This past week we’ve been up on the North Shore, and on Thursday we got the opportunity to partake in a truly unique experience. Minnesota artist Jeremy Messersmith is in town to play a show at Voyageur Brewing Company. However, before the show at the brewery he gave a free show out on Artist’s Point, a part of the harbor wall on Lake Superior. A couple dozen folks gathered to listen to him play through his new album 11 Obscenely Optimistic Songs For Ukulele: A Micro-Folk Record For The 21st Century And Beyond.

This is a delightful collection of folksy songs that Jeremy wrote and plays on a ukulele, with the whole album taking only 20 minutes or so to play. He’s embarked on a tour around the state giving little shows like this in tons of different places, handing out songbooks, so that people can join in and sing along. Many of the songs are silly and fun, and singing them as a group is a ton of fun. There are a few though that are beautiful and poignant.

The song We All Do Better When We All Do Better is a direct quote from the late Paul Wellstone, and singing it brought me back to the day he died. The track Everything Is Magical is a beautiful tribute to that special person that you love so dearly. The album then finishes out with two sweet tracks, one of which is a lullaby to, as Jeremy put it, replace Twinkle, Twinkle, since it doesn’t make much sense.

It was a wonderful way to start our evening, and I’m grateful for the chance to experience his music live. If you’ve got 20 minutes, it’s well worth checking out his new album. Also, if you’re anywhere near where his short concerts are happening, I’d encourage you to stop by. It’s a lot of fun, and when you’re live and in-person, you get a bonus song about punching nazis that is pure awesome.

Jeremy is a fixture in Minnesota music, and he demonstrates how much incredible talent we have here in fly-over country.