Qrrrky doing their own thing at Bent Paddle. Photos by Jill Fisher.

This past week I had some brand new discoveries, which reinforces my dedication to hearing local live music. I’m sure I’ll never get enough of it.

The band Qrrrky made its way north to Duluth’s Bent Paddle on Friday, Oct. 10, to the delight of a small but very receptive audience.

Based in the Twin Cities, it was the first time the five-member band played at Bent Paddle, the first time in Duluth and only their fourth public performance. Unbelievable!

Members of this rockin’ band are Dacia Miller (vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion), Mike Walz (electric guitar, vocals), Mike’s wife Lynn Wilson Walz (synthesizer), Chris Roed (drums) and Danny Earixson (bass). (Yes, that’s how Dan’s name is spelled!)

The members hail from various places — North Dakota and Wisconsin as well as Minnesota — with them crossing paths and playing in various combinations since 2008.

The band’s Facebook photo is graphic representation of how their somewhat strange name came to be; adopted from Scrabble pieces assembled to try and use a difficult set of letters. It does seem to fit their singular sound and eclectic song selection. It’s certainly memorable enough.

And this band must be into Scrabble big time since its website illustrates the names of the tunes on their upcoming self-titled album on a Scrabble board. All but one of these original numbers were performed at their Friday evening show.

Witty banter peppered their interaction with the audience between songs. I arrived in time to hear Dan tell the crowd that the band “has a lot of bad songs but this one’s a good one.” It was “Peyote Desert,” an intense, drum-driven dance tune that had me up and shaking a leg.

Then it was onto “Do My Own Phing”—not a misspelling but sung as “Thing” with an enticing lead-in lyric—”I enjoy the quiet staring into space…” From there the song evolves into mantra-like repetition of “I just want to do my own thing.” Driving home a message of non-conformity with gut-wrenching guitar riffs.

A hip-hoppy medley of “Come As You Are” and “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” put us into a whole other context.
Since I had arrived late, I missed the cover of “Hold On” by the Alabama Shakes, in which Dacia sang lead with an electronic loop creating her own percussion and vocal harmonies. Pals who witnessed it raved about this number.

I would have liked to hear their rendition of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
My take, hearing her on other numbers, is she has a powerful on-pitch voice that makes for searing interpretations.

The other band members hold their own with harmonies and strong musicianship.

As they wound up their gig, Qrrrky covered several tunes including, Amy Winehouse’s hit, “Valerie” and David Byrne’s “Burning Down the House” (both fab).

The last number was the seasonally appropriate “Ghostbusters.” Lots of audience participation on that one!

Qrrrky is about to release a self-titled album that will be streaming soon and issued on vinyl.

The band has a gig at the White Squirrel Bar in St. Paul on Friday, Nov. 7. It just might be worth a trip down I-35 to hear more of what this group has to offer!

After this show ended, it was just 9 pm and Andrew D. Huber, a Chicago-based musician, was scheduled to play at Sir Ben’s.

Since it was a little too early to turn in on a Friday night, I decided to stop in to check him out. Huber has played this venue previously (he was here on Jan. 25 and Feb.15), though it was the first time I’d encountered him.

Andrew D. Huber

In looking at his tour schedule online, I saw that he plays mostly throughout Illinois with a few stops in Wisconsin and that Duluth and Lutsen are his only Minnesota gigs.

This performance was an abrupt change of pace from the Qrrrky’s show since what I encountered was a soloist on acoustic guitar going up against a noisy bar crowded with Gen-Zers (or maybe Millennials) who didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the music whatsoever.

As I inched my way forward toward the stage, distancing myself from the chatter, I began to better appreciate the tunes he was performing. So much so that I ended up purchasing a couple of his CDs. These proved to be quite a switch from his live performance.

On them, in addition to his vocals, he played an amazing number of instruments: acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, bass, bouzouki, tenor banjo, keyboards, shakers, cannons, chimes and bells.
They were highly produced albums with a range of songs that harken back to the days 50 years ago or more that memorialized the seamen who traverse our waters.

But they weren’t covers! These were his own compositions in line with that formidable tradition.
So on this evening, Huber played many of his original songs that sounded like classic sea shanties, plus several that are.

The titles of the tunes I heard say it all: “Whichever Way the Wind Blows,” “Bottom of the Bay,” and “Safe Passage Home (Way Boys Away)” from his album Chasing Time were all in that vein.

Then suddenly we were into a murder ballad with “Seven Shot Lane.” After that musical exception it was back to a regionally nostalgic number, “Lutsen” that was dedicated to his dad and the classic, “Wave Over Wave.”

His playlist was most appropriate for this season during which Edmund Fitzgerald memorials proliferate.

Huber’s latest album, Sailor’s Rescue, has compositions that tackle a wider range of subjects, despite its title.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Huber again, though I would hope it could be in a quieter, listening place, possibly even at Sir Ben’s again if during a five pm dinnertime show.

My third outing in two-days’ time was back to Bent Paddle on Saturday night to hear Yeah Scherz.
Now I know this band has been around a while and I’m not sure why I hadn’t been to one of its gigs previously, but it was a worthwhile new discovery.

Yeah Scherz

I have seen band members Dicky Brooks (bass guitar, vocals), Tarek Makky (lead electric guitar, vocals) and Matt Groome (drums) play with various other bands before, but not Kyle Scherz (lead vocals, electric guitar). His last name provided the group with its rather punny moniker.

They put on quite a show, performing covers of an interesting mix of songs and groups, most of which were unfamiliar to me. These included songs by Cold Play (“Fix You”), Manchester Orchestra (“The Gold”), Børn (“10,000 Emerald Pools”), along with Lorde and Alabama Shakes, among others.

I didn’t get most of the song titles but it didn’t really matter since these guys were true rockers — loud, raucous and very danceable!

Of course I did recognize Marvin Gaye’s 1971 hit “What’s Going On.”

When Kyle announced that he enjoys covering tunes made famous by female singers, I realized they were transforming the songs, making each into their own.

And that Kyle! His full-throated, all out delivery was incredible to witness. In fact, it was so over-the-top I was worried about the damage he might be doing to his vocal cords.

The harmonies provided by Dicky and Tarek were great — icing on the cake! And Tarek was simply terrific on lead electric guitar; picking out clear tunes, including some slide guitar licks that had the sound of pedal steel at times and “shredding” on “What’s In Your Head?”

Dicky, with his strong bass lines, and Matt, keeping up the pace on drums, kept the band tight.
My only quibble with this band’s performance was Kyle’s propensity for turning his back to the audience, though I do appreciate that it was in service of amping up the energy of the group.
In a nutshell, this was a really good band that I plan to see again next chance I get.

UPCOMING: Although I mentioned it in last week’s column, I again urge folks to get out to hear Shawn Phillips on Friday, Oct. 17, at the West Theatre. I know I’m not the only baby boomer in town who grooved to his music back in the day. See you there!