November 18, 2024 • 53 mins
In this episode of The Truth in This Art, host Rob Lee is joined by Ed Baldi and Nick Moreland, co-founders of Sonic Lifeline, a platform that provides musicians with unrestricted expression and the creators behind The Hemingway Room, an intimate jazz venue in Little Havana, Baltimore. Together, they explore their mission to foster deeper connections between artists and audiences, their unique collaborative journey, and how their distinct backgrounds in live production and photography shape Sonic Lifeline’s vision. The conversation delves into their efforts to revive the jazz pipeline between cities like Baltimore, D.C., and Philadelphia, while highlighting the challenges and triumphs of curating a thriving jazz scene in a post-pandemic world. Ed and Nick also share how The Hemingway Room creates space for authentic, artist-driven performances, ensuring that each show is a distinct and powerful experience.
This episode is brought to you as a part of my media partnership with Baltimore Magazine.
Join us on November 23rd for the final show of the 2024 Fall Season! Musical Director, Phil Thomas leads us through an evening of "Songs that Speak", from artists like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Bob James to name a few.
Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:
- Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
- Edited by Daniel Alexis
- Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor
Photos:
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- Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rob Lee (00:10):
Welcome back to the Truth in His Art, your source
for conversations at theintersection of arts, culture,
and community. I am your host,Rob Lee. I'm so happy to be here
with you today. And, this ispart of my media partnership
with Baltimore Magazine. Thankyou for your continued support.
Today, I am super excited to bein conversation with 2 guests.
(00:33):
Together, they cofounded SonicLifeline, a platform providing
musicians with unrestrictedexpression and created they
created the Hemingway Room inLittle Havana in the Key Highway
area of Baltimore, which is aintimate jazz space that fosters
deep connections between artistsand audiences. Please welcome
(00:53):
Eric Baldy and Nick Moreland.Welcome to the podcast.
Ed Baldi (00:57):
Rob, thanks for having us. We're really thrilled with
the opportunity, and thanks forreaching out to us. Yeah.
Nick Moreland (01:02):
Thanks for having us on. We appreciate you taking
an interest in in what we'vebeen doing, in the music scene.
So cheers cheers to you forthat.
Rob Lee (01:11):
Absolutely. It's it's it's great to to be able to to
chat and, you know, I'll I'llget this out of the way early,
because I'm I'm gonna touch itprobably a little bit later.
But, you know and when I startedthis podcast, back in 2019, I I
was always on a sort of wave ofwhere where are the jazz
(01:33):
conversations? You know what Imean? And so it's always been
baked in either I'm reaching outto folks that I know who are
musicians or even last year, youknow, for what April Jazz
Appreciation Month.
I was in New Orleans,Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC
interviewing folks who aremusicians, jazz champions has
(01:53):
always been. So I'm super happyto be able to have the 2 of you
on.
Ed Baldi (01:57):
That's amazing. That's amazing. You know? And, you
know, look. Putting, you know,putting Baltimore on that in
that map is part of part of oneof our part of our mission,
right, is to keep Baltimore inthe in that in in the jazz icons
of cities that you have to talkabout, right, when you talk
about it.
And, you know, look. Maybe we'renot always top of people's mind,
(02:18):
but something we're working ontrying to change.
Rob Lee (02:22):
Absolutely. Absolutely. So to to sort of set the stage,
let's go back a little bit.Again, thank you both for being
here. And to start things off,I'd love it for each of you to
to introduce yourselves becauseyou both have distinct
backgrounds yourselves becauseyou both have distinct
backgrounds outside of SonicLifeline that come together.
So if you will, Ed, could youstart, and then we'll go down to
(02:42):
Nick. Sure.
Ed Baldi (02:43):
Sure. I've been in in live live entertainment, live
production for almost 30 yearsnow. Started my career in the
theater as a stage manager doingthe, you know, the New York
crowd of the Broadway and offBroadway, and that transitioned
into some film and televisionopportunities and ultimately
(03:03):
into the live event productionspace. Mainly on the corporate
side of things, but I work for alot of fortune 100 companies
doing their, you know, theirtheir conventions or live shows
that have incorporate stagingand concerts and etcetera,
etcetera. So it's, you know,very, fulfilling from a
production standpoint, careerpath, and I've been very
fortunate, to that it's, youknow, it's been a it's been a
(03:28):
good, it's been a good run forme.
And the, you know, I think, notto jump ahead, but I think the
last 4 years, it disrupted a lotof people. Right? And after they
would put all I think if youdon't come away from the, you
know, our recent times change insome way, you've missed some
opportunity. So for me, takingall that experience of my
(03:51):
professional career and puttingit into the sonic lifeline,
which we created during thattime, has really opened up a
completely new chapter for mepersonally and professionally. I
wish I could be doing this allthe time, full time, every day.
Rob Lee (04:07):
Thank you. Nick?
Nick Moreland (04:10):
Yeah. So, I'm like a, a full time, self taught
photographer that used to be amusician. So I kinda started out
on the musician side of things.So I I really kinda emphasize
and I really can kinda, like, Ireally know where the musicians
are are coming from and and theamount of time and talent and
(04:31):
skill it takes to get to thelevel that they're at.
Rob Lee (04:34):
Sure.
Nick Moreland (04:35):
And that kinda translates over into my
photography too. But but yeah.So, I used to play guitar and
bass, and, I used to produce alot of music. I would I would
basically play all theinstruments myself and and
record it at my house, and justreally fell in love with that
process. And then I transitionedat some point in my life, that's
a whole another story, where Iwent fully into photography, but
(04:58):
with music as kind of acornerstone of, what I was
documenting.
Like, the the local music scenewas like my muses when I really
was exploring, and doing themost meaningful photography
work. So the fact that I couldbring that kind of angle Yeah.
And where it meets the theskills that my uncle has,
(05:22):
they'll be able to come fullcircle and bring them into this
this kind of world that we'vekind of been building, over the
past few years is, is reallyfulfilling. So
Ed Baldi (05:34):
Yeah. Rob, did we mention that we're that we're
related, or did you mentionthat? I missed that.
Rob Lee (05:38):
Oh, no. No. Yeah. You yeah. So talk about that a
little bit because that'sanother piece of it where when
when you're when you're workingtogether, when you're
collaborating, you're you'rebringing those skill set that
it's even more interesting andmaybe for some people, more more
challenging when it's like, andwe're related.
Like, you know, they say, yeah.Are you are you working with
(05:58):
your wife? I'm like, oh. Well,are you working with your
brother? Oh.
Ed Baldi (06:01):
And, you know, it's interesting. This was, like, a a
natural progression. I'm a I'm aI'm a few years older than Nick.
I mean, you know, Nick's but,but, Nick is my nephew, on my
wife's side of the family. And,you know, I think we I like you
know, Nick, we we alwaysconnected from on from, you
know, when when we first met,but which may have been at your
high school graduation.
I don't remember exactly. But itcould
Nick Moreland (06:22):
Or jamming or, you know, jamming in your
studio, playing music together.
Ed Baldi (06:26):
That's right. Nick.
Nick Moreland (06:27):
I Special bond.
Ed Baldi (06:28):
So Yeah. Abs absolutely. But but, you know,
always, you know, as being beingI'm a creative person and
working in production field,always, you know, watching
Nick's professional career takeshape, you know, over the recent
years has been, you know, reallyphenomenal to to watch. And and
trying to support it howeverhowever I was able to. I
(06:50):
probably, you know, my careerpath was there was no straight
line, right, as as you enteredthe theater and the arts.
And I think that was a bigtakeaway for me. It's like you
just one door opens and then upand you go through it and see
where that leads. And and Ithink I've always tried to and
working with anyone, especiallyfamily or young or young people
in general, try to encourage,like, just, you know, be open to
(07:11):
opportunities that that andpeople that inspire you or
that'll work around that arearound you, that that you you
want to learn from and and bearound. So I watched I've been
able to watch Nick do that withhis first his music and then his
photography. So seeing that takeoff has been a real amazing an
amazing pleasure.
But, when this this came about,you know, we both love getting
(07:35):
out in the woods. We both camp.
Nick Moreland (07:36):
Okay. Well,
Ed Baldi (07:37):
I like to drive in the woods. Nick actually likes to
hike in the woods. He's, again,a bit younger than I am. So, but
when this, you know, thisopportunity came up during the
during those pandemic yearswhen, you know, my a lot of our
for for many people, like Imentioned, that many people
found ourselves at a at atransitional moment, a moment of
crisis for some, right, formany. But we we, enjoyed getting
(08:01):
out into the wilderness as asmuch as possible during during
that time.
And and I think, Nick, you youwere doing a lot of live streams
from from small locations formusicians or all the musician
friends that we have whocouldn't perform anymore. I have
a lot of people, right, werestreaming from their homes, home
studios, porch shows. Right? Andand Nick was was was involved
(08:24):
with that and kinda invited mein because I've had all of a
sudden had a lot of time in myhands, you know, to to come
partake in that and and and helpproduce these these live
streams, kind of how it started.And then, and we were fortunate
in that time that that one ofthe one of the owners at this
establishment called LittleHabanas, which is in in
(08:45):
Baltimore, around the harbor, isis a dear friend of mine, a
friend a friend and neighborfrom, from here in Baltimore.
And right around that as theseworlds converge, he was like,
you know, we have this emptythis room that we built out
right at the beginning of theCOVID years that's empty. Gee,
what can we do with it? And itwas like, you you know, I think
(09:06):
walking in that room and andfeeling the vibe and hearing the
acoustics going, wow. This roomwas really meant for for for
kind of one thing. So sittingaround the campfire with Nick
going, hey.
What if we did this at thisspace? Nick's well, Nick's like,
oh, well, I I got the musicians.You got the you know, it's like,
you know, it's really that kindof that kind
Nick Moreland (09:27):
of
Ed Baldi (09:27):
approach, of of collaboration. Right? Of it
should've came together.
Nick Moreland (09:33):
Yeah. And it it it kinda started on such a high
note because I I think because Iwas already immersed in the
scene. We have this brand newthing that no one's heard of
that we're just starting tocreate, but I had a little bit
of, the kind of street cred justbecause people had seen me
around, like, during thepandemic times and everything to
shut down trying to trying todocument the music and, like,
(09:57):
kinda set up these kinda gorillatype shows and, kinda live
streams. So our our first showwas it was it was like a freak
freak blizzard in, like, April,and we still sold it out with
Herb Scott and, like, anincredible lineup. So to have to
have that to to to start on sucha high note was was also awesome
(10:19):
too.
It's like, you know, we didn'tknow exactly what's gonna happen
going into it, and just it wasjust unbelievable feeling to
walk into that room and and andto see all the people there and
and and to feel like, okay, thisis it. This is the first step.
This is, like, the first turningof the wheel. So
Ed Baldi (10:40):
But that's that's when things were opening back up and
we were allowed to do live showsagain because before that
Nick Moreland (10:44):
Oh, yeah.
Ed Baldi (10:45):
You were doing the, the record shop live streams
with some incredible musicians.Yeah.
Nick Moreland (10:51):
I don't know what I was doing. I I like to credit
myself with there'll never be atime again in history where you
could get musicians of thatcaliber to come on a Friday
night and play for, like, $20 ofstore credit for, like, cassette
tapes and vinyl records. Likelike, literally, everything was
shut down and, like, there wasno clubs to play at all. And
(11:11):
then, you know, the the owner ofthe record shop nonchalantly
asked me one day, he's like,what if we produce shows here?
He's like, I got a grant, justwrite down on a piece of paper
the gear we need, And then everyeverything showed up.
He's like, alright. You betterteach yourself how to use a
mixing board and whatever, andand I expect bands every week.
And then I think we did, like,15 shows, but it was like, like
(11:36):
pre Columbian music from theAndes, from, like, Bolivia and
Peru, and then Go Go, and then,jazz, and then, like, neo souls.
So, like like, I always wastrying to, kinda represent the
different communities in in theDC music scene. So that's kind
of how I kind of got addicted towhat we're doing now, because
(11:58):
I'm I was coming in there as aphotographer, and now I had to
wear all these hats, but then,like, I really, respected the
the what goes into making asuccessful production feel a
certain way and sound a certainway, and intangible things that
when you come in the room, thatjust kind of digest them outside
(12:19):
of the sounds that you'rehearing.
It's it's a whole wholeexperience that that that that
you're trying to craft, andthat's what I really got an
appreciation for when I, like,dove head first into it. Yeah.
