Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Growing
Destinations podcast is brought
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
You go to a lot of
other cities and people go out
to see the cover bands.
They go out to see the peoplethat are playing the old music
that they know and they like.
And here people come out to seeoriginal music and they want
that and they crave that and wehave so many amazing musicians
providing that.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Welcome to the
Growing Destinations podcast,
where we take a deep dive intodestination development and
focus on a wide range of topics,from tourism and entertainment
to economic development andentrepreneurism and much more.
I'm your host, bill Von Bank.
Rochester, minnesota, is hometo a growing live music scene,
(00:57):
and one of the voices helpingshape its sound is Gina Marcucci
.
She's a founder and lead singerof the folk rock band my
Grandma's Cardigan.
Known for their heartfeltlyrics, rich harmonies and a
sound that's equal partsnostalgic and fresh, the band
has become a standout in thelocal music community.
In this episode, gina shareshow the band came together, how
(01:18):
Rochester's creative energy hasinfluenced their journey and
what continues to inspire her towrite, perform and connect
through music.
Gina Marcucci, welcome to theGrowing Destinations podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Thank you for having
me Happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Let's start at the
beginning.
How did my Grandma's Cardigancome together?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
My friend Rennell and
I were playing music together
in Winona.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Winona Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Winona, minnesota.
I was at school at Winona Stateat the time.
Winona, I was in school, winonaMinnesota, winona, minnesota.
I was at school at Winona Stateat the time and I was not a
performer, singer by any means.
But I had a lot of friends thatI met my first year of college
that were very musical,constantly playing music and
singing all the time, and I kindof started playing along with
(02:02):
them but had no real interest inbeing on stage or being in
front of people.
I was the kid that blacked outin speech class.
Going up in front of peoplethat would get tunnel vision and
pass out.
Um, so being on stage was nevera thing I thought I would do.
But I actually took the historyof beatles class, winona State,
(02:24):
which was new and awesome, andthe final was having to write
and record a song and that waskind of my first taste of oh, I
actually enjoy singing and Imight be okay at it.
I still don't really want to doit in front of other people,
but it was nice.
But my friend Ronell had foundout that I kind of had a voice
(02:46):
and she pulled me aside at a barand was like you're going to
sing with me, you are playingmusic with me, you're going to
sing with me and it's going tobe great.
And I was like, okay, sure, whynot?
So her and I started playingtogether in her living room and
she kind of taught me the thisand that of of singing and
playing guitar and I've beenplaying guitar for 10-plus years
, but yeah, it was just for fun.
(03:08):
She was kind of getting me outof my shell to find my voice.
And then a local band, beatRoot Stew in Winona, approached
us.
I'm like we need somebody toplay in between our sets at
Popcorn Tavern tonight.
And we said yes, with the helpof a little wine, we went out
and played our first set andbefore we got on stage we had
(03:31):
been chatting with some peopleand and joking around about.
You know, her and I were bothwearing cardigans and we were
both, in that moment, realizedwe're wearing rings that our
grandmas had given us and andthis guy asked what our name was
and Ronell just said mygrandma's cardigan.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It just slipped out.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And then the guy got
on stage and was like my
grandfather's cardigan is comingup and we're like, yeah, close
enough, but it was a terribleshow.
But the name stuck after that.
So her and I kind of keptrolling and when you have a
really interesting experience onstage it makes you want to
figure out how to make it better.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So you were forced on
stage by a friend and you had
been playing the guitar.
Did you sing as a kid?
No, no no.
So you found your voice incollege.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yes, absolutely.
I mean, I was in choir, but in,you know, middle school, when
you were.
I was in choir.
But in middle school, when youwere forced to be in choir, but
I was never in the choir peoplegroup, I just did it because I
had to and no.
But I didn't really grow up ina musical family.
We listened to a lot of music,but my brother was in a screamo
(04:41):
band, but that doesn't count.
So no, I definitely found myvoice in college and with a lot
of influence of people around me.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So you started in
Winona, minnesota, through
college.
What were the early days likewith the band?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
It started just for
Nell and I.
