Lakeside Guitar Festival is a free outdoor music festival set at the Historic Como Lakeside Pavilion, a lakefront community arts oasis in Saint Paul. LGF is run by community-conscious musicians and presents a diverse lineup of local and international acts across musical genres, focusing on encouraging new artistic collaboration and highlighting the world class small business and arts communities of Saint Paul. Previous headliners have included Keb Mo, Sunny War, and Steve Cropper performing alongside Minnesota greats.
LGF 2024 returns to Saint Paul, featuring Jamaaladeen Tacuma, one of the world’s great creative bass players as Saturday’s headliner as well as innovative guitarist Ava Mendoza. Yohannes Tona presents 'Made In Abyssinia', an Ethio-Jazz project featuring a small ensemble playing Ethiopian traditional music with a blend of funk and jazz on Friday night, both at the Como Lakeside Pavilion and both FREE. With 15 acts across 3 stages, a vendor village, a Minnesota legend Al Sparhawk will host a collaboration “stage” Saturday with other luminaries. Community activities from a pedal swap to bike and walk paths, LGF 2024 offers fun for the whole family of music lovers. Saturday August 10th closes with Minnesota’s Last Waltz (ticketed) at the Como Lakeside Pavilion.
She Rock She Rock will host this year's “Strum Along Sing A Song”. All levels are invited to create this giant community strum along! Bring your guitar and strum along to a couple songs or chords alongside your fellow humans. Sing along! ( any stringed instrument accepted even air guitars! )
LGF is Music Mission’s annual flagship event. Music Mission supports communities throughout the Americas in creating and sharing their music, providing quality and visionary arts programming, scholarship and education opportunities, and instruments and basic needs support to communities in Minnesota and Mexico. More information is at www.musicmissionmusic.com
Lakeside Guitar Festival is funded, in part, by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.
This activity is supported, in part, by the City of Saint Paul Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization Program.
Friday Aug 9th
Promenade Stage -Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
6:00-6:45 Black Widows
7:00-7:45 Dylan Salfer
8:15-9:30 Yohannes Tona presents 'Made In Abyssinia
Saturday Aug 10th
Grand Lawn-
11:00-11:45 “Strum Along/Sing a Song” led by She Rock She Rock
11:45-12:45 El Diablo Pedal Swap
Promenade Stage -Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
12:00-12:45 Jake Labotz
1:00-1:45 Nicky Diamonds
2:00-2:45 Ava Mendoza
3:00-3:50 Jamaaladeen Tacuma
Cafe Stage (inside Dock&Paddle)
11:15-12:00- The Daily Norm
12:15-1:00 Molly Dean
1:15-2:00 Tony Furtado
2:15-3:00 Luke Callen
Waterfall Stage
11:00-11:45 Paul Metzger Improvised Modern Banjo
12:00-3:00 Al Sparhawk Makes Music w/ Friends
Gates Close at 4:15
6:00-9:00 The Last Waltz (ticketed show)
2024 LGF Lineup and Schedule
Friday Aug 9th 2024
Friday Aug 9th 6:00-6:45pm Promenade Stage-Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Black Widows are a DIY surf-punk-psyche band from Mpls serving up wild surf guitar, riot grrrl vox, slick bass grooves, & mean beats. BW have toured overseas & nationally from NYC to LA. Community organizers , music with purpose and fun.
Friday Aug 9th 7:00-7:45pm Promenade Stage-Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Dylan Salfer live is an unforgettably soulful experience. Drawing inspiration from a traditional blues background with a modern, more sophisticated approach. Great slide player, inspired singer and killer band.
Friday Aug 9th 8:15-9:15pm Promenade Stage-Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Yohannes Tona was born in Awassa, a vibrant city in Southern Ethiopia where he acquired his early education as well as musical influences of Western Gospel, Reggae, Ethiopian traditional and popular sounds. While being grateful for the incredible experience of touring the world and sharing big stages with his peers and idols, Yohannes believes he has a responsibility of sharing his own original music with the world. Music that would reflect his Ethiopian roots and the American experience.
Saturday Aug 10th 2024
Saturday Aug 10th 11:00-11:45am Grand Lawn
Gather up/tune up 11:00
Strum Along/Sing a Song 11:15-11:45
All levels invited to create this giant community strum along! Bring your guitar and strum along to a couple songs or chords alongside your fellow humans. Sing along! (any stringed instrument accepted even air guitars!)
She Rock She Rock is a Twin Cities nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls, women and gender-expansive folks through the art of music. With our performance-based music programming, we provide an inclusive environment that encourages collaboration, develops leadership skills, and fosters self-confidence. We're here to open doors, broaden mindsets and smash gender inequality in the music industry!
Saturday Aug 10th 11:00am-11:45 Waterfall Stage
Paul Metzger - Improvised on Modified Banjo, elegant with rustic audacity (ethereal)
Saturday Aug 10th 11:15-12:00 Cafe Stage (Inside Dock N Paddle)
The Daily Norm is the solo project of Kae Layne, a guitarist from Connecticut, started in 2022. His fingerstyle technique is described as delicate, atmospheric, and thought-provoking. Inspired by the likes of Lindsay Buckingham, Bruce Cockburn, and Doug Smith, he takes what he learns and adds it to his style. His hope is that through his playing and his music, he can reach and connect with others.
