Go fishing in the dark with a farmer’s daughter, or take in a fabulous festival:
— A fishing tournament on the St. Croix River with some different twists will be sponsored by Dick’s Bar and Grill on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., so you might not want to dance too long to the deejay the night before. In this catch and release tourney, you must be wearing your T-shirt and be photographed with the fish for prizes that go beyond the biggest three. Other prizes are for the most rough fish, most unusual catch and smallest catch. You can stake out your favorite spot on the river; no boat is needed. Prizes will be awarded at Dick’s at 6 p.m. There is a $20 entry fee, which includes raffle ticket.
— The Farmer’s Daughters, billed as Minnesota’s premier band that’s fronted by two women, will play the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Friday night, following up on playing a variety of venues around the area for several years. Both women doing country songs have similarly styled long locks, and each are pictured prominently with microphone in hand on an online site, which promises that you’ll fall in love with the lasses when taking in their performance at “your favorite honky-tonk.”
— A Hudson Hometown Music Festival of family friendly fare, sponsored by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, has an old favorite with her new band in a headliner role. That would be Trandy Blue and the Crew, as perhaps the most locally recognizable of several acts, with a mixed genre of music, at the fest, which will be held Saturday from noon to 9:30 p.m. Also, hailing from a bit outside the immediate area, New Richmond, is Ten Mile Creek, which will crank out diverse hits of almost all standard genres, as well.
— There also are several bands at the Spirit of the St. Croix Art Festival on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. each day at Lakefront Park and going until 4 or 5 p.m. They are: The fast up-and-coming, and already there, bluegrass band Barley Jacks with Brian Wicklund; Alex Rossi; August Blues; newcomers gaining popularity Firefly; the longtime local duo of the Van Valkenbergs named Practical Goods; ForAllBrazil; and Paul Imholte. Some of the food favorites are these signature dishes from local eateries: Wisconsin cheese curds from the local Carbone’s; fresh walleye over wild rice pilaf from Seasons Tavern in North Hudson; tomato basil soup and caprese salad on a stick from Urban Olive and Vine; and rich tiramisu from Mama Maria’s.
— They may be a mostly country band, but that didn’t prevent the guitarist from having long dreadlocks. That was the case when Coyote Wild played the Smilin’ Moose recently, and the Bob Marley-looking guy put his own twist on Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh, and then the instrumental intro to that “Streetlight People” song by Journey was done with a plucky banjo.