Homegrown Music Festival Showcases Bands and Venues

In 1999, Scott Lunt had an idea for a small festival to spotlight ten local bands in various Duluth bars and clubs. It became the first Homegrown Music Festival. Lunt kept adding bands until he had a monster show of 70 acts and sold the festival to the owners of the alternative weekly, Ripsaw, in 2005. But even Ripsaw saw that it was turning into more than they could handle and donated it to Don Ness, the mayor of Duluth, that same year.

“It was just too massive to make any money from it,” said Paul Connolly, the current director of the festival. Ness felt the festival was a good fit for his non-profit organization the Bridge Syndicate, a group that engages young leaders to work on community projects associated with arts, entertainment, and culture. Ness and Connolly, along with a large team of volunteers, have grown the festival into a massive eight-day event, featuring nearly 150 bands in 24 venues.

“The reason it is so huge is that it turned into a showcase of local bands,” said Connolly. “We don’t book bands that aren’t based out of the area or don’t have a really strong tie to the area. Every band that’s playing is a band from Duluth and writes original music and plays around here.”

Ironically, finding 150 local acts hasn’t been hard. “All those bands have been playing the festival for years,” Connolly added.

And, they do it because of the potential to have their music heard by a lot of new fans. Though the festival pays the band an honorarium for play, most of the bands donate their time and play for free. And the community rallys around these artists.

Connolly pointed out that the Homegrown Music Festival benefits more than local talent. “The festival tries to act as a vehicle not only to promote the musicians of the bands but the venues, too. There are a surprising number of venues in Duluth that cater to musicians who play original, live music. There is one popular venue here that people know about and go to all the time, but there are a lot of venues that will host everything from acoustic/folk acts to death metal bands. I really respect those venues, and I like to showcase their space as well.” This year, 24 venues will host live acts.

Because of the variety of bands and venues, this becomes an ideal place to sample new bands. “We definitely play up the fact that you have a chance to throw caution to the wind and see bands that you never normally check out or you would never normally pay a cover to see,” said Connolly. “This way, you can spend a few minutes with a band and enjoy a beer. If you’re not into it, you can make a run for the next band. And the bands really have fun with it because they get to play for people who normally never would get to see them.”

This year, festival goers can see well known acts as such as Trampled By Turtles, Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank, and Too Many Banjos. They also can see metal bands, alternative rockers, 60s retro-sounding acts, singer/songwriters, DJs, country rock bands, jam, funk, and much more.

Tickets are practically a steal at only $20 for a wristband for the whole week or day passes for $5. There are also weekend wristband rates. Your week long wrist band gets you in to every show at all venues, and you can pick them up at the door of any venue.

“A lot of the weekday performances are a little more sit-down, stay-in-one-spot shows,” Connolly said. “On the weekends, we encourage people to hop around. That’s been the kind of tradition of the festival for a while.”

And your hopping around is made a lot easier by a trolley run by the Duluth Transit Authority. It runs up and down Superior Street, a very long strip in downtown Duluth that is packed with multiple venues. The trolley can get you to the door of your next venue in five minutes.

The Homegrown Music Festival is a rich showcase of local talent. This is one festival you won’t want to miss.

INFO:

What: Homegrown Music Festival
Where: Various venues in Duluth MN
When: April 26 through May 3
Tickets: $20 for the entire festival, $5 per day, special weekend rates.