While the Hudson Hot Air Affair has a big blow up with the requisite ballooning activities, it also features a wide range of music downtown, in differing styles, and it all follows the Super Bowl theme. (The local event has been moved up a week, to Jan. 26-28, because of the big game in Minneapolis).
The following is a primer for Hot Air Affair music:
— A signature activity is the Taste of the Hot Air Affair, Touchdown Hudson XXIX Edition, with local rockers Boondoggle providing the music. (They will tone it down for this gig so people can converse). The times for this opportunity to sample all kinds of good stuff is 7:30-10 p.m. on Saturday. The Boondoggle genre is “variety country/rock. We play music by Elvis, the Beatles, the Stones, Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam, and anything and everything around and in-between.” Moreso than almost any band, they cover the gamut of five decades — the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and even the 2000s.
Band members — some local people you may know — are Brent Ackley, Dawn Budrow, Jim Ehlers, John Wolf and Nate Dahl. Their hometown and continuing onward, current location is western Wisconsin, namely St. Croix County. “We like music with good harmonies, dancing beats, lots of telecaster “twang” and hot guitar solos,” they say.
“Boondoggle has been terrorizing the region with loud rock ‘n’ roll and badass country music since 2002,” members say, “playing our version of hundreds of popular songs over more than 200 gigs.” For this gig, they have turned done the volume, so to speak.
They list their band interests as rowdy bars, bachelorette parties, dancin’ fools, wedding dances, barn dances, guitars, cadillacs and cold brewskies. To further the humor they say that they are “just one hit shy of being a one hit wonder.”
— On Friday night, starting at around 9:30 p.m., is the group Junk FM at the Smilin’ Moose. They fire off partygoers’ favorite songs with unexpected twists and surprising changes of pace, sporting a song list as diverse as you will find. They say that on more than one occasion fans have confessed: “Junk FM RUINED some of my favorite songs – when I hear the originals all I can think is ‘I like Junk FM’s version better.’“
With genre-bending mashups and juxtaposing styles, Junk FM just wants to see how ridiculous the dancefloor can get over the course of the night. From Garth Brooks to Lady Gaga in one slamming step, simultaneous Eminem and Green Day, Cee Lo Green meets Rod Stewart, all while stealing your drink!
— But rock music is not all there is at the Hot Air Affair. Anne Deming takes the stage at Urban Olive and Vine from 6-8:30 p.m. Friday. “I write songs and tell stories with my guitar,” Deming says, adding that this is a common genre, with solo guitar plucking being typical, but critics say she also has a voice that carries her to the top of this style.
Seductive and confessional are the adjectives that come to mind when describing these songs. Dealing with life, love, and accompanying emotions, Deming is said to have a voice that comes close to, and stacks up favorably, to a more angelic Natalie Merchant. Standout tracks include the blues oriented “Not The One” and “Talk Me Down,” as well as “Bring Me Happiness,” a gospel-flavored number sung a cappella.
— Also at that Urban Olive and Vine venue, at the same time frame on Saturday evening, is the duo calling themselves Quinn and Meter. Pat Quinn and Peg/M.Etta Meyer perform a wide range of music, including folk rock, traditional and contemporary Irish songs, a few standards and pop favorites, and original material.
— There also is DJ music to dance to on both Friday and Saturday nights at Dick’s Bar and Grill, featuring Ben Michaels, who has been known to throw in some multiple-song mixes, and at The Moose on Saturday, with one of their revolving group of DJs, who always draw a packed house. Both venues have a series of TV screens with videos running in tandem with the songs, adding to the experience.
— Lastly, you can find karaoke at the Hudson Bowling Center on both Friday and Saturdays nights, a two-fer trend that has been rolling out the tunes in that manner for years.
For more information on non-music activities at the Hudson Hot Air Affair, check out the latest edition of Hudson Neighbors magazine, which has hit the bookshelves and mailboxes.

This weekend is one for oldies (as far as tenure) but goodies as far as music. The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League is at Juniors in River Falls on Friday, Jan. 19, with an early start at 7 p.m. And for a far different style, at The Willow Inn in Burkhardt, is Empty Arms on Friday night and Rough House on Saturday night. And for even more variety, check out Good for Gary at the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night. All this leads into a pair of killer weekends — the next two — of music and other activities at the Hudson Hot Air Affair and the Super Bowl overflow into Wisconsin.

