During my brief hiatus from writing this column I continued take in several disparate live musical offerings.

One was Laurie BoeDee’s “Amazing Teen Concert” at Ursa Minor Brewing on Friday, Sept. 4. BoeDee teaches youngsters through the Note Worthy Kids outreach program and produces periodic benefit concerts that showcase their talents.

At this event BoeDee, on electric guitar, Sean Zarn on bass guitar and Todd Garland on drums provided backup for the participating students. They included Olive Everett, Noah Goar, Milo Hansen, brothers Axel and Oscar Girga, and Elaria Weiss.

Special guests Andre Letendre and Misisipi Mike Wolf provided vocals on several selections the students played on. Pianist Justine Patricia Marie provided musical interludes at the beginning of the concert and during intermission.

The talents of these kids are indeed noteworthy. Milo Hansen played a fine version of the band Megadeth’s 1990 “Tornado of Souls.”

Elaria Weiss emulated Jimi Hendrix with her version of “The Star Spangled Banner” on her guitar, preceding it with the announcement that members of the audience “may want to stand up for this one.” And everyone did!

Two of the players at this event were not actually teens: brothers Axel and Oscar Girga, who are 11 and 9 years old, respectively. BoeDee opined that Axel is becoming a true rock star due to his dedication and daily practice. The younger Oscar was very entertaining as he belted out a couple of songs in his not-quite-on pitch voice at the end of the concert.

Overall, these young performers were very impressive.

The next day, Saturday, Sept. 5, the Curmudgeon and I trekked over to Bayfield to see Jakob Dylan’s Wallflowers on their “Bringing Down The Horse/30th Anniversary Tour” at Big Top Chautauqua.

Despite being Bob Dylan’s son, I had never seen him perform nor was I familiar with any of his original compositions and cannot recall having heard songs by him on the radio. (This reveals how out-of-the loop I have been with regard to the popular music scene of the last 30 years.)

So, having seen Bob in concert back in July, I was curious about him as a performer — whether he evoked his father’s persona in any way. And though curious, I chose not to go on YouTube to get a preview of Jakob’s output.

The opener for the Wallflowers concert was the singer-songwriter, Fredrick James Mullis Jr., whose stage name is Early James. He is a rockin’, shufflin’, rock-a-billy guy from Alabama — a fact which he mentioned several times throughout the show and apologized for!

He was backed by long-haired, overall-wearing drummer Joey Rudisell. Together they put on quite a fun show.

James is a real character, bellowing out Americana type songs with an old-timey flavor, even though they were originals, for the most part.

In the case of one cover he played—“Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams, Sr. — he made the tune all his own. It was fantastic.

His humorous remarks between songs reinforced his zany performance and idiosyncratic tunes. In one of the funniest he details the type of woman he’s looking for, someone like Iris DeMent, but until he finds her, “Mama Can Be My Valentine.”

James’ opening act was upbeat throughout and an unexpected highlight of the evening’s musical fare.

There was a bit of a delay before The Wallflowers took the stage and I got to see and hear Jakob in person. His body type, movements and face certainly displayed his parentage but to me his vocals sounded closer to Bruce Springstein than Bob’s, though at times his phrasing did seem to echo those of his father.

Jakob played both electric and acoustic guitars. The Wallflowers band included Chris Masterson (electric guitar), Ben Peeler (lap-steel guitar, guitar), Whynot Jansveld (bass guitar), Aaron Embry (keys, percussion) and  Mark Stepro (drums).

From what I could tell, all of them contributed backing vocals.

The musicianship was outstanding, as one would expect but the songs played in the first set seemed rather uninspired to me.

The C recognized his radio hits and confirmed they were playing his entire 1996 Bringing Down The Horse album. I know I had high expectations (too high perhaps) but I was rather disappointed. The lyrics didn’t particularly impress me and none of the melodies stuck in my head.

The second half of the concert featured all covers of Tom Petty songs. Now, I am not much familiar with Petty’s body of work either, but suddenly the music became more upbeat and interesting to me.

It was rather odd, since seven studio albums have been released by The Wallflowers between 1992 and 2021. You would imagine they’d have plenty of their own songs to play during a two-hour concert!

Ah well, my curiosity has been satisfied and my feeling that we have local musicians of equal talent has been reinforced.

Last Thursday, Sept. 9, the C and I made it over to Sir Ben’s to hear the Twin Cities-based trio Old Guys Play The Blues. This was the classic, old-timey blues to which I am quite partial.

Some of their selections were “Drop Down Mama,” “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” and “St. James Infirmary Blues.” 

Brent “Doc” Clark (acoustic guitar, vocals), Tom Church (saxophone, harmonica, vocals) and Randy “Brown Ale” Amborn (keys) made up this group, with Northfield resident Jeff “Woody” Wood (trombone) sitting in on several tunes. It was a fun session to hear.

UPCOMING: Between Howls has a residency at Bent Paddle for the remainder of September, so you have two more chances to hear them: the 21st (with Thomas Sticha) and 28th (with Simon Cropp) to see this accomplished duo in action. Music starts at 6 pm.

The Sunday Blues Jam that was to restart at Pizza Luce was pre-empted by the Vikings-Green Bay Packers football game. The jam is now scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20, from 4-7 pm.

See you out there!