January 27, 2025 • 58 mins
This week on the Figure Eights Podcast!
I talk with Rebecca Sorensen and Katy Vernon about the Morningside After Dark event. Rebecca founded the event 13 years ago with the late, great Laurie Lindeen. We also pay tribute to Laurie.
Morningside After Dark is an arts event in Edina, Minnesota that features musicians, artists and writers performing their works in the Edina Morningside Church basement. It's an incredible event.
The next event is tonight featuring John Eller, John Munson (Semisonic), Lori Yang and more. I'll be performing as well.
Tonight's event and this episode are in memory of Laurie Lindeen.
I talk with Rebecca Sorensen and Katy Vernon about the Morningside After Dark event. Rebecca founded the event 13 years ago with the late, great Laurie Lindeen. We also pay tribute to Laurie.
Morningside After Dark is an arts event in Edina, Minnesota that features musicians, artists and writers performing their works in the Edina Morningside Church basement. It's an incredible event.
The next event is tonight featuring John Eller, John Munson (Semisonic), Lori Yang and more. I'll be performing as well.
Tonight's event and this episode are in memory of Laurie Lindeen.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You are listening to the Figure Eats podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm your host, Nikolitte from the band High on.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Stress out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it is twenty twenty five.
Is it everything you dreamt it would be? Is everything
turning out the way that you thought? Yeah, well, we've
got a new episode here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
As promised, I mentioned at the end of the year
that we would be.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Loading up some new episodes and I told the truth,
So here we are. Today's episode is a special one.
It's about Morningside after Dark. And for those of you
who don't know when morning Side after Dark is, it's
a free winter storytelling and live music series that was
(00:55):
created in Minnesota and Ea Dina And for those of
you from other countries or out of state, who Dyna
is right by southwest of Minneapolis, literally blocks away.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So this is a really cool event.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
And it was founded by the late great Lori Lynden
from Zuzu's Pedals.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
And she passed last year, which was terrible, and she was.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Actually going to be the next guest on this podcast
when everything happens so kind of heartbreaking, So in her honor,
we're going to talk about Morningside after Dark. She co
founded it with Rebecca Sorenson, who is on the episode today,
as well as Katie Vernon who's a singer songwriter and
has become a host of the series.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
This is dedicated to the late great Lorie Lyndin and
I hope you listen up, learn about the series and
think about it in your neighborhoods or city.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Is this something that you can do?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Put it together, spread art, music, laughter, stories.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
It's a great thing.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
We need more of that is as can be seen
by this.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Stay the world here.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So let's do things to add value.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
And love and warm and take a listen to this
and maybe it's something that you can do in your areas.
So without further ado, I bring you Rebecca Sorenson and
Katie Vernon and you talk about Morningside after Dunn.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Thank you for doing this. This is awesome. I love
that you have this podcast. I can't believe I haven't
known about this, like the big deal.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Wow, Well, good guests.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I've been lucky, you know. I I started off just
kind of taking big swings and I had like Jody
Stevens from Big Star was on and Steve Albini is
on RIP.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And yeah, it's just it's funny.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Once you get a couple of bigger names, suddenly it
becomes a bunch easier to get other bigger names because
they're like, oh, if that person did it, I'll also.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Do it, And I'm like, okay, so yeah, no, it's
been really fun.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
That's awesome. It sounds a little like Morning Side after
Dark when we started out with Miss Linden, you know,
just making a few calls and getting us launched back
in the day thirteen years ago, which is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
So thirteen years that would have been twenty.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Twelve, twenty twelve, I think twenty twelve, so thirteen years.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I wonder when the first one I did was. I
don't remember. It was a long time ago.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
It had to have been right at the beginning. I
feel like you were one of the very first, and
you and Laurie, like you guys kind of go way back, right,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, So it's weird.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
We were facing book friends, but I didn't really know her.
And then we opened for Tommy Stintson at the Fine
Line and I met her. She came back to the
merch table and was talking to me, but I didn't
really introduce I knew who she was, but I didn't
like talk to or much other than you know, she's
(04:18):
like good show and she was with.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Her friends and whatever.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And then the next day I went on Facebook and
she had put like High on Stress is a super
cool band or like just some random thing.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I'm like, oh my god, that's so cool.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And I just sent her a message thanking her for that,
and then just kind of became friends and you know,
Morningside and then.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Ultimately too. Then she.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We were doing our last record, hold Me In, and
I asked her, like, you would to come in and
sing backing vocals on the song and she's like, heck yeah.
So she sang on our first single off the last
record two, which was pretty cool. So yeah, so a
lot of morning Side stuff, kind of a lot of
messaging back and forth and uh and uh yeah, even
(05:05):
up to the end. In fact, she was supposed to
be the next guest when she passed.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, so I had.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Lost my job due to a reduction in force, and
I emailed her and I'm like, hey, I hate to
do this, but can we postpone this for a couple
of weeks?
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
So not.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, so I'm thinking of reaching out to her to
her band to see if they want to jump on
and yeah, talk with them. But yeah, so she was
going to be the next so that when it all happened,
So that was a bummer.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
I'm sorry finds how how sudden and shocking it was.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
It's still shocking, it's still yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
No, I think drummer Mark sent me a message and
I was like, what, Yeah, it's just you know, there
are certain there are a lot of people in the world.
There are very few people like her in the world,
and I kind of put Slim Dunlap in that same
kind of category of like there's just a little magic
to both of them. And she just you know, she
(06:13):
had that wry smile and like you.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Know, mischievous.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, but just so much energy. So like when you
hear something like just like that happening and brain aneurysm,
and that's it. You know, you're like, for somebody so
full of life, it's just hard to take, right.
Speaker 6 (06:31):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah. And so but we're yeah, I mean this will
be like a small way we're gonna just remember her
and honor her legacy, just even in this little corner
of the world with the show, and certainly we are
excited for you and for other good friends of hers
(06:53):
that are jumping in, you know, singing a little something
or reading something that you know, mixed with people that
we just kind of we do our thing too, where
it's a lot of actually, it's funny you were talking
about like Facebook Messenger and stuff like that. I mean,
I think a lot of this is sort of like
dming people like, hey, this is coming up, you want
(07:14):
to do it, and like just sort of how we
were in touch and it sort of does kind of
magically materialize pretty fast. Katie. Katie's always like, oh, hey,
I bumped into this person at this gig and told
them about the show, and you know, she's always like
very fast with some amazing you know name that can
(07:35):
be in the show and kind of gets what we're
trying to do. And it was it was really special,
like especially very much at the very beginning, like back
when you know, we were kind of just talking about
how cool it was to be in this corner of
the world and sort of walk down the street and
bump into people and sort of oh, you're like writing
(07:56):
a book or you're you know, in a band, or
I mean, unfortunately, our neighborhood has changed a lot, even
in thirteen years where it's a little less like that.
But you know, I was like at the time, just
you know, mom with my fourth child and going a
little crazy, like how can I escape this reality a
(08:16):
little bit and do more of what I loved At
the time, I was like, I need to get away
from children and get back to the things that you know,
help me feel like myself. And sharing with LORI like,
you know, the idea, and Laurie immediately wanting to just
blow it up and make it into something that like
(08:37):
we just never imagined it would get as kind of
a you know, just special big and you know that
the people that especially you know, at the very beginning
that she tapped and stuff, we were like people couldn't
believe it, you know, like how did you get those
people to a church basement in Morningside? Like the whole
(08:57):
thing was kind of a little bit of a surprise
to all of us that it kind of just it
was I think, a great, great idea that just really
Laurie kind of had a vision for how it would
work and immediately like, oh, this is like a showcase
and I used to do these in New York and
(09:17):
you know, just kind of cobbling it together. So and
it's it's taking different twists and turns, and you know, Katie,
We're so grateful to have Katie with us. And you know,
now it's been how many years, Katie. I mean it's like.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
I think eight at least.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
Yeah, yeah, right, yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:37):
I think I think I've first performed maybe ten years
ago and have been involved and and I feel like
for people that are familiar with the podcast but not
familiar with Morningside After Doc, it is a showcase, as
Rebecca said, and it is literary and musical showcase. And
(09:59):
what I love about it as a performer, but also
as an audience member, I love that it alternates, so
you know, you you can expect to hear, you know,
five to six great short stories, excerpts from memoir, you know,
any kind of written work, you know, wonderful prose. And
then every other act is a musician, so you're going
(10:22):
to hear a lot of original songwriting as well as
some fantastic covers. I mean, we've had some musical performances
that have absolutely like shook the church basement. They've just
been so soulful and you know, mass sing alongs.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
It really runs the gamut of styles. So yeah, it's a.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
It's a showcase that originally showcased the Morning Side neighborhood
and some of the just incredible talent, you know, homegrown talent,
and then it's people like me heard about it and
saw performers that they loved and wanted to be a
part of it. So I was handed the reins of
kind of helping with some of the musical aspects when Laurie,
(11:04):
you know, stepped away. So I'm very honored to in
no way full her shoes, but to have, you know,
kind of carried the torch a little bit.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
When she reached out to me, must have been you
said thirteen years ago, if that was the one.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
She's like, you want to do this?
