Woodsong Souvenir is a northern Minnesota band with members based out of Duluth and the Iron Range. The lineup includes Christopher David Hanson on vocals and guitar, Taylor Shykes on bass guitar, Bill Boyce on drums, Tommy Wotruba on slide guitar and banjo, and Sarah Holmbeck on piano. The style is alternative Americana and acoustic rock. Fans of The Christopher David Hanson Band will hear a familiar sound, but in a different hue.

Skarlett Woods wields a guitar and a powerfully expressive voice. She has a penchant for singing in an unusually wide breadth of tonal styles and inflections, making each song seemingly simple yet deeply engaging. The Americana/soul singer-songwriter has an inventive sound from the guitar techniques to the song structures. Her second album, Letters to the West, was released in 2023.

Jason Wussow and Veikko Lepisto have been playing stripped-down, acoustic-driven ska as Woodblind since the tail end of 2013. Though they primarily perform as a duo, with just a guitar and stand-up bass, they also call on a wide cast of supporting players at times. For Homegrown their expanded Woodblind Jubilee Super Big Band, still sans brass, features Jimi Cooper on lead guitar, Eli Bissonett on fiddle, Tyler Dubla on the drums, and Bryan “Lefty” Johnson on percussion. And for special guests on top of the special guests, Teague Alexy and Jen West are expected to join in.

Metal band Wolves of the North evolved out of the somewhat less heavy band Winning Isn’t Everything. Bassist Joel Kunze, guitarist Jessie Stowe and drummer Brady Madden added guitarist Judea Thomas in 2023 and the wolves began howling. But the pack soon got quiet as the band took an extended break. “We have been silent for a bit but just got back to rocking out and we are all stoked,” Kunze said.