Photo by Jorma Kaukonen
I first came to Duluth with my dad in ’94. He was two years in the strokes that would ultimately bring his life to a close but he had time to take a roots trip with me. Dad had been reading book by the Anishinaabe writer and poet Jim Northrup called Walking The Rez Road which he shared with me. We were on our way to Ironwood, Michigan in Gogebic county where Dad was born in 1910 and some of the old ones were still alive back then. This would lead to my coming back to Duluth and playing a benefit with Jim Northrup which would in turn lead to my making a true wilderness trip to the Boundary Waters with my friend Jerry S. the following year. In any case, to be be able to come back and play a concert more than a quarter of a century later was an honor indeed.
Jorma Kaukonen 6, 2022
The West Theater
Duluth, Minnesota
Thursday, March 3, 2022
First Set:
- Ain’t In No Hurry
- Ice Age
- Trouble In Mind
- How Long Blues
- Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
- Take Your Time
- I’ll Be All Right Some Day
- Barbeque King
- Been So Long
- Living In The Moment
- Sea Child
- Great Divide Revisited
- That’ll Never Happen No More
Second Set:
- Hesitation Blues
- Things That Might Have Been
- True Religion
- Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
- Death Don’t Have No Mercy
- Candy Man
- Come Back Baby
- Trial By Fire
- Sleep Song
- Good Shepherd
- The Terrible Operation
- Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
- Encore: Water Song
Pickin’ in the Great White North!
Photo by Phil Jacobs
Indeed, buried in that attenuated sunlight is a hint of who I am…
And perhaps the sound of wolves…
looks a lot like its still an ” Ice Age”
All this North Country talk makes me wonder if John and Jorma should add a certain song to their Dylan repertory.
Just wonderin’!
Until I learned of your paternal heritage, Mr. Kaukonen, I knew little about Finn-America (knew that Co-operative ownership of buildings was brought to New York by Finns early last century, and Finn-Americans built best ranch homes around Metro NY – and the sporting stuff). But when I travelled late 90’s on, and met folks from Upper Peninsula and environs mentioned herein, I’ve been able to connect with some by saying, “Lot of Finns that part of World, no?”.
Hi Jorma,
Glad the March North County shows are going well. Here in NY, looking forward to Carnegie.
Friday night, briefly met Randall Bramblett, wonderful songwriter, he opened for Marc Cohn, then joined his band, at Landmark on Main St. Port Washington.
Was wondering how you connected with Randall’s songs for 1990 Pair A Dice Found: ‘Flying in the Face of Mr. Blue’ and ‘Urban Moon’, just re-listened, good stuff.
Someone turned me onto Randall back then. Great songwriter… great guy!
Your Dad sounds like a very interesting guy to say the least. Now I see where you get your sense of adventure and intrigue from. Wonder if he was 100% Finnish. The Finns are strong, and righteous people. I had a Finnish girlfriend in NYC in the 80s and she had the blondest, almost albino hair. Sounds like he really tried to connect with you back then. I’m glad you remember those moments so vividly. He sounds like a swell Dad.
If you are into Anishinaabe culture, and are in the vicinity of Minneapolis, you might stop in at Birchbark Books. It’s owned by Louise Erdrich. It is an independent bookstore, and they specialize in books by native writers. Louise is a member of the Turtle Mountain Clan. She is also 2021’s Pulitzer Prize winner for her most recent fiction book. The store really struggled during the pandemic, but have emerged successfully.
Just thinking this 50 year thing at Carnegie Hall an Eat Starch Mom could be pretty epic Peace✌🏻️❤️Love All Ways🔥🚲🌹🙏🏻🖖🏼
One of the myriad reasons I frequent this blog site: A masterclass in vocabulary. Attenuated is a word not seen every day, but fits your brief narrative here perfectly. What a wide ranging flood of emotions this particular gig must have brought. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and appertaining emotions so freely. Peace.
Duluth and the surrounding area is a beautiful area. But, it’ll be nice to head to southwestern Wisconsin today, where the temperature will be in the upper 50s!
I don’t follow baseball much these days. But at some point a couple of decades ago (?) there was a baseball strike, and when it finally ended, some local TV station ran Field of Dreams, and when James Earl Jones did that great soliloquy (“People will come, Ray … the one constant through all the years has been baseball”) well it brought oceans to my eyes — so perfect — and it still does.