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And yeah, sure, absolutely, And I didn't really know what
it was. I was like, yeah, I'll come play a
song whatever. And it's in a church basement, Like the
who the whole idea of this thing?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Without seeing it, It's like, what is this thing? And
it was really cool.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
As you mentioned, you've got your your poets and writers,
authors and actors and comedians. I think there's been some
comedians in there. When I was there, musicians. So it's
such a warm vibe and there's every time I've been there,
there's just been a lot of people, like people show up.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So how do you advertise that? How do you get
people out?
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Yeah, I mean it is a pretty under the radar
sort of thing. I think it's it's a lot of
word of mouth. It's we've we've done you know, some
social media. We just let people know this is coming.
And and you know, I think in the beginning it
was a little like are people going to show up
for this thing? I mean, we think this is cool,
but are other people going to like it? And I
(12:24):
think there was just such an appetite for it. So,
you know, we've gotten some media coverage. You know, we've
we've branched out, we start we're all volunteers, like we
have a website.
Speaker 6 (12:34):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Again, we put things on social media, put some posters around,
it's in some some neighborhood newsletters. It gets you know, some,
like I said, a little bit of media coverage too.
But I think it's the I think there have been
years where we're like, okay, maybe this is is this
kind of winding down, you know, if we reached our
limit and then people just I'm amazed. I think it
(12:59):
was couple of years ago. I was just in the
audience kind of getting things ready and saw people arriving
and there was this whole group of people from like
still Water that roke to the show and I was like,
wait a minute, you're here from Stillwater, Like what is
going on? And it's like it just that well, that
(13:19):
part of it too was, you know, during the pandemic,
we had this online audience basically still they still reach
out and ask are we live streaming the show because
we sort of started to grow. Like our first live
stream show we had like twenty thousand people that tuned
in for that. It was just kind of, you know
how that was like one of the silver linings where
(13:40):
it sort of it just kind of really launched it
in a way that we didn't expect and were like,
we could never have that many people in our church
basement listening to the show, and here they are tuning
in and really really into it. But it felt great
to be back together again, obviously, and honestly, this is
a really I think this is going to be a
(14:01):
pretty important night on Monday too. I think people really
do feel seen when they're performing. There's something kind of
special about the fact that we're not in a bar.
We're not like we're we have a very kind of
captive audience that just sort of sits there like really listening,
(14:24):
and the acoustics are good in that basement, and so
it's a great listening environment, I think for people to
and then you know, but yeah, Katie, I don't know,
it's funny. It's just I think it just kind of
it just sort of gets out there every time, and
you know, I'm always nervous, like are we going to
get people? And then you know, they start coming in
(14:45):
and it's like, oh my gosh, here we go. We've
got another night. We're going to do it.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
So it's true word of mouth.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
I mean, there's a lot of very loyal, you know
people that you know, it's it's an appointment. Sorry my dog,
this is me because I've been out.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Is that Bowie at Elton.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
Bowie very quiet and Bowie's pretty.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Death But my husband's in Vegas.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
But anyway, so I think that, yes, there's a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
Of word of mouth.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
There's a lot of loyal repeat you know, audience members
that then invite their friends, so you know, those two
or three you know, Morningside Residents is now you know,
a group of six to eight, you know, and people
make an evening of it. And another thing I think
is really interesting because it is a little hard to describe,
and it's you know, it's kind of like, well, it's
(15:40):
like the Moth Radio Hour but with music, you know,
and it's there is loosely a theme, which I think
is such a you know, great idea. You know, I
came on board and these great ideas already existed. But
I think as as an audience member, it kind of
sets the tone that you know, everybody's going to somewhat
you know, tie into this theme the evening. But also
(16:03):
there are so many unexpected connections that I have literally
felt myself and seen happen in the little green room backstage,
which is that you know, a poet or a memoir
writer or you know a screenwriter, you know, they do
their five minutes and they speak on something, and despite
(16:25):
the fact that yes there's a theme, there might be
you know two or three other just really powerful kind
of unseen connections between the person who's going to perform next,
and you can see people like kind of going, oh
my gosh, like I'm writing a you know, I'm going
to perform a three minute song, but that memoir, you know,
(16:46):
chapter absolutely kind of digs even deeper into what I'm
going to be singing about. I mean, have you have
you had that I'm putting you on the spot, but
have you had those kind of weird connections happen to
nick when you've performed.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
I don't know about that necessarily, but I have in
different environments where like, especially like a Katie you probably
have done these like kind of songwriter nights where you're
doing the in the round, well even like the Who
Nanny right when Walsh used to do that. You know,
there's that kind of piggyback off of the thing that
happened before. You might be like, I'm going to play
this song, but then you hear what's happening over here
(17:21):
You're like, actually, no, I think this is going to
play better based on the vibe of the room or
what's going on with everybody else.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
So I can definitely understand where you're coming from with that.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
You feel that vibe really affecting like backstage, on stage
and the audience.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
It's just a really.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
Beautiful collective thing and I think, you know, and Rebecca
can speak on this, but the very deliberate choice to
make it kind of in the depths of winter and
be you know, a chance to gather and kind of
use each other for warmth, both spiritual and just kind
of community warmth is really really special.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
When I say spirit it's not a religious event.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
I just find the gathering of artists and audience to
be kind of a spiritual experience.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
And it's cold here, and there's coffee in that church basement,
so that also helps.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Yeah, coffee, and it's decaps so you don't have staying
up all night.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So speaking of that, how did it end up in
the church?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah, well, you know what, it was selfishly just really
close to where Lori and Jim Mahoney and I all lived,
and I was there and they the church itself was
sort of looking at like how I think, like a
lot of mainline churches right now, they're seeing their numbers dwindle,
(18:44):
and they had kind of this beautiful space and they
were trying to fill it and invite you know, more
community members in and so in some ways that actually
was kind of at the very kernel of all of
it too, was they were sort of like, we have space,
we can't really figure out why people aren't coming here.
Maybe we could reimagine it for something else. And that's
(19:07):
when I kind of got the idea and sort of
sat with Lorii and Jim and we kind of were like, Hey,
we have this beautiful space. We can have it for free.
We can invite people in and make this into something
a community event that you know, again the winter, a
lot of things, Like it's funny to think back at
thirteen years ago, some of those decisions that were made
(19:30):
have lasted as long as they have. Like you know,
a Monday night gig like just ended up being amazing
because so many like you and Laurie and you know,
Katie and so many of our performers are available on
a Monday, so we could kind of like we could
gather people in.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
The whole.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
The vibe of that basement was right, I mean, it
was just like again, and our sound engineer, George Scott
mckelby has talked about like just the acoustics and there
being kind of perfect. We've tried to move it at times.
There was there were definitely a lot of shows where
we were at capacity and we had like church basement
ladies like you know, scary, like mad at us that
(20:15):
we were at capacity and we're breaking fire codes, and
you know, we kind of went, maybe this is a
time to like look at other spaces, and we just
we just couldn't find anything we liked better. And and
the church itself has been like very supportive, like they
help us set it up and take it down, and
(20:37):
you know, and they welcome the community in and realized
like that there are a lot of people there that
probably will never go upstairs to church, but like absolutely
love what that night is about. And so you know,
so there's something just kind of magical about that, I think.
And then you know, you know the yeah, so I
(20:59):
guess I that's kind of it. It's like the church
was just sort of like very gracious, like, hey, you
know absolutely you know we're here, We'll help set it up,
we'll put some candles out front and invite people in
and just super you know, hospitable about the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
And we tried to just one other thing like that's
been of fun is we've also tried to just welcome
in the morning side, like the small businesses in the
area too. So we've had like different businesses pop up
at the event. So we'll have like this oh Crep,
this new CREPERI that's going to be there on Monday,
And you know, this yoga studio has kind of yoga
(21:39):
Fit has been with us since the very beginning, and
you know, some other little shops and businesses, and so
we try to also like showcase while we've got this
nice audience in there, like also, let's take a look
at what's in the neighborhood and try to support those
things too.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Gotcha you mentioned, you know, four kids and getting back
to some of the activities that you loved doing.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
What were you doing prior to all.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
That mom time, otherhood and stuff? You know? I was
in I was in New York City and worked in
arts PR. So I did cultural PR representing theaters and
architects and just different projects across the country and the arts.
