As day three of this virtual Duluth Homegrown Music Festival dawned, the Homegrown Scavenger Hunt was heating up just in time for "May the 4th," which spawned a slew of Star Wars-themed entries to fulfill item 28, "Who started the whole theme night thing anyway? Tuesday." Follow along with all the fun on the Facebook event page.
The evening once again started with a trio of acts live-casting from 2104. Lanue, the newest project from Sarah Krueger, was up first. “I’ve somehow managed to make it the entire pandemic without doing a livestream show," Krueger said, "so I’m very happy to be here.” Alan Sparhawk of Low joined her on guitar, hunched over with his pandemic hair hiding the glorious mustache he’s cultivated recently (fans of Low’s weekly Instagram live stream, "It’s Friday, I’m in Low," will already be familiar). Krueger and Sparhawk gave a shoutout to the “cute little” vaccinated audience indoors and the friends out on the porch (including photographer Aaron Reichow, taking more “Through the Glass” photos documenting this virtual Homegrown). After sharing several songs from her new album, and answering a few questions from Hannah Grunzke, designated interviewer for 2104 shows, Krueger ended with an unexpected but well-crafted cover of Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime.”
After a short break, SonofMel took the “stage,” (in this case, a niche in front of the old Duluth mansion’s dining room windows) in his signature jumpsuit backed by what appeared to be a mannequin body draped in a t-shirt, scarf, and hat. He introduced the figure as "Suzie Stich...my silent backup singer; she speaks for all those who don’t, and for all those who maybe no longer speak." He ran through a set of bluesy Americana, with droning guitar and harmonica accompaniment, including songs from his next album as well as older songs like "Hello from Johnny Cash," commemorating the time his dad met The Man in Black.
Father Hennepin closed out the evening, looking snazzy with chicken patches and rhinestones embellishing their various stage outfits. The band’s first performance was at Scott "Starfire" Lunt's 30th birthday party, the precursor for what would become Homegrown; Lunt noted that this year marks the band’s 24th anniversary. “Let’s hear it for geezer rock!” quipped guitarist Ted Anderson. (Shameless KUMD plug: Lunt and Anderson are the hosts of North Country Jukebox Wednesdays from 7-9pm) As a birthday salute, interviewer Grunzke had band member take turns saying what they appreciate about the Homegrown founder, a lovefest that got them all a little choked up.
The event wrapped up with DJ sets hosted physically at The Embassy's space and virtually on local DJ collective The Crunchy Bunch's Twitch channel (where they regularly host "The Crunchy Bunch Hotline" every second Wednesday and fourth Saturday of the month from 8pm-midnight). Crunchy Bunch members served as hosts and emcees, beaming in from their various location between DJ sets to provide commentary and play back comments from the "Homegrown Hotline," a phone number posted on-screen that allowed viewers to record messages. A techno set from Doc Hyde got things started, with bass house, hip-hop, and drum and bass sets from assorted other DJs keeping the party going into the night. It was a laid-back, fun way to end the evening.
Coming up today:
2pm KUMD Live from Studio A Gavin St. Clair listen live at 103.3fm or streaming at kumd.org
5-7pm The Local, featuring a performance in hour one from Jacob and Owen Mahon and guest DJ Teague Alexy in hour 2
Earth Rider Brewery starts their Starfire Unofficial Birthday Bash tonight in person on their grounds:
5pm Black River Revue
5:45pm Feeding Leroy
6:30pm Lanue
7:15pm Colleen Myhre
8pm Charlie Parr
Virtual performances from 2104 continue:
6pm Woodblind
7pm Zeb or Zeke and the Run Away Screamings
8pm Boxcar
Homegrown coverage on KUMD is made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
