The Holy North at Turf Club, St Paul (July 31, 2025)

The end of July was upon us and there were a lot of live music options across the Twin Cities. But it was also a Thursday, meaning there would be local acts performing at Turf Club, and this last day of the month was headlined by The Holy North.

Getting things going was The Foxgloves. They are an all-woman Americana band and have just returned from a Midwest tour. The sextet (vocals/percussion, stand up bass, washboard/vocals, guitar, mandolin/vocals, fiddle/uke/banjo/vocals) was unabashedly Americana, with bluegrass influence as well. With multiple singers and all those instruments, it was a full sound and a great opening for the evening. A medley included a Beatles cover of Come Together that was very well done and a good spin on the rock classic. A new original followed with a switch from washboard to ukulele. An “executive decision” had a change to a song that was highlighted by four vocalists at one point and a great bit of bass underneath. Late in the set, another new one, Hot Fiddle, delivered on its promise right from the start and had both fiddle and mandolin featured throughout and was a cheery number. Closing with one “celebrating women in music”, The Foxgloves appropriately ended with another medley of songs written and made famous by female country artists.

Up next was Jillian Rae who has released several albums, including 2019’s I can’t be the one you want me to be. The band came on as a quartet (vocals/violin/guitar, guitar/vocals, bass, and drums). Although a lot of Rae’s earlier work was more Americana, she and the band’s more recent work is decidedly rock & roll, and even pop-infused rock. The opener, Superlungs, was more the latter, with a great bass line and Rae vocally crooning. With multiple guitar switches in the early going, Rae was on her third instrument on the third song, Free. The early banter demonstrated a good sense of humor, and the band had an easy going vibe between songs that disappeared as they went back to the songs. An intro drum rhythm was perfectly paced for the song Heartbeat that was more country rock and let Rae fly loose on both vocals and violin.

While the whole band was solid, guitarist Eric Martin was a really good complement for Rae, both with harmonies and a variety of pedal board effects on his guitar. The bass work on Hanging On was terrific, and the band continued to plough through their set. A bit of a psych rock number followed, and Rae (who I noticed, had guillotine earrings!), again let loose on her singing. A late set number Since You’ve Been Gone had Kevin Gamble of the headliner on keyboards and was a rocker. Closing out on Medication, Jillian Rae went out on a high note.

The final band for the night was The Holy North (previously called Ty Pow and the Holy North). Made up of members from a number of other bands, The Holy North is a blues rock band and they have released some limited music, including Rhubarb ‘93, in 2022. With six members on stage (vocals/guitar, guitar/vocals, bass/vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, and drums), things were pretty tight physically. But the band’s sound was large and the blues rock feel was evident right away. Christian Wheeler (having been on drum a for Jillian Rae and now on guitar) was great with a rich sound on the lead guitar solo, while Tyler Pautsch’s lead vocals were spot on for the genre. A new song on an upcoming album (“to be released in the next month or so”) sort of had it all from dual or triple harmonies, good keyboard work, and some excellent drums, particularly near the end. Pour Me In was higher energy and pulled all the stops out with an extended outro for both guitar and bass.

Several of the mid-set songs could easily play on 70’s classic rock radio and fit right in. Pautsch’s singing vaguely recalled a Steely Dan sound, and he also did a nice job directing the longer instrumental sections effectively. I may have previously mentioned that I love high energy drummers, and Jeremy Harvey certainly checked that box, and bassist Kai Brewster had good chemistry and complementary sound making for a good foundation for the other musicians. Kevin Gamble started a number with a very extended keyboard intro that at points was nearly a piano sonata and the resultant song was the most soulful of the evening. Back into that Chicago-style blues rock, The Holy North continued to serve up the mix of singing with instrumental sections allowing all members of the band to have their moments in the spotlight. The final two songs were new ones with the first leaning a little toward the Americana with a pedal guitar effect. With the last song flying to its close, The Holy North finished up an enjoyable night across a pretty broad range of musical genres.