Third installment of summer music

Folk musician David Huckfelt and accompanying guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker performed for the third installment of this year’s Waseca Public Library Summer Concert Series Tuesday night. Like the previous concerts, it took place at Waseca’s Trowbridge Park.

Before the concert, Waseca librarian Afton Finley introduced the pair of musicians and thanked the Waseca Area Foundation and Friends of Library for sponsoring the series. 

Though they are new to Waseca, Huckfelt commented that visiting it on “a pretty night” like this made him want to “stay for a month.” 

One of Huckfelt’s lyrics, “on a summer evening before the dark of night,” perfectly described the conditions surrounding Tuesday’s concert. “I thought it was gonna be a lot hotter tonight,” Huckfelt added. 

Huckfelt is a native of Spencer, Iowa, and dedicated a few of his songs to his home community in Clay County. “I’m looking for the heart, wherever it still is,” sang Huckfelt. Another was sung for his three-year-old son, who was present in the audience. Though he performed mostly original material, Huckfelt covered a song by Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot, who recently passed away. He cited Lightfoot as an inspiration for his own music, having been introduced to his music through a record owned by his father.

Huckfelt also commented that he recently heard a song of his own on the radio and how awkward it felt to be called an “elder statesman of the folk community.” While he is thankful for the recognition he receives, he said that his “favorite type” of shows are those similar to Tuesday night, played for a small venue and free of charge.

“Thank you for dragging your lawn chairs out and coming to hang out with us tonight,” said Huckfelt.

Huckfelt performed a few songs from his upcoming album, which will be his third as a soloist. A 16-year veteran of live musicianship, Huckfelt was formerly a member of a band called The Pines. Ylvisaker, who said that he's performed with many bands around the midwest, has been playing since he was a church musician as a preteen beginning in 1984.

The concert’s grand finale was a Bob Dylan cover, a fitting tribute for one of the most successful folk musicians of all time. 

After the concert concluded, Ylvisaker commented that while he and Huckfelt performed folk music Tuesday night, it was “today’s version of an old label.” Huckfelt added that his own material is influenced by a Native Americana musician he often plays with and an Iranian Persian-fusion performer, though he would not claim to be representative of those genres himself.

As the concert closed and the band packed up their equipment, one audience member, Carol Ulschmidt, said that Huckfelt and Ylvisaker were the “best band yet.” Community members will have one more chance to catch the Summer Concert Series in Trowbridge Park, as The Gentlemen’s Anti Temperance League will be performing jazz next Tuesday at 7 p.m.