And I loved it. And it was like one of
those jobs where I just kind of was always getting
(22:26):
to experience something that I didn't even know existed in
the city that was was just loved every day in
New York City. And it was actually in New York
that I went to like my first sort of showcase
that reminded me of kind of what I think we
started talking about thirteen years ago when we sort of decided,
(22:50):
let's try to do this thing, and it was just
a variety show with writers. Honestly, when I first thought
about Morningside after Dark, I was thinking about the literary
aspect of it, kind of like the show I would
go to in New York. And then it was like
just meeting Lori and the different musicians that were in
(23:11):
the neighborhood and getting to know the Twin Cities and
the music scene that was so It's like, how can
you not add music into like a more literary kind
of environment. And so that has been just the thread
that I think. You know, people love the stories, they
love the storytelling aspect, but the music really just threads
(23:34):
it all together. And so anyway, I just loved promoting
the arts in New York. That was like the thing
I loved doing. And when I moved to first of
Minneapolis and then into the Morningside neighborhood, I kind of
kept looking. I don't know, I was just sort of
drawn to cultural things and did some work for Krista
(23:56):
Tippett on public radio and had a couple of clients
that were, you know, in the arts, like jazz at
Lincoln Center and so kept doing PR stuff. So the
PR piece of my background kind of played into like
when we were launching the show and getting things off
the ground and and yeah, it was it was like
(24:17):
it was this wonderful little escape for me too when
I did have my fourth child, who I love with
all my heart, but I was like, I need to
go kind of refuel and and you know, do something
that's maybe just for me, and and I found there
were a lot of other people in the area too
that were just like, oh, like, I'm going to escape
out of my house too and go do this kind
(24:37):
of cool church basement thing.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
So yeah, I think Katie and I can relate to that.
You gotta you gotta take time for yourself.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
Now I'm an empty nest, so that feels very strange.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
But yeah, yeah, and Katie, I know a lot about
your backstory, but obviously the listeners here don't, so tell
us about yourself.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
A little bit.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
Well, I'm a singer songwriter and I primarily these days
played the ukulele, which, funnily enough, I started in twenty twelve.
So that was that was when I picked that up.
I've been writing songs kind of my whole life. I
have a very strange accent. I was born and raised
in London, England, and left there when I was twenty one.
(25:24):
Because I'm married an American, we are still married. People
always think I came here and then we didn't stay together,
but we are still together, very happily.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
And I have had a.
Speaker 6 (25:35):
Few different kind of experiences with the music career. I
play solo a lot, just as Katie Vernon, and then
I had the Katie Vernon Band for about ten years.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
We released three albums.
Speaker 6 (25:50):
And they got more and more ukulele on them as
I as I learned more and more of that instrument.
And that band ended in twenty twenty one, and I
just launched just this past fall a brand new band
which I'm very excited about, and it's almost all women.
I have one guy in the band, Paul Odegard, who
(26:10):
is amazing and has played at Morningside not just with
me but with some other artists as well. He's amazing,
and so he was in the Katie Vernon band, so
him and I stayed together. We launched this new band
called Favorite Girl, and we just released our second symbol.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
So it's very exciting.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
And I just came fresh from practice with them tonight,
which is why my dog is mad at me because
I've been out.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
I've been out all day.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
But yeah, it's exciting to have a new project, and
you know, just for me personally, having an outlet that
is musically a lot heavier. It's more pop rock, and
I used to be more kind of pop folk, and
it's really fun playing in a band with kind of loud,
powerful feminist vocals and you know, which just feels like
(27:00):
a good time.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
It's a good outlet for me.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
That awesome.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
I can't believe it's been four years since the Katie
Vernon Band ended debts.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
Well, the summer of twenty twenty one, we played a
few shows and I didn't realize that one of them
was our last show until it was done. I went
to schedule the next band practice and it didn't happen.
But you know, Rebecca mentioned earlier, you know, I think
a lot of us struggled to say there were any
silver linings to twenty twenty. Obviously it was heartbreaking, devastating life,
(27:32):
but it was also a time of a lot of
change and for some people growth, and some of the
band members you know, found different passions, and you can't
make something stay together if people don't want to, you know,
do it anymore.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
It did feel a little bit like a kind of multiple.
Speaker 6 (27:52):
Breakup happening, and I kind of had to mourn the
loss of it in some ways, but also then get
really just to do the next thing. And I'm really
excited about the songs I'm writing right now.
Speaker 5 (28:07):
The band is sounding fantastic. There are three young women
in the band who all came.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Up through the Girls Rock and Roll Retreat which is GERR,
which is under the Rock heading. And for any listeners,
if you are non binary, trans female, female girl, whatever
you want to call it, and you want to play music,
it doesn't matter what age you are, you can get involved.
(28:34):
So they do camps for you know, grown women, and
they do a lot of camps for young girls and
non binary kids. So my kids went to those camps,
and I'm now playing in a band full of young
women that came up through the camp.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
System and it's really really cool.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
So that's cool. That's awesome. So how did you meet Laurie?
Speaker 6 (28:59):
Katie through Morningside you know, just literally just as a performer.
We got to chat and then I still and this
was kind of the bulk of our relationship.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
I'm still trying to write a musical memoir. I've been
working on a memoir for a few years.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
And so her and I exchanged again Facebook Messenger, quite
a lot of advice back and forth, and you know,
I have a book that she recommended, you know, I
dig into and I just you know, mostly just admired her.
You know, I'd say I was a fan more than
a friend, and I was very honored, you know, when
(29:41):
both Jim and Rebecca asked me to kind of step
into her shoes, because you know, I wasn't in any
way stepping into her shoes, but it was just fun
to get involved in something that I love on so
many levels, and she was one of them.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Gotcha and Rebecca, how did you meet her through the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Through the neighborhood, Yeah, I started out with again just
when I moved into the neighborhood and was like just
getting to know people. Another friend and I started another
group called Eat, Drink and Get Published, which was all,
you know, meeting local authors and listening to their story
about how they got their their book. Published, and Lorie
(30:25):
was one of our guests and she was talking about
Pedal Pusher and I just loved the book. I loved
meeting her. I was kind of in awe of her
and tried not to be. You know, she used to
call you know, people like me like starfuckers, I think
a little bit, and I tried not to be that person,
(30:45):
but I was like, you're the I just was. So
I was really an awe of her, and so yeah,
I was so kind of amazed that she wanted to
sit and have coffee and talk about the idea for
Morning Side after Dark. So we kind of like just
(31:06):
started a friendship, I think from from that very beginning
time of like sitting around and brainstorming ideas. And of
course Lauri came up with the name morning Side after Dark,
which is so was so perfect. I mean, honestly, the
name was like, that's a good name, and so I think,
(31:26):
you know, we all just assume different roles or whatever,
and but we used to have like a little ritual,
like we'd even go and get our hair blown out
together before the show, and like we'd go to this
place called the Wow Bar and we talk about what
the show was going to look like. And you know,
one of the things that I loved about Laurie is
(31:46):
she was she was very tolerant of me sort of
stumbling along, kind of trying to go with a fun idea,
but you know, sort of not really having experience with it.
And she had done a lot of this kind of thing,
so she she was just very cool about like helping
us navigate and would say like, I'm the bad cop.
You know, you're kind of like the good cop, and
(32:08):
I'm the bad cop, and you know I would I
would basically and I think, you know, Katie and Jim
do this with me sometimes as I get very enthusiastic
and I'm like, I want everybody in the show. It's
like so wonderful to have all these voices and talents
and all that. And over the years I've become much
more restrained about like, Okay, we'll save some for the
(32:29):
next show and we won't take twenty people into the show.
And I can only imagine there might have been a
time or two when Laurie was literally like like just
I think was like, okay, Rebecca, like you can't say
yes to anybody else, And I would say, oh, but
you know, there's just this one other person and it
would just be like we'd be in there for like
(32:51):
two or three hours, you know, with this show. And
I think at some point it was it was like
I think we realized, yeah, we got to listen to
Laurie and cut this down a little bit. But but
it was fun. I mean, we got carried away a
little bit, and there was something kind of fun about
that too.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
So she kind of became the editor.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
Yes, she was the editor, definitely.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
But we run a tight ship now.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
I feel like we've we've gone it down and you know,
the audience will tell you, you know, if it's too long,
and people people have a really good time, but you know,
people have to get home too. I just I just
sort of Another actually really lovely connection with Laurie that
I had in the last year or so was that
(33:38):
she was teaching actually writing to young girls, and she
was teaching a bunch of teen girls. I'm sure she
did all kinds of classes, but this was the one
that she reached out to me about and she had
me some of them were kind of messing around with
poems and songs, and so I did an interactive lesson.
