This year's second Homegrown Sunday graced us with much-needed sunshine, allowing music lovers to sprawl out onto Canal Park Brewing's patio and soak up some rays and tunes, as the final bands of the festival were piped through outdoor speakers.
Hannah Rey started the afternoon with a set of her solo acoustic tunes, including the wistful "Stay Put," a song that was featured in this year's Homegrown Video Festival. (Find the video, by Todd Gremmels, https://youtu.be/CKRGRm3bh-w" target="_blank">here.)
The Old Smugglers were next, a smartly-dressed duo in suit vests and ties bashing on their acoustic guitars with gusto, living up to their bio's description of their music as "Tom Waits-ian pirate rock." They finished their set, as they often do, with a crowd singalong of the repeated refrain, "We all walk the plank alone."
Although the Smugglers were the last officially-scheduled Homegrown band, Actual Wolf was a last-minute addition, joined by his full band all the way from California. The Wolf had also unofficially ended the previous night's Homegrown with a late night pop-up show at the Red Herring Lounge; with his daily morning sets at Duluth Coffee; by our reckoning he played every day of the festival except the first. He announced that this show was meant as a kickoff for their upcoming tour.
So, that's a wrap on another edition of Duluth's Homegrown Music Festival. It was the last appearance for at least a couple of acts, Sing! A Women's Choir (see our Friday blog) and 5-time Homegrown hard-rockers Pale in Comparison, who announced at their show that it would be their last. While many old favorites were missing from this year's lineup, some fresh faces generated buzz (we're looking at you, Winzige Hosen) and young acts like One Less Guest, Charlotte Montgomery, and Norshore Summit established themselves as artists worth keeping an eye on.
Although Homegrown is just once a year, the Twin Ports are blessed with a great live music scene all year 'round. Get out and support some local music when you get a chance, and keep tuning into KUMD to find out who's playing where.