One of the biggest annual music events in the Twin Ports area kicks off this weekend. The weeklong Homegrown Music Festival has captured the spirit of the local music community since 1999 and is the largest gathering of artists, patrons, and musical connoisseurs in the region surrounding Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin.

Running Sunday, April 26, until Sunday, May 3, the festival spans across the two cities, throughout a multitude of venues, bars, and event spaces. Many of the artists performing are Twin Ports natives making an annual homecoming.

To attend, music fans can purchase day passes or $40 weeklong wristbands at participating venues or select businesses. The Sunday (April 26) events are free, and select shows are free throughout the week. Expect to find every type of music playing this week at every type of venue. There is something for everyone at Homegrown, and you might walk away with a new favorite local artist.

Every year, new artists join the Twin Ports music scene, and these three have captured our attention. Make sure to see Obleek, Mud Puppies, and Lu Starr perform this week. Although this is the first Homegrown for these acts, many of the band members have been active in the community for some time with other musical projects.

Obleek

The word Obleek has slowly become an adjective only known and defined by locals of the Twin Ports. Jon Marshall says, “The word has a lot of different meanings. It’s kind of a skewed representation, Obleek is an angle, but not something completely straight. It’s a very abstract term, something that is a mysterious edge, but it’s also silly at the same time.”

The music of Obleek is a true reflection of DIY culture. Vocalist and bassist Jon Marshall, vocalist and guitarist Jax Fjeldahl, and drummer Teddy Jeddeloh seek to create a live storytelling experience that cathartically resonates with audiences. They hope that audiences who see them play can absorb their performances, dance, and find joy and hope. In addition to Homegrown, the band has played at local establishments such as Bent Paddle and Duluth Cider, as well as various basements in the Duluth hillside.

Obleek recently released their first song, “Choir,” which almost always closes their live sets. “Putting out a song is definitely a big stepping stone for us,” says Fjeldahl. “It feels like we've had all this stuff we've been sitting on, practicing and playing in different spaces, but it's solidifying it. It's giving us a checkpoint marker, something that we can fall back on and be like, ‘We’re a real band.’” They have plans to release new singles and larger bodies of work in the near future.

Some have categorized Obleek as gothic post-punk or post-rock, but the descriptor that really struck them as the pinnacle of their sound and ethic is “true DIY.” A beautiful amalgamation of their influences bleeds out in their songwriting. “Even down to the recording, we did all that stuff by ourselves,” says Marshall. “We didn't have any studio, and we weren't paying anybody. It's like DIY, post-everything, post- whatever came before we were alive” Some other artists that the members of Obleek are looking forward to this Homegrown season are Slape and Willem Dafoe Fan Club.

Obleek perform at Homegrown at 11 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, at Pizza Luce in downtown Duluth.

Mud Puppies

Band founders Jacob Downs and Roland Struckman have been playing music together in some form since sixth-grade orchestra. What first started as fun and hanging out as friends has turned into wanting something more serious.

The sound they landed on combines elements of folk, country, rock, and grunge. Lead songwriter Downs says artists including Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana inspire their work. One Mud Puppies song might feel like Trampled by Turtles, and the next could be more like grunge unplugged. “We're very emotionally driven with our writing,” Downs says. “We don't put notes in there because we think they should sound good. We put them in there because we think it makes us feel a certain way.”

By the time they finished recording their self-titled debut album this past January, they still didn’t have a band name. The band consists of Downs on vocals and guitar, Struckman on bass, rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist Ruslan Johnson, lead guitarist Scion Jordan, and drummer Lachlan Hartley. Mud Puppies’ early shows were mainly performed at Fitger's Barrel Room for small audiences and friends, but their album-release show at Blacklist Brewing Co., drew a capacity crowd.

Post-Homegrown and looking ahead into the future, Mud Puppies are planning on returning to the studio to record their second album at Sparta Sound with local producer and artist Rich Mattson. Like their debut album they expect it to contain a wide selection of tone and emotion ranging from pure folk to grunge.

Mud Puppies’ Homegrown set is at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Spirit of the Lake Community Arts in the Lakeside Neighborhood of Duluth.

Lu Starr

Inner reflection and making space for deep emotion have shaped Lu Starr as a rising musician in the Duluth and Twin Ports area. Starr’s songwriting leans deep into heavy themes of grief and loss, as well as love and surrounding yourself with good friends. Her influences include James Taylor and contemporary artists such as Adrianne Lenker and Justin Vernon. She describes her sound as “indie but mellow” and refers to it as “sad girl music.” Her songwriting consists of writing down spur-of-the-moment thoughts and eventually piecing them together to create a full song.

After growing up in Walker Minnesota, Starr has lived in Seattle, the Twin Cities, and Fargo, North Dakota. She moved to Duluth in June of 2023, and has since found a place in the local music community. Her first performance was in 2025 at Sacred Heart Music Center as part of the Duluth Dylan Fest. The show placed her among established Twin Ports musicians such as Sophie Hiroko, Elsa Krantz, and Josie Langhorst. “It was really great,” Starr says. “Sacred Heart is such a beautiful place, so for that to be my first experience was amazing.”

Beyond her music, Starr’s goal is to connect with an audience through community. Her performances are an invitation and a reminder that navigating grief doesn’t have to be a solitary pursuit. “I tend to think and reflect a lot about being very rooted in myself and having a strong foundation of self and who I am so that it's easier for other people to feel comfortable too,” she says. “Being an inviting person is very important to me, so I try to reflect that through my songwriting, too.”

Right before her April 28 Homegrown set, Starr will release two songs, “No Need” and “Strings,” from her new To Begin With, Everything EP. (Check Lu Starr’s Bandcamp for updates.) After Homegrown, Starr’s summer plans include participating in a music festival in Washington and the Minnesota Songwriter Sanctuary writers’ retreat in Henderson Minnesota.

Lu Starr’s Homegrown set is at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, at Vikre Distillery in Duluth’s Canal Park.

The Sturgeon Sound is Ellie Adams (designer/writer), Oliver Heck (videographer/writer), and Gavin Weiers (photographer/writer). Their mission is to document the Twin Ports DIY music scene. Follow their work at @thesturgeonsound.

External link

Homegrown Music Festival