Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes at the Turf Club

Indie band with MN roots packs a tuneful live punch

Playing tonight at the Turf Club, Nashville-based Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes are one of the most tuneful and downright interesting bands on the indie landscape. They’re touring on the new EP Bemidji (singer-keyboard player Ellsworth is from the Twin Cities), which follows up on earlier efforts Civilized Man and Kid Tiger.

DE&GL funded their first album through a Kickstarter, and have generally worked and toured like mules, forging an organically exciting sound that evokes lots of influences (sometimes New Wave, a dash of power pop, soul grooves, a quick foray into pop funk). Esquire named them one of 15 bands to watch a couple of years ago, and they’ve held on to that buzzy, up-and-coming feel.

Full disclosure: I came across the band because my cousin Marshall Skinner is their bass player, then stuck around because their tunes and live sound are simply stellar. In a time when the music industry is in upheaval, these guys are one of those bands out there touring for the love of it, and their joy and excitement are nothing less than infectious. 

Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes

September 30

at the Turf Club, 1601 University Ave, St. Paul

$10/$12 door

Tickets here.

Quinton Skinner is a writer and editor based in the Twin Cities. A former senior editor of Minnesota Monthly, he held the same post at Twin Cities METRO and 
has written for major national and local publications. He is the co-founder of Logosphere Storysmiths and author of several novels, including his latest, Odd One Out.