The premier Northern Minnesota music festival is back this Saturday, Sept. 6, along the banks of the Mississippi River. Gates open at 2 p.m. Here is your guide to this year's lineup!
This year’s headliner is Courtney Barnett, an Australian indie rocker acclaimed for her witty observations on the everyday mundane, all in her trademark deadpan delivery.
She is known for songs like “Avant Gardener,” “Over Everything,” “City Looks Pretty” and many more. Besides her songwriting, Barnett is a modern guitar hero whose playing ranges from delicate to total shredding and makes her live show can’t miss. Her current live band features drummer Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint.
Just before Courtney is the outlaw country maverick Margo Price, fresh off the release of Hard Headed Woman, her fantastic new fifth album. Since her 2016 debut Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, Price has been a breath of fresh air in the country music world, never shying away from speaking her mind and working across the Americana and roots music genres.
Her current band features rising flatpicker and vocalist Logan Ledger, and they easily take listeners to the funky, rocking and psychedelic corners of country music.
Playing second this year is rising Canadian roots musician Jeremie Albino, my pick for this year’s biggest surprise. If Albino is new to you, you’re in for a retro, rocking and magnetic stage performer who brings to mind the early days of rock 'n' roll music.
His breakout album, Our Time In the Sun from 2024, was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, and brings together blues, rock 'n' roll, folk and more.
This year’s opener is Minnesota’s own Alan Sparhawk, a Northern Minnesota institution since the mid '90s with acclaimed indie rock band Low. Sparhawk has constantly reinvented himself with groups like the Black Eyed Snakes, Retribution Gospel Choir, Derecho and more, and his songs have been covered by artists like Robert Plant and Mavis Staples.
His most recent project was a collaboration with fellow Duluth musicians Trampled By Turtles, a cathartic album that navigated his grief after the death of his life and musical partner Mimi Parker. Now his live band includes his son Cyrus on bass and Eric Pollard (aka Actual Wolf) on drums. Dave Carroll from Trampled by Turtles will be joining him for his Riverfest performance.
Saturday, Sept. 6
(Set times are estimates and could change)
- Alan Sparhawk - 3 p.m.
- Jeremie Albino - 4:30 p.m.
- Margo Price - 6:30 p.m.
- Courtney Barnett - 8:30 p.m.
The weekly live music spotlight is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
