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With summer now here, there is the Man of the Year, and bands to also hear.
— The North Hudson Man of the Year did not quite end up being a woman. The new guy on the NH block to be given that annual honor is Dan Klatt, besting a lass named Amy Beth. As the sign said at Kozy Korner, the North Hudson pizza restaurant and bar that spearheads the contest, Klatt as Man of the Year is definitely not sheepish. It had said last Saturday in announcing the upcoming finals, that people could attend and “see history being made.” That history almost had them rethinking whether the contest would have to be renamed “person” of the year, as although Dan got over 900 votes from patrons, Amy Beth received only 130 less, which would have made her a winner in four of the past five years. And although that end of it is all in good fun, what is more important is that the whole effort raised $3,000 for a vital local charitable cause, victims of a house fire in North Hudson.
— It’s now officially summertime, and the livin’ is easy, and the bands are playing and often free! Leading off is Practical Goods, the duo of local couple Eric and Sarah VanValkenburg, at Dick’s Bar and Grill from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, May 29. These days it is especially hard to pigeonhole bands, although people keep trying, and the VanValkenburgs apparently have heard it. They say online that they play various styles, are heavy on folk, “and I guess Americana?”
— The flyer for Practical Goods on display at Dick’s shows two publicity photos on different ends of the spectrum. One appears to be at the aviation-themed Hangar Taproom at American Sky Brewery, and the other at a regional bistro. There are many other photos online, and that’s the case also for a band that begins playing on Friday about the time Practical Goods stops, that being the aptly named Almost Famous at Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt. To give an idea of what can be heard, there are three of their full video clips to be seen on YouTube, again at opposite ends of the spectrum — Gimme Three steps, Purple Rain and Machine Gun Kelly.

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