Homegrown Music Festival
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Revision as of 16:10, 17 December 2007 by 75.163.20.44 (Talk)
The Homegrown Music Festival happens annually in Duluth and showcases bands and DJs from Duluth and the surrounding area. Homegrown occurs in the first week of May and varies in size every year. The 2007 festival had 131 acts.
History
It started as a private birthday party for a Gold Cross paramedic. Seven years later, it has evolved into Duluth's biggest rawk and/or roll extravaganza. In early 1998, Scott Lunt put together a band, Father Hennepin. As his 30th birthday approached, he decided to rent Lafayette Square on Park Point and debut his group to friends and family. A few musician friends agreed to play at the birthday party too, and a festival was born................. The first HomeGrown featured 10 bands in the NorShor's mezzanine over two nights in 1999. HomeGrown 2 added the Fitger's Brewhouse as a venue and took advantage of the NorShor opening its Main Theatre the previous summer. The number of bands more than doubled, reaching 23. HomeGrown 3 featured 38 acts at four venues on five stages, adding the Red Lion and Beaner's. Each act performing in HomeGrown is “homegrown” in the sense that it either gigs regularly in the Duluth area, or has a member who lives in, or grew up in, the Duluth area. Cover bands need not apply; the show is a celebration of the Duluth sound, an original blend of rock, hip-hop, country, folk, pop, funk, metal, blues and a few sounds that fall into genres invented by the bands playing them: “slowcore,” “hillsidebilly,” “crippled ambient,” “hart rock” and “kegger glam (music for people who took shop class).” HomeGrown 7 will feature 9 stages and 80 acts, making it a record setter for size and scope.
--From an article appearing in the Ripsaw, May 2, 2001.
Related links
- http://www.duluthhomegrown.com (The official website, updated as the festival draws near)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homegrown_Music_Festival (Wikipedia entry for Homegrown Music Festival)
