With so much live music available every day in the Twin Cities, it can be hard to decide what to go see. Sometimes I do my homework well ahead of time and get things scheduled on the calendar. Sometimes I hear about things late or decided somewhat spur of the moment to go. Recommendations also go a long way. So, when a neighbor gave a hearty thumbs up on David Huckfelt & The Unarmed Forces and it was at Turf Club? You knew I would be there.

David Huckfelt & The Unarmed Forces was up for their headlining turn. Formerly of The Pines, Huckfelt has been writing and leading his own musical trajectory since the late 2010s, with an Americana folk rock that can tend towards the blues at times. With several albums, including the brand new covers album of I was Born, But…, Huckfelt has kept busy. Coming to stage as a quartet (vocals/guitar, guitar, bass, and drums), this had a very chill attitude from the very beginning, with the entire band seated. The bass player was the extreme example. cross-legged, leaning way back in his chair (with toothpick!), making things feel pretty relaxed. Breeze kept that vibe up, with a low key but engaging mood. Chief Seattle’s Dream had the drummer all over, switching between hand-held percussion and drums (sticks & mallets), and at times both. Huckfelt and band were playing some new numbers from an upcoming album of originals, “we’ve been busy, y’all”, and Say When Say Now was mournful that lyrically had a proposed bar fight with a billionaire and also had a great reverb guitar solo. Noting the last couple of shows (“we got out of Wisconsin alright”), before saying this was the first time headlining at Turf Club, they moved into a Big Thief cover that laid the reverb on heavy. The Crack was another new one, seething about the current political state of things and had a riled up musical feel and snarling guitar work. Once seeing a satirical t-shirt had become the inspiration for the updated outlaw style song My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys. False True Lover Blues was off the first album and was a perfect encapsulation of the set: quiet, poetic and entrancing. A cover of Back in the High Life Again was led by Huckfelt saying how excited he was for this specific number. A song dedicated to his son was a jaunty run and the end of the evening was suddenly upon us. Closing on a Dylan cover of Summer Days was pretty excellent, but they were back for an encore. Back to stage, things ended with a John Prine cover of Summer’s End, and David Huckfelt & The Unarmed Forces had strung together a lengthy and effective folk rock set of an appreciative crowd.