— In the end of this football season that is raining purple, a true blue way to celebrate is the Purple Punch at Woody’s in Bayport, that is made up of Purple Pucker, Pinnacle vodka and citrus soda. Go Vikes!?! While they still can, because the best way to beat a curse is to drown it!

Perhaps the longest-running karaoke contest in the region is back at the Bungalow Inn in Lakeland — after a one-year hiatus — and this Friday is another chance to join the cast of characters who will move on to the finals in early February.
Qualifiers for Bungalow Idol are being chosen each Friday in January, and you could be among the next to join the pair who already made their mark, singing their way to success last weekend. Two qualifiers are chosen each weekend this month, and a total of eight will compete for first-through-third prizes in the last installment.
Bungalow Idol has been held for years, as those who would strive to be like it have come and gone. As one of the frequent participants both there and at other contests that haven’t stood the test of time as well, I respectfully offer a set of tips that might make you the next Kelly Clarkston, so to speak.
First of all, pick a song that’s well-known and not really “out there,” and is, to coin a term, radio friendly. You may have a one-time fave that’s in a specialty music genre, but remember that you may need to come back to the finals with something else on your plate. I learned this fact the hard way, as one time around at a karaoke contest venue, I ripped through Run To The Hills by Iron Maiden, a rendition of mine that has quite a few times literally brought the house down. The karoake-meister was really getting into it, to the point of moshing it up and tweaking the tone of my voice with his sound machine for optimum effect. I thought this was a slam dunk for me, but in the end I didn’t even move on past the initial round. The song was just not well enough known to the average judge.
Another side of that same coin is when a song is difficult enough, again often as a specialty, that you might miss-hit on an occasional word. Simon Cowell isn’t the only one to pay attention to such detail. And as far as detail, it is hard to go wrong by picking out an old school Rat Pack song. There are a lot of participants that can really do Sinatra well — and The Bungalow is no stranger to several of them — and they always seem to get past the first round.
And then, as has been often pointed out to me, there is something that would seem basic, but is frequently a rule broken: Hold the microphone right up to your mouth, and sing into it so you can be heard. This can be challenging if you are roaming around and playing to the crowd — like I once strived to do, while engaging some of the women in the audience to Satisfaction by The Stones. And a flip side to that: Always be sure to finish off your notes.
Lastly, make sure you don’t speak into the microphone to assess your performance if it still might be on. A friend of mine ruined her chances by saying, she thought to herself, “gee I butchered that.” It was audible, to the judges and the audience, and needless to say she didn’t move on to the next round either.
So, I hope that helps you scope out your selections and style, and maybe see you at The Bungalow so I can tell if you followed my primer, or took things in your own direction. (That’s all right too, as the best I’ve ever finished is third). Its also worthy of note that all during the competitions, there are cocktail specials made with Absolut and Grey Goose vodkas. Its OK if you need a bit of calming before getting up the courage to really rock out.
The events each Friday start at 9 p.m., with registration needing to be done by 9:30 p.m. Hope to see you at the finals on Feb. 2.
— Another Friday night option is at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, with the band Lady Luck, led by the luscious Leisha, who is said to be perhaps the hottest lead singer in the area. You can tell by her online bio, which references “pearls and lace.” And oh, about the music, the band has updated their set list to include creative choices such as Velvet Revolver and Flyleaf.
— Don’t forget that having it being the new year — its here already? — there is the annual One Block Run to benefit charity at noon on Saturday, starting underneath the “Hudson, Wis.” sign leading up the dike road. (It currently has all the letters lit, which is not always the case, in order to light your way). Then after this less than one percent of a marathon to run or walk, be sure to stick around at Dick’s Bar and Grill for all kinds of fun stuff.