Yeah. If that makes
Ed Baldi (12:34):
makes sense.
Rob Lee (12:35):
It does. It does. And I and I want for the because
because because I didn't mentionit, because I wanna go for for
the benefit, and we'll go intothis next question for the
benefit of the listeners, whatwe're talking about. We're
talking about the the Hemingwayroom. That's the other thing.
Like, we touched on, like,little Havana. We talked we
touched on sort of, you know,some of the the early
performances, sort of that, theperiod of having these streams
(12:57):
and what becomes now, which isin its 2nd year. Right? Sort of
the the Hemingway room. And I'llI'll comment on this one thing,
that I thought is reallyinteresting that that 2020, you
know, period on forward,everyone got really ingenious, a
lot of ingenuity figuring thingsout.
Like, you know, I'm learning howto use different mixers myself
(13:19):
to do what I'm doing at home,and, you know, this podcast
really kinda took off in thatthat time frame as well. Like,
you know, I talk about it, youknow, in 5 years. So we're
talking 2019 when this podcaststarted. I'm my my 800th episode
as we're recording this comesout tomorrow.
Nick Moreland (13:36):
And Wow. Congrats on that.
Ed Baldi (13:37):
Appreciate it. Yeah. Amazing.
Rob Lee (13:39):
And a lot of that is from the home studio, figuring
it out because we're unable to,you know, be in person. And, you
know, it's it's something aboutthem being able to take some of
those ideas out of necessity. II heard sort of those porch
concerts. I still see those. Ithink those are really cool and
really some it's an it's aunique and intimate way of doing
(14:01):
it and seeing people use sort ofparameters and, like, these
barriers.
Like, let's say, you have thebiggest arena. You can, you
know, kinda do certain things.But if it's like, I got a porch.
I'm gonna get this double bassin here. I'm gonna go get this
mixer and these speakers.
These all of this in there. Soit's kind of creative problem
solving with the parameters thatare there and being able to take
(14:23):
that once we're able to be backin the same space with each
other is beautiful. And one ofthe other things I I heard
before moving into this thisnext question is sort of where
that collaboration works, youknow, with the 2 of you and sort
of both having these similarinterests and seeing, like,
having the, you know, what Iheard from Nick hearing the
(14:43):
having the the background as amusician and having sort of
being in the scene and kindakinda doing storytelling, but
through this understanding ofartists and being able to
leverage sort of thatbackground. And for Ed, your
your background in in lifeproduction, live event
production, those things comingtogether being, like, equally
yoked. And it's like, I'm gonnaleverage my skill set, leverage
(15:05):
yours, and see where we meet.
You know? It's it's Reese's.It's it's peanut butter and
chocolate.
Ed Baldi (15:10):
Well, you know, the the the the name even, you know,
the calling the Sonic lifeline,you know, even the beginning, I
was like, I think it's hard it'shard to We think back now. It's
just such recent history, but,like, what to put yourself in
the mindset of what it was likeback in those years of, right,
of uncertainty for many people.Right? Or just, and so it really
was a lifeline for musicians,for for ourselves, and and the
(15:34):
so this the name itself is verymeaningful to me to me,
personally. I think it was meantto to to really give an
opportunity for for for artiststo be able to play and perform
and and the la you know, Nickand I wanted to create those
spaces and those opportunities.
That was a lifeline. I don'tknow what else I would be doing.
It literally saved saved savedme during that that period, you
(15:55):
know, mentally in many ways. SoI want I wanted to to get that
across. I think that that was animportant part.
And I think coming out of thatwas, I looked around the city. I
live here in Baltimore and atNicks Town, DC. Right? And I had
been travel I was on the road alot before that. I was my career
(16:16):
had me out of town.
And so now I'm in in townlooking at my kids who are going
to school here and and thecommunity I live in and
realizing I I didn't do enoughwasn't involved enough in our in
our city or where I lived, in acity that needs that needs all
of us to be involved if you livehere. I think then, and I didn't
know I didn't know I mean, Ididn't know where I could let I
(16:39):
didn't know what to do. I didn'tknow where to lend my skills or
where to jump in. I only knewhow how to do shows, how to put
on shows. And and I felt in someway that that the city we I
needed this.
City needed this. The themusicians need needed this, and
it was the only way I knew tohelp to be really get involved
and say, let's build let's getpeople in a room together. And I
(17:02):
said this the other the othernight, at the show. I try I try
and since every show, like, Ithink it's really by by some
design, trying to get peoplefrom different parts of the city
in a room together to hear areally positive sound coming
from our city. Yeah.
Not just the sounds and storiesI heard as I traveled the world
(17:24):
and people said, oh, you live inBaltimore? Oh, well, here's what
we know of Baltimore. Right?It's like, oh, well, so so I
felt a duty. I still feel I feela duty to try and to promote
from within, from from thiscommunity we have and the
musicians and the artists wehave.
That that's a a big piece ofwhat we do. And, you know, even
to this, like, you know, Nickand I, I love talk. It's great.
Thank you for letting us talkabout it, but we try and make
(17:47):
that story and the musicians andthe experience around that, the
that's the that should be underthe spotlight, not necessarily
Nick and I. We're we're behindthe scenes, hopefully, making it
happen.
Rob Lee (17:59):
That's that's a good point. And and thank you for
that because it's it's bakedinto, you know, what I'm doing
here. I'm based in Baltimore aswell. I spend time in Philly,
spend time in DC. I was actuallyjust in DC the other day, and I
was like, this is moving aroundtoo much.
But it is one of those thingswhere when I go to a different
city, I was recently in Columbusto do some comic thing. Right?
(18:20):
Because talking to so manydifferent people, different
artists, different creativefolks, different people with and
from different communities. AndI felt, you know, I had to had
to slag off the, you know,Browns and and and and Cleveland
and all of that stuff becausethat's where I was at in
Columbus. And I think it was aSaturday, and I was like, oh,
yeah.
You guys got football, bigfootball town, and had to throw
my Ravens dig in. But, you know,sorta used it as an opportunity
(18:46):
to dispel some of that, youknow, anti Baltimore sentiment
or that ill informed Baltimoresentiment. And just under the
guys that we have a lot ofcreativity there, which is
always left out of theconversation, a lot of different
scenes. And, you know, I knowthis is a question that's gonna
come up, you know, I might aswell get to it now that, you
know, as I was talking abouttraveling, there's Baltimore,
(19:06):
there's DC, there's Philly. And,you know, as I was sharing
before we got started that and alittle bit when we we were we
were talking earlier that, youknow, I've done these interviews
through this sort of lens ofarts, culture, community, but
specifically in those citieswith, you know, jazz, with
music.
And there's sort of thispipeline. Right? There's sort of
(19:28):
this interactive thing that'sthere. And cities, in in my
opinion, have a lot ofsimilarities. They're they're
unique, but they have a lot ofsimilarities.
So from your perspectives, youknow, what is what does that
look like as far as the the thewhere the cities may be overlap
through sort of this lens ofjazz and this lens of performing
(19:48):
arts overall? Where do thecities sort of overlap?
Ed Baldi (19:51):
I'm really glad you brought that up. And then, look,
and I'm not an authority onthis. So, you know, I can only
speak from my hands onexperience of recent and talk
and what I've learned from somany incredible musicians.
You've mentioned some of them,Lionel Lyles, who was on your
show, Brandon Woody, you know,Clarence Ward. Right?
I've learned so much fromspeaking with the artists here.
(20:13):
I've I feel a real and I knowone of your questions, what's
next for Sonic's Lifeline? SoI'm I'm gonna you're you're
hitting on 2 topics because I doyou know, the the the pipeline
you talked about, which wasthriving in a big piece of jazz
history, music history here onthese coasts, Baltimore sound,
Philly sound, New York sound,right, DC sound, I'm I'm gonna
(20:35):
get there in a moment. I'm gonnathread this together, Robin,
away. Yeah.
You you know, as we wannaexpand, you know, the the
artists that we have here andsay, oh, let's let's do a show.
I grew up. I'm originally fromNew Jersey. Right? I'd let's
let's do a show.
Let's I wanna bring musicians upthere and kinda spread the sound
of what we're doing here. One ofthe biggest challenges be
(20:58):
becomes in the ex the costs, theexpense of putting on a fully
produced show in another cityand moving the musicians, you
know, but, you know, by the timethey put the expensive hotel or
transportation, right, that'sthey should be getting paid many
times what they're getting paidfor these performances. So to
(21:19):
your point of it's how do we howdo we regenerate this pipeline
that musicians can move amongthe cities at minimal expense to
allow them to be able to play atvenues like the Hemingway or or
or Smalls in New York or or orBlues Alley and then
Nick Moreland (21:38):
all of all
Ed Baldi (21:39):
of you know, the just just kind of re all link link us
all together and recreate aneasy way for them to move
through the system and allow usas producers, promoters to to
invite musicians from other fromthose those sister cities.
Right? Yeah. So the it's areally I don't have an answer to
(21:59):
it. I have a couple ideas whichwere in the works of further
developing Yeah.
That maybe on the next podcastwe can talk about.
Nick Moreland (22:06):
Absolutely. But,
Ed Baldi (22:07):
but it's a it's a very big it's constantly on our mind
because, we really wanna takethe Baltimore sound outside and
bring it on the road as well ashave the Philly sound come visit
us. We the last weekend, we inour Hemingway Hemingway room
lineup, we try and have aweekend that is that is
musicians coming to Baltimore togive them a welcoming experience
(22:30):
of our city. And we had someincredible musicians coming up
down from New York or or orlike, should be all okay from a
couple different place.
Nick Moreland (22:38):
Anyway, that's South Carolina. Yeah. South
Carolina, New York. So
Ed Baldi (22:43):
I I digress, Rob. I'm sorry, but that's a really
wonderful topic that, you know,that is. And I love that you've
been to those cities andinterviewed the musicians in
those cities. I think there'ssome, there's probably some more
collaboration for you and
Rob Lee (22:55):
I to talk about about linking all this together.
Absolutely. And, you know, andand, Nick, you were you were
touching on a BLO a little bit.So talk a bit about that, like,
sort of bring that together andand more so even the the
curation and the scheduling ofthese shows. And one I'll say, I
had a great time.
I was able to go to the Fridayshow, the first show.
Nick Moreland (23:18):
Oh, awesome.
Rob Lee (23:19):
And I was I I great time. I enjoyed I enjoyed my old
fashioned in the back. I waswriting copious notes. I had a
had a great time. It wasamazing.
The I I felt like I was beingwhisked off into, like, this
exclusive room. I was like, am Iunderdressed? What am I what am
I doing? And the the fog machinewas a was a really good touch as
well, and it just felt like Iknow I'm in Baltimore. Right?
(23:43):
And, you know, I'm definitely abig Baltimore advocate, but also
I felt like I was beingtransferred to, like, just a
different place and the musicwas a part of it. It was just
such a really cool experienceand I raved about it over the
weekend. So in building out sortof what that experience looks
like and what you're aiming for,What what comes to mind, and
(24:04):
what's the the curation processof, like, these are who these
are the folks I know. These arethe folks that I can kinda get.
Talk a bit about that.
Nick Moreland (24:11):
Yeah. So and I've got to excuse me. Another little
bit of fire engines coming downthe street. So, there's, like,
so many different ways I could,you know, go through the series
of with who I booked. So it'skind of like, I'll make a huge
list, and I'll sit down and I'llkinda map out in my head.
(24:33):
I'm like, alright. If we went inthis direction, then what would
the next show be? And then whatwould the next weekend be? And
then, we kinda look at it nowas, like, seasons. So we're
trying to map out, like, what isthe fall season gonna be?
And then I think we try to gofor an artist every season
that's like someone that's fromout of town, like, like I was
talking about that we that thatwe could bring down here. And, I
(24:57):
booked trying to get LukeStewart to come down because
he's kinda like a friend of mineI've had for years, really heavy
in the avant garde scene, like,always traveling to Europe and
always traveling all over theplace. And, like, it's like him
and BLO would just be such acrazy combo. Like, I don't think
anyone's done that here. So Iwas like, that that was kind of
(25:19):
the reasoning behind that thatwhole weekend, the the Friday,
Saturday.
