He’s more than just a pirate.  

Some know him now as a frontiersman, a ranger or maybe a mountaineer. Some days he parades around town wearing a shirt and shawl covered in repeating flame patterns and a straw hat decorated with four turkey vulture feathers; this costume he calls “the phoenix”. Some days, he is seen as a snake herder, sporting a plastic cobra named Hector on a straw hat, letting the snake lead him on his journeys.  

The man once known as “Steve the pirate” is now a man of many costumes.

“People began to expect the pirate, they demanded it and they don’t appreciate it,” said Steve Kukowski. “When you try to inspire people who won’t be inspired, it gets frustrating.”

Today, he wears a black leather jacket, silver chains dangling from the side, knee high black socks under camouflage green capris and a black beanie; today he’s just Steve.  

“I still try to stay myself,” he said. “I don’t want to lose my identity. That’s who I am.” 

“He’s an integral part to the characters of Winona,” said local Winona resident Matthew Marek.  

He sits at a table, slapping his legs with his hands to the beat of a song by the electronic duo, Ratatat, while making didjeridoo sounds with his mouth.  His freestyle percussion instruments are as versatile as his costumes. 

Walking past Ed’s (No Name) Bar many can see Kukowski in the window tapping shot glasses on the counter to an interesting beat. Others might see him drumming a “rhythm stick” he hand picked from a nearby forest or maybe shakers made to be children’s toys in the shape of fruits and vegetables. 

“I like to perform with other musician friends and enhance them with my freestyle percussion,” said Kukowski. “There’s always that hope that it is going to develop but it’s just a good thing to do with your friends- to have ‘jamosities’.”

Adam August, a friend of Kukowski’s for the last eight years, said his favorite memory with Kukowski is sitting in the back corner of what was once the Green Lantern, an old coffeehouse and cabaret in Winona, listening to Charlie Parr perform. August danced in the back corner of the red, dimly lit room, while Kukowski pounded his walking stick to the beat, the two of them howling like wolves and “wookies” with no inhibitions. 

“He’s the spirit of Winona,” said August. “He showed me I could be who I am. He’s just pure self-passion.”

But the enhancing doesn’t stop with his musical jams. Kukowski grew up in Alaska, with his three brothers, but moved to Winona to live with his aunt and uncle when his parents passed away. Since then, he has dedicated his days to the Winona community. From helping build the patio at Ed’s (No Name) Bar to side projects at Dibs Café, Kukowski finds ways to help with various projects around town.  

“I’m very much involved,” he said. “That’s the other part of me. I’m trying to make a difference for other people instead of living off the welfare dime.” 

This November marks Kukowski’s eighth month of squatting, or occupying an abandoned space. He refuses to pay for a place where he’s not guaranteed peace and quiet. He’s left supporting himself with disability funds from a back injury and state aid. But the music in him never stops. 

“Sometimes I don’t have to play,” said Kukowski. “Sometimes I just like to kick back and enjoy listening.”

He grinned as he began to hear the song Wildcat by Ratatat.

“This is the safari song,” he said. “This one I have to get dressed up as a safari cat for.”