Its all about the 80s and more this weekend:
— When is the last time you found yourself dancing in your seat, to the music of the 70s, 80s and 90s? This could be the time, when Rock Brigade performs at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Saturday night, Jan. 6. They do rock and a bit of country, played with what the members claim is an accuracy that will have you thinking the original band showed up on stage. Rock Brigade will make you laugh, as a way to get away from the seriousness of day-to-day life, with what they say are some of the most outrageous rock star costumes, changed frequently, and antics you have ever seen in a local venue.
— They claim to bring to the stage sexual magnetism, exceptional personal hygiene and more importantly the music of the 80s. What makes the M8Ds even more different is that they bring a pop-punk twist to songs of that decade. See for yourself when they play the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night.

— The greatly named Drink 182 band that plays the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night, Dec. 22, is more then a tribute to the actual Blink 182.
Let them tell you why:
“The 90s were strange times in the world of music,” the group’s members note. “Alternative bands roamed the Earth in flannels and vans, while hip-hop groups wore giant Adidas and tracksuits. Also, boy bands were a thing. We know it’s hard to remember who sang what. Toad the Wet Ezras? Hootie and the Gin Blossoms? Rage Against the Backstreet Boys? We get it.
“BUT.”
“We like the 90s. You like the 90s. Why don’t we get together and play some 90s music? It’s about time.”
So join them like, to coin a phrase, its the Gay 90s.
— They put the root in root beer. The Lift Bridge brewing company in Stillwater has rolled out its new bottled root beer drink, an offering that its worthy to note you might not find in Wisconsin, the actual brew capital of the known world.
Also, the Smilin’ Moose has for a while now added meat to the mix. Their root beer BBQ burger has apparently stood the test of time and can still be found amidst their specials.
— And as far as food, breakfast is always great, and this could be considered the culinary version of the two-point conversion, rather than the extra point (to make a football reference now that the postseason is near). The “2-fer” breakfast at the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt, offered on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon if you’re not too bleary eyed from the bands the night before, costs a mere $2 with purchase of a beverage and you get: Two eggs (fried or scrambled), two pieces of bacon, two sausage links, two slices of toast (white or wheat) and hashbrowns (singlely).

This holiday season, the Bungalow Inn in Lakeland continues its tradition of hosting prominent musicians by inviting Jeff Carver, a versatile and flamboyant trumpet and flugelhorn performer, educator and studio musician, from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21. This is part of their night of selling fine wine, after which they invite you to stay for dinner.

Jeff is a skilled balladeer, incorporating a smooth, dark tone with intuitive phrasing and style. He is well-schooled and highly experienced performing a variety of musical styles including contemporary pop, jazz, smooth jazz, Latin, New Orleans, blues, funk and soft rock, but on this night his focus will sway toward holiday stylings. When Jeff is not touring, he performs 15-25 shows per month with his very successful and unique solo show. With more than 200 songs at his disposal, he is giving his multi-age audiences the up-to-date songs they are craving while introducing a new generation to musicians and hits from past decades.
A new concept that Jeff has been performing more recently are individual “house parties,” and what better way to see if you want to book him for such an event than seeing his Bungalow performance. Jeff comes to your house and can provide entertainment for your home. Typically Jeff performs some cocktail music and then a short concert, filled with what’s called a wonderful selection of music and stories.

You need not be blind to drink specials, or to Blind Dog, which has been tabbed often in the best cover band voting:
— The Blind Dog band hits the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Saturday night, Dec. 16, and the band is prominently listed on the Music Mates musicians megabase, which solicits voting for Minnesota’s best cover bands, and they got eight votes — but wait a minute, there were four more down a few notches deeper into the list. All of this places them way ahead of most of the groups, which only had two or three votes, so you might want to check them out to see for yourself.
— Dec. 17 is the last chance for the year to take advantage of the “every day is St. Patrick’s Day” promotion at Dick’s Bar and Grill, in which they’ve had Irish themed drink specials on the 17th of every month for all of 2017. Namely you have your last chance at $3 Jameson drinks and $5 Irish bombs.
— Speaking of Dick’s, they also have two other drink specials advertised, with interesting twists. You can get a Pabst Blue Ribbon throwback on tap, about which a flyer shows an oldtime football player and notes that the beer was established in Milwaukee in 1844. That would predate the beginnings of the NFL, which took place in Wisconsin, by more than a half-century. Also, the Henry’s hard cider ad notes that the “proper age” for indulging is 21-plus. I didn’t know that there was any leeway to be considered.
— And, at local haunts, you can now get a Lenie’s pomegranate flavored beer. That would seem more like a summer drink special, from where I’m sitting, (at my computer), but what do I know, this is Wisconsin and any beer is a good beer, regardless of season.
— Lastly for cool drink specials, there is the happy hour at Woodie’s in Bayport, that might be considered the “pinnacle” of all such offerings. Monday through Thursday from 9-10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m., there is on special multiple flavors of Pinnacle vodka, as well as other favorites that include Captain Morgan rum drinks and even Red Bull. A flyer on the wall even shows, coun ’em, three different bottles portraying Pinnacle vodka flavors.

