Live from Studio A

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.

Laura Sellner started Superior Siren as a solo project, in time, adding three bandmates but still occasionally performing solo. The singer/songwriter has announced a new solo EP due out on May 7, 2021. She joined us in the studio for a Homegrown session on May 4, 2021. Her band performed a livestreamed show from Sacred Heart Music Center on the first night of Homegrown as part of the Minnesota Music Coalition's 2021 Music Summit.

Superior Siren

This year's Duluth Homegrown Music Festival guide documents how this musician went from being an ensemble player in the six-piece band NorShore Summit to a solo artist at the beginning of last year. Abukhodair played multiple shows throughout 2020's outdoor music season, and is currently preparing to release her first solo album. We'll find out more when she joins Malachy for a Homegrown session on Monday, May 2 at 2pm. She'll perform at Earthrider Brewery's Starfire Unofficial Birthday Bash on Saturday, May 8.

This Americana singer/songwriter was known more for his work as a local environmental educator and activist before he decided to take his singing and guitar playing off the couch and on stage. He's releasing his debut album, Smoky Gold, on May 14; it features contributions from members of The Infamous Stringdusters, Kind Country, Feeding Leroy, and others. He joined us for a session in honor of Duluth's Homegrown Music Festival on May 3 , 2021.

Cloquet native Tony Petersen was on the road with The Social Animals when the pandemic hit in 2020 and their tour came to an abrupt end. Since then, he's kept busy making music at home in the Twin Cities; not only did he release new music with his previous band Saint Anyway and an album with his uncle Kurt Petersen under the name Love + Effort, but he also put out a solo album under the name Ditchbird. He shared songs from that last project when he joined us for a virtual session that aired April 30, 2021.

This Duluth musician released his debut solo album, Canvas and Color, back in November. Coffman's history in the local music scene includes progressive punk band Phillip of Nazareth and, more recently, pop-rock band the Cuckoo Bees; the new release leans towards the latter, and even includes a few re-worked Cuckoo Bees tracks. We spoke with Coffman on April 15, 2021; listen to our session below. He'll perform at the Ripple Bar in Duluth on Saturday, April 17 at 7pm.

Cory Coffman

This Duluth-based singer/songwriter/guitarist was born here but grew up in Iowa. A few years back he returned to Duluth and began performing regularly. Back in December he released a new EP, Can I, showcasing his stand-out acoustic guitar skills and rich voice. Mancieri paid his first visit to KUMD for a session on March 26, 2021 to share some tunes from the EP as well as a new song and talk about his decision to return to the city where he was born and what it's been like getting involved in the music scene.

This Twin Cities Americana musician released an album in February of 2020, just before the pandemic shut down most live performances for a year. While hunkered down at home she's kept her creative juices flowing with a regular songwriting group and with YouTube videos recorded in her green bathroom. She's also been writing some new songs, and has recorded a handful of them with friends (remotely) for an EP called Between Here and There, due out on March 21. Sarah joined us over the internet to talk about the album and to play some tunes for this session aired on March 12, 2021.