Christine Dean

The latest solo album from Ian Alexy (who also performs with his brother Teague in Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank) features his Minneapolis-based backing band, The Deserters. The title, Troubadour 21st Century, is a rootsy rock homage to the life of a modern musician. Many of the cuts on the album were released as singles during the pandemic, including "Making it Shine," which was also the title of a video series Alexy worked on during quarantine. He took the opportunity to go through 12 years of footage accumulated through his music career for the four-part series.

In his more than 30-year career, this Minnesota native has played guitar with a wide array of performers in a wide array of genres on stages across the country. He's also released several albums of his own, including his most recent release, Record Time. He shared tunes from that album and debuted a new one when he joined us for a virtual session June 4, 2021.

This Cloquet native was on tour in Europe with his band The Social Animals when the pandemic shut everything down. Now based in Nashville, Clark has had the opportunity to work on new material with the band in the past year, and is preparing for a solo tour that kicks off in Minneapolis on June 4; he'll perform in Duluth on Saturday, June 5 (listen to find out where!).

This Minneapolis musician was the youngest ever winner of the Hibbing Dylan Days Singer/Songwriter competition in 2009 at age 13. He joined us for a session on May 27, 2021 for a preview of his livestreamed performance from 2104 later in the evening as part of Duluth Dylan Days. LeBlanc will release his third album, Only Human, in July, and will return to Duluth for a release show at Wussow's on July 10.

Luke LeBlanc

Recent UMD graduate Hattie Peach and her sister Grace (a recent high school graduate) recently released an EP, also featuring their dad John on drums. The self-titled release has an alt-country sound that showcases the siblings' harmonies. We got to hear those amazing harmonies in person and find out more about how the family started performing together when the Penny Peaches joined us in the studio on May 14, 2021.

  This Mississippi native lived in San Francisco for many years before finding his way to the Twin Ports, where he's quickly become a fixture on local stages. He's a part of Actual Wolf's touring band and frequently collaborates with other local and regional musicians. He joined us for a Homegrown session on May 6, 2021. He performed the same night at Earthrider Brewery's Starfire Unofficial Birthday Bash.

Coverage of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival on KUMD is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Sibling duo Eric and Rachel Cyr are at the core of Cyr and the Cosmonauts. Their latest album, Songs to Sing Before We're Dead, is due out on May 14th. We got a sneak peek when they joined us for a Homegrown session on May 7, 2021.
Cyr and the Cosmonauts

This Duluth singer/songwriter released a new EP, Goodbye, in October 2020. We'll find out more about his music and how he's weathered this past pandemic year when he joins us for a session on Wednesday, May 5 at 2pm. He'll perform on Thursday, May 6 at Earthrider Brewery's festival grounds for their Starfire Unofficial Birthday Bash (in conjunction with Homegrown week).

Coverage of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival on KUMD is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.