Day 1 of the 2025 Duluth Homegrown Music Festival was grey with a few sprinkles as the festival got underway with the Children’s Showcase at the Lake Superior Zoo. The performances were split between the main building and the primate house, so families bounced back and forth between the two while also having the opportunity to explore the zoo and get their faces painted.
Sterling Silver Studio’s young dancers opened the day with fun dance and gymnastic routines, baton twirling, and lots of tutus and spangles. The performance ended with a performance by a group of students adorably dressed as minions.
The first act in the primate building was mother-daughter duo Two T's in a Pod who closed out their set with a reworking of a Moldy Peaches tune while ring-tailed lemur made themselves comfortable in a fluffy pile nearby.
Next up was a worlds-coming-together event as Dan the Monkeyman performed in his natural habitat. Alongside an energetic Angolan Colobus, the audience of youths and parents were encouraged to add their own sounds with the various provided instruments to create an arrhythmic musical style that completed the jungle-like atmosphere.
Back in the main building My Dad’s Calling, a group of young players who met at the Music Resource Center, was cruising through familiar covers by Counting Crows, Violent Femmes, and The Cranberries. Breanne Marie was in the crowd when the band launched into “Zombie;” the Cranberries song has become a staple for her and her band The Front Porch Sinners. When asked if they’d still be performing the song later that night at Blacklist, she jokingly stated “It’s in the Sinners' contract.”
Next act Brody & the Roadies opened their set with a version of “Copperhead Road” and kept the bluegrass mandolin picking going from there.
The Children's Showcase ended with the ever-popular Steve Solkela and his Overpopulated One Man Band.
The evening’s festivities started with the Founder’s Reception at Hoops Brewery, with the North 103.3 broadcasting live there for the first time.Breanne Tepler of Breanne Marie and the Front Porch Sinners and her daughter Anya joined us to talk about their debut Homegrown performance as Two T’s in a Pod earlier in the day. Musician Kaylee Matuszak and artist and local music superfan Annmarie Geniusz also dropped by during the broadcast, which started on the Women’s Music Show.
Homegrown Festival founder (and volunteer DJ on the North) Starfire opened the festivities with the story of the green Guild Starfire guitar that inspired his nickname and was later stolen. He then raised a toast to the musicians, committee members, and fans that create the "goodness" that is Homegrown, quoting Neil Young’s song “Homegrown:” "Plant that bell and let it ring.”
Next up at Hoops it was a devil-may-care two-pack of artists. Rick McLean played fast and loose to get the party started; the set included songs from the new album he’ll be releasing on May 17 with a show at the Caddyshack.
The Iron Range Outlaw Brigade followed up with a set that matched the energy and pace – though an exciting NBA playoff game that pitted the LA Lakers versus the Minnesota Timberwolves was being projected on at least seven large screens throughout the establishment, drawing some fans’ attention away from the band. As the game neared its final seconds midway through the performance, cheers from the basketball fans erupted in the background as the Timberwolves won, giving them a 3-1 lead in the playoff series. Fans were then free to turn their full attention back to the rowdy country-rockers onstage. Well, except for that guy in the back named Brian who was seen ignoring both bands and basketball as he sat reading Hamlet through the evening. When asked why, he replied simply, “Why not?”
The action shifted to downtown as Hardaybra got things underway at Zeitgeist’s Teatro Zuccone. Patrons trickled in to fill the theater, with the audience eventually spilling over into the aisles and on the floor in front of the stage, The band rocked out with a set that included a cover of the Decemberists’ “Sons and Daughters.”
At Blacklist, Breanne Marie and the Front Porch Sinners filled the stage, performing old favorites plus songs from their forthcoming release Two Trees to a packed house. Never afraid to stretch the boundaries of the country sound the band is known for, they invited local rapper C-silence onstage to add a verse to a new song called “Ida May,” drawing cheers from the audience, and wrapped up their set with the Cranberries’ “Zombie,” with Breanne Marie encouraging the crowd to jump up and down with her.
Back at Zeitgeist, Iron Range band Hobo Revival won over some new fans with their blues-rock set. “I’m just a mom and a sign language interpreter,” said frontwoman Kim Nagler, “so this is really fun for me,” Nagler might be a bit too modest; she’s also a darn good songwriter, with her talented bandmates guitarist Andy Gregorich and keyboard and steel guitarist Al Oikari helping to bring her songs to life. The set featured guest bassist Blake Bailey and guest drummer Steve Solkela, who periodically donned the cymbal helmet he uses in his Overpopulated One Man Band.
Over at Carmody Irish Pub, Marc Gartband performed, with Marc Gartman, his Coyote bandmate Jerree Small, drummer Tyler Dubla and Owen Mahon on bass. They started their set with "Get So Low," a song from the group's recently-released first new album in over a decade. (While they weren't present at Homegrown, the recording features Dave Carroll and Ryan Young of Trampled by Turtles: https://marcgartman.bandcamp.com/over-the-moon.) They also slipped in "It's a Dream," a song from one of Gartman's many other projects, Fever Dream.
Back at Blacklist, Innerstellar Overdrive performed head- banging rock music with a message. They had tunes about doing anything we set our minds to, recognizing narcissism in the people in our lives, and coping with our emotions healthily, which all makes sense when you realize that frontman Erik Schnackenberg owns a yoga studio.
A much-anticipated show for Day 1 of Homegrown was the local supergroup Hot Tamale Cosmos. While the band has only played a handful of shows, many of the players are well known in Duluth’s music community. Colleen “Boss Mama” Myhre, Sonja Martin of Feeding Leroy, Jen Krussow of multiple local bands, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Erin Aldridge, and Jocelyn Mickelson took the stage at Zeitgeist and opened with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall be Released,” with five voices singing harmony a capella at one point. They went on to trade songs that different band members had written, including Mickelson’s amusing tribute to “Glove Box Napkins." They received an enthusiastic and warm response from the overflowing audience.
Back at Carmody, God's Holy Blood brought goth drama to the stage with their trademark face paint and a bassist draped in a monk's robe. In addition to their self-titled song that got the audience chanting along they performed a metal version of Chappell Roan's "Good Luck Babe" and ended with a song called "Satan is in Everybody."
Over at Blacklist, DJ Nola had festival goers shaking their booties to the ground with her expertly-crafted mix.
Homegrown shows at Pizza Luce got underway at 9pm with a set from new Riot Grrrl-inspired band C U Next Tuesday; in true punk rock fashion, the show was fast and loud and over in 20 minutes. (We'll chat with frontwoman Sophie Hiroko Live from Studio A on Thursday at 3pm in advance of her solo show at Tower Avenue Tavern that night.)
At Carmody, C-silence opened with a brand new song called "Do the Homegrown," following that with his Homegrown "hit" from last year, "Scotum." His BOOG3YM3N bandmate Willie Diction joined him for his final two songs.
There was more hip-hop happening down the street at Pizza Luce with Junior the Jenius, followed by punk-rock trio Chippy, whose shortish set inspired moshing and left the crowd yelling out for one more song.
