Live from Studio A

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.

Duluth musician Sarah Krueger joined us on March 5, 2021 to talk about her first album since 2014. To reflect the evolution of her creative vision, Krueger is calling her latest project Lanue.Her first album under that name, recorded in her hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is also called Lanue. Krueger shared songs from the album, which was written and recorded before the pandemic but still somehow resonates with what we're experiencing now.

Lanue

Twin Cities trio the New Standards features seasoned musicians Chan Poling (The Suburbs), John Munson (Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic) and Steve Roehm (Billy Goat) For 15 years the trio has been putting a jazz twist on popular tunes spanning the decades. Their annual Christmas shows have become legendary; with COVID-19 making a 2020 live show impossible, the trio instead released The New Standards Holiday Show Album, featuring a mix of classics and originals. Vibraphone player Roehm joined us virtually to talk about the album and share some tunes.

Minnesota musician joins the long list of artists releasing their work during a pandemic. She joined us via the internet on August 21st to chat about her new album, The World is Your Lover, which came out the same day, and shel performed some songs from the record. She played a livestreamed show from Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth the following night.

Mary Bue

Watch Mary's Sacred Heart performance: 

This Minneapolis folk singer/songwriter recently released her tenth full-length album, Ordinary Love, with a virtual release show. We heard some songs from the record and caught up with the musician, who was still going by just "Ellis" when she was last in our studios several years ago, on June 26, 2020.

Ellis Delaney

 Rachael Kilgour and Sara Pajunen make up this duo that combines Rachael’s singer/songwriter/guitaristbackground with violinist Sara’s classical and improvisational training and deep roots in Finnish folk music. They recently released an album oftraditional folk tunes called And We’llAll Go Together. Listen to our virtual session with them; they talked about the album and shared some tunes on May 29, 2020. They have a livestreamed concert coming up on June 7.

Sound an Echo

This four-piece is led by Duluth native Dave Mehling. He fits this project in around side gigs with artists including Gaelynn Lea and fatherhood. The band had plans to release its second album of melodic rock during the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival; the festival didn't happen, but fortunately the album, A Time at the Cabin, did and is now available online.

This Duluth duo featuring Jason Wussow and Veikko Lepisto was set to release a second album, Bluebird Day, when COVID-19 hit. We chatted with them about the album and they shared some tunes via the internet on April 30, 2020 during what would have been Duluth's Homegrown Music Festival.

Woodblind

Homegrown coverage on KUMD is made possible by The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

This local modern bluegrass group just released a live album, Gitchee Tracks Live Volume 1, recorded primarily at Duluth's Sacred Heart Music Center. We chatted with them about making the album and they performed some tunes for us from banjo player Tim Leutgeb's basement (using a tape measure to ensure proper social distancing). They also talked about a festival their hoping to put together once live concerts are a thing again. Listen to our session from April 29, 2020, during what would have been Duluth's Homegrown Music Festival.

This Duluth quartet has been wowing local audiences with their mix of jazz, rock, and funk, highlighted by singer/violinist Ren Cooper's standout vocals. They released their much- anticipated debut album, Monochrome on April 20, but of course were unable to give audiences a live taste due to COVID 19 and Minnesota's stay-at-home order.