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SUPERIOR — There’s a certain type of person who makes being a musician look absolutely miserable. (Scroll through Pitchfork and you’ll spot a few.) None of those were in evidence Thursday for the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival’s annual Superior Night.
Despite a persistent frigid drizzle, crowds packed six venues for 18 sets of music by artists from Junkyard Mule — who kicked the night off after the mayor’s reception at Superior Tavern — to Cars & Trucks. Photographer Clint Austin and I took in a sampling.
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After Junkyard Mule, seym0ur glass took the Superior Tavern stage. Not to be confused with the J.D. Salinger character who spells his name with capital letters and without a zero, seym0ur glass is the electronic project of Ned Netzel, who dropped dollops of heavy lo-fi as the crowd lazily batted a latex inflatable around.
Skarlett Woods took the stage at 8 p.m., encouraging attendees to overcome their Midwestern hesitance and fill a gap on the floor in front of her. „I don’t bite!“ Woods quipped, while allowing that „I might kiss, or lick.“
Good cheer marked the singer-songwriter’s set, which brought her wide dynamic range to bear on emotive songs flecked with elements of soul and jazz, including a little scatting.
Between songs, Woods paused to share stories, including one about how she had just completed a 20-mile bike ride and a subsequent skinny dip before toting two guitars to Superior. If there’s ever a Homegrown triathlon, those could well be the events.
Across Tower Avenue, The Main Club was buzzing as Kaylee Matuszak prepared to take the stage with her new band, the Husbands. (The gag is that both bassist Cory Jezierski and drummer Leon Rohrbaugh are in fact husbands … of people who are not in the band.)
Matuszak recorded her 2024 LP „Leading Lady“ with Rich Mattson and Steve Solkela, but often performs solo. With the Husbands, songs like „Call Off the Dogs“ and „COLOR TV!“ came alive, much to the gratification of a crowd that squeezed forward yet still found some room for dancing.
During the album’s title track, Matuszak didn’t miss a beat even when the amplifier cord detached from her electric guitar; she kept right on singing as she plugged the ax back in and resumed strumming, to cheers from the audience.
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„I love when there’s a problem and I immediately know how to solve it,“ Matuszak said with satisfaction.
Nearby at Havana’s, a virtual fireplace that was playing on one television near the stage helped convey a sense of warmth, not that the room needed it as eager attendees prepared for a set by Woodblind. The band is a Homegrown institution, long favored for its bonhomie and sophisticated musicianship.
With Jason Wussow and Veikko Lepisto at the band’s core, it expanded Thursday to a „Woodblind Jubilee Super Big Band“ with upward of nine musicians, including Jen West on duet vocals — and Teague Alexy hopping on stage for a rapturously received appearance.
„That was a who’s who of Homegrown history up there,“ Austin said.
The music, along with red and purple stage lighting, streamed out onto an otherwise dark and dreary Ogden Avenue. A mile north, the Tower Avenue Tavern was lit in another sense of the word, as young (and young at heart) revelers lined up two deep at the bar during Sophie Hiroko’s soundcheck.
Given a stage area that seems almost to sink into the room’s back corner, at least one person was moved to climb atop a bar stool for a glimpse of Hiroko and her bandmates, Netzel (with bass, sans laptop) and Leif Hinkel (drums).
You would never have guessed it wasn’t a summer Saturday from the energy of the audience, raising hands high above their heads to clap for a set that brought out the driving energy of Hiroko’s smartly crafted songs.
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The artist kept cool, though, having already played a blistering Sunday night set with her Riot-Grrrl-inspired band C U Next Tuesday. Hiroko closed with her debut single „Ashes,“ noting that it was recently released on Spotify — where her artist bio describes her as „Duluth, Minnesota’s bubblegrunge princess.“
Now, add Superior as well.
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