(33:58):
I was zoom with her class, which was really really cool,
so nice. Yeah, I felt honored that she would even
ask me, you know, to do something like that. As
I said, I was quite a fan girl of hers,
so yeah, it was cool. It was kind of tied
into everything that I loved doing. And she sent a
really lovely message that the kids got a lot out
of it.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
That's really good. Yeah, just warm and super supportive of
people that she believed in. So of one of my
last the way that I ended up asking her out
of the blue. One day, she reached out to me
and she's like, I had the weirdest dream last night.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
This is probably a month before she passed. I had
the weirdest dream last night. I dreamt that.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I was playing in High End Stress with you and
we were all getting in the train and going to
Chicago for a show. And I said, cool, we can
do that, Like, let's do it. I was trying to
get her and like write some songs, and she's like,
I don't know, she wouldn't well, she kept kind of
(35:10):
putting it off, like, well, you know, I want to
work on some other things, but maybe you know, but yeah,
So that was kind of a moment and I told her.
I'm like, all right, well, when are you back in Minneapolis,
because she moved out to Martha Martha's vineyard. Yeah, yeah,
and she said she was going to come back in
the summer, and I was like, let's write songs, and
(35:33):
she's like, let's keep talking about it. So that was
the other thing that we were kind of chatting about.
But it all kind of started when she reached out
about the random dream with the random train and I'm.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Like, let's make that happen. Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
So, yeah, just a great person. I have a feeling
that she would be pretty disgusted this week. Yes, the
state of the world, but yeah, so for the event here,
thirteen years you've got under your belts, What are some
(36:09):
of your favorite moments. What are some things that would
stick out to you as like a performer moment or
something that you're like, Wow, that was one of the
best things that has happened over the course of these
thirteen years.
Speaker 5 (36:22):
Wow, gosh, so many.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
I feel like Rebecca is to go first.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
Oh my god. No, I mean, well, just I love
what you said, Katie about the connections that happened backstage.
Some of the most spontaneous things that happen are the
most memorable, like when truly, like I mean, I feel
like Paul Odegard might have even been performing with John
Schwartzen and you met him maybe backstage, or maybe you
(36:47):
probably already knew him, but there were just a lot
of connections backstage that then would materialize into like, oh,
we're going to bring this person out with us right now,
we're going to collaborate on a song with them, or
you know a story that we've had, you know, I
love when Laurie was actually really big with this. It
(37:09):
was kind of special when we'd have people that were
honestly total unknowns, like a closet poet or like you know,
we've kind of launched even like garage bands like you know,
the Teardowns or something that like when they first started,
were just some parents that kind of picked up their
(37:29):
instruments from college or whatever and decided they wanted to
have a go at it and like realized that it
was the thing that they really were missing in their lives.
And so you know, some of those kind of raw
moments where it's definitely a person up there that like
was like wanting to do this and just didn't have
(37:52):
like a stage for their their story or song, and
like it's a very kind of humble stage, and I
feel like it's a great environment, like we've talked about
for real performances, and so I think that, you know,
I've just loved you know, some of some of them,
trying to think like we we've even had, you know, gosh,
(38:14):
one of the performances Katie, I remember that was so
powerful was Sheila Ray Charles, when Ray Charles's daughter performed.
She was just electric. I mean, she was truly like
a gospel like singing gospel and like had everyone up
on their feet and people were like just in tears.
(38:35):
It was so moving. And she was actually battling breast
cancer at the time, and we'd learned that, you know,
that she would pass on like soon after that. And
we've we've really been good about, like uh about documenting
our performances, and we're so glad that we have because
(38:57):
like that was one of the things I wish we'd
done more of, like when Laurie was with us, because
you know, we just we had a few of her
performances actually videotaped, and when we we learned about that
she passed away, we put some of those on our
Facebook and and people just I mean all of us,
just like we're just so weepy, like watching you know,
(39:20):
Laurie especially like just doing her readings because she was
just always unforgettable. But there were some of those performances
from early on that we just forgotten we'd recorded. So
we've lost a few of our performers over the years.
Like it does feel like we're sort of like a
family almost, like when when we have performers up there,
(39:41):
there's this bond that's formed, I think, and so I
am I don't know, I just really always it's fun
for me. Like one of the things Jim and Katie
we all take on different roles and then I'm kind
of I enjoy like weaving the show, like put deciding
kind of where different acts are going to go. And
(40:03):
I get feedback of course from Katie and from Jim,
but like I always love to see how the showcase
kind of takes shape because there's no rehearsal. You know,
we're curating storytellers and musicians and sort of loosely understand
kind of what they're going to do, but don't really
ask them to share what they're going to sing or
(40:24):
what they're going to write, and you just kind of
go by vibes a little bit and like, you know,
a little bit of what they tell us, and it
is sort of fun to see how the night unfolds.
And so I will say, you know, I'm I'm kind
of like, I think we've had a few that really
(40:45):
knocked our socks off, but I think there's always something
in every show that is kind of like wow, that
I have no idea that it was going to end
up like that, or you know that that song was
going to really just get me like that. But you know,
that's that's kind of what I think a lot of
(41:06):
us enjoy about the Night is just letting it unfold
and see what's what's kind of buried in it. So
and you know, honestly, I think the other thing that
Katie and I both share and I know was the same.
It's the same with Jim and and you know, even
Lori too, was just a lot of us are transplants
and making Mensota home and sort of figuring out where
(41:30):
people are at and and where we're at with them,
and and you know, building community. And I think that
it's a great place to just kind of like just
be real and vulnerable, and I think for all these years,
you know, it's it's like easy to make connections and
that kind of thing in this environment because everybody's just
(41:52):
sort of there, like craving something from the night and
and looking to connect I think too.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
So yeah, yeah, oh, there's something really really interesting and
special about the fact that it is, you know, reading
and singing music doesn't have to have lyrics, but that
makes it.
Speaker 5 (42:15):
This just kind of really interesting.
Speaker 6 (42:18):
Way of experiencing art because like you know, people always
say everyone's got short attention spans, So I mean that
works well because things are switching up. You know. The
way that you do a story is so different from
the way you experience music, and so it's almost like
you're hyper focused and listening, but also your brain is
(42:38):
kind of having this happy, little you know, break between everything,
and you're listening in different ways, and it just makes
for really captivating you know, ninety minutes to two hours,
you know, and so yeah, it's great to be a
part of that.
Speaker 5 (42:54):
You know.
Speaker 6 (42:54):
I'm sure Nick you've experienced, like as a musician, you
always want people to listen to your songs, but then
when they're listening, like to drop there's a whole different
feeling of kind of nervousness. It's like you want it,
but it's also like really scary. And then once you
actually start playing.
Speaker 5 (43:13):
It's just a really beautiful experience because it's very rare and.
Speaker 6 (43:16):
Special to have a room full of people, especially two
hundred people really focusing and listening to you, and every
single act, you know, there's just this kind of ebb
and flow to the evening every single act, you know,
whether people are crying or they're laughing. I mean, this
sounds just like pr you know, kind of language, but
(43:37):
it isn't. That is the journey that people go on,
and as a performer, you go on it too, you know, backstage,
so it's very special.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Any particular act or moment.
Speaker 6 (43:50):
For you, you know. I also couldn't name a single person.
There's just something really special to the connection between all
of them. So I think I've I've experienced, you know,
really different highs from very eplectic people so many.
Speaker 5 (44:11):
I would take Katie Bernon.
Speaker 6 (44:12):
But that would look very self serving, but I've enjoyed
her very much.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
No, I uh, I was trying to earlier today, I
was trying to figure out how many times I've done that.
I think it's this might this upcoming one. It's either
the fourth or fifth.
Speaker 4 (44:27):
I think it's I was going to say, like the fifth,
I think this is.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
I think it's the fifth.
Speaker 7 (44:31):
Ye.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
It was kind of what I was coming up with
the upcoming one. But a couple of things that come
to mind for me. Walter Chancellor. Yeah, so I was
bugging him about Prince, so you know, I'm all about that.
