The week's Setlist has three stops of a Northern Minnesota tour, a spring bash in Walker (is a slight chance of snow and high of 31 spring?) and a St. Urho's Day celebration.
Starting things off with two legends of Native arts and the Ancestral Fires tour, Keith Secola and Gary Farmer are making stops in Virginia, Bemidji and Grand Rapids. Secola, writer of the Native anthem "NDN Kars," has been releasing albums since the early '90s, and Farmer, an acclaimed First Nations actor, is a folk-rock songwriter with two albums to his name. You’ll recognize him for iconic roles in Dead Man and Reservation Dogs. On Thursday, the tour kicks off at CHAIR in Virginia at 6 p.m., then on Friday heads to Rail River Folk School in Bemidji at 7 p.m., and Saturday at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids at 2 p.m. Openers in Virginia and Grand Rapids will be Iron Range band Rangers, and for the Bemidji show, it will be Cass Lake rock band Wind Jammers.
Back in Virginia on Friday night, Steve Solkela will be celebrating Finnish culture with a St. Urho’s day concert at the Arrowhead. Solkela is a one-man band wrecking ball and the second coming of legendary Northern Minnesota musician-comedian Bobby Aro. Expect lots of accordion, all the bells and whistles, and raunchy jokes, at 7 p.m.
Finally, on Saturday, Skarlett Woods is playing the Green Scene Market & Eatery in Walker’s annual Spring Brunch Bash at 11 a.m. Woods is a talented singer-songwriter and guitar player who blends jazz, folk and rock into her deeply personal songwriting.
Thursday, March 12
- Keith Secola & Gary Farmer, Rangers - 6 p.m., CHAIR, Virginia, $20 (suggested donation)
Friday, March 13
- Steve Solkela - 7 p.m., Arrowhead, Virginia, free
- Keith Secola & Gary Farmer, Wind Jammers - 7 p.m., Rail River Folk School, Bemidji, $20 (suggested donation)
Saturday, March 14
- Skarlett Woods - 11 a.m., Green Scene Market & Eatery, Walker, free
- Keith Secola & Gary Farmer, Rangers - 2 p.m., Reif Center, Grand Rapids, $15 (advance), $20 (door)
The weekly live music spotlight is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