It's almost like the the BLOshow and and and the Luke show,
I I kinda thought of them aslike a package of, like, you
know, 2 completely differentshows that will complement each
other that are a little bitoutside, of what some of our
other shows have sounded like inthe past. Like, we've never had
(25:41):
a band like BLO or like LukeStewart in our series. So it was
like, completely new experience,all the way around, and the fact
that they were both available onthose dates. I'm like, we just
this has gotta gotta happen.This has gotta gotta be on the
calendar.
So, I hope that answers it, butit's kinda like, like when I
(26:02):
curate, you know, there's somany aspects of jazz. There's
the neo soul, the the Latinjazz, there's the more avant
garde stuff, there's thestraight ahead, there's, you
know, even like Ethiopian andlike Brazilian jazz. So it's
like, I never want someone tocome and feel like they have the
same exact experience. I've seenthe same exact band. So I just I
(26:24):
try to add the differentflavors, and like the different
kind of seasonings, to it sothat it's not just, just one
thing every time, all the time,you know.
Yeah. So it all falls under theumbrella of jazz. That's such a
broad, kinda umbrella,especially in this area with all
(26:45):
the different communities thatare are playing that music. So
Ed Baldi (26:48):
Yeah. Rob, that ties into I think also if you, you
know, join us again at the atthe show, you'll see that even,
you know, you know, that roomthat room that the Hemingway
room specifically, it's it's thesetup of that, the design of
that room is is very bespoke toto that audience. Right? We
stage goes away, but every timewe bring in, it's reconfigured
to go, what works well for thatperformance? Right?
(27:11):
The shape of the stage, the waywe kind of configure it, the the
the way Nick lights it. Right?So there's there's there's
definitely, a lot of thoughtinto the whole that whole
experience, that that fits theaudience. And and the fact that
if you go in that room the nextday and it there's nothing in
that room, and you go, wasn'tthere something here last night?
Nope.
It's all gone.
Nick Moreland (27:31):
Or, you know, it's like a baby shower or like
a Yeah. Right. You know, it itcould be a could be anything not
related to jazz. So Well,
Ed Baldi (27:40):
probably worth mentioning BLO is, Brock
Lanzetti Ogawa of of, of ofSnarky Puppy, Incredible, the
violinist, guitarist, andpercussionist. And, mister
Lazard, the with the that's thesecond time we had the pleasure
of working with them, and I hopethere's many more opportunities
with them. It's just a reallyincredible sound and wonderful
(28:02):
people to to work with.
Rob Lee (28:03):
Yeah. They they were they were great. And just, you
know, go going into something, Iand I think even, you know, as
far as sort of the the the sortof the the the the talk, the the
sort of coverage at thebeginning and sort of the
coverage, you know, I have to bebetween, sets. This this notion
is this this this concept andthis belief and goal of having
(28:26):
folks in the same room. Like,you know, that's the thing that
I kept thinking of, and I try togo in doing events like doing
live.
Because I I thought about theroom for a podcast as another
one of those things that theroom can be configured for, but
thinking about, like, movienights and different events and
getting into the production sideof things, it's kind of a hard
pull to get folks to come out.But once you have them coming
(28:49):
out, and then it's just, like, areally, really good time. And as
I said, you know, I raved aboutit when I was down there in DC.
I was in Anacostia the nextmorning, and, you know, I was
talking with my partner. I waslike, yo, we gotta do family
jazz night.
We're gonna go here. We're gonnago to the Hemingway room. You
know, we're not gonna havecigars, but we could. It's gonna
be great.
Ed Baldi (29:08):
And
Rob Lee (29:09):
Yeah. And really just raving about it. And, you know,
for me, and I think for a lot offolks, you know, we we have
those sort of economic things.We have those sort of time
things. It's easier not to dosomething than to do something.
So when one does something, it'sjust like, if it if it's good
and it hits, it's like, I wannacome back and I wanna come to
(29:29):
the next one, and I wanna seewhat else is planned. And that's
what I was thinking through whenI was going going through, like,
coming up with these questions.And one of the other things that
I think stuck out when whendoing some of the preparation
and the research that thatsticks out, and I think it's
it's it's baked into how how the2 of you, like, build out sort
(29:49):
of these shows, but also eventhe curation and all of really
finding artists that are as asNick was touching on that are
that that hit different parts ofthis sort of full spectrum, this
umbrella of jazz, but also thatyou can let Cook. That you can,
like, kinda do their thing.Like, it's that sort of trust
there.
It's like, you're gonna show upbecause look. When I was talking
(30:11):
about booking some musicians atone point, I got, like, 15
interviews. It was supposed tobe 25. There's a lot of no
shows. You know?
I'm not gonna make any names.
Nick Moreland (30:20):
So, you
Rob Lee (30:20):
know, finding sort of the the right mix and the right
people who just crush it, youknow, that's another thing that
I I thought. You have anycomments or any insights on
that?
Ed Baldi (30:28):
We look at our we're not a venue. I think that's
number 1. Like, we're not we wedon't wanna be. We're not just a
venue. We're we the artist thatwe develop relationships with or
any with that we work with, wewanna be viewed as a as a
produce a coproducer of thatexperience that evening.
You know, every show we do ismultitracked. So beyond the
(30:49):
show, we spend time. We makesure that the artist walks away
with a really nice mix of thatshow that they can do what they
hopefully, put it out there. Youknow? We want the library to
live on afterwards as we developthe library and work with
artists in the future on whatthey want to do with that
library.
So, the the a lot of thoughtinto the the how that evening
(31:12):
looks. So and I think that thatis something as we, you know, as
we work more and more to peep topeople, oh, it's not just a
show. Right? We're not. And Ithis is I've said this before,
but, you know, we're not jazzbrunch.
Right?
Nick Moreland (31:24):
We're not
Ed Baldi (31:25):
jazz brunch in many places, and you should. And the
more venues that offer that arethat pay musicians to play,
there should be because thatthat's a the I love it. Right?
But we just we're a little alittle different, and we we go
into other venues to do that.That we have the fortune we're
the good fortune of theHemingway room being our kinda
home base and the good fortuneof our friends at Little Havana
(31:47):
offering that to us.
We we we do a we curate a a jamsession every Tuesday night in
DC at a place called Whitlowthat that Joe Palmer hosts,
incredible Joe Palmer on. And wetry and create a similar vibe of
artist centric experience whereand, again, this this you know,
(32:08):
you're talking to Nick and I, soit's a lot about us tonight, but
I think, it's really trying tocreate that create that stage
and give them that stage exactlylike you said where they can
cook. Right? And and, you know,as an audience, I I'm gonna go
(32:28):
back back back in the when Imoved to Baltimore, it was been
almost 17 years now. There was aclub called club 347.
It was near the near MercyHospital, and it was a little
it's a parking lot now, I haveto say. Many of the people in
the jazz community around herewill know 347. It was, a place
where a lot of people, like, I Ihear now from paid their dues
(32:49):
there. And I was just anaudience member. We go there and
walked away feeling like I hadjust left, you know, Madison
Square Garden.
Right? The the musicians thatthat came there and the the
experience that I had and themusic I heard and the and the
the emotion, they the cook, theycooked on stage the entire time.
And and I it that always stuckwith me all these years. So when
(33:12):
now we have the opportunity totry and recreate a little bit of
that stuff, that magic thatsomehow happened on those nights
of those jam sessions, thatthat's very important. I think
it happened because you give thespace to the musicians to feel
at home, to be at home, to notthink about you're here to
(33:34):
entertain an audience.
Okay? Yes. We love having anaudience. It helps make all this
possible, but it really iscreating a space for musicians
to give us the opportunity topeer behind that curtain and
experience something that wedon't always get to see. That's
(33:55):
if we can do that, we've, Ithink, done our job.
So that that's that's kind ofthe to me is is, you know,
creating that place where peoplecan come together and just, wow,
how did that happen? You know?That's that's what we're trying
to create.
Rob Lee (34:08):
It's great.
Nick Moreland (34:09):
And, you know, and and it's not like there's
there's certain venues thatthese guys play at, and they
gotta play standards, they gottaplay tunes, or there's, like, a
certain repertoire that they'rekind of caged in here. I mean,
you can play a song for 30minutes. You can play a song for
20 minutes. It could becompletely spontaneous. It could
be, you know, like, there's nopressure to play anything
besides what you wanna play.
(34:31):
So it's like, it gives them theultimate freedom to play, like,
without the the the, yeah, thelimitations of, like, having to
stay within a certain box. Yeah.They can create whatever box
they want to when they're in theroom.
Rob Lee (34:49):
That's good. That's that's a that's a really good
point. And, yeah, before I moveinto this this sort of last
question, I got some rapid firequestions for the 2 of you. But,
yeah, that's that's a reallygood point. Like, when I think
those best situations, like, I Iwas sharing a bit of sort of my,
experience when I interviewedLionel.
You know, Lyles, it was sort ofa weekend of doing, Artscape and
(35:14):
doing a bunch of interviews andI'm like this is something that
I haven't really done and therewere some nerves and this is a
new sort of setup and, you know,I have this to protect me from,
you know, my flubs or what haveyou, but doing it in person and
doing it right after theperformance is just a whole
different setup. And, you know,the folks that booked me, you
know, from from BOPA, it wasn't,you know, one of those things
(35:38):
that we need you to ask thesespecific questions in this way
and so on. It was just like,hey. We trust you. We we know
you know what you're doing.
You know, who did you book? Youknow, pretty much let me do my
home own thing sort ofempowering the the the the
artist in this instance. So Ihave your the the performer in
this instance to to do theirthing. And I felt like that was
(35:59):
a really one enriching momentfor me to do something, you
know, that I had some nervesabout, some trepidation around,
and really being able to take itto that next stage. I felt
empowered, I guess, is the pointI'm getting at.
And I would imagine sort of theway that you're describing this
approach with Hemingway, Rome,and the artists that are
involved, there's just like,hey. We know what you're doing.
(36:19):
Do your thing.
Ed Baldi (36:20):
Rob, the name of your podcast is the the the truth
Rob Lee (36:23):
In this art. Yes.
Ed Baldi (36:24):
You cannot get to truth in art unless you, I
think, free have the freedom tofind that truth. And I think
that's kind of what you'vecreated in your podcast and what
we're trying to create here.
Rob Lee (36:36):
That's a really good point. Thank you. So I wanna
move into this last question,and, you know, we were we were
teasing this a little bit, andthis is probably sort of, to be
continued, but I at least wannaget, a sense. So this is, you
know, sort of the as we'rerecording this, there this is
the, you know, towards the theending of this this year. Is it
(36:58):
the end of year 2?
Is it sort of continuation ofyear 2? And sort of the second
part of that question, what wasthe the key learnings, I guess,
from year 1 to year 2, you know,as far as putting on these shows
and and and and and really justgrowing it?
Ed Baldi (37:15):
Yeah. I, well, the you know, this is, I think, like
Nick mentioned earlier, beingable to booking
Nick Moreland (37:25):
it
Ed Baldi (37:25):
as a thinking of it as a season was a was a learning
because because look. As asgenerous as little Havana is
and, you know, coordinating withthem to take over that room on
fixed fixed dates it's somethingI have to work hard with them
because, you know, if it's, youknow, spring and wedding season
and, like Nick mentioned, awedding party comes in and wants
(37:45):
to book that room, guess what?There's no jazz that night.
Right? It's like so right.
You know? And look. They'rethey're extremely supportive of
it. And, so so what one thing welearned over the years that you
know, trying to get get aconsistent audience. Because
other thing, you know, this iscompletely self produced between
(38:05):
Nick and I as a Sonic Life line.
We operate that the, you know,it's not this is not a pay to
play for the artist. This is nothow many people you can bring.
This is we we're the I, weoperate like we're the Kennedy
Center, but we're not. You know?But, so so, unfortunately, if
there's 5 people in theaudience, that's that's on us.
That's not on the artist. Right?So building a consistent
(38:29):
audience has been a bit a bit ofa challenge. And part of that
may have been, you know, we'renot we didn't have consistent
dates. So this fall was thefirst time we were able to say
every 3rd Friday Saturday, we'regonna do a show.
Yeah. And and I say that andwith some sadness that in
(38:49):
November, we've had to changethe dates. It was supposed to be
November 15, 16th. We've had tochange the date to November 23rd
for the next show, and that issimply out of Nick and I and
Mark professional careers. And,you know, a work opportunity
came up for me, and it's I,unfortunately, not, you know,
have to go and and travel andand and we had to change
Nick Moreland (39:11):
you couldn't refuse. An offer couldn't
refuse.
