March 2025 Recap

Saltydog x4, Twine x2, Shotgun Ragtime Band x2, JGB and GD tributes, a French DJ, and more!

James Fitzgerald

Jan 14, 2026

The ‘Dogs with Boss Mama 3.27:

3.1 Tommy Bentz Band at Tuttle’s

Blues guitarist Tommy Bentz brought his band to Tutt’s in Hopkins to kick off March.

A moment of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”:

3.1 Shoeless Revolution at Bunker’s

With Reed Grim on drums and David Feily on guitar, you just can’t go wrong.

A few of the songs they played were:

Baba O'Reilly
Burning Down the House
Cult of Personality
Godzilla>
Frankenstein

3.6 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder’s Mission Room - March Residency Week 1

“Northwoods Funk Jam Band” is how the six-piece describes itself, and Saltydog certainly brought that unique flavor of funk to their first of four Thursdays at The Hook & Ladder’s Mission Room in South Minneapolis. The smaller venue is inside the Hook, adjacent to the wonderful, newish Zen Arcade where Heggie’s pizza, video games, vinyl, and all manner of THC gummies and beverages are available.

Saltydog impressed those who hadn’t seen them before during what may have been the first two-set show I’ve seen the band perform ‘down here in The Cities’, as I would have said back when I was a Northlander. One word that kept going through my mind Thursday was ‘groovy’, as they kept locking into a captivating, surfy groove throughout the night.

Bent Paddle, the wildly successful brewery in the revitalized Lincoln Park area of Duluth, is The Dogs’ home turf. After two solid years of ‘High Key Mondays’ they have established a solid following up north and beyond. Last summer, they played what may have been their largest gig to date, at Eau Claire’s Blue Ox Festival, where they performed on the second biggest stage for thousands of new fans.

It’s been exciting to see the band earn a fanbase here with shows in the Twin Cities recently, and set up shop with this weekly residency (High Key Thursdays?) at one of our city’s favorite venues.

Started as a trio in 2019 by The Brothers Mahon (Jacob on guitar and Owen on drums) and Calvin ‘Calzone’ Lund on bass, the six piece also features percussion from Brian ‘Lefty’ Johnson of the Black Eyed Snakes and old school Duluth ska rockers The Black Labels, Gavin St. Clair on keyboards, and Sam Deters on guitar.

The evening started out with Minnesota Moon, a Big Wu classic that the Wu are fond of opening with. It really set the right tone with a celebratory “Hey now, is everybody here!?”

The tune “Barfly” made an impression on me at their show at 7th Street Entry in January, and I was glad to hear it again Thursday night, where it was preceded by a lively rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Mr. Charlie”.

Here’s a partial setlist:

MN Moon
Come Home Soon
Karaoke at the VFW

Farmer Norm
Who Put the Hat on the Hound
Mr. Charlie
Barfly

Will Effertz of Twine was the special guest and sat in for nearly all of the second set, leading the band through a number of songs including the JJ Cale classic/Widespread Panic staple “Ride Me High”.

This week’s guests are Erik Koskinen and live art from Kathryne Ford.

Guests the rest of the month will be Cold Sweat on 3.20 and Duluth powerhouse singer Boss Mama on the 27th.

I’m looking forward to attending all three remaining shows in the series. I’ll also be looking forward to seeing Jacob and Owen playing mandolin and upright bass, respectively, with Teague Alexy this Saturday at the Aster Cafe as part of Teague and the Paddy Wagon!

“Come Home Soon”:

“Ride Me High”:

3.7 WE Collective at Tuttle’s

3.8 Jerry Garcia Band tribute at Party Palace

featuring Brian Greene on guitar, Jim Hinkley on bass, Art Hoffman on keys, and Ben Bukstein on drums. Great two set show featuring some of my favortie JGB songs, of which there are very many. Highlights included:

That’s what Love Will Make You Do

Harder They Come

Everybody Needs Somebody

Sisters and Brothers

Don’t Let Go

3.12 Twine at Bunker’s

The band welcomed members of Saltydog in advance of their third Thursday night show set to take place the following night at Hook and Ladder.

Art by Mike - mike_carina on insta

3.13 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder’s Mission Room - March Residency Week 2

Much in the same way that Saltydog traverses or even transcends genre classifications, the Duluthians continued to feature guests with diverse yet complimentary musical stylings in their four week residency. Will Effertz, of Twine and the WE Collective, brought his flavor of jam rock to the second set for Week 1 (covered here).