Saturday Aug 10th 11:45-12:45 Grand Lawn
LGF 4th Annual Gear Swap, sponsored by El Diablo Amps and Guitars. Gather your unused/unloved gear and swap them out for something new and exciting! Trade with your fellow Twin Cities pedal junkies, or trade with El Diablo himself! This event is free and open to the public. Register for a chance to win a FREE Chase Bliss Audio pedal! For more info, visit the El Diablo Amps Facebook Page
Saturday Aug 10th 12:00-12:45 Promenade Stage -Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Jake La Botz- a rough and tumble upbringing took him from juvenile delinquency and punk rock to learning blues from the last of Chicago’s pre-war era bluesmen. From there, with guitar in tow, he made his way across the U.S.A. until he hit the end of the line in Hollywood where an improbable acting career began to unfold. La Botz has been putting out his own brand of Gospel-noir Americana. The eccentric stories, characters, and underlying spiritual messages often heard in his songs come to a head on his latest album Hair on Fire.
Saturday Aug 10th 12:00-3:00 Waterfall Stage
Al Sparhawk Makes Music w/ Friends- Over time, Low’s anthemic songs heightened in urgency and tone, unearthing new layers of musical exploration and lyrical questioning thanks to Sparhawk's drive for depth. Their music derived elemental power from his fearless exploration of quiet, gentle places. Sparhawk has recently been playing with various collaborators and projects with friends and family members. His music is undefinable in genre but easy to classify as breathtaking. Collaborators TBA.
Saturday Aug 10th 12:15-1:00 Cafe Stage (inside Dock&Paddle)
Molly Dean is involved in a multitude of creative projects as a vocalist, instrumentalist & composer. Her music has been described as "deceptively simple" and her presence "enrapturing - a songstress that eschews archetypal female folkisms with subtle rebellion."
Saturday Aug 10th 1:00-1:45 Promenade Stage- Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Nicky Diamonds- from San Antonio via Nashville comes Nicky Diamonds. From his latest record he is embracing the country side of himself.“I grew up in the country,” he said of growing up on a couple of acres tending ponies in the Oak Cliff side of Dallas. “I am country.” Pedal steel guitar washes and waltz time underscore Long’s lilting melodies and high-key vocals in the country lament “Back to Misery (Mizzouri),” about leaving San Antone, and the uptempo “Ballad of the Lonesome Rose” makes a fine tune for dancing, while “Rock of Ages” starts with the inimitable Diamonds voice singing alone along to finger-picked acoustic guitar before exploding into an echoey canyon of high lonesome sound.
Saturday Aug 10th 1:15-2:00pm Cafe Stage (inside Dock&Paddle)
Tony Furtado- Very few musicians of any stripe so personify a musical genre as completely as Tony Furtado embodies Americana roots music. Tony is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef. Tony is also an accomplished and awarded sculptor. Visit the gallery and store to view and purchase his ceramic creations.
Saturday Aug 10th 2:00-2:45 Promenade Stage- Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Ava Mendoza- a Brooklyn-based guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. Born in 1983, she started performing her own music, and as a side woman and collaborator in many different projects, as soon as she was legally allowed into venues. As a guitarist, Mendoza has received acclaim for her technique and versatility. Her most ongoing work is as leader of art rock band Unnatural Ways, and as a solo performer of her own music and works by contemporary composers. In any context she is committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music.
Saturday Aug 10th 2:15-3:00pm Cafe Stage (inside Dock&Paddle)
Luke Callen Strange Country New Folk. The reviews are in folkx – Luke Callen is a fine songwriter – singer – and player.
In an age of quick fixes, flashing screens, and pop ‘songs’ that are more formula than art, an album that takes its sweet time is a radical act. “Also Going Nowhere”, Luke Callen’s third full-length effort is just that – a collection of songs that spread out through time and space, dripping with honest Midwest charm and a mischievous glint. It’s music that you can relax into, paired with lyrics you’ll want to chew on and savor, that ask something of their listener. These songs are proof and reminder: you don’t actually have to go anywhere at all to, you know, get somewhere.
Saturday Aug 10th 3:00-3:50 Promenade Stage- Presented by Baird- The Jandric Antkowiak Group
Jamaaladeen Tacuma- Few musicians leave their audiences with a feeling that they have truly witnessed something amazing. Artist/Producer/Performer/Arranger/Innovator AND Bassist - JAMAALADEEN TACUMA does just that. This native Philadelphian has always stretched the old mold of what and how a bassist is supposed to play. Tacuma has simply re-defined his instrument's artistic potential.In the mid 70's, his creatively free approach to the bass caught the eye and ear of the legendary saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Tacuma became a member of Coleman's electric band, Prime Time, he toured with the group and played on some of Coleman's historic recordings.
The Last Waltz
Saturday Aug 10th 6:00-9:00 Promenade Stage
This is a ticketed show
What would anybody leave so quickly for?
History of LGF: Founded in 2013 with major backing by McNally-Smith Collage of Music and help from the STAR grant. Chris Osgood ( punk rock guitar slinger, scenester and all around angel of arts ) asked that Molly put together an afternoon of guitar hero music that would bring folks of all ages and genre loving music fans to Mears Park in the heart of the warehouse district of St. Paul . Under the dynamic guidance of Chris and the many hats he wears, Lowertown Guitar Festival, the big FREE fest was born.
Not only was it 8 hours of exceptional guitar skills spanning 2-3 stages, it also included free workshops in the morning at McNally-Smith covering technical skills like guitar effects, tone and other more gear focus topics.The college hosted a teen guitar seminar in the morning, culminating in a teen guitar challenge at the site starting at noon where kids had an opportunity to shred and compete for gear donated by major manufacturers like Fender and Martin Guitars. Over the years we have added a "market place”, and in 2016 included a luthier's showcase.
2018 found us at the historic Como Lakeside Pavilion, a venue that hit many high notes for our growing team. Todd Clouser came aboard providing added support and a broader reach. We were able to keep the festival free, adding another stage, more vendors and a covered area from the elements keeping us outdoors.
-Our Gracious Sponsors-
