Midway Music & Arts Fest, Day 2 (October 3, 2026)

Lineup and Schedule

• 6:30 PM: Sawtooth Witch
• 7:30 PM: Ryan Traster
• 8:30 PM: Keep for Cheap
• 9:30 PM: Pullstring

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■ Midway Music and Arts Festival
The Midway Music and Arts Festival is a neighborhood-wide celebration spotlighting the creative energy, cultural diversity, and small business ecosystem of St. Paul’s Midway. Anchored in the idea that the Midway is both a geographic and cultural meeting point, the festival brings together music, art, literature, and community.

Day Two of the inaugural Midway Music & Arts Fest had events sprawled all through the larger neighborhood. I made my was up to Hamline Park to see a number of vendors at tents selling a variety of cool arts & crafts from paintings to earrings. I listened to a set from the Bob Nordquist Band, with the trio (vocals/guitar, guitar, and trombone) doing a nice job and perfectly timing the close of their set before a small spate of rain could get going. As the evening got going, there were lots of choices for music from 26 Bats! over at The Black Hart of Saint Paul to Nur-D over at Urban Lights. But if you know me at all, dear reader, you will have guessed that I found my way over to Turf Club, looking forward to multiple bands with several living right in the Midway.

Sawtooth Witch got the party going, and they mix blues and rock, and released their debut album The Chariot in April 2026. The duo (Pat “Doc” Dougherty on vocals/guitar/percussion, Haley Fleming on violin) got warmed up instrumentally and it flowed into the first number’s vocals. It’s an interesting mix of instrumentation and Doc’s vocal style could fit in a classic rock band or a heavier metal style. A cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog was eye opening and between vocals and pulsating guitar work, Dougherty was simply enthralling. That dual foot percussion (a drum pad of sorts for the right foot, a tambourine for the left) was really well done and added an important layer throughout. The band slid seamlessly into The Weight, which was a darn good transition. Fleming’s violin work was an effective counter to the deeper guitar and the combo was solid. The first banter got us “If you are wondering why the music director is playing, it’s because no one wanted to play when Nur-D was” (Nur-D was, in fact, likely finishing up his performance right about then.) But those at Turf Club were getting a performance well worth it. I especially enjoyed the purposeful switches of tempo within songs, and Fleming easily followed Dougherty’s lead. An emphatic statement about the power of community and how this Fest is a demonstration of that was powerful. We got a bit of pure delta blues rock with a sneaky good cover of Ace of Spades, with the instrumental section letting both members of the band go off. Coming to America was a strong song and had Dougherty let all the stops out vocally. Though they did covers well, the band was at their best on the original material and the last songs were tremendous. Closing on The Hustle, Sawtooth Witch had been a blast. 

Ryan Traster was next and we moved into a heartland Americana-infused rock. Traster has been at it for over two decades, having recently moved back to Saint Paul, and he’s got a nice discography, including the 2026 EP Lifers. Performing here as Ryan Traster and The Lowlights, the quintet (vocals/guitar, guitar, guitar, bass/vocals, and drums) included Peter Anderson on the percussion, who we last saw backing Willie Wisely at Icehouse in June of this year. They opened with a rollicking number in The Night’s Got You and Traster was in command from the start. His Springsteen t-shirt was a good a tell as any for some of their musical roots. Moonshine Smile was off the new EP and those multiple guitars really led the way. Seventh Daughter had the wildest intro related to cults and deprogramming and the dead panned dedication to “Ashtar” (sp?) was both jaw dropping and hysterical. Blue Blood was for those “wealthy ones who didn’t actually become fascists”, and was a bit of a low key ballad, though Anderson’s drum work was top notch here. A Ric Flair story was equal parts disturbing and funny, and we were quickly in the home stretch. Social Gods rode that line of Americana and rock and had multiple guitar solo runs. Heading off stage, Ryan Traster and the Lowlights continued the great vibes of the evening.

It was time for Keep for Cheap, who are quickly becoming our most reviewed band of 2026, as we have been at five of their shows this year, plus another in December 2025. We last saw them at a house show opening for Jeremy Messersmith in July, and if you’ve read any of those reviews, you know the term prairie rock as their genre descriptor. (Side note: like last night at Midway Saloon, there was a deft sequencing of the bands to make the transitions between acts extremely smooth. Well done, Mr. Dougherty.) The band opened with a straight rocker, with ferocious drums from Grace Berg and some shredded guitar from Bert Northrup. FedEx also was a bit more rock than other versions we’ve seen and this was an amped up version of the band. The switch of guitar and bass happened on song three and the band was set to the highest energy. Abe Anderson got the intro guitar lick and solo, and this was such a rock & roll tone from Keep for Cheap and Kate Malanaphy’s lead vocals were punishing. A shout out to all the St. Paul bands “We live right near here!” led to a new song with Malanaphy and Autumn Vagle switching back on guitar and bass and Vagle’s vocals were on full force. It was a bit of a surprise to hear that this was the band’s first time at Turf Club, but fantastic that they were finally here. We got a bit of slow down and a more Americana tone and the dual harmonies were on brilliantly clear display. The slide guitar finally made an appearance and was perfectly placed within a number that had Berg killing it in the back on drums. Finishing on Lakehouse, Keep for Cheap had flexed their rock & roll prowess.

Closing things out was Pullstring, whose self-descriptor of “Midwest Brit Pop, Alt-Rock, Pop-Punk in denial” definitely is apt for the kind of loud and bright music obscuring moodier and often introspective lyrics. We last saw the full band opening for The Melismatics in a Replacements tribute here at Turf Club in January, so were pleased to get a chance to hear more of their own material here. The quartet (Alex Fuller on vocals/guitar, Josh Toke on guitar, Eric Braun on bass/vocals, and Will Keebler on drums) not only got instruments on stage in the change over, but brought a whole mood with multiple lamps and perhaps in the spirit of Halloween, a skeleton that took up residence in the far back corner of the stage. (Side note: as various audience members hit the restroom during the set, it seemed to become a routine to give said skeleton a fist bump, which was silly fun.) Out with the Old was slashing 90’s style alt rock and the band was blasting away from the start. Fuller and Toke were wireless, which resulted in Toke playing most of the second song, What If? out on the crowd floor, but that song also got us a guest vocalist for the end, who truly ripped. We got a debut of a new number and it had Fuller at his best on vocals and guitar. Keebler’s drums on the end of that one were fantastic and Pullstring was in an early groove. Minnesota Rain continued the heavy alt rock feel and the audience near the stage was having a blast, bouncing along with the band. Spring Is Here had the heaviest of guitar work, and that early lyric “It’s f***in twenty below” is one of those things that Minnesotans simply nod to as truth. Open Book was another new one and had a great closing guitar solo from Toke. Color Me impressed was a perfect cover for the band and the ending song of When It Began had Pullstring with the big sound to end it, and day two of the Midway Music & Arts Fest had been another wild success.