Charlie Parr at Ore Dock Brewing

Duluth folk and country blues musician and songwriter Charlie Parr will be in Marquette March 23 at Ore Dock Brewing Company. He's touring in support of his 13th album and Red House Records debut, "Stumpjumper." Produced by Phil Cook in rural North Carolina, "Stumpjumper" harnesses the excitement of Charlie’s live show, highlighting his blistering finger-picking, foot-stomping blues and finely crafted songs like “Over the Red Cedar,” “Falcon” and “Remember Me If I Forget.” His songs are full of characters you wouldn’t ordinarily meet: old ladies going to buy “the cheap wine” (“they ain’t no better than the bums”), a woman with “an uncontrollable temper,” and people getting left out of getting the American Dream. Long a part of the Duluth music scene, Charlie’s inspiration is drawn from the alternately fertile and frozen soil of Minnesota; his songs exude a Midwestern sensibility and humility. He grew up in the Hormel meatpacking city of Austin, Minnesota (population 25,000), where most of the world’s favorite tinned meat, Spam, is still manufactured. (He won't eat hot dogs to this day.) The combination of growing up with both of his parents working union jobs in an industrial meat factory and his largely rural environment had a big effect on Charlie. His show in Marquette will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10, general admission. For more information, visit ore-dock.com.