The second week of the March residency saw Erik Koskinen join The ‘Dogs for the second frame and add some twangy swagger to the proceedings. Though originally from Michigan, Koskinen has played countless shows in the Northland, including a Thursday residency in February with his band at Superior’s Cedar Lounge. His honky tonk tunes meshed nicely with Saltydog. A live liquid art show from Duluth’s Kathryne Ford illuminated the stage in swirls of colors.

With Kosinen:

3.15 Teague Alexy and the Paddy Wagon at Aster Cafe

With Jacob Mahone on banjo and accordion, Owen Mahon on upright bass, Clancy Ward on fiddle, and clogger Sarah Cagly. This was the third St. Patrick’s Day season that Teague brought a team of Duluth all-stars to Minneapolis to perform a couple sets of traditional Irish folk songs.

3.16 Shotgun Ragtime Band at Driftwood

Happy Birthday, Phil Lesh! Got down to the Drifty in time to catch the end of first set and ”Box Of Rain” in honor of his bday. Grateful Sunday #717:

Shakedown Street

Man Smart Woman Smarter

Fire on the Mountain

W Mickey rap from Bday Becky and Leah HBD shout-out

Eyes

Drums

Space

Candyman

Truckin’>

Lovelight

Werewolves of London

Miss you, Steve!

3.19 Twine at Bunker’s

Another Twineamite show, this time with the brilliant David Feily guesting on guitar!

(Trademark on Twineamite pending)

3.20 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder’s Mission Room - March Residency Week 3

The third in the Thursday series featured Cold Sweat, a Twin Cities based DJ who also contributes vocals to hip-hop act Hiahli. He added some impressive turntablism to the mix for a wonderfully unorthodox combination that I thoroughly appreciated. A few of the tunes performed were:

Cactus Blossoms' One Day
One Line At A Time
Come Home Soon
Bad Guys
Boat Storage Theme

Saltydog with Cold Sweat:

3.21 Yahtzee at Tuttle’s

With Snowman on sax, Art on guitar, Derek F on drums, Dean on bass. The king of Yacht Rock, Michael McDonald, was well represented with a spirited take on “I Keep Forgetting”. Other stand-outs were staples of the genre “Baker Street” and “All Night Long”.

“Baker Street”:

“All Night Long”:

3.27 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder’s Mission Room - March Residency Week 4

with the mighty Snowman and Colleen "Boss Mama" Myhre joining as the guests for the grand finale! Boss Mama is a Duluth singer songwriter who the Mahon Brothers play with as part of her band The Hooch. Tonight’s songs included:

Hat on the Hound
Casino Millionaire

3.27 Dream Of The Wild at 331 Club

3.28 Built To Last Festival with Built To Last All-Stars, Bigfoot County and New Line Riders at Hook and Ladder Theatre

The impressive lineup of Built To Last All-Stars was:
Demitri Rallis, Eddie Juntunen, Sammy Weyandt, Greg Schutt, JT Bates and Jason Bush. Partial setlist:

West LA Fadeaway

Scarlett Begonias>

Fire on the Mountain

Might As Well

Shakedown Street

Built To Last All-Stars:

“West LA Fadeaway”:

“Scarlett>Fire”

Bigfoot County:

Good Lovin’

China Cat Sunflower

Althea

Feel Like A Stranger

Eyes

Lovelight

Wharf Rat

Deal

Ripple

Brown Eyed Woman

Let My Love Open The Door

MS Half Step

Diamond Dupree’s Blues

Playin’>

China Doll

Dancing>

Franklins

Black Throated Wind

“Feel Like a Stranger”:

“Eyes”:

Steve Hyres’ New Line Riders:

Big Boss Man

Jack A Roe

Dog’s Waltz or Doc’s Waltz

Mexicali Blues

Loser

Me And My Uncle

3.29 Wax Tailor with Napoleon Da Legend at Fine Line Music Cafe

The French DJ was celebrating the 20 year anniversary of acclaimed debut record Tales Of The Forgotten Melodies. Like the album, the set was filled with hip-hop beats and a wide array of vocal samples. Paris born rapper Napoleon Da Legend added rhymes to several songs.

3.29 Mikel Wright and the Wrongs at Hook and Ladder Theatre

A third dose of David Feily for the month, after catching him playing with Twine and Shoeless Revolution earlier in the month. Dude is without a doubt among the best guitar players in town. Two fantastic guitarists were present as Vinh Nguyen is a permanent feature of The Wrongs. I don’t recall who the dude rapping was.