LGF is a free outdoor music festival set at the Historic Como Lakeside Pavilion for 2021, a lakefront arts oasis in the heart of St. Paul. The festival is run by community-conscious musicians focused on highlighting a diverse lineup of local and international artists, encouraging new artistic collaboration, and highlighting the world class music and business community of Minnesota.
Lowertown Guitar Festival 2021 is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Friday Aug 20
Promenade Stage
6:30-7:15 Mayyadda
7:30-8:45 Siama's Congo Roots
Saturday Aug 21
Promenade Stage
11:15-11:45 “Strum Along/Sing a Song” led by Lucy Michelle & Chris Koza
12:00-12:50 Derecho (the pedal swap will also be happening with the Chase Bliss pedal raffle at 12:50)
1:00-1:30 Elijah Johnson
1:30-1:50 Mike Michel and Terrell X
2:00-2:50 Humbird
3:00-4:00 Pat Donohue
4:15-6:00 Promenade closed
6:00-9:00 MN “The Last Waltz” Purchase tickets here for MN "The Last Waltz"
Waterfall Stage
11:00-11:45 Paul Metzger - Improvised on Modified Banjo accompanies a guided meditation with the Urban Monk.
12:15-4:00 Jeremy Ylvisaker and Friends present “Echoes 1 & 2”.
Cafe Duet Stage (inside Dock and Paddle)
1:15-2:00 Miss Myra and Fitzgerald Palmer
2:15-3:00 Cathy and Abel
3:15-4:00 Shank-Hagedorn Duo
Waterfall Room ( 3rd Floor inside pavilion)
12:00-1:00 Pat Donohue’s Master Class “Blues Guitar Turnarounds of the Legends”
($25 cash preferred or c/c payment day of workshop)
Email name & phone number to: musicmissionmusic@gmail.com
2021 LGF Lineup and Schedule
Friday Aug 20th - Promenade Stage
Mayyadda- Neo Soul voice/guitar
Friday Aug 20th 6:30pm - Promenade Stage
Mayyadda - Singer-songwriter from Minneapolis who aspires to use her music to make people slow down, find themselves in another perspective, and feel their way towards individual and collective healing. With an eclectic mix of neo-soul vocals, folksy guitar, pop-style piano with the occasional trap beat sprinkled in for flavor, she likes to refer to her genre as, “BlackGirlMagic.” She has been active as a recording artist since 2015, releasing three projects since then: most recently, Holding Space, released in 2018. New music will be coming in late 2021.
Siama's Congo Roots; Feel-good music from the Heart of Africa
Friday Aug 20th 7:30- Promenade Stage
Siama's Congo Roots - We are so thrilled to have a Lowertown Guitar Festival favorite to return, Siama's Congo Roots; Feel-good music from the Heart of Africa
Back in Africa, Congolese musician Siama Matuzungidi (see-AHH-maw maw-too-zoon-GHEE-dee) recorded hundreds of songs and toured the world with many popular soukous artists. (Soukous is a genre of dance music known as "the sound of happiness). The primary instrument in soukous music is the rhythm guitar and Siama's masterful approach earned him the titles "Soukous Legend" and "Mualimu" (meaning teacher or master). Along with his contemporaries, Siama helped fuel the popularization of soukous music from the 1970s-early 1990s.
Saturday Aug 21st - Promenade Stage
Bring your guitar/voice for Community “Strum Along/Sing a Song” led by Lucy Michelle & Chris Koza
Saturday Aug 21st. 11:00am Promenade Stage
Gather up/tune up 11:00 Strum Along/Sing a Song 11:15-11:45
All levels invited to create this giant community strum along! Bring your guitar and strum along to a couple songs or chords alongside your fellow humans. Sing along! (any stringed instrument accepted even air guitars!)
Lucy Michelle - A songwriter as serious as they come. Twin Cities natives will know her as the former front-woman of gypsy-pop outfit Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, a raucous and eclectic six-piece which has now become indie rock quartet Little Fevers. As a ubiquitous figure in the MN music scene Lucy has released 7 albums in the last 15 years and is set to release her 2nd solo album this coming fall. An ambitious full length entitled “American Mom” featuring local greats John Munson, Dylan Hicks, Chris Koza and Richard Medek.