We played a lot of coffee shopsBlooming Grounds, acoustic Cafe
we played wherever we could.
We made friends with a lot ofmusicians and kind of just
tagged along with them.
We started going to musicfestivals.
Driftless Music Gardens was abig launching point for us.
People Brothers Band startedPeople Fest and we met a lot of
(05:16):
really great people out thereand playing at campsites kind of
got attention.
So people started asking us toplay randomly on little stages
and um.
And then our friend WestonHawley, who was our guitar
player, joined us on banjo atthe time.
Um, because we were playing Ithink Ronell was playing
mandolin, I was playing guitarand we'd throw in random
(05:37):
percussion instruments like aguero whenever we felt like it.
And then, yeah, weston joinedus and we became a trio, started
playing around anywhere wepossibly could, at little coffee
shops and stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
So what's the current
lineup then, with your band?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Our current group.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
We are seven now, so
we've got Jake Allen on drums,
joey Martin on keys, alan Palmeron bass, evan Hocus on fiddle
mandolin, weston Hawley onguitar and myself on acoustic
and vocals.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
When did you move to
Rochester?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I moved here five
years ago, maybe six now in 2018
.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Is that when the band
really took shape?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
We had a pretty
decent following and we had A
lot of stuff going on Kind oflater years, college and post,
when we had a pretty decentgroup where it was myself,
Ronell Weston, our friend Stevewas on bass and we had a pretty
(06:39):
good following.
Then I think we kind of splitup.
When we all graduated and movedto different states, a lot of
us kept playing music and keptperforming, but it was when I I
actually when I moved to thecities, we kind of rejoined yes,
a little bit.
um, ronell and I started playingagain and our friend Keegan
joined us on bass and Westonwould would travel to come, come
(07:01):
play, and but it was when I,when I moved back to Rochester
Weston also moved back toRochester around the same time
and it was when we decided to toRochester, weston also moved
back to Rochester around thesame time, and it was when we
decided to really get theCardigan, as we call it rolling
again.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I love that name,
cardigan yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And we've been
through a few different forms
since then.
Jake Allen has always kind ofbeen in our circle and plays
drums with us and he lives inWinona so he's probably our
farthest member.
But our friend Keegan joined onbass when we started going
again.
We played Big Turn his firstyear in Red Wing.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
A big music festival
in Red Wing, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah.
So that was kind of our jumpback in, was one of our first
festivals back playing, again asmy grandma's cardigan, and yeah
, through the years you know.
And again as my grandma'scardigan, and yeah, through the
years you know.
Ronelle left and CarlyHornstein joined as my co-singer
a few years back and you'llknow her as the lady singer in
Clay Fulton in the last 40.
(07:59):
And Alan Palmer was an amazingbass player we knew in town
already and asked him to join inand then he actually knew Evan
from school in St Cloud.
They went to universitytogether and he we needed a
fiddle player.
We were playing boats andbluegrass for the first time and
we're like we gotta have afiddle, we need something that
shows that we're bluegrass-ishand not just folk or whatever we
(08:23):
are.
And so he called him down andhe was only supposed to play
that one show but then he endedup sticking around and yeah.
And then Joey Martin, we'veknown since college.
He was our roommate and afellow musician and he joined in
on keys and you know, peoplejust kind of kept asking if they
could play with us and we neversaid no.
So he grew, we grew to be apretty, pretty big band compared
(08:46):
to the duo we used to be, and Ilove our current setup, our
current group.
Everyone is so kind and sotalented and so creative.
We have so many voices anddifferent styles that have come
together to create this band.
And we did Lewis Carley about ayear or so ago.
She has a lot going on.
(09:06):
She was in a musical and Lost40 really took off, so she was
dedicating a lot of her timethere and so I kind of stepped
into my first time being thelead singer since we formed the
band.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I'd always had a
co-singer and you're doing a
fantastic job.
So you've been part of theRochester music scene for a
while now.
How would you describe thecurrent vibe here in Rochester
to the?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Rochester music scene
for a while now.
How would you describe thecurrent vibe here in Rochester?
I'd say it's growing and it'sfamily.
