Between uncomplicated instrumentals and earnest lyrics, country rock quartet Horse Fzce puts the Z in folksy. Sometimes slow, sometimes upbeat, Horse Fzce’s songs are stories of eccentric countryside characters and settings. The band originated with Heather Surla on vocals and guitar and Eric Krenz on vocals and bass, expanding in 2021 to include Liz Young on cajon and Tom Frichek on bass. Horse Fzce released Ashes Everywhere, its first album as a quartet, during last year’s Homegrown.
Archives: Bands
Hollow Profit
Rapper Hollow Profit is the hip-hop alterego of Duluth’s Brody Burke. He has been writing, recording and performing songs for nearly a decade. His music combines jazzy background loops with intense lyrical delivery. Burke lists Kendrick Lamar, the Beatles, Johnny Cash and MF Doom as inspirations. His albums, 2023’s EP Letters From Noir and 2024’s full-lengths The Prelude and Cuibono?, the latter featuring collabs with such Detroit artists as Dango Forlaine and Ronnie Alpha, are available on Spotify and his Bandcamp page.
Hobo Revival
Founding member Kim Nagler writes Hobo Revival’s original songs and provides bright vocals for the bluesy folk act. The group has been at it for 11 years, playing every tavern, brewpub, American Legion and Eagle’s Club on the Iron Range. The lineup includes Robert Klaysmat on drums, Andy Gregorich on lead guitar, Ricky Harding on bass and Al Oikari on guitar and keyboards. The newest Hobo Revival album, The Pulled Pork Sessions, dropped a few weeks after last year’s Homegrown.
Sophie Hiroko
Riding a wave of generational change in the city’s music scene, Duluth’s Sophie Hiroko began writing songs as a teenager and found an audience last summer. In the fall, she recruited bassist Ned Netzel and drummer Tommy Kishida to help transform her songs into a fully formed sound that falls into the self-described genre of “tender bubblegrunge.” Kishida is leaving the band before Homegrown, but Leif Hinkel has stepped in to take over the drums. George Ellsworth was recently added on keys. Hiroko’s lyrics reflect the experience of “coming of age in Duluth as a queer woman, and coming from a multi-cultural family,” she said.