Rob Lee (39:14):
So we're
Ed Baldi (39:15):
not we we're not at that level yet, Rob, where we
can turn down other other work,but we won't we'll get there.
We'll get there eventually. But,so I think learnings have been
consistent that the audience thecommunity would like more
consistency as when this ishappening, how do we find it.
Yeah. The art I think we we Iwould we could be booking shows
more than just, you know, twice2 weekends a month.
(39:37):
We would love to. There's somany incredible musicians out
there we wanna continue to workwith. So that's that's a big
piece of it, as well, I think,of of a learning. Right? Just
trying to do do more.
Right? And then,
Nick Moreland (39:49):
you know, for me, I feel like, you know, I'm
always going to jazz clubs in DCand always going to new spaces,
and I'm on with I'm I'm kind ofon, like, reconnaissance
missions in a way where I seethe things that I really love
and enjoy about these spaces,but then also maybe things that
could be improved in certainways, and and and how I can take
what I'm learning from all thesespaces that exist around us. And
(40:10):
and and and use those lessons,and experiencing these shows,
the the better what we're doinghere. And just just just take
back little pieces of of of allthose, things I've been
experiencing over the past 2years. Because I'm, I'm kinda in
the position where, you know, Ihave my business, but when I'm
(40:31):
not working, I'm seeing him useit. Like, I'm in the scene as as
as as deep as I can possibly be.
So that that kinda keeps keeps,you know, keeps my ear to the
streets a little bit to to seewhat's trending, what's what's
happening, and and and wherewhere things are going in this
area. So
Ed Baldi (40:48):
Rob, may maybe something again, future
collaboration stuff for us canyou talk about. You know? It's,
it would be interesting becausebecause, you know, we're not I'm
sure we're not the only onesthat think like this, right, a a
a better approach to to the waywe're doing this. I would love
to build a coalition, amongst,you know, of the like minded
promoters, producers, and cluband club owners throughout, you
know, up and down these coastsand other cities. Right?
Rob Lee (41:10):
And sort
Ed Baldi (41:10):
of, you know, sort of continue this discussion about
how do how do we con together,you know, create more
opportunities to move musiciansup and down the East Coast and
share these sounds and andrebuild that that that pipeline
that once existed. Somethingwe'd love to continue that
conversation with, with you andand see if we can get some
others involved in thatconversation.
Rob Lee (41:31):
I think that I think that would be good. I think it's
I think it's I think it's areally good a good thing, a good
approach because, I think, sortain the and and I definitely
relate as far as the seasons. Irelate as far as being
consistent, figuring out ways tohave folks come out. Like, you
know, there's a volume thing.I'm always working.
I'm always putting out somestuff. But, you know, I started
(41:52):
thinking of things very muchthrough seasons and, you know,
I'm planning out sort of my nextseason. And it's gonna be very
tight, very consistent and, youknow, literally just 1 per week.
You know? No.
A new thing is popping upversus, man, you might get 3
this week. You might get 5 nextweek. I do a lot. And it's, you
know, kinda kinda bringing thatdown a bit, you know, which is
(42:15):
not really my choice, but it'slike this is sort of a thing
that makes sense to be able toextend and expand and do other
things that are of interest tomove the needle and to stretch
sort of the boundaries of whatI'm doing creatively. And, yeah,
I think, you know, sort of thelearning from one stage to the
next is really important anddefinitely the the seasons are a
(42:36):
piece and how one defines it andhow one, you know, connects.
Because this is I I always jokeabout it, but it's it's a lot of
truth in it that this is acollaborative art project. You
know, like, when I have folks onthere, some folks who they got
nothing. I'm like, this is thisis gonna be pulling teeth. And
there are other folks who talkmore than me, and it makes it
(42:57):
like, am I even known aspodcast? So it's it's sort of
one of those things, you know.
And it's it's it's just tryingto, like, figure it out and find
it. But the the point is, andand I'm, you know, kinda close
out on this, it's about those,you know, those reps. You're
able to get those reps in, youlearn from each one of those
reps. And I love what you weresaying there, Nick, about kinda
being on those reconnaissancemissions. When I go into other
(43:18):
cities, I'm like, alright.
How can I steal this and bringit back to Baltimore? How can I
make And, yeah? So that's that'sthat's really great, and I'm
really happy of the the workthat the 2 of you are are doing
and sort of the mission and, youknow, continued success. This is
this is great stuff. And, sowith that, wanna move into 2 2
rapid fire questions, you know,in these 6 five moments that we
(43:42):
have here.
Now I give you this preface. Youdon't wanna overthink these. You
know? It's kinda like thatsaying. It's like, I said what I
said.
You know? Alright. Hey, guys.Rob Lee here chiming in the
middle of the podcast, and we'llbe right back to that in a
moment. But I wanted to remindyou that if you're following me
on Instagram, and I hope you arethe truth in his heart, make
(44:03):
sure that you explore the links,link in bio.
I know that people always talkabout follow me, link in bio,
and all of that. But there'ssome valuable stuff in there
such as a survey for mynewsletter. You've probably
received the newsletter, and ifnot, definitely sign up for it.
There's some interesting stuffthere. We have profiles of
certain guests.
(44:23):
We have sort of, you know,curated episodes because we're
we're we're around 800 rightnow. And, it's a lot to go
through, and all of them won'tbe available on every platform
all the time. So being able torevisit and go back there, to
check out those episodes isimportant. So definitely check
out the survey. Let us know whatyou think of the newsletter and
what you would like to haveincluded in there, and, continue
(44:46):
to make this podcast, yours asas well as mine's.
And, yeah, back to the podcast,Rapid Fire. When spirits are
down, right, like, you know, weall have those moments of, like,
man, I didn't book that personor, you know, for me, that
podcast didn't go well. Withoutfail, what boosts your spirits?
Is it a song? Is it cat videos?
(45:07):
Is it a good meal? What bringsup your spirits when you're
down, especially when it'ssomething creative?
Nick Moreland (45:13):
For me, it's, it's nature. You know? Like, if
I have the opportunity, it'srunning on the trails. I do
crazy 40, 50 mile bike rides. Igo sit by the river.
I go out in the mountains. Like,so for me, that's that's how I
recharge from, like, anextremely stimulating week of
sometimes gig after gig, andthen going and producing shows
(45:34):
in Baltimore, which I've anamazing time doing. But then
when I get the first free chanceI I can, I gotta I gotta be out
in nature a little bit, and thenand then I'm all good?
Ed Baldi (45:45):
I hear you. I sit down at the piano and go and play
mute and and and work on a verypersonal music space. So I I'm a
musician as well, but I won'tbut I put that you know, I I
don't put myself at the top ofthe list of musicians, so that's
it's for me. It's sitting at thepiano.
Rob Lee (46:02):
Yes. Cat videos for me. Not it's like, man, what is that
feline doing? That's great.That's great.
And and having sort of thosethose opportunities to recharge.
For me, really, it is steppingaway, like, really being able to
reset and to enjoy thingswithout having, you know, some
other intent with it. Like, youknow, almost last second. Like,
(46:25):
obviously, you know, I went tothe the show this past Friday,
the BLO show this past Friday,and I was gonna have my girl
come. It was always like hercoming.
And, and it was one of thosethings where I was like, I'm
working too. So I was like, letme do this. Let me do my work
piece because it's like, I'mgonna enjoy. I'm gonna have
that. I'm able to split minds,but it's like adding the 3rd
(46:46):
layer to split there.
So I was like, alright. Cool.Let me get my work piece done.
And once I have that settled,because I know we had this
conversation coming up, thenwe're good. And I was like,
we're absolutely going to thenext show.
The next
Nick Moreland (46:57):
show.
Ed Baldi (46:57):
Absolutely. That's that's
Rob Lee (46:58):
what it is. That's what it is. It's like, you know, when
I go to a movie, I do a moviereview podcast. It's like, am I
watching this for fun, or am Iwatching this for research? I
have to delineate sometimes.
Ed Baldi (47:08):
The the the next show you got you're gonna come come
sit right next to me at thatthat barstool down front. It's
the most incredible experience.It's like you're right. It's it
I can't tell you what what joyit gives me to just you know,
you put all all the effort workto make happen, then you sit
there and you you write it itjust it takes it takes over in a
(47:29):
way I can't describe.
Rob Lee (47:30):
That's that's great. I'll take that invitation. So so
I like this next one. This one Iwas really happy about, and this
would be a nice one to close outon. I find that some of the best
jazz musicians, right, they havereally great nicknames and stage
names.
So have either of you ever usedan alias? And if so, what was
(47:54):
said alias?
Nick Moreland (47:56):
Like like, for in the music world or in in our, in
our personal lives? BecauseI've, you know,
Ed Baldi (48:04):
Knicks got many. I
Nick Moreland (48:05):
don't know I don't know if you ever heard of,
Muddy Waters.
Rob Lee (48:09):
Yeah.
Nick Moreland (48:10):
But the but, you know, I'm I grew up in PG
County. In in certain parts ofHyattsville, I'm known as Dookie
Waters. I like it. But,basically, I had band practice
in the basement of this house.It was like this corner house,
huge yard, $350 a rent, rent amonth for this massive basement
(48:34):
space.
Yep. The sewage pipes, somethinghappened, and then all
overflowed in the basement. Sothen the band came came back
over for practice. The nextweek. They're like, smells like
some Dookie Waters down here.
And then and then they startedcalling me that. So then I I
became Dookie Waters. So
Ed Baldi (48:49):
That's good.
Nick Moreland (48:50):
And I re and I ran with that for a while. House
is still there. If anyone is in,West Hyattsville, it's on a a
Manorwood Drive in JamestownRoad. The corner house is the
Dookie Waters house.
Rob Lee (49:02):
Oh, man. That's amazing. That's amazing. I love
it. Ed, you got any you gotanything?
Nick Moreland (49:10):
You know, I don't I don't
Ed Baldi (49:11):
have many others. Although now, you know, because
I'm Nick's uncle, I get a lot ofpeople saying, oh, you're uncle
Ed. You're uncle Ed. So I Ithink I've set up I'm uncle Ed.
Nick Moreland (49:19):
Here here's why that happens. Because the
musicians will ask me what'sEd's phone number, and I'll
share my contact. And I have himstored as uncle Ed. So then they
save him as uncle Ed. So so allthe musicians have him stored as
uncle Ed in their phone.
So
Rob Lee (49:33):
That's good.
Nick Moreland (49:33):
So he is uncle Ed.
Rob Lee (49:35):
There you go. That's good. That's good. I I don't
have any aliases, that I'm awareof. So I don't I don't know what
people call me outside of thispodcast, but it's I always do
this running bit where I'malways on my p's and q's of
where I'm at because, you youknow, definitely, Ed, you you
saw me you you saw me in personrather tall.
Right? And it's one of thosethings where I'm like, alright.
(49:57):
I need to buy my p's and q's. Ican't hide. I can't just be in
the cut.
Right? So it's like, I canalmost see it. Truth in his art
cutting up. They just call methe name of the podcast instead
of my name. It's just like Oh,
Ed Baldi (50:09):
that that's where you get recognized as. Oh, the truth
in this art is here.
Rob Lee (50:12):
Yeah. That's just truth in this art is here. It's like,
can I can I be Rob for a second?Nah. Truth and the art.
Nick Moreland (50:19):
It's a strong nickname, though. You know? It
works.
Ed Baldi (50:21):
It's just Yeah.
Rob Lee (50:24):
So that's kinda it for the podcast, in terms of the the
conversation. So there's 2things I wanna do as we close
out here. 1, I wanna thank bothof you for coming on and
spending some time with me. Thishas been a lot of fun. It's been
great to learn more about SonicLifeline, your your individual
insights as well.
And 2, I wanna invite encourageboth of you to share anything in
the the final moment, socialmedia, websites, stuff like that
(50:46):
where the folks can this is sortof the shameless plug portion of
the podcast. So if you will, thefloor is yours.
Ed Baldi (50:52):
Well, the, thus the sonic lifeline, you know, dot
com for the for the web or thesonic lifeline on Instagram. The
next show in the Hemingway roomwill be November 23rd. The
incredible Phil Thomas asmusical director, local
Baltimore musician and musicaldirector. He did a show with us
(51:14):
last year that was all aroundthe music of Donny Hathaway and
built built an entire cast. Itwas called Dear Donny, and we're
doing something similar, thisthis on this show, songs that
speak, and will be a lot of, alot of vocal song, a lot of
songs that kinda in the neo neosoul world, a lot of songs that
kinda speak spiritually or havemeaning to it.
