Join the North Shore Music Association for two evenings of adventurous, improvisational jazz with Alpha Consumer, featuring Mike Lewis, Jeremy Ylvisaker, and JT Bates at the North House Folk School. Each night will offer a unique collaborative performance as part of the group’s weekend residency in Grand Marais.

These performances encourage audience questions, extending the collaborative spirit of the music itself to the audience and inviting insight into the creative process as the musicians improvise together in real time.

Attend one night or both—each show will be different.

Event Details
• Friday, Jan. 16 & Saturday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m.
• Loft Classroom, Yellow Building, North House Folk School (ADA compliant)
• Sliding-scale pricing tiers
• Free admission for K–12 students

Experience two nights of innovative, high-energy music from three of Minnesota’s most respected and internationally recognized artists.

Night one of a two-night residency on the North Shore, the weekend opens with a full-band honky-tonk show led by Erik Koskinen at UpYonder, joined by very special guests including Martha Scanlan, Jon Neufeld, and more. It’s a chance to move, gather, and shake off the winter—music that swings, stretches out, and brings the room together.

Erik Koskinen is a lights-out guitarist and bandleader, and his full band is as good and locked-in as you’ll hear anywhere—responsive, driving, and built to play a room. Raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and shaped by northern landscapes and Finnish roots, Koskinen brings a plainspoken, sharply observed voice to American country and folk music. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has called him “the best country songwriter in Minnesota,” which feels less like praise and more like the truth you arrive at by listening.

Songwriter Jeffrey Foucault describes Koskinen’s songs as having “the diamond-hard clarity and simplicity of Tom Petty,” noting his ability to sing a literal statement and “make it move like poetry.” He writes about an America that doesn’t get much play anymore—where working people live hard lives and hard loves, with wit, dignity, and grit. With a cracking live band and familiar collaborators onstage, the focus stays on feel and connection—songs played live, stretched just enough, and shared in real time.

Event Details
• Saturday, Feb. 7 | 8 p.m. show, 7 p.m. doors
• Up Yonder, 1615 W Hwy 61, Grand Marais, MN 55604
• $15 advance / $20 door

The weekend continues the following night with a separate, ticketed concert (sliding scale pricing tiers) at the 4-H Log Cabin, where Erik Koskinen joins Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld for an intimate seated show. Details below.

Martha Scanlan and Jon Neufeld come together for a stripped-down listening-room concert centered on songwriting, storytelling, and close attention, with Erik Koskinen joining as a special guest. This is a seated, intimate night where songs unfold slowly and every detail has room to land.

Scanlan and Neufeld share a long-running creative partnership defined by trust, restraint, and deep listening. Their latest album, Save It For Later, was named one of the year’s best by No Depression, recognized for its emotional clarity and carefully shaped arrangements. Scanlan’s unmistakable voice is matched by Neufeld’s inventive, spacious guitar work—music that values nuance, character, and the quiet weight of a well-told story.

With Erik Koskinen joining as a special guest, the night leans into quiet power rather than volume—songs shared up close, stories told without hurry, and an audience invited into the circle. This is music made for a cozy room with a long memory, offering a rare chance to hear three master songwriters fully present and deeply connected.

Event Details
• Sunday, Feb. 8 | 6 p.m. show, 5 p.m. doors
• 4H Log Cabin at the Cook County Community Center, 317 W. 5th St., Grand Marais, MN 55604
• Sliding Scale Pricing Tiers / Free for k-12 leaners with reservations recommended as space is limited