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Sam Miltich & Co. to perform at B’nai Abraham on Iron Range
The B’nai Abraham Cultural Center in Virginia continues its free summer concert series with a show this Saturday, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. featuring Sam Miltich and his band. Sam Miltich is a Gypsy Jazz guitarist, born and raised in the woods of northern Minnesota. He is a musician by profession and plays regularly in…
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Actual Wolf to play hometown Tall Timber Days
It’s always fun to see Grand Rapids’ own Eric Pollard AKA Actual Wolf do some low key shows back home when he’s around. I don’t know if the rowdy streets of this northern paper mill town count as low key, but he and his band will be playing in the heart of the city for…
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Another restrictive deer hunt in Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced the regulations for the 2015 deer hunting season. Like last year, it’s a more restrictive approach. For the rifle season, most of the state will have a lottery for antlerless permits. However, several zones in the Northeast (including my family’s shack) will be bucks only. The primary rifle season…
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What’s ahead for the Great Northern Radio Show
Since October 2011 I’ve produced, written and hosted a radio variety program called the Great Northern Radio Show on Northern Community Radio based in Grand Rapids and Bemidji, Minnesota. We’ve been fortunate enough to air on independent public stations around the state and even on the cable access channel in the Northeast suburbs of the Twin…
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Rez comedians heal, hearten with laughs
“When people hear the words ‘Indian Reservation,’ they think of alcoholism, drugs, addiction, abuse and suicide,” levels Jon Roberts, a comedian from Red Lake. “We want to send a message that those shouldn’t be the only words you think of when you see us. Laughter is what brings communities together. That is the reason we…
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Iron Range Original Music Association to host street show
IROMA, or the Iron Range Original Music Association, is a loose alliance of active bands producing original music based out of Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. Its members include a couple acts I’ve booked for my Great Northern Radio Show and that you see on the marquees of a number of establishments here and around the state. On Thursday,…
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Authentic Finnish music at the B’nai Abraham
This week, the B’nai Abraham Cultural Center and Museum will host a Finnish Music Festival Wednesday, July 22 at 7 p.m. Kanteleen Soittajat, a group of 18 enthusiastic American-Finns from Duluth and surrounding area perform on the kantele, an ancient instrument that originated two thousand years ago and is now Finland’s national musical instrument. Since…
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‘Fargo’ coming back in September (and so are my reviews)
UPDATE: The full Fargo Season 2 trailer is here! Last year, I stumbled into writing a popular series of blog posts about the FX series “Fargo,” based on the famous Coen Brothers film of the same name. My posts started with a tongue-in-cheek review of the accuracy of the Minnesota details in the show, only to…
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Researcher to revisit Iron Range dialect
Though probably not surprising to visitors and natives alike, the Iron Range region of Northern Minnesota is home to its own researched and defined dialect. I‘ve written about this before, but the topic takes on new relevance as linguist Dr. Sara Schmelzer Loss of Oklahoma State University (and a Hibbing native) returns to her hometown…
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Northern Lights Music Festival brings classics back to Range
The Northern Lights Music Festival is returning to the Iron Range this summer with its annual classical music and opera tour across the region. Last summer, I spoke with Veda Zupancic, the accomplished musician and director from Aurora who founded the event. This year, the Northern Lights festival kicks off today and includes events that run through July 20.…
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Chris Pratt was born on the Iron Range
Last week, I joined the legions of Summer 2015 movie-goers to see “Jurassic World” starring everyman action hero Chris Pratt. I also delighted in a little known connection between this film and the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota. And no, it’s not this: Guy who unsuccessfully weaponized velociraptors in #JurassicWorld looks like MN Senate leader Tom Bakk…
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Hockey’s iconic Hanson Brothers are ‘home’ on the Range
The Hanson Brothers — real life brothers and pro hockey veterans — are practically legend for anyone who follows hockey in Northern Minnesota. The cult classic “Slap Shot,” starring Paul Newman, cast Jeff, Steve and Jack Carlson to play themselves … along with Dave Hanson, an actor cast to replace Jack when he was called up…
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Hear the Grand Marais Great Northern Radio Show
You can now hear the podcast for the most recent Great Northern Radio Show we did up in Grand Marais on June 13. The show went well: great audience, sketch material and guests were strong on this one and the music fit the place like a glove. In addition to being a free download, you…
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Northern MN art teacher crowned Miss Minnesota
A Northern Minnesota high school art teacher was crowned Miss Minnesota last Saturday and will now use her campaign for the Miss America crown to highlight education issues. Rachel Latuff is the art teacher at North Woods High School serving Cook and Orr. You can catch the whole story in this Tom Klein article from the hometown…
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See active Iron Range mines or tour virtually
This Thursday brings the first of the Hibbing Taconite mine tours available via the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm. The tours run every Thursday afternoon from June 25 to Aug. 6. The Hibbing Taconite mine tour takes you through an active iron mine and processing facility. You see how iron is blasted out of the ground and turned…