Everyone here you know, we allknow each other, we all play
together, we all find ways tocreate music together in some
way or another.
And I've played music in a lotof different communities and
Rochester has been growing sinceI moved here with the addition
of a lot of differentcommunities, and Rochester has
(09:49):
been growing since I moved herewith the addition of a lot of
great venues like Thesis andForager and Little Thistle.
Everyone is nice, everyone iskind, everyone is happy to play
together and to invite everyoneand everyone to play on bills
together.
And the addition of Thaw MusicFestival, thanks to Nick Novotny
, has made it another greatmusic destination for bands from
(10:09):
the cities and Minnesota area.
So yeah, I'd say the vibe isgrowth and comfort.
And one big thing I love aboutRochester is not only do we have
a very big music scene, but wehave a creative music scene full
of original music.
You go to a lot of other citiesand people go out to see the
(10:33):
cover bands.
They go out to see the peoplethat are playing the old music
that they know and they like.
And here people come out to seeoriginal music and they want
that and they crave that and wehave so many amazing musicians
providing that.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
What would help to
get Rochester to the next level?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I think we've been
taking good strides with all of
the new festivals and musicalopportunities.
You know Riverside, the ForwardConcert Series.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Thursdays Downtown.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Thursdays Downtown.
Yes, to grow all our scene ingeneral.
One thing I've seen happening alot more is purposely inviting
musicians from outsidecommunities to play alongside
local Rochester bands and Ithink that growing that focus
(11:23):
would be ideal and help grow theRochester scene incredibly and
keeping kind of that connection.
I think bringing in big bandsis great but tying them into the
local Rochester scene everytime and local Rochester
musicians is what will help keepeverything flowing in an upward
(11:45):
direction.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
What has helped fuel
your creativity?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
One thing actually
one thing a lot of people don't
know is I am not the writer forour band.
Weston Hawley is our writer.
He has written most of ourmusic.
A lot of our early stuff werecollaborations with Ranelle and
I, but most of the stuff youhear now was written by Weston.
He has an amazing mind, supercreative, and this is what he
does.
He sits and he hears things andhe writes music and he writes
(12:12):
lyrics and we collaborate a bit.
You know he'll, he'll write andhe'll send me ideas and stuff
and I'll give input.
But, um, he is our creativepower and um all of our boys
write, all of our men sorry, letthem know, I said boys, they
all write, they all have amazingideas and we all come from very
different musical backgrounds.
(12:33):
I grew up with folk and mymusical upbringing was Ronell
showing me folk music, so thatwas kind of how my style formed.
Weston grew up with classicrock and everything around it
and he's been growing hismusical abilities every day
since I met him.
Alan is our jazz guy, so hebrings all that vibe in.
(12:56):
Joey can and will play anythingand he's our hype guy.
He's our creative push of likelet's get louder, let's get
better.
And then there's jake, who isjust a musical mastermind in
himself and he plays in so manydifferent bands, like texas,
toast and with a lot of amazingmusicians.
So he is our let's get scary,let's try new things, let's not
(13:19):
not be scared to try playinganything out of our range, which
anyone that's been following ussince we started our musical
range is kind of undefined atthis point because we've brought
in a lot of different creativeminds to see what we can make.
So that's why when people ask,are you a folk band like?
We're a folk band that playsrock and jazz and classic and
(13:43):
whatever we feel like doing thatweek.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
What's been one of
your most memorable moments on
stage.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I keep coming back to
this in my head because there's
been so many, we have so muchfun and our little group is just
fun to have on stage and toplay with.
And I think one of the firsttimes I saw people in the crowd
singing our song, it was GoodFor you, which we released,
(14:11):
however, many years ago, and itwas a person I didn't know who
came up afterwards and saidthey've been following us
forever and loved it.
But I had spotted them in thecrowd singing along to the song
and I want to say we were atthesis, but it all blends
together.
But that sticks out in my headas like cool, somebody
appreciates the music we've beendoing and you know, sometimes
(14:35):
you kind of feel like you'rejust doing it for yourself,
because it's just you just kindof keep going and and and you
never really know if if you'reimpacting or hitting people the
way you want to and and seeingthat was one of the coolest
experiences I've had.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
How do you balance
the emotional and creative
demands of music with everythingelse in life?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
It's a lot when you
want to be creating constantly
and you want to be writing music, performing music, playing
music, but you also have athousand other things going on.