Chris Koza - Composer and performer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both solo and with his band Rogue Valley, he has supported and shared the stage with artists such as Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, The Jayhawks, Neko Case, Kathleen Edwards, Dan Wilson, Stephen Kellogg, This is the Kit, and Tift Merrit, among others. His music appears regularly on ABC’s General Hospital and 60 Minutes, and his song Be Wild will be featured as the soundtrack to an upcoming State of Minnesota tourism campaign. His song (Rogue Valley) The Wolves and the Ravens was featured in Ben Stiller’s film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Derecho - A little funk band
Saturday Aug 21st. 12:00pm Promenade Stage
Al Church and Al Sparhawk have a little funk band. Come dance!
LFG Pedal Swap, Sponsored by El Diablo Amps: free and fun way to trade guitar gear with your fellow gear nerds!
Saturday Aug 21st. 12:00pm Promenade Stage
LGF 2nd Annual Guitar Pedal Swap, sponsored by El Diablo Amps and Guitars. Gather your unused/unloved guitar effects pedals and swap them out for something new and exciting! Trade with your fellow Twin Cities pedal junkies, or trade with El Diablo himself! Hundreds of pedals on offer. This event is free and open to the public. Register for a chance to win a FREE Chase Bliss Audio pedal! For more info, visit the El Diablo Amps Facebook Page
Elijah Johnson - Traditional Jazz Blues
Saturday Aug 21st. 1:00pm Promenade Stage
Elijah - 17 year-old developing Jazz Guitarist and future neurologist is evidence that 21st century jazz can be adventurous, fresh, swing hard and that an exciting young modern guitarist can play memorable melodies and soulful grooves.
Influenced by Russell Malone, Remo Palmeiri, Jacques Lesure, Mark Whitfield, Grant Green, Calvin Keys, Melvin Sparks, Roy Hargrove, and Ravi Coltrane among others, Elijah Michael seeks to combine rhythmic ideas, harmonic sophistication, spontaneity, soul, and blues into his own unique approach. He has studied under impressionistic modern jazz guitarist and composer Hristo Vitchev, a 2016 DOWNBEAT’s Critic Poll “Rising Star – Guitar”, contemporary jazz guitarist Ronny Smith as well as Brazilian guitarist Beto Rodrigues.
Mike Michel and Terrell X - Improvised human beats/loops/modern electric guitar
Saturday Aug 21st. 1:30pm Promenade Stage
Mike Michel and Terrell X - Purveyors of collaboration, staples for Lowertown Guitar Fest. With attitudes that always point to yes singularity they host workshops, produce and perform. When they unite there’s a conversation that goes deep to the core.
Humbird - Indie folk
Saturday Aug 21st. 2:00pm Promenade Stage
Humbird - Combining a wintry longing with the warmth of a familiar folktale, Humbird stretches between experimental folk and environmental Americana to embrace the unexpected. This music invites a refreshing dissonance into the house, it leaves breadcrumbs along the path and reflects light back at the stars. Humbird’s debut album Pharmakon (Aug. 2019) is a “...an absolutely hypnotic listening experience” according to Folk Alley. Atwood Magazine describes it as music wrapped in “gentle rebellion”.
Months after its initial release, Humbird’s debut continues to resonate with listeners, wracking up online streams and (more importantly) connecting with listeners all over the world. Inspired by artists like Joni Mitchell, John Prine and Big Thief, Humbird crafts songs of American mysticism rooted in the grit of the upper midwest.
Pat Donohue - Fingerstyle Guitar
Saturday Aug 21st. 3:00pm Promenade Stage
Pat Donohue - One of the most listened-to finger pickers in the world. As the guitarist for the “ Guys All-Star Shoe Band '' of Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, for twenty years, Pat got to show off his savvy licks and distinctive original songs to millions of listeners each week. Pat’s musical tastes are eclectic. Though he considers himself foremost a folk guitarist, Pat’s influences are rooted in bluesmen Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and Miles Davis. He manages to blend jazz and blues with folk, and the mix is seamless. Over the years he has captivated audiences with his unique original
Saturday Aug 21st - Waterfall Stage - Experimental
Paul Metzger - Improvised on Modified Banjo accompanies a guided meditation w/ the Urban Monk.
Saturday Aug 21st. 11:00am Waterfall Stage - Experimental
Paul Metzger - Improvised on Modified Banjo, elegant with rustic audacity (ethereal ) accompanies a guided meditation w/ Marc Anderson "The Urban Monk"
Jeremy Ylvisaker and Friends present Echoes 1 & 2. (Two
45min pieces, each played twice with an overall “In a Silent Way” type form w/ 15 minute silences.