(51:36):
So, and Phil Thomas leading asmusical director on November
23rd, the Hemingway room. Youcan find us at the Sonic
Lifeline.
Rob Lee (51:46):
And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Ed
Baldy and Nick Moreland fromSonic Lifeline for sharing a bit
on the Hemingway Room. And I'mRob Lee saying that there's art,
culture, and community in andaround your neck of the woods.
You've just gotta look for it.
Welcome back to the Truth in His Art, your source
for conversations at theintersection of arts, culture,
and community. I am your host,Rob Lee. I'm so happy to be here
with you today. And, this ispart of my media partnership
with Baltimore Magazine. Thankyou for your continued support.
Today, I am super excited to bein conversation with 2 guests.
(00:33):
Together, they cofounded SonicLifeline, a platform providing
musicians with unrestrictedexpression and created they
created the Hemingway Room inLittle Havana in the Key Highway
area of Baltimore, which is aintimate jazz space that fosters
deep connections between artistsand audiences. Please welcome
(00:53):
Eric Baldy and Nick Moreland.Welcome to the podcast.
Ed Baldi (00:57):
Rob, thanks for having us. We're really thrilled with
the opportunity, and thanks forreaching out to us. Yeah.
Nick Moreland (01:02):
Thanks for having us on. We appreciate you taking
an interest in in what we'vebeen doing, in the music scene.
So cheers cheers to you forthat.
Rob Lee (01:11):
Absolutely. It's it's it's great to to be able to to
chat and, you know, I'll I'llget this out of the way early,
because I'm I'm gonna touch itprobably a little bit later.
But, you know and when I startedthis podcast, back in 2019, I I
was always on a sort of wave ofwhere where are the jazz
(01:33):
conversations? You know what Imean? And so it's always been
baked in either I'm reaching outto folks that I know who are
musicians or even last year, youknow, for what April Jazz
Appreciation Month.
I was in New Orleans,Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC
interviewing folks who aremusicians, jazz champions has
(01:53):
always been. So I'm super happyto be able to have the 2 of you
on.
Ed Baldi (01:57):
That's amazing. That's amazing. You know? And, you
know, look. Putting, you know,putting Baltimore on that in
that map is part of part of oneof our part of our mission,
right, is to keep Baltimore inthe in that in in the jazz icons
of cities that you have to talkabout, right, when you talk
about it.
And, you know, look. Maybe we'renot always top of people's mind,
(02:18):
but something we're working ontrying to change.
Rob Lee (02:22):
Absolutely. Absolutely. So to to sort of set the stage,
let's go back a little bit.Again, thank you both for being
here. And to start things off,I'd love it for each of you to
to introduce yourselves becauseyou both have distinct
backgrounds yourselves becauseyou both have distinct
backgrounds outside of SonicLifeline that come together.
So if you will, Ed, could youstart, and then we'll go down to
(02:42):
Nick. Sure.
Ed Baldi (02:43):
Sure. I've been in in live live entertainment, live
production for almost 30 yearsnow. Started my career in the
theater as a stage manager doingthe, you know, the New York
crowd of the Broadway and offBroadway, and that transitioned
into some film and televisionopportunities and ultimately
(03:03):
into the live event productionspace. Mainly on the corporate
side of things, but I work for alot of fortune 100 companies
doing their, you know, theirtheir conventions or live shows
that have incorporate stagingand concerts and etcetera,
etcetera. So it's, you know,very, fulfilling from a
production standpoint, careerpath, and I've been very
fortunate, to that it's, youknow, it's been a it's been a
(03:28):
good, it's been a good run forme.
And the, you know, I think, notto jump ahead, but I think the
last 4 years, it disrupted a lotof people. Right? And after they
would put all I think if youdon't come away from the, you
know, our recent times change insome way, you've missed some
opportunity. So for me, takingall that experience of my
(03:51):
professional career and puttingit into the sonic lifeline,
which we created during thattime, has really opened up a
completely new chapter for mepersonally and professionally. I
wish I could be doing this allthe time, full time, every day.
Rob Lee (04:07):
Thank you. Nick?
Nick Moreland (04:10):
Yeah. So, I'm like a, a full time, self taught
photographer that used to be amusician. So I kinda started out
on the musician side of things.So I I really kinda emphasize
and I really can kinda, like, Ireally know where the musicians
are are coming from and and theamount of time and talent and
(04:31):
skill it takes to get to thelevel that they're at.
Rob Lee (04:34):
Sure.
Nick Moreland (04:35):
And that kinda translates over into my
photography too. But but yeah.So, I used to play guitar and
bass, and, I used to produce alot of music. I would I would
basically play all theinstruments myself and and
record it at my house, and justreally fell in love with that
process. And then I transitionedat some point in my life, that's
a whole another story, where Iwent fully into photography, but
(04:58):
with music as kind of acornerstone of, what I was
documenting.
Like, the the local music scenewas like my muses when I really
was exploring, and doing themost meaningful photography
work. So the fact that I couldbring that kind of angle Yeah.
And where it meets the theskills that my uncle has,
(05:22):
they'll be able to come fullcircle and bring them into this
this kind of world that we'vekind of been building, over the
past few years is, is reallyfulfilling. So
Ed Baldi (05:34):
Yeah. Rob, did we mention that we're that we're
related, or did you mentionthat? I missed that.
Rob Lee (05:38):
Oh, no. No. Yeah. You yeah. So talk about that a
little bit because that'sanother piece of it where when
when you're when you're workingtogether, when you're
collaborating, you're you'rebringing those skill set that
it's even more interesting andmaybe for some people, more more
challenging when it's like, andwe're related.
Like, you know, they say, yeah.Are you are you working with
(05:58):
your wife? I'm like, oh. Well,are you working with your
brother? Oh.
Ed Baldi (06:01):
And, you know, it's interesting. This was, like, a a
natural progression. I'm a I'm aI'm a few years older than Nick.
I mean, you know, Nick's but,but, Nick is my nephew, on my
wife's side of the family. And,you know, I think we I like you
know, Nick, we we alwaysconnected from on from, you
know, when when we first met,but which may have been at your
high school graduation.
I don't remember exactly. But itcould
Nick Moreland (06:22):
Or jamming or, you know, jamming in your
studio, playing music together.
Ed Baldi (06:26):
That's right. Nick.
Nick Moreland (06:27):
I Special bond.
Ed Baldi (06:28):
So Yeah. Abs absolutely. But but, you know,
always, you know, as being beingI'm a creative person and
working in production field,always, you know, watching
Nick's professional career takeshape, you know, over the recent
years has been, you know, reallyphenomenal to to watch. And and
trying to support it howeverhowever I was able to. I
(06:50):
probably, you know, my careerpath was there was no straight
line, right, as as you enteredthe theater and the arts.
And I think that was a bigtakeaway for me. It's like you
just one door opens and then upand you go through it and see
where that leads. And and Ithink I've always tried to and
working with anyone, especiallyfamily or young or young people
in general, try to encourage,like, just, you know, be open to
(07:11):
opportunities that that andpeople that inspire you or
that'll work around that arearound you, that that you you
want to learn from and and bearound. So I watched I've been
able to watch Nick do that withhis first his music and then his
photography. So seeing that takeoff has been a real amazing an
amazing pleasure.
But, when this this came about,you know, we both love getting
(07:35):
out in the woods. We both camp.
Nick Moreland (07:36):
Okay. Well,
Ed Baldi (07:37):
I like to drive in the woods. Nick actually likes to
hike in the woods. He's, again,a bit younger than I am. So, but
when this, you know, thisopportunity came up during the
during those pandemic yearswhen, you know, my a lot of our
for for many people, like Imentioned, that many people
found ourselves at a at atransitional moment, a moment of
crisis for some, right, formany. But we we, enjoyed getting
(08:01):
out into the wilderness as asmuch as possible during during
that time.
And and I think, Nick, you youwere doing a lot of live streams
from from small locations formusicians or all the musician
friends that we have whocouldn't perform anymore. I have
a lot of people, right, werestreaming from their homes, home
studios, porch shows. Right? Andand Nick was was was involved
(08:24):
with that and kinda invited mein because I've had all of a
sudden had a lot of time in myhands, you know, to to come
partake in that and and and helpproduce these these live
streams, kind of how it started.And then, and we were fortunate
in that time that that one ofthe one of the owners at this
establishment called LittleHabanas, which is in in
(08:45):
Baltimore, around the harbor, isis a dear friend of mine, a
friend a friend and neighborfrom, from here in Baltimore.
And right around that as theseworlds converge, he was like,
you know, we have this emptythis room that we built out
right at the beginning of theCOVID years that's empty. Gee,
what can we do with it? And itwas like, you you know, I think
(09:06):
walking in that room and andfeeling the vibe and hearing the
acoustics going, wow. This roomwas really meant for for for
kind of one thing. So sittingaround the campfire with Nick
going, hey.
What if we did this at thisspace? Nick's well, Nick's like,
oh, well, I I got the musicians.You got the you know, it's like,
you know, it's really that kindof that kind
Nick Moreland (09:27):
of
Ed Baldi (09:27):
approach, of of collaboration. Right? Of it
should've came together.
Nick Moreland (09:33):
Yeah. And it it it kinda started on such a high
note because I I think because Iwas already immersed in the
scene. We have this brand newthing that no one's heard of
that we're just starting tocreate, but I had a little bit
of, the kind of street cred justbecause people had seen me
around, like, during thepandemic times and everything to
shut down trying to trying todocument the music and, like,
(09:57):
kinda set up these kinda gorillatype shows and, kinda live
streams. So our our first showwas it was it was like a freak
freak blizzard in, like, April,and we still sold it out with
Herb Scott and, like, anincredible lineup. So to have to
have that to to to start on sucha high note was was also awesome
(10:19):
too.
It's like, you know, we didn'tknow exactly what's gonna happen
going into it, and just it wasjust unbelievable feeling to
walk into that room and and andto see all the people there and
and and to feel like, okay, thisis it. This is the first step.
This is, like, the first turningof the wheel. So
Ed Baldi (10:40):
But that's that's when things were opening back up and
we were allowed to do live showsagain because before that
Nick Moreland (10:44):
Oh, yeah.
Ed Baldi (10:45):
You were doing the, the record shop live streams
with some incredible musicians.Yeah.
Nick Moreland (10:51):
I don't know what I was doing. I I like to credit
myself with there'll never be atime again in history where you
could get musicians of thatcaliber to come on a Friday
night and play for, like, $20 ofstore credit for, like, cassette
tapes and vinyl records. Likelike, literally, everything was
shut down and, like, there wasno clubs to play at all. And
(11:11):
then, you know, the the owner ofthe record shop nonchalantly
asked me one day, he's like,what if we produce shows here?
He's like, I got a grant, justwrite down on a piece of paper
the gear we need, And then everyeverything showed up.
He's like, alright. You betterteach yourself how to use a
mixing board and whatever, andand I expect bands every week.
And then I think we did, like,15 shows, but it was like, like
(11:36):
pre Columbian music from theAndes, from, like, Bolivia and
Peru, and then Go Go, and then,jazz, and then, like, neo souls.
So, like like, I always wastrying to, kinda represent the
different communities in in theDC music scene. So that's kind
of how I kind of got addicted towhat we're doing now, because
(11:58):
I'm I was coming in there as aphotographer, and now I had to
wear all these hats, but then,like, I really, respected the
the what goes into making asuccessful production feel a
certain way and sound a certainway, and intangible things that
when you come in the room, thatjust kind of digest them outside
(12:19):
of the sounds that you'rehearing.
It's it's a whole wholeexperience that that that that
you're trying to craft, andthat's what I really got an
appreciation for when I, like,dove head first into it. Yeah.
Yeah. If that makes
Ed Baldi (12:34):
makes sense.
Rob Lee (12:35):
It does. It does. And I and I want for the because
because because I didn't mentionit, because I wanna go for for
the benefit, and we'll go intothis next question for the
benefit of the listeners, whatwe're talking about. We're
talking about the the Hemingwayroom. That's the other thing.
