Overtones

Folk duo Dusty Heart is set to return to the North Shore for a show at North House Folk School. The duo of Barbara Jean Meyers and Molly Dean, backed up by the Minneapolis trio Alpha Consumer, will open the second day of the school’s annual Unplugged event ahead of Great Lake Swimmers on September 20th at 7pm. Barbara Jean joins Will Moore on Overtones to talk about the group’s music and what to expect from the show on Friday.

The Penny Peaches are a Minnesota-based musical duo of sisters Hattie and Grace Peach with stellar harmonies and a sound that has been called “like the Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit without the accent.” Their debut album Good For Me was released at the end of August, and they join Will Moore on Overtones to talk about their music ahead of a performance at North House Folk School’s annual Unplugged event. They will perform on Thursday, September 18th at 7pm opening for Great Lake Swimmers.

More information about Unplugged can be found at http://northhouse.org

Longtime songwriting partners Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers return to Grand Marais at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Saturday, Sept 14th at 7pm. Claudia joined Will Moore on the phone during Overtones to talk about the show, her history making music with Sally, living on an island in Lake Michigan, her recent projects, and more.

More information about the performance can be found at northshoremusicassociation.com

The Porcupine Mountains Music Festival is an annual tradition that happens in the Porcupine Mountains State Park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Featuring a wide array of up and coming Americana artists, the festival is now in its 18th year. Festival programmer Cheryl Sundberg joins Will Moore and Carl Solander on Overtones to talk about this years lineup and important information for festival-goers to know.

Nerd Riot is the latest album from Grand Marais rapper Andre Robinson, who performs under the name Dre AKA Jamaican. The album includes songs that pay homage to his favorite series to geek out on, from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars to Dragonball Z. He is joined by his friend and frequent collaborator Mike Krussow to perform a number of tracks in the WTIP studios and talk about everything that went into making this new album.

Nirmala Rajasekar is an acclaimed performer of Carnatic music from South India and is a renowned singer, composer, and player of the veena. Making it her lifelong mission to share Carnatic music with the world, she has a decorated career spanning worldwide concerts and performing on globally prestigious stages. She returns to Grand Marais with an upcoming concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts alongside her daughter Shruthi and tabla player Marcus Wise. She joins Will Moore on Overtones to talk about her instrument, life, and love of sharing music with others.

North House Folk School’s annual Unplugged concert series returns with acclaimed songwriter Pieta Brown joining a talented array of Midwest musicians for two nights on the waterfront stage at the folk school. In this interview with Will Moore, Pieta tells the rich history of making music in her family, from her father Greg Brown to past generations of songwriters around the state of Iowa, and talks about collaborating with so many well known artists. Her latest songs “In This World” and “Thing or 2” with JT Bates are available on streaming services.

Unplugged 2023 will feature Pieta Brown, JT Bates, Mike Lewis, Barbara Jean Myers, Joe Rainey, Jeremy Ylvisaker, and more on Thursday and Friday September 14-15th at 8pm. More information about the shows can be found at North House’s website.

John Hermanson and Chris Cunningham have been playing music together for around 30 years as Storyhill, a folk duo originating in Bozeman, MT and finding its legs in Northfield, MN before spanning a decades long career of songs about searching for meaning and harmonies reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel. John and Chris join Will Moore on Overtones to talk about what to expect this year at their upcoming annual Storyhill folk festival in Deerwood, MN which could perhaps be the location of their final performance.

Storyhill Fest is August 25-27th and more information is available at storyhill.com/storyhill-fest-home

The Grand Marais Music Collaborative’s annual weekend festival Stars of the North lasts all day at Harbor Park in Grand Marais, roughly 11am-9pm on both Friday and Saturday, July 28-29th. GMMC Director Todd Miller joins Will Moore to go over every artist performing at the festival and how the festival ties into the mission of the organization.

There’s more information about Stars of the North at thegmmc.org

The schedule is as follows:

Friday July 28

• Adam Kirsch, 11:30-12:30 pm
• Roxann Berglund, 12:30-1:30 pm
• Briand Morrison, 1:30-2:30 pm
• Fred Anderson Band, 2:30-3:30 pm
• Dan Nelson and Superior Sound 3:30pm-4:30pm
• Oversize Load, 4:30-6:00pm
• Brothers in Arms, 6-7:30 pm
• The Splints, 7:30 – 9 pm

Saturday July 29

• Michelle Miller, 11-12 pm
• Michael Monroe, 12-1 pm
• Superior Siren, 1:15-2:30 pm
• The April Fools, 2:30-3:30 pm
• Rich Mattson and the North Stars, 4-5 pm
• Zulu Link, 5:30-6:30 pm
• Dre AKA Jamaican, 6:45-7 pm
• The Evening Stars with special guests and area students from the GMMC student program, 7:30-9 pm

Sun Wave Mountain Cave says their music explores “collaborative storytelling centered on childhood, growth, and ego death in Middle America.” Band members Dave Abbott, Brian Fate, and Andy Brace join Will Moore on Overtones to talk about their new EP called “Familiar to Me”. They dive into the moments behind these coming-of-age stories within the songs, along with musical inspirations from the Twin Cities music scene and recording at Pachyderm Studios.

One Less Guest returns with their second full length album Viewfinder, that has the quartet of talented musicians originally from the Duluth/Superior area at the top of their game. Will Moore catches up with band members Nick Muska, Ren Cooper, Nick Glass and Cody Thorsen as they embark on their first ever tour, traveling through northern California into the Pacific Northwest. The band talks about writing the new album, the music video for their song “The Fruit”, coming back to Minnesota, and a song currently plaguing their vehicle’s stereo system.

One Less Guest will be performing at the Icehouse in Minneapolis on Friday, July 21 and Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, WI on Saturday, July 22. More information is on their website www.onelessguest.com.

Nashville songwriter Caitlin Nichol-Thomas has become a regular fixture in the Cook County music scene, coming up annually to perform with Al Oikari and the Big Wu around the area, sharing her voice and talents on guitar and fiddle. She’s extending her time in Minnesota playing all over the state with a new EP entitled “Derecho” in tow. She joins Will Moore as the first musical guest on the new program Overtones to talk about Derecho and her upcoming shows.

Caitlin will be performing at the Lutsong Music Festival at Caribou Highlands on Saturday July 15th at noon, and at the Gunflint Tavern rooftop at 4pm on Sunday July 16th.