3 guitars, and a wall of amps )
Saturday Aug 21st. 12:00pm Waterfall Stage - Experimental
Jeremy Ylvisaker - Multi-instrumentalist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a member of the indie rock bands Alpha Consumer and The Cloak Ox , The Suburbs to name a few of many.
Saturday Aug 21st - Duet Stage ( inside Dock and Paddle )
Miss Myra and Fitzgerald Palmer - Jazz Guitar Duets from the 1920's and 30's
Saturday Aug 21st 1:15pm Duet Stage ( inside Dock and Paddle )
Miss Myra and Fitzgerald Palmer - Brought together by their mentor Papa John Kolstad back in 2015, Myra Burnette and Fitzgerald Palmer are two guitar players on the scene with a heart for swing guitar from the 20s and 30s. Join them on August 21st as they pay tribute to some of the first innovators of jazz guitar with a series of duets from the 1920's and 30's from the likes of Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, Carl Kress, Dick McDonough and more!
Cathy and Abel - Folk harmonies blending English/Spanish tunes
Saturday Aug 21st 2:15pm Duet Stage ( inside Dock and Paddle )
Cathy and Abel Piñeiro - Husband & wife duo whose mutual love of music includes an eclectic mix of familiar songs in many different genres, in English/Spanish.Their versatility and harmonies is not only pleasing to the ears but to the soul as well.
Shank-Hagedorn Duo- Violin & Classical Guitar/Folk & World music
Saturday Aug 21st 3:15pm Duet Stage ( inside Dock and Paddle )
Leslie Shank -Praised by the New York Times as “an impressive violinist [who plays] intimately and sweetly at one moment and with fearless enthusiasm at the next,” Leslie Shank leads a busy musical life as soloist and chamber musician. She was a member of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for 30 years, 24 of them as assistant concertmaster. Soloing frequently with The SPCO, she also performed with the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the Seattle Symphony, and the National Orchestral Association, among others.
Joseph Hagedorn - Founding member of the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Joseph Hagedorn has performed with the group since 1986, touring to some thirty states, Mexico, China, Germany, Serbia, and Montenegro, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and recording six much-admired CDs. This Iowa native earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Cornell College and a Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota, studying with Richard Stratton, Christopher Carrington, Nelson Amos, and Jeffrey Van. In 1990, he was the winner of Guitar Foundation of America International solo competition.
Pat Donohue Workshop
Saturday Aug 21st 12:00-1:00
Pat Donohue’s “Blues Guitar Turnarounds of the Legends” Workshop
Pat Donohue Guitar Seminar $25 cash preferred or c/c payment day of workshop
“Blues Guitar Turnarounds of the Legends”
Every blues guitar hero from Robert Johnson to B.B. King to Wes Montgomery and beyond has made great use of turnarounds, the many little chord progressions and phrases that turn the end of one verse around to the beginning of the next. We’ll take a close look at these foundational musical devices and how to build them and use them in blues, jazz, country and other guitar styles.
To sign up for Pat Donohue’s Workshop send email to musicmissionmusic@gmail.com
w/ your name & phone number
$25 cash/check preferred or c/c payment all day of workshop
Saturday Aug 21st
6:00 - 9:00
Promenade Stage
The Last Waltz
Come and sip the wine….
History of LGF: Founded in 2013 with major backing by McNally-Smith Collage of Music and help from the STAR grant. Chris Osgood ( punk rock guitar slinger, scenester and all around angel of arts ) asked that Molly put together an afternoon of guitar hero music that would bring folks of all ages and genre loving music fans to Mears Park in the heart of the warehouse district of St. Paul . Under the dynamic guidance of Chris and the many hats he wears, Lowertown Guitar Festival, the big FREE fest was born.
Not only was it 8 hours of exceptional guitar skills spanning 2-3 stages, it also included free workshops in the morning at McNally-Smith covering technical skills like guitar effects, tone and other more gear focus topics.The college hosted a teen guitar seminar in the morning, culminating in a teen guitar challenge at the site starting at noon where kids had an opportunity to shred and compete for gear donated by major manufacturers like Fender and Martin Guitars. Over the years we have added a "market place”, and in 2016 included a luthier's showcase.
2018 found us at the historic Como Lakeside Pavilion, a venue that hit many high notes for our growing team. Todd Clouser came aboard providing added support and a broader reach. We were able to keep the festival free, adding another stage, more vendors and a covered area from the elements keeping us outdoors.
Sponsors Include :
McNally-Smith College of Music
True Center Group