So he's telling me some stories. That was a good time, uh,
since he played on the Emancipation record. And then the
other one, just going back to Lourie was I was
(44:53):
there the night she did Johnny Goes to College that
ended up in the New York Times.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
That was something that was incredible.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
People talk about that like they'll bring it up to me.
They're like, you know, I read that thing she wrote
and it was in the New York Times. I'm like,
it's cool to think back and go times.
Speaker 4 (45:11):
That was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
Yeah, but I remember standing there in that church basement
and she was doing it and saying that they had
reading the story she wrote, and I'm just like, wow,
this isn't what an incredible, deep, funny, sad like it
had all of the things about dropping your kid up
and I don't rely another kid in college it Katie,
you you're there, so you probably oh.
Speaker 5 (45:33):
Yeah, it's all very very true.
Speaker 8 (45:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (45:35):
No, I was there that night too, and feel very
lucky that I was, because it just kept taking me
more and more, you know, on this journey literally with her.
Speaker 5 (45:45):
And yeah, such a good writer.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
Yeah, anybody anybody who asked kids, I think, could hear
that story regardless of their age and just you know,
you're going to be a puddle.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
But also laugh.
Speaker 5 (45:58):
We do.
Speaker 4 (45:58):
You know that particular recording we did post on Morningside
after Dark Facebooks, so because we did miraculously record that one,
and yeah, it absolutely the best.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
Yeah. It takes you through everything.
Speaker 3 (46:15):
It takes you through kind of her family life and
where things were there. It takes you through your kid
growing up and moving away. It takes you to you know,
with her dad, you know where she talks about.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Her dad coming to get her and.
Speaker 3 (46:28):
You know all of that, like all of these different
relationships that go on through time that have different things
that happen with It's it's a wild ride in a
short period of time.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
It's just great, great writing. So I'm glad you got that.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
I'll have to look that up and listen to it,
because I was there that night and I was just like,
this is really damn good.
Speaker 4 (46:50):
Yeah, yeah, well you know what, and I can I'll
send it over to you too. It just you can hear.
What's great is the audience just she's got them in
the palm of her and during that reading, I mean,
because like you said, the writing was so immediate and
so good. And actually, I don't know if you knew this,
but on Monday, we'll have a neighborhood friend of hers,
(47:11):
Lauri Yang, an original story by Laurie that had had
never really been published before. Cool is sort of a
fund It's called Pull the Rope, and it's just another
one of these class You just hear her voice in it,
you know. We read it and we were all like,
(47:32):
oh my gosh, this is incredible. And so Jim Mahoney,
who's one of our collaborators, is an educator, and he
worked with Laurie on a writing workshop and I think
she I think that's where she brought the story to
the class and shared it with them, and he just
cherished it and held on to it. And then you know,
when we talked about just making this night dedicated to Laurie,
(47:56):
He's like, Oh, it'd be so amazing to have someone
read this story. It was just such an incredible story.
And we all thought about this one neighbor who was
really close to her and like might have even been
a part of some of the things in the story,
and of course she was just super honored to be
a part of it. And yeah, so she'll be there
on Monday. And then you know, like John Eller and
(48:19):
John Munson are in a band they're calling the John's
Know John John John John. Yeah, and you know, obviously
like you know you And there's just a lot of
people in this one that really, I mean, we could
have gone on and on with all the people. I know,
(48:39):
there are many tributes and things going on in the spring.
This is sort of like just a little, our little
way of remembering her, but with much bigger ones out there,
I know, to come gotcha, you.
Speaker 3 (48:52):
Know, I think people need to know about this stuff.
I think one of the important things about shining a
light on things like this.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
I've got a buddy in Way, Illinois.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
I go play out there every year pretty much, and
he does a songwriter series.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
It's in the round.
Speaker 3 (49:06):
He's got Rett Miller from The Old ninety Seven's my friend,
Andrew Hira from Billy Pilgrim.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
He has had Lee Nash.
Speaker 3 (49:13):
From Sixpence and None, the Richard Hehouse has all of
these people show up and it's just in the Round.
Martin Zeller's done it too, and it's just like the
greatest Thing, and it's kind of a similar It's all music,
so it's different than yours, but it's you know, it's
a captive audience. People show up, warm vibes in the room.
It's the pin drop that Katie was talking about. And
(49:35):
I think shining a light on this is good for
two reasons. A, let's get people coming in the door,
make sure they keep coming out to check this out
out of.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
The curiosity part.
Speaker 3 (49:44):
But also I think just shining a light on stuff
like this is important because you want other people to go.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
You know.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Rebecca and Laurie had a great idea, you know, and
I live in Michigan and I want to do something
like this, and you know, that's that's how great art spreads, right,
So that's one of the reasons I wanted to do
it as well, is just you know, hopefully there are
some people out there listening, and I've got a I've
got a modest listening base, but they're all over the place.
(50:12):
I've got even I think twenty.
Speaker 4 (50:15):
This is that's such a I'm so glad you mentioned it, Nick,
because we've actually had other people in other communities reach
out like how did you start it? And we are
always here as a resource, like if people like what
they're hearing and that maybe they want to do something
like this in their community, that the three of us
would love to be a resource like, because it's I've
(50:37):
had two or three other groups in different parts of
the country that have started their own version of this
and even taking it like five notches above what we've
kind of been doing the same thing over and over again,
and they've thought of other ways to really elevate the
event and inspire kind of other possibilities. And I just
(51:01):
think it is it is so fun to really gather
like this and and look around at like the talent
in their midst and especially you remember kind of what
Laurie would do too, is like you know, there were
for all the connections and everything Laurie would have, she'd
always be looking for the sort of the person the unknown,
(51:23):
you know, the person that needed a little coaxing to
kind of come up on stage and sing or read
something and and be bold and brave. And you know,
I just think that that experience is also just something
that a lot of us, even me, like, I'm a
big chicken. I should probably sit down and try to
(51:43):
write something and do this someday for myself. But we
love that that people are gathering like this, and and
I think, especially now, it's so important to remember there's
like there are good people out there and people that especially,
like we've said, in the winter, where the storytelling tradition
I think would would sort of take root. I think
(52:05):
from the beginning of time, people loved coming indoors and
being around a fire or something like that, and like
listening to stories this time of year. So the concept
is just so so kind of fundamental to who we
all are and and so easy to replicate wherever people live.
Speaker 3 (52:24):
So yeah, and your event has a lot of heart,
and I think that's important to lose not lose focus.
And it's free, right, there's no cover to get in.
Speaker 5 (52:33):
It's free thanks to our sponsors.
Speaker 6 (52:36):
People, the musicians and the writers are not always going
to be donating their time, so we actually have payment
for the artists as much as we can, and people
know that. So as an audience member you can always
make a donation. The church, you know, definitely benefits from those.
And also, you know, the musicians are being paid and
(53:00):
we're kind of working towards building up you know, more
so as well.
Speaker 4 (53:04):
The writers too.
Speaker 6 (53:05):
Yeah, an audience number to know that, you know, because
it has value and we're very proud that we're able
to you know, to do that. You know, it developed
over the thirteen years. But where we stand right now,
you know, we are paying the performers, which feels yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
Cool, awesome.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
Anything else the note, what we missed in anything, or
we cover the bases here?
Speaker 6 (53:31):
Yes, we should mention that the next one in February.
Oh yes, at the twenty fourth, Is that right?
Speaker 5 (53:38):
Is that?
Speaker 8 (53:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (53:39):
Yeah, twenty fourth? The call. The theme is the call,
which is you know, will be a completely different kind
of vibe and show, but what people are called to
sort of perform or present at that one will be
a whole other thing. But so, I don't know if
we even mentioned the theme for Monday as I was there,
(54:03):
so again, it's it's you know, a combination of performers
who were there with Lori and remember those years, and
also very sort of very specific kind of experiences that
were you know, sort of described or music performed by
(54:23):
some of the people for Monday that are I think
going to be really kind of captivating. So so anyway,
we have fun with the themes, We do a little
brainstorming session and come up with what we think is
important for right now. So I think these two will
be pretty cool this year.
Speaker 1 (54:43):
So nice.
Speaker 3 (54:44):
Do you have the lineup yet for that one announced
or still in the down low?
Speaker 4 (54:51):
Yeah, we're getting We're pretty close. We like to leave
a couple of spots open for a few last minute decisions,
but yeah, right, Katie, I mean it's I think that
we'll be announcing that pretty much. Yeah, right after this show.
We'll be super close to letting people know what that
one will be like. But we're so happy you're going
(55:12):
to be in this one on Monday, Nick, this is
so great.
Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah. I was trying to think when the last one
it must have been.
Speaker 3 (55:19):
Was it twenty twenty one or no, probably twenty nineteen,
maybe even I think it was twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (55:25):
I think it was before our last record is out.
Speaker 4 (55:27):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (55:31):
I don't know where time goes anymore.
Speaker 4 (55:33):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
Yeah. Well, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
It's going to be a blast, and I look forward
to seeing you on Monday night Morning Side after Dark.
I'd like to thank my guests Rebecca Sorenson and Katie
Vernon for appearing on the episode talking about this great
(55:59):
event Denim, Minnesota, just blocks away from lovely Southwest Minneapolis,
and spending some time honoring our friend and yours, Lorie Linden,
incredibly talented songwriter and author.
Speaker 1 (56:17):
Check out her book Pedal Pusher.
Speaker 3 (56:19):
By the way, you will be taken for a ride
on Allan that. It's a lot of fun and it
was a great honor Laurie today and hopefully we can
do more of that in the future. Otherwise, so thank
you for listening and sticking with us over the holiday
break and into a strange new year, and I hope
(56:40):
you'll continue to listen and we'll be back with more
episodes soon. So like thank you for listening. From Minneapolis
Studio twenty four. This has been the figure AIDS podcast.
Speaker 8 (57:00):
I did just sink so damn low. How do you
feel when you're alone? Your conscious clear and coasting clear?
(57:23):
Will us amercodor you be.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
Wisha?
Speaker 2 (57:30):
Small month gold.
Speaker 1 (57:34):
It keeps going on.
Speaker 7 (57:38):
When long time, sweetheart, we said, small moth gold, It
keeps going.
Speaker 8 (57:51):
All when alone, Hold time Mompi Moti
You are listening to the Figure Eats podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm your host, Nikolitte from the band High on.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Stress out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it is twenty twenty five.
Is it everything you dreamt it would be? Is everything
turning out the way that you thought? Yeah, well, we've
got a new episode here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
As promised, I mentioned at the end of the year
that we would be.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Loading up some new episodes and I told the truth,
So here we are. Today's episode is a special one.
It's about Morningside after Dark. And for those of you
who don't know when morning Side after Dark is, it's
a free winter storytelling and live music series that was
(00:55):
created in Minnesota and Ea Dina And for those of
you from other countries or out of state, who Dyna
is right by southwest of Minneapolis, literally blocks away.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So this is a really cool event.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
And it was founded by the late great Lori Lynden
from Zuzu's Pedals.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
And she passed last year, which was terrible, and she was.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Actually going to be the next guest on this podcast
when everything happens so kind of heartbreaking, So in her honor,
we're going to talk about Morningside after Dark. She co
founded it with Rebecca Sorenson, who is on the episode today,
as well as Katie Vernon who's a singer songwriter and
has become a host of the series.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
This is dedicated to the late great Lorie Lyndin and
I hope you listen up, learn about the series and
think about it in your neighborhoods or city.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Is this something that you can do?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Put it together, spread art, music, laughter, stories.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
It's a great thing.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
We need more of that is as can be seen
by this.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Stay the world here.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So let's do things to add value.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
And love and warm and take a listen to this
and maybe it's something that you can do in your areas.
So without further ado, I bring you Rebecca Sorenson and
Katie Vernon and you talk about Morningside after Dunn.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Thank you for doing this. This is awesome. I love
that you have this podcast. I can't believe I haven't
known about this, like the big deal.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Wow, Well, good guests.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I've been lucky, you know. I I started off just
kind of taking big swings and I had like Jody
Stevens from Big Star was on and Steve Albini is
on RIP.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And yeah, it's just it's funny.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Once you get a couple of bigger names, suddenly it
becomes a bunch easier to get other bigger names because
they're like, oh, if that person did it, I'll also.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Do it, And I'm like, okay, so yeah, no, it's
been really fun.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
That's awesome. It sounds a little like Morning Side after
Dark when we started out with Miss Linden, you know,
just making a few calls and getting us launched back
in the day thirteen years ago, which is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
So thirteen years that would have been twenty.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Twelve, twenty twelve, I think twenty twelve, so thirteen years.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I wonder when the first one I did was. I
don't remember. It was a long time ago.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
It had to have been right at the beginning. I
feel like you were one of the very first, and
you and Laurie, like you guys kind of go way back, right,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, So it's weird.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
We were facing book friends, but I didn't really know her.
And then we opened for Tommy Stintson at the Fine
Line and I met her. She came back to the
merch table and was talking to me, but I didn't
really introduce I knew who she was, but I didn't
like talk to or much other than you know, she's
(04:18):
like good show and she was with.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Her friends and whatever.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And then the next day I went on Facebook and
she had put like High on Stress is a super
cool band or like just some random thing.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I'm like, oh my god, that's so cool.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And I just sent her a message thanking her for that,
and then just kind of became friends and you know,
Morningside and then.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Ultimately too. Then she.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We were doing our last record, hold Me In, and
I asked her, like, you would to come in and
sing backing vocals on the song and she's like, heck yeah.
So she sang on our first single off the last
record two, which was pretty cool. So yeah, so a
lot of morning Side stuff, kind of a lot of
messaging back and forth and uh and uh yeah, even
(05:05):
up to the end. In fact, she was supposed to
be the next guest when she passed.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, so I had.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Lost my job due to a reduction in force, and
I emailed her and I'm like, hey, I hate to
do this, but can we postpone this for a couple
of weeks?
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
So not.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, so I'm thinking of reaching out to her to
her band to see if they want to jump on
and yeah, talk with them. But yeah, so she was
going to be the next so that when it all happened,
So that was a bummer.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
I'm sorry finds how how sudden and shocking it was.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
It's still shocking, it's still yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
No, I think drummer Mark sent me a message and
I was like, what, Yeah, it's just you know, there
are certain there are a lot of people in the world.
There are very few people like her in the world,
and I kind of put Slim Dunlap in that same
kind of category of like there's just a little magic
to both of them. And she just you know, she
(06:13):
had that wry smile and like you.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Know, mischievous.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, but just so much energy. So like when you
hear something like just like that happening and brain aneurysm,
and that's it. You know, you're like, for somebody so
full of life, it's just hard to take, right.
Speaker 6 (06:31):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah. And so but we're yeah, I mean this will
be like a small way we're gonna just remember her
and honor her legacy, just even in this little corner
of the world with the show, and certainly we are
excited for you and for other good friends of hers
(06:53):
that are jumping in, you know, singing a little something
or reading something that you know, mixed with people that
we just kind of we do our thing too, where
it's a lot of actually, it's funny you were talking
about like Facebook Messenger and stuff like that. I mean,
I think a lot of this is sort of like
dming people like, hey, this is coming up, you want
(07:14):
to do it, and like just sort of how we
were in touch and it sort of does kind of
magically materialize pretty fast. Katie. Katie's always like, oh, hey,
I bumped into this person at this gig and told
them about the show, and you know, she's always like
very fast with some amazing you know name that can
(07:35):
be in the show and kind of gets what we're
trying to do. And it was it was really special,
like especially very much at the very beginning, like back
when you know, we were kind of just talking about
how cool it was to be in this corner of
the world and sort of walk down the street and
bump into people and sort of oh, you're like writing
(07:56):
a book or you're you know, in a band, or
I mean, unfortunately, our neighborhood has changed a lot, even
in thirteen years where it's a little less like that.
