It’s another Saltydog summer in Duluth. The six-piece jam band, formerly known as the New Salty Dog, released their second full-length studio album June 3 and will make their Blue Ox Music Festival debut this weekend. But what many Northland music fans are excited about is a third summer of “High Key” Mondays, the band’s weekly residency at Bent Paddle Brewing in Duluth’s Lincoln Park craft district.

The foundational members of Saltydog are brothers Jacob and Owen Mahon, on guitar and drums respectively, and bassist Calvin “Calzone” Lund. The group has used its weekly, beer-fueled dance party to fine tune a funky sound and tinker with a lineup that now features Sam Deters on guitar, Gavin St. Clair on keyboards, and Bryan “Lefty” Johnson on percussion. The live experience certainly helped inform its new nine-song album, Pepper, but the band wanted to take its music to another level.

Pecan, Pecon, the group’s 2020 debut album, was recorded quick and dirty in one live studio session. For the new record, Saltydog spent a weekend with Rich Mattson at his Sparta Sound Studio. The extra effort gives the music a tighter, more efficient groove. The harmonies shine and a full-band sound jumps out of the speakers.

“I’d say it's a lot cleaner,” Jacob says. “Maybe some of the spontaneity and wildness of Pecan, Pecon isn’t as present, but it’s different. If Pecan, Pecon was really wild, then we kind of went the other way and then got something a little bit more serious — if you can call it that.”

Saltydog have built a big following performing a relentless live schedule across the Twin Ports and beyond. Their non-stop rhythm section; free-flowing guitar jams and clever, often playful songwriting can pack a dance floor and turn any night into a party. Live recordings posted to their Bandcamp site capture the magic — wrinkles and all. Making studio albums has presented a new challenge.

“I still feel like a baby,” Jacob says. “It’s fun to be in the youth stages of a process like this, but it’s also uncomfortable. I forget that we’ve played hundreds and hundreds of shows and how it’s easier almost to relax in front of a bunch of people playing a familiar place than it is trying to turn what we play into a product.”

Owen says the band treated the studio differently on its first two albums. “There’s people who want to hear the raw material — they want to hear it when we bone a solo, they like that kind of thing,” he says. “And then there’s other people who just want to hear what the track would be like without as much spontaneity.”

On Pepper, Saltydog tries to capture a definitive version of their songs, he says. “You want to get it right because we’re going to hear it again and again and again.”

Colorful characters fill the album. Barflies, bus drivers, and lovers all get the spotlight. Jacob and Owen Mahon split most of the songwriting and share lead vocal duties throughout the record. The band also collaborated on a swinging instrumental piece called “The Cleaning.”

“It’s much more representative of how we’ve been performing — we’re splitting the roles a lot more,” Jacob says. “The band has definitely evolved since the three of us have been together since 2019.”

The Mahon brothers moved to Duluth from Longville, Minnesota, in 2016. Jacob started performing solo right away while Owen was still in high school. When reclusive songwriter Jeffrey James O’loughlin needed a drummer, Owen stepped into the role and discovered a new talent. “Calzone” Lund, who was learning bass from Duluth guitar master Jimi Cooper, met Owen during Denfeld High School band room sessions. He quickly teamed up with the brothers.

“Before the Doggies I hadn’t really gigged out a ton,” says Lund. “Now it’s every weekend.”

The steady stage schedule has led to all kinds of collaborations, side projects, and gun-for-hire work. Notably, Owen served as a drummer on Alan Sparhawk’s recent European tour and Jacob recorded an album with Colleen Myhre as a guitarist in her band Boss Mama & the Jebberhooch. A collaboration with Duluth-based new grass band Black River Revue led to an invitation for a billing at the Wisconsin-based Blue Ox Music Festival, one of the largest music festivals in the Midwest.

The band say their High Key Monday residency has been at the center of all their recent growth. “It’s been huge. I think High Key Monday is really representative of how we’re trying to not necessarily make just a music event but a community event,” says Owen. “It’s a fun reason to get together with all our friends while also celebrating our music. We all really love to play music with each other.”

As pandemic restrictions wound down in the spring of 2021, Bent Paddle Brewing closed off a dead-end road adjacent to its tap room, created a green space with picnic tables and built a concert stage. Saltydog took over Monday nights the following June. The free event was quickly embraced by the Duluth music community and has turned into a weekly street party.

Food trucks, painters, glass blowers, and other artists surround the stage as Saltydog perform a wildly varied set. Guest artists, like Erik Berry of Trampled by Turtles, have become regular features.

Former Bent Paddle venue manager and sound technician Andrew Stern helped launch High Key Monday and spent the last two years making it a must-see music event. He says hundreds of people attend the outdoor show every week.

Stern says the outdoor venue creates a family-friendly vibe early in the evening - with children dancing, running around and blowing bubbles. An older tie-dye-clad crowd moves in later followed by young adults out to have a good time. The whole thing is pulled together by the music.

“You actually see every generation enjoy this band. I believe it’s the type of music they make and who they relate to — it’s literally everyone. That’s why it’s so successful,” he says. “It’s become a circus of sorts.”

Monday nights were so successful that Bent Paddle added an indoor stage extending live music into the fall season.

Stern says Saltydog have a deep catalog, play thoughtful covers and feature a long list of talented friends eager to join them on stage. He compares them to the Grateful Dead.

“They straddle some sort of line. It’s feeling like it could be old music but also they’re writing new stuff. So it’s somewhere in between,” he says. “They’re just trying to be themselves, which is great. So instead of doing what’s always successful, they’re playing in the moment. Which gets into some jazzier, funkier, jammier stuff because you never know how you’re going to be feeling in the moment.”

The Saltydog members say they want to carry that energy to their Blue Ox performance on the Saloon Stage on Friday, June 28.

“Whenever you’re surrounded by 4,000 people — or whatever it is — that’s a lot of people who are just there for the music. That’s who we want to get in front of — the people who are going to appreciate the music we make,” says Owen Mahon. “That’s a great spot. A great spot to find people who have never heard of us.”

“It’s a huge honor to be part of this,” says Jacob Mahon. “The fest itself is kind of bluegrass oriented, more for string bands. We have flavors of that but that’s not our main bag…so it’s really sweet that they’re reaching out to these different pockets of music and have given us this chance.”

Saltydog will perform at Blue Ox Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Friday, June 18, and every Monday at Bent Paddle Brewing Company in Duluth.