It takes a lot to carve outthat time, to be in a space
where you can be creative andyou can reflect and make new and
(15:17):
exciting things, and I know Istruggle with this particularly.
I have too many obligations,too many things on my plate
within the marathon and myfull-time job and life.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
You mentioned
marathon because you are
co-director of the MedCityMarathon, correct?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yes, myself and our
fiddle player, evan, own the
MedCity Marathon going on fouryears now, so that's a big
undertaking.
Yeah, yes, and we do try toloop it in.
We have music at the marathonnow and Evan got up on stage and
played with Megan and thebirdwatcher this year and we had
salty dog out and stuff.
So there's, there are fun waysto overlap your creative and
(15:56):
musical life with the rest thatyou have going on, and so, yeah,
it's just it's carving out thetime and making space in your
life.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
What's next for my
grandma's cardigan?
Any new music shows or projectson the horizon?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
All of the above, yes
.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Okay, always.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So we've got.
We're playing Thursdaysdowntown.
We've been slowing down ourbooking this year so that we can
focus on getting some new stuffout.
I think we're all very, verybusy people.
We're all in other bands.
We all have.
I think we're all very, verybusy people.
We're all in other bands.
We all have full-time jobs andJoey's got two kids and so it's
a lot.
But we've got a number of songsthat are written and on their
(16:37):
way.
We have been working with AlexOrtberg to get some recordings
done.
I'm sure he's mad at us rightnow because we haven't been able
to get back in the studio for awhile, but yeah, we have a
number of songs on the way.
I'm not sure if we're planningon it being an album or if we're
just going to release them asthey come, because that's kind
of our style.
But yeah, we've got.
We've got some some good newstuff coming and some different
(17:00):
styles we've been, we've beenplaying around with where do you
perform outside of Rochester?
Speaker 1 (17:05):
are you around around
Minnesota?
Are you around the Midwest?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I'd say we've been
sticking mostly around Minnesota
.
We play up in the cities a bit.
We just played Brookside andMarine on St Croix Super cool
place that they are vamping upto be a great music spot.
We play around Winona quite abit.
We head out to Wisconsin theYuba area for festivals and
stuff pretty often but I'd saywe stick around here for the
(17:34):
most part.
What advice would you give toyoung musicians trying to find
their voice?
Get out there, go play.
You know, one of my favoritepeople I've been watching lately
is Eleanor Seavers, and Iwatched her as she started
getting on stage at Forager foropen mic nights and then was,
you know, playing everyopportunity she got it seemed
like, and I just saw her atThursdays Downtown when she
(17:54):
played and she's amazing, and soI think she's a good example of
just keep practicing, keepplaying, do stuff that scares
you, you know.
It's only only reason I did itwas someone forced me to do
something that was scary andturned out I liked it and yeah,
just keep playing.
Go to open mic nights, meetpeople, talk to everybody.
Everyone wants to see yousucceed is one thing that people
(18:17):
don't tend to understand isthere's no rivalry here.
Everybody wants to see you beyour best self and be your best
musician and succeed in whateverway you're trying to.
So make friends.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Gina Marcucci, it's
been great to learn more about
your musical journey and yourband's success.
Thank you for being our gueston the Growing Destinations
podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thank you for having
me.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
As we close out this
interview, here's a sampling of
my Grandma's Cardigan.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
All the world is the
same before you, but you're the
one who took my hand.
Everything has changed.
Look around you.
It was all part of the plan.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Thank you for tuning
in to the Growing Destinations
podcast and don't forget tosubscribe.
This podcast is brought to youby Experience Rochester.
Find out more about Rochester,Minnesota, and its growing arts
and culture scene, itsinternational culinary flavors
and award-winning craft beer byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
You're in a crowd at
a show.
Somehow You've always wanted tobe in a band Standing on top of
the world.
I think I've got it all.
I think I've got it all.