Good Old Salty Dog

Runnin Again This album is an evolution, but also a reinvention, of the Saltydog Sound. There’s hardly another way to put it. This album is Shakedown Street ; it’s their Sgt. Pepper ; it’s Bitches Brew . Evoking the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty as easily as CSNY’s Deja Vu , the record packs in a plethora of genres without losing its soul. It’s a privilege to watch a band iterate on their style in such a natural way - from their early horn-backed material to this latest round of keys-and-harmony-edged ballads.  Composed entirely of material heretofore unheard on their live backlog, this album is jam-packed at just under 35 minutes. The band has clearly been good at writing catchy hooks and smart lyrics, but they explore the story-telling sides of themselves here - the same side that shows they are the band that wrote “Barfly.” On the early cut “Reachin,” the band is content to live life at a slower pace. Bassist Calvin “Calzone” and keyboardist Gavin get their dues in this re...

  This show is like a warm hug from a friend you haven't seen in years. The first set is a laid-back affair that is no worse for its unconventional selections. A standout first set cover (possibly a first for the band? Certainly a first in their released oeuvre) is "My Sisters and Brothers." Is this an innocent Charles Johnson/Jerry Garcia Band cover, or is the band entering their "Slow Train Coming" era? A series of Saltydog mainstays close out the first set in cozy fashion. If the first set is catching up over coffee, the second set has the audience at Bent Paddle cracking open the IPAs. The intro jams lead into fan-favorite "Come Home Soon," with the easy (and yet, still tight) toe-tapping pace of the first set. There's another interesting cover in this set: "Waymore's Blues" by Waylon Jennings have the twin guitars grooving in and out with bends up and down the fret board. This cover is an excellent example of the band taking a so...

In this recording, New Salty Dog performed at the Mountain Top Music Festival in Wakefield, Michigan. The recording is interesting because it was the first released on their Bandcamp. Unfortunately, it is no longer available for purchase, making this a part of the "Lost Dogs" collection. Even just looking at the track names, you can see the experimentation still present in the band's repertoire at the time: familiar standards like "Easy Jim" are presented here with an alternate spelling, or the stalwart, middle-of-set jam break "Pizza" is for this performance, "Pizza Delivery Swagzilla." The performances are similarly experimental, with an emphasis on the horn section that isn't always present in later recordings. According to their Facebook page, the band was accompanied by Leetus Wilmer Martin on the pedal steel guitar for the last few tracks, making those must-listens. Fan-favorite "Come Home Soon" is a standout from the fir...

  Poster credit: @astern.218 It was a cold and snowy night when they loaded up the dogsled to play, for the first time, at the legendary 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had never been to the 7th St Entry before. The venue holds a mythic status among fans of Minnesota rock, and yet, I had never gotten to go to a show there. In an interesting twist of fate, I found myself holed up in a Minneapolis AirBnB following the death of my grandmother. Although I'd been following the Dogs since their regular Loki Tuesday shows at the Ripple Bar in Duluth (many of which were released on Bandcamp), I'd never seen them live. I had a free night, and I was close - why not? It would make me feel better. The place I was staying at was near the bus that took me straight downtown, but it was by no means an easy journey. It was a snowy year in Minneapolis - well, snowier than where I lived. One boot in front of the other, I plowed through the drifts on the sidewalk to the bus stop, ...