Like, we touched on, like,little Havana. We talked we
touched on sort of, you know,some of the the early
performances, sort of that, theperiod of having these streams
(12:57):
and what becomes now, which isin its 2nd year. Right? Sort of
the the Hemingway room. And I'llI'll comment on this one thing,
that I thought is reallyinteresting that that 2020, you
know, period on forward,everyone got really ingenious, a
lot of ingenuity figuring thingsout.
Like, you know, I'm learning howto use different mixers myself
(13:19):
to do what I'm doing at home,and, you know, this podcast
really kinda took off in thatthat time frame as well. Like,
you know, I talk about it, youknow, in 5 years. So we're
talking 2019 when this podcaststarted. I'm my my 800th episode
as we're recording this comesout tomorrow.
Nick Moreland (13:36):
And Wow. Congrats on that.
Ed Baldi (13:37):
Appreciate it. Yeah. Amazing.
Rob Lee (13:39):
And a lot of that is from the home studio, figuring
it out because we're unable to,you know, be in person. And, you
know, it's it's something aboutthem being able to take some of
those ideas out of necessity. II heard sort of those porch
concerts. I still see those. Ithink those are really cool and
really some it's an it's aunique and intimate way of doing
(14:01):
it and seeing people use sort ofparameters and, like, these
barriers.
Like, let's say, you have thebiggest arena. You can, you
know, kinda do certain things.But if it's like, I got a porch.
I'm gonna get this double bassin here. I'm gonna go get this
mixer and these speakers.
These all of this in there. Soit's kind of creative problem
solving with the parameters thatare there and being able to take
(14:23):
that once we're able to be backin the same space with each
other is beautiful. And one ofthe other things I I heard
before moving into this thisnext question is sort of where
that collaboration works, youknow, with the 2 of you and sort
of both having these similarinterests and seeing, like,
having the, you know, what Iheard from Nick hearing the
(14:43):
having the the background as amusician and having sort of
being in the scene and kindakinda doing storytelling, but
through this understanding ofartists and being able to
leverage sort of thatbackground. And for Ed, your
your background in in lifeproduction, live event
production, those things comingtogether being, like, equally
yoked. And it's like, I'm gonnaleverage my skill set, leverage
(15:05):
yours, and see where we meet.
You know? It's it's Reese's.It's it's peanut butter and
chocolate.
Ed Baldi (15:10):
Well, you know, the the the the name even, you know,
the calling the Sonic lifeline,you know, even the beginning, I
was like, I think it's hard it'shard to We think back now. It's
just such recent history, but,like, what to put yourself in
the mindset of what it was likeback in those years of, right,
of uncertainty for many people.Right? Or just, and so it really
was a lifeline for musicians,for for ourselves, and and the
(15:34):
so this the name itself is verymeaningful to me to me,
personally. I think it was meantto to to really give an
opportunity for for for artiststo be able to play and perform
and and the la you know, Nickand I wanted to create those
spaces and those opportunities.
That was a lifeline. I don'tknow what else I would be doing.
It literally saved saved savedme during that that period, you
(15:55):
know, mentally in many ways. SoI want I wanted to to get that
across. I think that that was animportant part.
And I think coming out of thatwas, I looked around the city. I
live here in Baltimore and atNicks Town, DC. Right? And I had
been travel I was on the road alot before that. I was my career
(16:16):
had me out of town.
And so now I'm in in townlooking at my kids who are going
to school here and and thecommunity I live in and
realizing I I didn't do enoughwasn't involved enough in our in
our city or where I lived, in acity that needs that needs all
of us to be involved if you livehere. I think then, and I didn't
know I didn't know I mean, Ididn't know where I could let I
(16:39):
didn't know what to do. I didn'tknow where to lend my skills or
where to jump in. I only knewhow how to do shows, how to put
on shows. And and I felt in someway that that the city we I
needed this.
City needed this. The themusicians need needed this, and
it was the only way I knew tohelp to be really get involved
and say, let's build let's getpeople in a room together. And I
(17:02):
said this the other the othernight, at the show. I try I try
and since every show, like, Ithink it's really by by some
design, trying to get peoplefrom different parts of the city
in a room together to hear areally positive sound coming
from our city. Yeah.
Not just the sounds and storiesI heard as I traveled the world
(17:24):
and people said, oh, you live inBaltimore? Oh, well, here's what
we know of Baltimore. Right?It's like, oh, well, so so I
felt a duty. I still feel I feela duty to try and to promote
from within, from from thiscommunity we have and the
musicians and the artists wehave.
That that's a a big piece ofwhat we do. And, you know, even
to this, like, you know, Nickand I, I love talk. It's great.
Thank you for letting us talkabout it, but we try and make
(17:47):
that story and the musicians andthe experience around that, the
that's the that should be underthe spotlight, not necessarily
Nick and I. We're we're behindthe scenes, hopefully, making it
happen.
Rob Lee (17:59):
That's that's a good point. And and thank you for
that because it's it's bakedinto, you know, what I'm doing
here. I'm based in Baltimore aswell. I spend time in Philly,
spend time in DC. I was actuallyjust in DC the other day, and I
was like, this is moving aroundtoo much.
But it is one of those thingswhere when I go to a different
city, I was recently in Columbusto do some comic thing. Right?
(18:20):
Because talking to so manydifferent people, different
artists, different creativefolks, different people with and
from different communities. AndI felt, you know, I had to had
to slag off the, you know,Browns and and and and Cleveland
and all of that stuff becausethat's where I was at in
Columbus. And I think it was aSaturday, and I was like, oh,
yeah.
You guys got football, bigfootball town, and had to throw
my Ravens dig in. But, you know,sorta used it as an opportunity
(18:46):
to dispel some of that, youknow, anti Baltimore sentiment
or that ill informed Baltimoresentiment. And just under the
guys that we have a lot ofcreativity there, which is
always left out of theconversation, a lot of different
scenes. And, you know, I knowthis is a question that's gonna
come up, you know, I might aswell get to it now that, you
know, as I was talking abouttraveling, there's Baltimore,
(19:06):
there's DC, there's Philly. And,you know, as I was sharing
before we got started that and alittle bit when we we were we
were talking earlier that, youknow, I've done these interviews
through this sort of lens ofarts, culture, community, but
specifically in those citieswith, you know, jazz, with
music.
And there's sort of thispipeline. Right? There's sort of
(19:28):
this interactive thing that'sthere. And cities, in in my
opinion, have a lot ofsimilarities. They're they're
unique, but they have a lot ofsimilarities.
So from your perspectives, youknow, what is what does that
look like as far as the the thewhere the cities may be overlap
through sort of this lens ofjazz and this lens of performing
(19:48):
arts overall? Where do thecities sort of overlap?
Ed Baldi (19:51):
I'm really glad you brought that up. And then, look,
and I'm not an authority onthis. So, you know, I can only
speak from my hands onexperience of recent and talk
and what I've learned from somany incredible musicians.
You've mentioned some of them,Lionel Lyles, who was on your
show, Brandon Woody, you know,Clarence Ward. Right?
I've learned so much fromspeaking with the artists here.
(20:13):
I've I feel a real and I knowone of your questions, what's
next for Sonic's Lifeline? SoI'm I'm gonna you're you're
hitting on 2 topics because I doyou know, the the the pipeline
you talked about, which wasthriving in a big piece of jazz
history, music history here onthese coasts, Baltimore sound,
Philly sound, New York sound,right, DC sound, I'm I'm gonna
(20:35):
get there in a moment. I'm gonnathread this together, Robin,
away. Yeah.
You you know, as we wannaexpand, you know, the the
artists that we have here andsay, oh, let's let's do a show.
I grew up. I'm originally fromNew Jersey. Right? I'd let's
let's do a show.
Let's I wanna bring musicians upthere and kinda spread the sound
of what we're doing here. One ofthe biggest challenges be
(20:58):
becomes in the ex the costs, theexpense of putting on a fully
produced show in another cityand moving the musicians, you
know, but, you know, by the timethey put the expensive hotel or
transportation, right, that'sthey should be getting paid many
times what they're getting paidfor these performances. So to
(21:19):
your point of it's how do we howdo we regenerate this pipeline
that musicians can move amongthe cities at minimal expense to
allow them to be able to play atvenues like the Hemingway or or
or Smalls in New York or or orBlues Alley and then
Nick Moreland (21:38):
all of all
Ed Baldi (21:39):
of you know, the just just kind of re all link link us
all together and recreate aneasy way for them to move
through the system and allow usas producers, promoters to to
invite musicians from other fromthose those sister cities.
Right? Yeah. So the it's areally I don't have an answer to
(21:59):
it. I have a couple ideas whichwere in the works of further
developing Yeah.
That maybe on the next podcastwe can talk about.
Nick Moreland (22:06):
Absolutely. But,
Ed Baldi (22:07):
but it's a it's a very big it's constantly on our mind
because, we really wanna takethe Baltimore sound outside and
bring it on the road as well ashave the Philly sound come visit
us. We the last weekend, we inour Hemingway Hemingway room
lineup, we try and have aweekend that is that is
musicians coming to Baltimore togive them a welcoming experience
(22:30):
of our city. And we had someincredible musicians coming up
down from New York or or orlike, should be all okay from a
couple different place.
Nick Moreland (22:38):
Anyway, that's South Carolina. Yeah. South
Carolina, New York. So
Ed Baldi (22:43):
I I digress, Rob. I'm sorry, but that's a really
wonderful topic that, you know,that is. And I love that you've
been to those cities andinterviewed the musicians in
those cities. I think there'ssome, there's probably some more
collaboration for you and
Rob Lee (22:55):
I to talk about about linking all this together.
Absolutely. And, you know, andand, Nick, you were you were
touching on a BLO a little bit.So talk a bit about that, like,
sort of bring that together andand more so even the the
curation and the scheduling ofthese shows. And one I'll say, I
had a great time.
I was able to go to the Fridayshow, the first show.
Nick Moreland (23:18):
Oh, awesome.
Rob Lee (23:19):
And I was I I great time. I enjoyed I enjoyed my old
fashioned in the back. I waswriting copious notes. I had a
had a great time. It wasamazing.
The I I felt like I was beingwhisked off into, like, this
exclusive room. I was like, am Iunderdressed? What am I what am
I doing? And the the fog machinewas a was a really good touch as
well, and it just felt like Iknow I'm in Baltimore. Right?
(23:43):
And, you know, I'm definitely abig Baltimore advocate, but also
I felt like I was beingtransferred to, like, just a
different place and the musicwas a part of it. It was just
such a really cool experienceand I raved about it over the
weekend. So in building out sortof what that experience looks
like and what you're aiming for,What what comes to mind, and
(24:04):
what's the the curation processof, like, these are who these
are the folks I know. These arethe folks that I can kinda get.
Talk a bit about that.
Nick Moreland (24:11):
Yeah. So and I've got to excuse me. Another little
bit of fire engines coming downthe street. So, there's, like,
so many different ways I could,you know, go through the series
of with who I booked. So it'skind of like, I'll make a huge
list, and I'll sit down and I'llkinda map out in my head.
(24:33):
I'm like, alright. If we went inthis direction, then what would
the next show be? And then whatwould the next weekend be? And
then, we kinda look at it nowas, like, seasons. So we're
trying to map out, like, what isthe fall season gonna be?
And then I think we try to gofor an artist every season
that's like someone that's fromout of town, like, like I was
talking about that we that thatwe could bring down here. And, I
(24:57):
booked trying to get LukeStewart to come down because
he's kinda like a friend of mineI've had for years, really heavy
in the avant garde scene, like,always traveling to Europe and
always traveling all over theplace. And, like, it's like him
and BLO would just be such acrazy combo. Like, I don't think
anyone's done that here. So Iwas like, that that was kind of
(25:19):
the reasoning behind that thatwhole weekend, the the Friday,
Saturday.
It's almost like the the BLOshow and and and the Luke show,
I I kinda thought of them aslike a package of, like, you
know, 2 completely differentshows that will complement each
other that are a little bitoutside, of what some of our
other shows have sounded like inthe past. Like, we've never had
(25:41):
a band like BLO or like LukeStewart in our series. So it was
like, completely new experience,all the way around, and the fact
that they were both available onthose dates. I'm like, we just
this has gotta gotta happen.This has gotta gotta be on the
calendar.
So, I hope that answers it, butit's kinda like, like when I
(26:02):
curate, you know, there's somany aspects of jazz. There's
the neo soul, the the Latinjazz, there's the more avant
garde stuff, there's thestraight ahead, there's, you
know, even like Ethiopian andlike Brazilian jazz. So it's
like, I never want someone tocome and feel like they have the
same exact experience. I've seenthe same exact band. So I just I
(26:24):
try to add the differentflavors, and like the different
kind of seasonings, to it sothat it's not just, just one
thing every time, all the time,you know.