But you know, I was like at the time, just
you know, mom with my fourth child and going a
little crazy, like how can I escape this reality a
(08:16):
little bit and do more of what I loved At
the time, I was like, I need to get away
from children and get back to the things that you know,
help me feel like myself. And sharing with LORI like,
you know, the idea, and Laurie immediately wanting to just
blow it up and make it into something that like
(08:37):
we just never imagined it would get as kind of
a you know, just special big and you know that
the people that especially you know, at the very beginning
that she tapped and stuff, we were like people couldn't
believe it, you know, like how did you get those
people to a church basement in Morningside? Like the whole
(08:57):
thing was kind of a little bit of a surprise
to all of us that it kind of just it
was I think, a great, great idea that just really
Laurie kind of had a vision for how it would
work and immediately like, oh, this is like a showcase
and I used to do these in New York and
(09:17):
you know, just kind of cobbling it together. So and
it's it's taking different twists and turns, and you know, Katie,
We're so grateful to have Katie with us. And you know,
now it's been how many years, Katie. I mean it's like.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
I think eight at least.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
Yeah, yeah, right, yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:37):
I think I think I've first performed maybe ten years
ago and have been involved and and I feel like
for people that are familiar with the podcast but not
familiar with Morningside After Doc, it is a showcase, as
Rebecca said, and it is literary and musical showcase. And
(09:59):
what I love about it as a performer, but also
as an audience member, I love that it alternates, so
you know, you you can expect to hear, you know,
five to six great short stories, excerpts from memoir, you know,
any kind of written work, you know, wonderful prose. And
then every other act is a musician, so you're going
(10:22):
to hear a lot of original songwriting as well as
some fantastic covers. I mean, we've had some musical performances
that have absolutely like shook the church basement. They've just
been so soulful and you know, mass sing alongs.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
It really runs the gamut of styles. So yeah, it's a.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
It's a showcase that originally showcased the Morning Side neighborhood
and some of the just incredible talent, you know, homegrown talent,
and then it's people like me heard about it and
saw performers that they loved and wanted to be a
part of it. So I was handed the reins of
kind of helping with some of the musical aspects when Laurie,
(11:04):
you know, stepped away. So I'm very honored to in
no way full her shoes, but to have, you know,
kind of carried the torch a little bit.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
When she reached out to me, must have been you
said thirteen years ago, if that was the one.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
She's like, you want to do this?
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And yeah, sure, absolutely, And I didn't really know what
it was. I was like, yeah, I'll come play a
song whatever. And it's in a church basement, Like the
who the whole idea of this thing?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Without seeing it, It's like, what is this thing? And
it was really cool.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
As you mentioned, you've got your your poets and writers,
authors and actors and comedians. I think there's been some
comedians in there. When I was there, musicians. So it's
such a warm vibe and there's every time I've been there,
there's just been a lot of people, like people show up.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So how do you advertise that? How do you get
people out?
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Yeah, I mean it is a pretty under the radar
sort of thing. I think it's it's a lot of
word of mouth. It's we've we've done you know, some
social media. We just let people know this is coming.
And and you know, I think in the beginning it
was a little like are people going to show up
for this thing? I mean, we think this is cool,
but are other people going to like it? And I
(12:24):
think there was just such an appetite for it. So,
you know, we've gotten some media coverage. You know, we've
we've branched out, we start we're all volunteers, like we
have a website.
Speaker 6 (12:34):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Again, we put things on social media, put some posters around,
it's in some some neighborhood newsletters. It gets you know, some,
like I said, a little bit of media coverage too.
But I think it's the I think there have been
years where we're like, okay, maybe this is is this
kind of winding down, you know, if we reached our
limit and then people just I'm amazed. I think it
(12:59):
was couple of years ago. I was just in the
audience kind of getting things ready and saw people arriving
and there was this whole group of people from like
still Water that roke to the show and I was like,
wait a minute, you're here from Stillwater, Like what is
going on? And it's like it just that well, that
(13:19):
part of it too was, you know, during the pandemic,
we had this online audience basically still they still reach
out and ask are we live streaming the show because
we sort of started to grow. Like our first live
stream show we had like twenty thousand people that tuned
in for that. It was just kind of, you know
how that was like one of the silver linings where
(13:40):
it sort of it just kind of really launched it
in a way that we didn't expect and were like,
we could never have that many people in our church
basement listening to the show, and here they are tuning
in and really really into it. But it felt great
to be back together again, obviously, and honestly, this is
a really I think this is going to be a
(14:01):
pretty important night on Monday too. I think people really
do feel seen when they're performing. There's something kind of
special about the fact that we're not in a bar.
We're not like we're we have a very kind of
captive audience that just sort of sits there like really listening,
(14:24):
and the acoustics are good in that basement, and so
it's a great listening environment, I think for people to
and then you know, but yeah, Katie, I don't know,
it's funny. It's just I think it just kind of
it just sort of gets out there every time, and
you know, I'm always nervous, like are we going to
get people? And then you know, they start coming in
(14:45):
and it's like, oh my gosh, here we go. We've
got another night. We're going to do it.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
So it's true word of mouth.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
I mean, there's a lot of very loyal, you know
people that you know, it's it's an appointment. Sorry my dog,
this is me because I've been out.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Is that Bowie at Elton.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
Bowie very quiet and Bowie's pretty.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Death But my husband's in Vegas.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
But anyway, so I think that, yes, there's a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
Of word of mouth.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
There's a lot of loyal repeat you know, audience members
that then invite their friends, so you know, those two
or three you know, Morningside Residents is now you know,
a group of six to eight, you know, and people
make an evening of it. And another thing I think
is really interesting because it is a little hard to describe,
and it's you know, it's kind of like, well, it's
(15:40):
like the Moth Radio Hour but with music, you know,
and it's there is loosely a theme, which I think
is such a you know, great idea. You know, I
came on board and these great ideas already existed. But
I think as as an audience member, it kind of
sets the tone that you know, everybody's going to somewhat
you know, tie into this theme the evening. But also
(16:03):
there are so many unexpected connections that I have literally
felt myself and seen happen in the little green room backstage,
which is that you know, a poet or a memoir
writer or you know a screenwriter, you know, they do
their five minutes and they speak on something, and despite
(16:25):
the fact that yes there's a theme, there might be
you know two or three other just really powerful kind
of unseen connections between the person who's going to perform next,
and you can see people like kind of going, oh
my gosh, like I'm writing a you know, I'm going
to perform a three minute song, but that memoir, you know,
(16:46):
chapter absolutely kind of digs even deeper into what I'm
going to be singing about. I mean, have you have
you had that I'm putting you on the spot, but
have you had those kind of weird connections happen to
nick when you've performed.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
I don't know about that necessarily, but I have in
different environments where like, especially like a Katie you probably
have done these like kind of songwriter nights where you're
doing the in the round, well even like the Who
Nanny right when Walsh used to do that. You know,
there's that kind of piggyback off of the thing that
happened before. You might be like, I'm going to play
this song, but then you hear what's happening over here
(17:21):
You're like, actually, no, I think this is going to
play better based on the vibe of the room or
what's going on with everybody else.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
So I can definitely understand where you're coming from with that.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
You feel that vibe really affecting like backstage, on stage
and the audience.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
It's just a really.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
Beautiful collective thing and I think, you know, and Rebecca
can speak on this, but the very deliberate choice to
make it kind of in the depths of winter and
be you know, a chance to gather and kind of
use each other for warmth, both spiritual and just kind
of community warmth is really really special.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
When I say spirit it's not a religious event.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
I just find the gathering of artists and audience to
be kind of a spiritual experience.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
And it's cold here, and there's coffee in that church basement,
so that also helps.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Yeah, coffee, and it's decaps so you don't have staying
up all night.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So speaking of that, how did it end up in
the church?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah, well, you know what, it was selfishly just really
close to where Lori and Jim Mahoney and I all lived,
and I was there and they the church itself was
sort of looking at like how I think, like a
lot of mainline churches right now, they're seeing their numbers dwindle,
(18:44):
and they had kind of this beautiful space and they
were trying to fill it and invite you know, more
community members in and so in some ways that actually
was kind of at the very kernel of all of
it too, was they were sort of like, we have space,
we can't really figure out why people aren't coming here.
Maybe we could reimagine it for something else. And that's
(19:07):
when I kind of got the idea and sort of
sat with Lorii and Jim and we kind of were like, Hey,
we have this beautiful space. We can have it for free.
We can invite people in and make this into something
a community event that you know, again the winter, a
lot of things, Like it's funny to think back at
thirteen years ago, some of those decisions that were made
(19:30):
have lasted as long as they have. Like you know,
a Monday night gig like just ended up being amazing
because so many like you and Laurie and you know,
Katie and so many of our performers are available on
a Monday, so we could kind of like we could
gather people in.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
The whole.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
The vibe of that basement was right, I mean, it
was just like again, and our sound engineer, George Scott
mckelby has talked about like just the acoustics and there
being kind of perfect. We've tried to move it at times.
There was there were definitely a lot of shows where
we were at capacity and we had like church basement
ladies like you know, scary, like mad at us that
(20:15):
we were at capacity and we're breaking fire codes, and
you know, we kind of went, maybe this is a
time to like look at other spaces, and we just
we just couldn't find anything we liked better. And and
the church itself has been like very supportive, like they
help us set it up and take it down, and
(20:37):
you know, and they welcome the community in and realized
like that there are a lot of people there that
probably will never go upstairs to church, but like absolutely
love what that night is about. And so you know,
so there's something just kind of magical about that, I think.
