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West of the Twin Cities, Excelsior is one of the few cities in the metro that was an actual town before it became a suburb. There is a small town feel to this city of 2,000 with walkable neighborhoods, a lake-front park leading to a four-block downtown full of antique and clothing stores, restaurants, ice cream parlors and the 318 Cafe tucked in the corner of a historic lumber building that once had a rail line just outside it’s door, but now there is a converted bike trail.
318 Cafe
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From Lincoln, Nebraska, The Wildwoods are a Folk/Americana trio consisting of Noah Gose on acoustic guitar, Chloe Gose on violin and Andrew Vaggalis on the upright bass. Two of the members share the same last name and it has always been a question at shows as to their relationship. Chloe told of an interaction she had at the merch table when a lady asked her if she and Noah were friends, siblings, or a married couple.
“All three,” Chloe responded.
The Wildwoods might have lost a sale with Chloe’s joke, but it became apparent throughout the evening that they did not take themselves too seriously, even as they hemmed close to the traditions of the roots of American music.
Chloe and Noah are in fact married. They formed a duo in high school, then added Andrew after all three graduated from college.
Noah started off the evening with a story about accepting an invitation to a bluegrass competition even though they were not a bluegrass band. But no matter, they traveled through the night from Wisconsin to Massachusetts and played the only song they knew that they thought could be a bluegrass song: Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” (They didn’t win.)
The trio has fared much better when entering competitions in their own musical genre. They have been finalists in the FreshGrass Music Festival Band competition and “Gems in the Rough" on VHS. They have released three albums and have traveled the country, developing a harmonious sound that is nearly perfect and 100% pleasing with songs like “Pickin’ Cherries,” “West Virginia Rain” and an ode to a river in their home state, “Sweet Niobrara.”
They also played a few covers: “Our House” by Crosby, Stills and Nash and “Home” by Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeros. Then, a sentimental moment with “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac, a song requested by Chloe for it was her parents’ wedding song and they had driven from Lincoln to attend the show.
I imagine it was well worth the trip.
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| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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