Yeah. So it all falls under theumbrella of jazz. That's such a
broad, kinda umbrella,especially in this area with all
(26:45):
the different communities thatare are playing that music. So
Ed Baldi (26:48):
Yeah. Rob, that ties into I think also if you, you
know, join us again at the atthe show, you'll see that even,
you know, you know, that roomthat room that the Hemingway
room specifically, it's it's thesetup of that, the design of
that room is is very bespoke toto that audience. Right? We
stage goes away, but every timewe bring in, it's reconfigured
to go, what works well for thatperformance? Right?
(27:11):
The shape of the stage, the waywe kind of configure it, the the
the way Nick lights it. Right?So there's there's there's
definitely, a lot of thoughtinto the whole that whole
experience, that that fits theaudience. And and the fact that
if you go in that room the nextday and it there's nothing in
that room, and you go, wasn'tthere something here last night?
Nope.
It's all gone.
Nick Moreland (27:31):
Or, you know, it's like a baby shower or like
a Yeah. Right. You know, it itcould be a could be anything not
related to jazz. So Well,
Ed Baldi (27:40):
probably worth mentioning BLO is, Brock
Lanzetti Ogawa of of, of ofSnarky Puppy, Incredible, the
violinist, guitarist, andpercussionist. And, mister
Lazard, the with the that's thesecond time we had the pleasure
of working with them, and I hopethere's many more opportunities
with them. It's just a reallyincredible sound and wonderful
(28:02):
people to to work with.
Rob Lee (28:03):
Yeah. They they were they were great. And just, you
know, go going into something, Iand I think even, you know, as
far as sort of the the the sortof the the the the talk, the the
sort of coverage at thebeginning and sort of the
coverage, you know, I have to bebetween, sets. This this notion
is this this this concept andthis belief and goal of having
(28:26):
folks in the same room. Like,you know, that's the thing that
I kept thinking of, and I try togo in doing events like doing
live.
Because I I thought about theroom for a podcast as another
one of those things that theroom can be configured for, but
thinking about, like, movienights and different events and
getting into the production sideof things, it's kind of a hard
pull to get folks to come out.But once you have them coming
(28:49):
out, and then it's just, like, areally, really good time. And as
I said, you know, I raved aboutit when I was down there in DC.
I was in Anacostia the nextmorning, and, you know, I was
talking with my partner. I waslike, yo, we gotta do family
jazz night.
We're gonna go here. We're gonnago to the Hemingway room. You
know, we're not gonna havecigars, but we could. It's gonna
be great.
Ed Baldi (29:08):
And
Rob Lee (29:09):
Yeah. And really just raving about it. And, you know,
for me, and I think for a lot offolks, you know, we we have
those sort of economic things.We have those sort of time
things. It's easier not to dosomething than to do something.
So when one does something, it'sjust like, if it if it's good
and it hits, it's like, I wannacome back and I wanna come to
(29:29):
the next one, and I wanna seewhat else is planned. And that's
what I was thinking through whenI was going going through, like,
coming up with these questions.And one of the other things that
I think stuck out when whendoing some of the preparation
and the research that thatsticks out, and I think it's
it's it's baked into how how the2 of you, like, build out sort
(29:49):
of these shows, but also eventhe curation and all of really
finding artists that are as asNick was touching on that are
that that hit different parts ofthis sort of full spectrum, this
umbrella of jazz, but also thatyou can let Cook. That you can,
like, kinda do their thing.Like, it's that sort of trust
there.
It's like, you're gonna show upbecause look. When I was talking
(30:11):
about booking some musicians atone point, I got, like, 15
interviews. It was supposed tobe 25. There's a lot of no
shows. You know?
I'm not gonna make any names.
Nick Moreland (30:20):
So, you
Rob Lee (30:20):
know, finding sort of the the right mix and the right
people who just crush it, youknow, that's another thing that
I I thought. You have anycomments or any insights on
that?
Ed Baldi (30:28):
We look at our we're not a venue. I think that's
number 1. Like, we're not we wedon't wanna be. We're not just a
venue. We're we the artist thatwe develop relationships with or
any with that we work with, wewanna be viewed as a as a
produce a coproducer of thatexperience that evening.
You know, every show we do ismultitracked. So beyond the
(30:49):
show, we spend time. We makesure that the artist walks away
with a really nice mix of thatshow that they can do what they
hopefully, put it out there. Youknow? We want the library to
live on afterwards as we developthe library and work with
artists in the future on whatthey want to do with that
library.
So, the the a lot of thoughtinto the the how that evening
(31:12):
looks. So and I think that thatis something as we, you know, as
we work more and more to peep topeople, oh, it's not just a
show. Right? We're not. And Ithis is I've said this before,
but, you know, we're not jazzbrunch.
Right?
Nick Moreland (31:24):
We're not
Ed Baldi (31:25):
jazz brunch in many places, and you should. And the
more venues that offer that arethat pay musicians to play,
there should be because thatthat's a the I love it. Right?
But we just we're a little alittle different, and we we go
into other venues to do that.That we have the fortune we're
the good fortune of theHemingway room being our kinda
home base and the good fortuneof our friends at Little Havana
(31:47):
offering that to us.
We we we do a we curate a a jamsession every Tuesday night in
DC at a place called Whitlowthat that Joe Palmer hosts,
incredible Joe Palmer on. And wetry and create a similar vibe of
artist centric experience whereand, again, this this you know,
(32:08):
you're talking to Nick and I, soit's a lot about us tonight, but
I think, it's really trying tocreate that create that stage
and give them that stage exactlylike you said where they can
cook. Right? And and, you know,as an audience, I I'm gonna go
(32:28):
back back back in the when Imoved to Baltimore, it was been
almost 17 years now. There was aclub called club 347.
It was near the near MercyHospital, and it was a little
it's a parking lot now, I haveto say. Many of the people in
the jazz community around herewill know 347. It was, a place
where a lot of people, like, I Ihear now from paid their dues
(32:49):
there. And I was just anaudience member. We go there and
walked away feeling like I hadjust left, you know, Madison
Square Garden.
Right? The the musicians thatthat came there and the the
experience that I had and themusic I heard and the and the
the emotion, they the cook, theycooked on stage the entire time.
And and I it that always stuckwith me all these years. So when
(33:12):
now we have the opportunity totry and recreate a little bit of
that stuff, that magic thatsomehow happened on those nights
of those jam sessions, thatthat's very important. I think
it happened because you give thespace to the musicians to feel
at home, to be at home, to notthink about you're here to
(33:34):
entertain an audience.
Okay? Yes. We love having anaudience. It helps make all this
possible, but it really iscreating a space for musicians
to give us the opportunity topeer behind that curtain and
experience something that wedon't always get to see. That's
(33:55):
if we can do that, we've, Ithink, done our job.
So that that's that's kind ofthe to me is is, you know,
creating that place where peoplecan come together and just, wow,
how did that happen? You know?That's that's what we're trying
to create.
Rob Lee (34:08):
It's great.
Nick Moreland (34:09):
And, you know, and and it's not like there's
there's certain venues thatthese guys play at, and they
gotta play standards, they gottaplay tunes, or there's, like, a
certain repertoire that they'rekind of caged in here. I mean,
you can play a song for 30minutes. You can play a song for
20 minutes. It could becompletely spontaneous. It could
be, you know, like, there's nopressure to play anything
besides what you wanna play.
(34:31):
So it's like, it gives them theultimate freedom to play, like,
without the the the, yeah, thelimitations of, like, having to
stay within a certain box. Yeah.They can create whatever box
they want to when they're in theroom.
Rob Lee (34:49):
That's good. That's that's a that's a really good
point. And, yeah, before I moveinto this this sort of last
question, I got some rapid firequestions for the 2 of you. But,
yeah, that's that's a reallygood point. Like, when I think
those best situations, like, I Iwas sharing a bit of sort of my,
experience when I interviewedLionel.
You know, Lyles, it was sort ofa weekend of doing, Artscape and
(35:14):
doing a bunch of interviews andI'm like this is something that
I haven't really done and therewere some nerves and this is a
new sort of setup and, you know,I have this to protect me from,
you know, my flubs or what haveyou, but doing it in person and
doing it right after theperformance is just a whole
different setup. And, you know,the folks that booked me, you
know, from from BOPA, it wasn't,you know, one of those things
(35:38):
that we need you to ask thesespecific questions in this way
and so on. It was just like,hey. We trust you. We we know
you know what you're doing.
You know, who did you book? Youknow, pretty much let me do my
home own thing sort ofempowering the the the the
artist in this instance. So Ihave your the the performer in
this instance to to do theirthing. And I felt like that was
(35:59):
a really one enriching momentfor me to do something, you
know, that I had some nervesabout, some trepidation around,
and really being able to take itto that next stage. I felt
empowered, I guess, is the pointI'm getting at.
And I would imagine sort of theway that you're describing this
approach with Hemingway, Rome,and the artists that are
involved, there's just like,hey. We know what you're doing.
(36:19):
Do your thing.
Ed Baldi (36:20):
Rob, the name of your podcast is the the the truth
Rob Lee (36:23):
In this art. Yes.
Ed Baldi (36:24):
You cannot get to truth in art unless you, I
think, free have the freedom tofind that truth. And I think
that's kind of what you'vecreated in your podcast and what
we're trying to create here.
Rob Lee (36:36):
That's a really good point. Thank you. So I wanna
move into this last question,and, you know, we were we were
teasing this a little bit, andthis is probably sort of, to be
continued, but I at least wannaget, a sense. So this is, you
know, sort of the as we'rerecording this, there this is
the, you know, towards the theending of this this year. Is it
(36:58):
the end of year 2?
Is it sort of continuation ofyear 2? And sort of the second
part of that question, what wasthe the key learnings, I guess,
from year 1 to year 2, you know,as far as putting on these shows
and and and and and really justgrowing it?
Ed Baldi (37:15):
Yeah. I, well, the you know, this is, I think, like
Nick mentioned earlier, beingable to booking
Nick Moreland (37:25):
it
Ed Baldi (37:25):
as a thinking of it as a season was a was a learning
because because look. As asgenerous as little Havana is
and, you know, coordinating withthem to take over that room on
fixed fixed dates it's somethingI have to work hard with them
because, you know, if it's, youknow, spring and wedding season
and, like Nick mentioned, awedding party comes in and wants
(37:45):
to book that room, guess what?There's no jazz that night.
Right? It's like so right.
You know? And look. They'rethey're extremely supportive of
it. And, so so what one thing welearned over the years that you
know, trying to get get aconsistent audience. Because
other thing, you know, this iscompletely self produced between
(38:05):
Nick and I as a Sonic Life line.
We operate that the, you know,it's not this is not a pay to
play for the artist. This is nothow many people you can bring.
This is we we're the I, weoperate like we're the Kennedy
Center, but we're not. You know?But, so so, unfortunately, if
there's 5 people in theaudience, that's that's on us.
That's not on the artist. Right?So building a consistent
(38:29):
audience has been a bit a bit ofa challenge. And part of that
may have been, you know, we'renot we didn't have consistent
dates. So this fall was thefirst time we were able to say
every 3rd Friday Saturday, we'regonna do a show.
Yeah. And and I say that andwith some sadness that in
(38:49):
November, we've had to changethe dates. It was supposed to be
November 15, 16th. We've had tochange the date to November 23rd
for the next show, and that issimply out of Nick and I and
Mark professional careers. And,you know, a work opportunity
came up for me, and it's I,unfortunately, not, you know,
have to go and and travel andand and we had to change
Nick Moreland (39:11):
you couldn't refuse. An offer couldn't
refuse.
Rob Lee (39:14):
So we're
Ed Baldi (39:15):
not we we're not at that level yet, Rob, where we
can turn down other other work,but we won't we'll get there.
We'll get there eventually. But,so I think learnings have been
consistent that the audience thecommunity would like more
consistency as when this ishappening, how do we find it.
Yeah. The art I think we we Iwould we could be booking shows
more than just, you know, twice2 weekends a month.
(39:37):
We would love to. There's somany incredible musicians out
there we wanna continue to workwith. So that's that's a big
piece of it, as well, I think,of of a learning. Right? Just
trying to do do more.