These ain’t just any old country and western bands, and did we mention they play “Jerry,” times two?

— The name’s generic, but definitely not the music. The Country Western Band, playing the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Saturday night, Dec, Sept. 9, is a four-piece that’s been together for five years performing a wide range of country/rock/blues style music covers with their own definite style and energy: Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard or even some of the Double Js, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jerry Reed. As they say, The Country Western Band always loves to mix it up, and they even played one prominent Twin Cities gig where their contribution was an entire set of just Waylon. This quote from band leader Red says it all: “We only play songs we love. Just the hits. If I don’t love a song, I won’t be able to sing it right or do it any justice.”
— The Chad Edwards Band, at the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night, is hard-rocking Minnesota-based country. Channeling the gritty sounds of the Marshall Tucker Band and the fiddle sounds of real country, these guys keep the dial set on dance, all night long. With over a catalog of more than 200 cover songs, between old country favorites, new country hits, rock and pop oldies and a couple of surprises, plus maybe a bit of stage fog, the band won RAWKZILLA Battle Of The Bands at The Ramble Jam music festival. All that and no cover charge Friday, as The Moose is now going in that no-pay direction with most bands.

The longtime band Mouldy Figs are back again at the Bungalow Inn in Lakeland on Tuesday from 5-7 p.m., so catch them early and maybe have dinner, too. In their online bio, members of the old school jazz-and-other-genres group say, “don’t trust any band under 30.” As in having performed together for more than three decades. That was one of the reasons the The Figs even merited a prominent tribute band event a while back, having formed in 1973 in St. Paul. And the band leader has even been performing locally, and also taking his earlier acts far afield, for longer then that. Midstream in that time frame was a group of video segments recorded at the Bungalow itself. Members are Jim “Fig” Field (washboard), Tom Owens (bass), Debbie Schreyer (banjo) and Irv Williams (saxophone). In case you want to find out more about the band, they even are known by multiple names, and not just the one word that many models or singers go by. They include the Minnesota Mouldy Figs and the Mouldy Figs Dixieland Band.

We’ve got a tenuous Everybody Loves Raymond band connection, plus some Goose Island news that’s just ducky. Read on:

— Stephanie (Vavoom!) Varone, as she’s much more gorgeous than, say, Ray Barone’s TV wife and is not just another pretty face — and also a blonde and a bit younger — brings her earthy, old-school Kansas City roots with a love of country, pop, classic rock and soulful blues to the Similin Moose for the first time on Friday night.
— As the Minnesconsin battle and its fowl terminology plays out, is it called “Goose, goose, gray goose,” or “Duck, duck, gray duck?” Well it turns out you can have them all, depending on which venue you hit. Promoted at Buffalo Wild Wings is the Goose Island V Formation pale ale that is now offered along with some new appetizers. And at Dick’s Bar and Grill, there is the now to be ongoing Goose Island Rotational Draft beer special. Also, as previously reported on this site, and is honored at a series of local establishments, you being among the gaggle of people joining the Goose Island club, order six of them and get a free T-shirt. OK, its not exactly a feather in your cap, but its still a little cool.
— And when speaking of “draft,” you’ve got to think football, especially the Viking Big D. At Buffalo Wild Wings, when that over-the-border team and its new Purple People Eaters get three sacks in a game, which is frequent, you and your buddies get a sharable appetizer. If they don’t come through, you might feel sacked! But beats concessions at their home stadium.