Hippe music fest growing in corn field

DUNNELL, MN-The Hudsons have plans to go out with a bang.

The bluegrass trio, comprised of Brian Hudson, Hudson Mueller and most recently, Leah Zeger, have been recording, performing and promoting their own flavor of acoustic material for the past eight years.

But, soon it will all be over.

“This is our last tour,” said Hudson.

Although the band will continue to do a few shows through November, Mueller has plans to move to New York, which will certainly leave the Austin, TX based group in limbo.

Which is why the three have plans to enjoy what could possibly be their final tour together.

“I just really want to have a good time on this tour,” Mueller said. “We’ve kind of done this tour a couple of times already, so we have a lot of friends along the way, and we’re looking forward to seeing the folks that we know out there, and I’m also looking forward to spending time with Brian and Leah. We really haven’t had any gigs over the last couple of months, and I’m about to move, so we want to get one last hurrah in before it all goes down.”

One of the last stops on The Hudsons’ tour is to Cornstalk in Dunnell, MN — a music, art and peace festival the Texas group has performed at once before.

“It’s kind of a dope festival,” Hudson said.

While Mueller said the group, which only consisted of him and Hudson at the time, had no idea what they were getting into by performing at the festival, they were pleasantly surprised.

“The first time we went up there, we really had no idea what we were getting into,” he said. “We were off in the middle of nowhere, driving through corn fields, and suddenly out popped a little oasis of hippies and joy.”

And, while the band has played at Cornstalk before, both Mueller and Hudson agreed it will be a different experience this time around, what with the addition of Zeger.

“She’s just at the top of her game, and one of the best musicians I’ve ever played with, besides Hudson, of course,” said Hudson. “It ought to change things in a significant way.”

Although Mueller and Hudson pushed their merchandise pretty heavily last time, they agreed to be a little more subdued this time around.

“We do need to get rid of all of those boxes of CDs, though,” Mueller said.

This article appeared in the July 25, 2009 edition of DISCOVER! Magazine.