Right? And then,
Nick Moreland (39:49):
you know, for me, I feel like, you know, I'm
always going to jazz clubs in DCand always going to new spaces,
and I'm on with I'm I'm kind ofon, like, reconnaissance
missions in a way where I seethe things that I really love
and enjoy about these spaces,but then also maybe things that
could be improved in certainways, and and and how I can take
what I'm learning from all thesespaces that exist around us. And
(40:10):
and and and use those lessons,and experiencing these shows,
the the better what we're doinghere. And just just just take
back little pieces of of of allthose, things I've been
experiencing over the past 2years. Because I'm, I'm kinda in
the position where, you know, Ihave my business, but when I'm
(40:31):
not working, I'm seeing him useit. Like, I'm in the scene as as
as as deep as I can possibly be.
So that that kinda keeps keeps,you know, keeps my ear to the
streets a little bit to to seewhat's trending, what's what's
happening, and and and wherewhere things are going in this
area. So
Ed Baldi (40:48):
Rob, may maybe something again, future
collaboration stuff for us canyou talk about. You know? It's,
it would be interesting becausebecause, you know, we're not I'm
sure we're not the only onesthat think like this, right, a a
a better approach to to the waywe're doing this. I would love
to build a coalition, amongst,you know, of the like minded
promoters, producers, and cluband club owners throughout, you
know, up and down these coastsand other cities. Right?
Rob Lee (41:10):
And sort
Ed Baldi (41:10):
of, you know, sort of continue this discussion about
how do how do we con together,you know, create more
opportunities to move musiciansup and down the East Coast and
share these sounds and andrebuild that that that pipeline
that once existed. Somethingwe'd love to continue that
conversation with, with you andand see if we can get some
others involved in thatconversation.
Rob Lee (41:31):
I think that I think that would be good. I think it's
I think it's I think it's areally good a good thing, a good
approach because, I think, sortain the and and I definitely
relate as far as the seasons. Irelate as far as being
consistent, figuring out ways tohave folks come out. Like, you
know, there's a volume thing.I'm always working.
I'm always putting out somestuff. But, you know, I started
(41:52):
thinking of things very muchthrough seasons and, you know,
I'm planning out sort of my nextseason. And it's gonna be very
tight, very consistent and, youknow, literally just 1 per week.
You know? No.
A new thing is popping upversus, man, you might get 3
this week. You might get 5 nextweek. I do a lot. And it's, you
know, kinda kinda bringing thatdown a bit, you know, which is
(42:15):
not really my choice, but it'slike this is sort of a thing
that makes sense to be able toextend and expand and do other
things that are of interest tomove the needle and to stretch
sort of the boundaries of whatI'm doing creatively. And, yeah,
I think, you know, sort of thelearning from one stage to the
next is really important anddefinitely the the seasons are a
(42:36):
piece and how one defines it andhow one, you know, connects.
Because this is I I always jokeabout it, but it's it's a lot of
truth in it that this is acollaborative art project. You
know, like, when I have folks onthere, some folks who they got
nothing. I'm like, this is thisis gonna be pulling teeth. And
there are other folks who talkmore than me, and it makes it
(42:57):
like, am I even known aspodcast? So it's it's sort of
one of those things, you know.
And it's it's it's just tryingto, like, figure it out and find
it. But the the point is, andand I'm, you know, kinda close
out on this, it's about those,you know, those reps. You're
able to get those reps in, youlearn from each one of those
reps. And I love what you weresaying there, Nick, about kinda
being on those reconnaissancemissions. When I go into other
(43:18):
cities, I'm like, alright.
How can I steal this and bringit back to Baltimore? How can I
make And, yeah? So that's that'sthat's really great, and I'm
really happy of the the workthat the 2 of you are are doing
and sort of the mission and, youknow, continued success. This is
this is great stuff. And, sowith that, wanna move into 2 2
rapid fire questions, you know,in these 6 five moments that we
(43:42):
have here.
Now I give you this preface. Youdon't wanna overthink these. You
know? It's kinda like thatsaying. It's like, I said what I
said.
You know? Alright. Hey, guys.Rob Lee here chiming in the
middle of the podcast, and we'llbe right back to that in a
moment. But I wanted to remindyou that if you're following me
on Instagram, and I hope you arethe truth in his heart, make
(44:03):
sure that you explore the links,link in bio.
I know that people always talkabout follow me, link in bio,
and all of that. But there'ssome valuable stuff in there
such as a survey for mynewsletter. You've probably
received the newsletter, and ifnot, definitely sign up for it.
There's some interesting stuffthere. We have profiles of
certain guests.
(44:23):
We have sort of, you know,curated episodes because we're
we're we're around 800 rightnow. And, it's a lot to go
through, and all of them won'tbe available on every platform
all the time. So being able torevisit and go back there, to
check out those episodes isimportant. So definitely check
out the survey. Let us know whatyou think of the newsletter and
what you would like to haveincluded in there, and, continue
(44:46):
to make this podcast, yours asas well as mine's.
And, yeah, back to the podcast,Rapid Fire. When spirits are
down, right, like, you know, weall have those moments of, like,
man, I didn't book that personor, you know, for me, that
podcast didn't go well. Withoutfail, what boosts your spirits?
Is it a song? Is it cat videos?
(45:07):
Is it a good meal? What bringsup your spirits when you're
down, especially when it'ssomething creative?
Nick Moreland (45:13):
For me, it's, it's nature. You know? Like, if
I have the opportunity, it'srunning on the trails. I do
crazy 40, 50 mile bike rides. Igo sit by the river.
I go out in the mountains. Like,so for me, that's that's how I
recharge from, like, anextremely stimulating week of
sometimes gig after gig, andthen going and producing shows
(45:34):
in Baltimore, which I've anamazing time doing. But then
when I get the first free chanceI I can, I gotta I gotta be out
in nature a little bit, and thenand then I'm all good?
Ed Baldi (45:45):
I hear you. I sit down at the piano and go and play
mute and and and work on a verypersonal music space. So I I'm a
musician as well, but I won'tbut I put that you know, I I
don't put myself at the top ofthe list of musicians, so that's
it's for me. It's sitting at thepiano.
Rob Lee (46:02):
Yes. Cat videos for me. Not it's like, man, what is that
feline doing? That's great.That's great.
And and having sort of thosethose opportunities to recharge.
For me, really, it is steppingaway, like, really being able to
reset and to enjoy thingswithout having, you know, some
other intent with it. Like, youknow, almost last second. Like,
(46:25):
obviously, you know, I went tothe the show this past Friday,
the BLO show this past Friday,and I was gonna have my girl
come. It was always like hercoming.
And, and it was one of thosethings where I was like, I'm
working too. So I was like, letme do this. Let me do my work
piece because it's like, I'mgonna enjoy. I'm gonna have
that. I'm able to split minds,but it's like adding the 3rd
(46:46):
layer to split there.
So I was like, alright. Cool.Let me get my work piece done.
And once I have that settled,because I know we had this
conversation coming up, thenwe're good. And I was like,
we're absolutely going to thenext show.
The next
Nick Moreland (46:57):
show.
Ed Baldi (46:57):
Absolutely. That's that's
Rob Lee (46:58):
what it is. That's what it is. It's like, you know, when
I go to a movie, I do a moviereview podcast. It's like, am I
watching this for fun, or am Iwatching this for research? I
have to delineate sometimes.
Ed Baldi (47:08):
The the the next show you got you're gonna come come
sit right next to me at thatthat barstool down front. It's
the most incredible experience.It's like you're right. It's it
I can't tell you what what joyit gives me to just you know,
you put all all the effort workto make happen, then you sit
there and you you write it itjust it takes it takes over in a
(47:29):
way I can't describe.
Rob Lee (47:30):
That's that's great. I'll take that invitation. So so
I like this next one. This one Iwas really happy about, and this
would be a nice one to close outon. I find that some of the best
jazz musicians, right, they havereally great nicknames and stage
names.
So have either of you ever usedan alias? And if so, what was
(47:54):
said alias?
Nick Moreland (47:56):
Like like, for in the music world or in in our, in
our personal lives? BecauseI've, you know,
Ed Baldi (48:04):
Knicks got many. I
Nick Moreland (48:05):
don't know I don't know if you ever heard of,
Muddy Waters.
Rob Lee (48:09):
Yeah.
Nick Moreland (48:10):
But the but, you know, I'm I grew up in PG
County. In in certain parts ofHyattsville, I'm known as Dookie
Waters. I like it. But,basically, I had band practice
in the basement of this house.It was like this corner house,
huge yard, $350 a rent, rent amonth for this massive basement
(48:34):
space.
Yep. The sewage pipes, somethinghappened, and then all
overflowed in the basement. Sothen the band came came back
over for practice. The nextweek. They're like, smells like
some Dookie Waters down here.
And then and then they startedcalling me that. So then I I
became Dookie Waters. So
Ed Baldi (48:49):
That's good.
Nick Moreland (48:50):
And I re and I ran with that for a while. House
is still there. If anyone is in,West Hyattsville, it's on a a
Manorwood Drive in JamestownRoad. The corner house is the
Dookie Waters house.
Rob Lee (49:02):
Oh, man. That's amazing. That's amazing. I love
it. Ed, you got any you gotanything?
Nick Moreland (49:10):
You know, I don't I don't
Ed Baldi (49:11):
have many others. Although now, you know, because
I'm Nick's uncle, I get a lot ofpeople saying, oh, you're uncle
Ed. You're uncle Ed. So I Ithink I've set up I'm uncle Ed.
Nick Moreland (49:19):
Here here's why that happens. Because the
musicians will ask me what'sEd's phone number, and I'll
share my contact. And I have himstored as uncle Ed. So then they
save him as uncle Ed. So so allthe musicians have him stored as
uncle Ed in their phone.
So
Rob Lee (49:33):
That's good.
Nick Moreland (49:33):
So he is uncle Ed.
Rob Lee (49:35):
There you go. That's good. That's good. I I don't
have any aliases, that I'm awareof. So I don't I don't know what
people call me outside of thispodcast, but it's I always do
this running bit where I'malways on my p's and q's of
where I'm at because, you youknow, definitely, Ed, you you
saw me you you saw me in personrather tall.
Right? And it's one of thosethings where I'm like, alright.
(49:57):
I need to buy my p's and q's. Ican't hide. I can't just be in
the cut.
Right? So it's like, I canalmost see it. Truth in his art
cutting up. They just call methe name of the podcast instead
of my name. It's just like Oh,
Ed Baldi (50:09):
that that's where you get recognized as. Oh, the truth
in this art is here.
Rob Lee (50:12):
Yeah. That's just truth in this art is here. It's like,
can I can I be Rob for a second?Nah. Truth and the art.
Nick Moreland (50:19):
It's a strong nickname, though. You know? It
works.
Ed Baldi (50:21):
It's just Yeah.
Rob Lee (50:24):
So that's kinda it for the podcast, in terms of the the
conversation. So there's 2things I wanna do as we close
out here. 1, I wanna thank bothof you for coming on and
spending some time with me. Thishas been a lot of fun. It's been
great to learn more about SonicLifeline, your your individual
insights as well.
And 2, I wanna invite encourageboth of you to share anything in
the the final moment, socialmedia, websites, stuff like that
(50:46):
where the folks can this is sortof the shameless plug portion of
the podcast. So if you will, thefloor is yours.
Ed Baldi (50:52):
Well, the, thus the sonic lifeline, you know, dot
com for the for the web or thesonic lifeline on Instagram. The
next show in the Hemingway roomwill be November 23rd. The
incredible Phil Thomas asmusical director, local
Baltimore musician and musicaldirector. He did a show with us
(51:14):
last year that was all aroundthe music of Donny Hathaway and
built built an entire cast. Itwas called Dear Donny, and we're
doing something similar, thisthis on this show, songs that
speak, and will be a lot of, alot of vocal song, a lot of
songs that kinda in the neo neosoul world, a lot of songs that
kinda speak spiritually or havemeaning to it.
(51:36):
So, and Phil Thomas leading asmusical director on November
23rd, the Hemingway room. Youcan find us at the Sonic
Lifeline.
Rob Lee (51:46):
And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Ed
Baldy and Nick Moreland fromSonic Lifeline for sharing a bit
on the Hemingway Room. And I'mRob Lee saying that there's art,
culture, and community in andaround your neck of the woods.
You've just gotta look for it.
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