I Owe Jeremy Messersmith a Five-Spot
Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
I can barely sleep. I am way too excited to take the always magical drive north up 35 to the home of my alma mater, the birthplace of the press-dubbed conscience of the 1960s, and a mall on a hill that needs to be preserved forever (at least in photographs). I bring my golf clubs thinking I may sneak in nine somewhere near Moose Lake. After a pit stop outside of Hinckley, golf is the furthest thing on my mind and my entire focus shifts to a quiet morning at Park Point. I have also packed my guitar just for this occasion. Even though I have completed this drive hundreds of times before, it never fails to pull at every last heart string, especially when Duluth’s city limits come into view and 103.3 FM shifts from static to clarity. I flip on said radio station and am greeted by what I think for a second is Matt and Kim, but then soon realize it is Mates of State. Perfect welcome back to Duluth. The next song I am not quite feeling so I slide in the new Matt Berninger CD and scan to track three, “Bonnet of Pins,” as this feels like a good way to soundtrack myself into the city. It proves to be a wonderful choice.
I cross the Lift Bridge over to Park Point and think I should go back to 103.3 FM as it always helps me connect more centrally to the local community. Lo and behold they are playing “Bonnet of Pins”. I catch the last 45 seconds, smiling all the way, park the car and head to the beach. I am greeted by a flock of seagulls and a pristine shore that could easily compete in a beauty pageant with the likes of Oahu’s Lanikai Beach. Remnants of what must have been a late Tuesday night back-to-school Park Point bonfire sprawl into my periphery, but only add to and not detract from said beauty. It’s a spiritual place to say the least and after snapping a few photos of the calm water and city center, I head to a picnic table in an adjacent field to play guitar under some trees. It is still quite comfortable out - near sweater weather - and I begin strumming “Wheels on the Bus,” a song I performed live for my nephew in Longfellow, Minneapolis just a few nights prior. From those simple chords a song about traveling to Duluth pours out and new melodies are formed on top of borrowed rhythms.
Park Point
From Park Point I head to the West End for a highly suggested burrito and a bit of record shopping. Not thrilled by the record store’s prices, but dazzled by the delicious burrito, I leave the West End satiated and head for the Miller Hill Mall, a place I once attempted to make dough rise like the best of them at Cinnabon. Interestingly enough, that shop has expired, but a sign on the other side of the mall states a new one is coming soon. I visit the mall for one reason only: to try and capture the essence of a dying midwestern mall in photographs. I leave feeling somewhat successful and with zero regret about making the somewhat lengthy drive up the hill. It is about coffee time and I navigate back downtown for a cup and recharge myself and my smartphone before the concert on the pier at Glensheen Mansion.
West Duluth and Miller Hill Mall
I thankfully find a parking spot at Glensheen, get in line near the entrance, and not 10 minutes later the gates open and I step inside the hallowed grounds. Just beyond the entrance I come across the merch stands for both performers that evening: Sophie Hiroko and Jeremy Messersmith. I’ve been searching for Jeremy Messersmith’s 2024 live album, Live at the Bryant Lake Bowl, but I haven’t been able to find it at record stores in the Twin Cities.
Alas, it’s part of Messersmith’s merchandise line-up, and I’m excited to finally make the purchase. However, there’s a slight problem. I have no cash. And I don’t have, nor can I get, Venmo, which is the only other payment method his merch table accepts. I ask the person working the table if Messersmith takes PayPal. Unfortunately, he doesn’t. I explain that I live in Japan, and I can’t download Venmo on my phone because of my App Store settings. I also don’t have a local number to retrieve whatever pin I’d need, even if I did switch the app store to the U.S. and managed to download Venmo.
I then ask if I could have someone else Venmo the money to Messersmith’s account, and the merch person says that would likely be okay. I think about calling my sister, who has helped me out in this fashion before. Then, the merch person mentions that they have PayPal and that it would be fine if I PayPal them the money for the CD, and they’d then Venmo the same amount to Messersmith’s account.
While all of this discussion is going on, I realize I might as well also buy this really cool-looking Jeremy Messersmith shirt with a kitten on it. Actually, I decide to buy two. One for my wife as well. I mean, why not? Especially now that I can successfully complete the transaction via PayPal. So I settle on two shirts ($25 each) and the live album ($15). According to my arithmetic, that comes to $65, right? But somehow the merch person and I agree on $60, and amidst the confusion of how to pay, I quickly and anxiously fire over the $60 to their PayPal account without realizing it’s actually $5 short of the real price.
Meanwhile, Messersmith himself makes his way over to the merch table. After discussing the simple, yet somewhat complicated merch transaction, he casually mentions that he’s grateful to sell any merch that would otherwise take up room in his garage in Minneapolis. I still don’t realize I’ve undercut his asking price by $5 and go on to tell him I’ve been a longtime fan, listening to his music all the time in Japan and beyond and how it connects me back to life in Minnesota. I also tell him my wife likes his music very much, that I’m buying a shirt for her, and that I’d love for him to sign the CD and address it to her, which he kindly does.
I shake his hand, thank him again for his wonderful music, wish him luck on the pier performance, and then head off to explore this unique mansion-turned-music-venue on the shores of Lake Superior.
It’s halfway through Sophie Hiroko’s set—incredible, by the way—when I realize I’ve shortchanged Messersmith $5. I think about re-PayPaling the merch person with a note to re-Venmo Messersmith, but I refrain. I video-chat my wife to show her a bit of Sophie Hiroko’s set, tell her the story, and she convinces me it was an honest miscalculation. I agree, and I begin to move on.
Sophie Hiroko
By this time, Messersmith and cellist Dan Lawonn take the pier and whisk us all away into an hour of his often amusing and sometimes startling storytelling. Magical doesn’t quite do the performance justice, but it’s downright magical, a magic on par with that of the early morning drive North. An hour later the sun is setting, Messersmith is jumping fully clothed into the Great Lake, and we all drift off into one of those soft summer nights that there are never, ever quite enough of.
Jeremy Messersmith, when you read these paragraphs, just know I’d like to somehow get you that $5 I owe you. Funny enough, I came back to Japan with exactly 5 USD in cash. I’m sure I’ll be at a show down the line and we can square up then. Or maybe I’ll pay you an extra $5 on Bandcamp for your latest single, Boomers. Until then, thank you for your art and for bringing us all together that incredible August night in Duluth.
Jeremy Messersmith
