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Several sets of smokin’ tunes heat up the Hudson Hot Air Affair, or offer the way to be way cool

(If you can’t wait until closer to the end  of the month to have the music in you, check out this web site’s Picks of the Week department for a primer on how to make like a rock star and win Bungalow Idol).

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 7:30-10:30 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 just hit the bookshelves and mailboxes.

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