Local Happenings This Weekend: Art, Music, Poetry, Dance and TWO FREE TICKETS

Straight up, you have to make decisions. Too much to see, too little time.

Tonight, jazz/blues singer Pippi Ardienne will be at the Oldenburg House. It's sold out, so your decision has been made for you.

Tonight, the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art is hosting its Second Annual Student/Instructor Exhibition. If you can't make the opening, the art school will be open throughout the weekend. Check the link for hours.

The Hibbing Dylan Project will be offering a Bob Dylan themed tour of Hibbing on Saturday May 19th. The tour will be given by Mary Keyes, a Hibbingite who has been giving Dylan themed tours of Hibbing for over a decade. Mary’s tours are always informative and entertaining. Dylan fans should not pass up this learning opportunity. The tour is part of a day long celebration put on by The Hibbing Dylan Project acknowledging Bob Dylan and his accomplishments.

The cost for the “Bob Dylan’s Hibbing Experience” bus tour is $30 and seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased at Security State Bank in downtown Hibbing, or may be reserved for will-call by emailing hibbingdylanproject@gmail.com. Refreshments will be served on the bus.

I HAVE ONE FREE TICKET that was purchased and donated for a giveaway here. The first person to contact me via email (ennyman3 AT gmail DOT com) or FB or Twitter (ennyman3) will receive this ticket if we can get it to you and you're planning to go.

Proceeds from the day will be going towards the Hibbing Dylan Project’s tribute of Bob Dylan’s achievements.

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The Largest open studio weekend of the year Nationwide is this weekend in Minneapolis. If you are in the Twin Cities, check out the Art-O-Whirl.

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I ALSO HAVE A FREE TICKET TO SEE BIG WU. This is a concert to support the Armory Arts and Music Center vision and to raise ongoing awareness for the Historic Armory. The first person to Buy a Ticket gets this FREE TICKET FOR A FRIEND.

Big Wu got its start in late 1991. Their first couple gigs were on campus in 1992. According to Mark Castino, "We weren't all that interested in school especially after we began having success with the music. Initially we learned and performed classic rock and funk tunes with an emphasis on Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers, thanks to Jason's influence. I had virtually zero knowledge of the Dead when I joined the band. Today I can safely say that Jerry Garcia is a guiding light for my guitar playing for the last 25 years."

After four years of playing cover songs in or around Northfield, the band mostly graduated and relocated to the Twin Cities with the intention of trying their luck in that music scene. "We quickly realized that we needed original music now, so I began writing music that would end up on our debut album in 1997. Terry also began writing. He and I have always been the main writers in the band."

This year the ban is putting the finishing touches on their ninth official release, due out this summer. No official title yet, but all original music with the exception of one song which utilizes the lyrics of Robert Hunter.

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SUNDAY After there will be a Celebration of Motherhood in all its forms at Beaners.

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ALSO on Sunday, Duluth Poet Laureate Ellie Schoenfeld is presenting an event called Wordy Dancing, a celebration of poetry through the movement of dance. DETAILS HERE

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AND FINALLY Duluth Dylan Fest begins tomorrow evening with the opening at Karpeles featuring a presentation of a portion of the William Pagel Dylan Archives, accompanied by the first of two lectures in the John Bushey Memorial Lecture Series. David Pichaske, who teaches literature and writing at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, is the author of more than two dozen books including A Generation in Motion: Popular Music and Society in the Sixties and Song of the North Country: A Midwest Framework to the Songs of Bob Dylan. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the Dylan lecture will begin at 7:00 p.m.  Learn more about our speaker at DavidPichaske.com.

I myself will be at this event (the lecture at Karpeles) as well as Sunday evening's Dylan Trivia at Carmody's, 9:00. This is the fifth or sixth year that I've assembled the trivia questions, and as usual there are some special ones. You don't really have to win to have fun. Join us.

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KEY LINKS
TICKETS FOR BIG WU
Duluth Dylan Fest Complete Schedule

Meantime, how do people find time for television?