And then you know, you know the yeah, so I
(20:59):
guess I that's kind of it. It's like the church
was just sort of like very gracious, like, hey, you
know absolutely you know we're here, We'll help set it up,
we'll put some candles out front and invite people in
and just super you know, hospitable about the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
And we tried to just one other thing like that's
been of fun is we've also tried to just welcome
in the morning side, like the small businesses in the
area too. So we've had like different businesses pop up
at the event. So we'll have like this oh Crep,
this new CREPERI that's going to be there on Monday,
And you know, this yoga studio has kind of yoga
(21:39):
Fit has been with us since the very beginning, and
you know, some other little shops and businesses, and so
we try to also like showcase while we've got this
nice audience in there, like also, let's take a look
at what's in the neighborhood and try to support those
things too.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Gotcha you mentioned, you know, four kids and getting back
to some of the activities that you loved doing.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
What were you doing prior to all.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
That mom time, otherhood and stuff? You know? I was
in I was in New York City and worked in
arts PR. So I did cultural PR representing theaters and
architects and just different projects across the country and the arts.
And I loved it. And it was like one of
those jobs where I just kind of was always getting
(22:26):
to experience something that I didn't even know existed in
the city that was was just loved every day in
New York City. And it was actually in New York
that I went to like my first sort of showcase
that reminded me of kind of what I think we
started talking about thirteen years ago when we sort of decided,
(22:50):
let's try to do this thing, and it was just
a variety show with writers. Honestly, when I first thought
about Morningside after Dark, I was thinking about the literary
aspect of it, kind of like the show I would
go to in New York. And then it was like
just meeting Lori and the different musicians that were in
(23:11):
the neighborhood and getting to know the Twin Cities and
the music scene that was so It's like, how can
you not add music into like a more literary kind
of environment. And so that has been just the thread
that I think. You know, people love the stories, they
love the storytelling aspect, but the music really just threads
(23:34):
it all together. And so anyway, I just loved promoting
the arts in New York. That was like the thing
I loved doing. And when I moved to first of
Minneapolis and then into the Morningside neighborhood, I kind of
kept looking. I don't know, I was just sort of
drawn to cultural things and did some work for Krista
(23:56):
Tippett on public radio and had a couple of clients
that were, you know, in the arts, like jazz at
Lincoln Center and so kept doing PR stuff. So the
PR piece of my background kind of played into like
when we were launching the show and getting things off
the ground and and yeah, it was it was like
(24:17):
it was this wonderful little escape for me too when
I did have my fourth child, who I love with
all my heart, but I was like, I need to
go kind of refuel and and you know, do something
that's maybe just for me, and and I found there
were a lot of other people in the area too
that were just like, oh, like, I'm going to escape
out of my house too and go do this kind
(24:37):
of cool church basement thing.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
So yeah, I think Katie and I can relate to that.
You gotta you gotta take time for yourself.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
Now I'm an empty nest, so that feels very strange.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
But yeah, yeah, and Katie, I know a lot about
your backstory, but obviously the listeners here don't, so tell
us about yourself.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
A little bit.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
Well, I'm a singer songwriter and I primarily these days
played the ukulele, which, funnily enough, I started in twenty twelve.
So that was that was when I picked that up.
I've been writing songs kind of my whole life. I
have a very strange accent. I was born and raised
in London, England, and left there when I was twenty one.
(25:24):
Because I'm married an American, we are still married. People
always think I came here and then we didn't stay together,
but we are still together, very happily.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
And I have had a.
Speaker 6 (25:35):
Few different kind of experiences with the music career. I
play solo a lot, just as Katie Vernon, and then
I had the Katie Vernon Band for about ten years.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
We released three albums.
Speaker 6 (25:50):
And they got more and more ukulele on them as
I as I learned more and more of that instrument.
And that band ended in twenty twenty one, and I
just launched just this past fall a brand new band
which I'm very excited about, and it's almost all women.
I have one guy in the band, Paul Odegard, who
(26:10):
is amazing and has played at Morningside not just with
me but with some other artists as well. He's amazing,
and so he was in the Katie Vernon band, so
him and I stayed together. We launched this new band
called Favorite Girl, and we just released our second symbol.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
So it's very exciting.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
And I just came fresh from practice with them tonight,
which is why my dog is mad at me because
I've been out.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
I've been out all day.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
But yeah, it's exciting to have a new project, and
you know, just for me personally, having an outlet that
is musically a lot heavier. It's more pop rock, and
I used to be more kind of pop folk, and
it's really fun playing in a band with kind of loud,
powerful feminist vocals and you know, which just feels like
(27:00):
a good time.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
It's a good outlet for me.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
That awesome.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
I can't believe it's been four years since the Katie
Vernon Band ended debts.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
Well, the summer of twenty twenty one, we played a
few shows and I didn't realize that one of them
was our last show until it was done. I went
to schedule the next band practice and it didn't happen.
But you know, Rebecca mentioned earlier, you know, I think
a lot of us struggled to say there were any
silver linings to twenty twenty. Obviously it was heartbreaking, devastating life,
(27:32):
but it was also a time of a lot of
change and for some people growth, and some of the
band members you know, found different passions, and you can't
make something stay together if people don't want to, you know,
do it anymore.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
It did feel a little bit like a kind of multiple.
Speaker 6 (27:52):
Breakup happening, and I kind of had to mourn the
loss of it in some ways, but also then get
really just to do the next thing. And I'm really
excited about the songs I'm writing right now.
Speaker 5 (28:07):
The band is sounding fantastic. There are three young women
in the band who all came.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Up through the Girls Rock and Roll Retreat which is GERR,
which is under the Rock heading. And for any listeners,
if you are non binary, trans female, female girl, whatever
you want to call it, and you want to play music,
it doesn't matter what age you are, you can get involved.
(28:34):
So they do camps for you know, grown women, and
they do a lot of camps for young girls and
non binary kids. So my kids went to those camps,
and I'm now playing in a band full of young
women that came up through the camp.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
System and it's really really cool.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
So that's cool. That's awesome. So how did you meet Laurie?
Speaker 6 (28:59):
Katie through Morningside you know, just literally just as a performer.
We got to chat and then I still and this
was kind of the bulk of our relationship.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
I'm still trying to write a musical memoir. I've been
working on a memoir for a few years.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
And so her and I exchanged again Facebook Messenger, quite
a lot of advice back and forth, and you know,
I have a book that she recommended, you know, I
dig into and I just you know, mostly just admired her.
You know, I'd say I was a fan more than
a friend, and I was very honored, you know, when
(29:41):
both Jim and Rebecca asked me to kind of step
into her shoes, because you know, I wasn't in any
way stepping into her shoes, but it was just fun
to get involved in something that I love on so
many levels, and she was one of them.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Gotcha and Rebecca, how did you meet her through the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Through the neighborhood, Yeah, I started out with again just
when I moved into the neighborhood and was like just
getting to know people. Another friend and I started another
group called Eat, Drink and Get Published, which was all,
you know, meeting local authors and listening to their story
about how they got their their book. Published, and Lorie
(30:25):
was one of our guests and she was talking about
Pedal Pusher and I just loved the book. I loved
meeting her. I was kind of in awe of her
and tried not to be. You know, she used to
call you know, people like me like starfuckers, I think
a little bit, and I tried not to be that person,
(30:45):
but I was like, you're the I just was. So
I was really an awe of her, and so yeah,
I was so kind of amazed that she wanted to
sit and have coffee and talk about the idea for
Morning Side after Dark. So we kind of like just
(31:06):
started a friendship, I think from from that very beginning
time of like sitting around and brainstorming ideas. And of
course Lauri came up with the name morning Side after Dark,
which is so was so perfect. I mean, honestly, the
name was like, that's a good name, and so I think,
(31:26):
you know, we all just assume different roles or whatever,
and but we used to have like a little ritual,
like we'd even go and get our hair blown out
together before the show, and like we'd go to this
place called the Wow Bar and we talk about what
the show was going to look like. And you know,
one of the things that I loved about Laurie is
(31:46):
she was she was very tolerant of me sort of
stumbling along, kind of trying to go with a fun idea,
but you know, sort of not really having experience with it.
And she had done a lot of this kind of thing,
so she she was just very cool about like helping
us navigate and would say like, I'm the bad cop.
You know, you're kind of like the good cop, and
(32:08):
I'm the bad cop, and you know I would I
would basically and I think, you know, Katie and Jim
do this with me sometimes as I get very enthusiastic
and I'm like, I want everybody in the show. It's
like so wonderful to have all these voices and talents
and all that. And over the years I've become much
more restrained about like, Okay, we'll save some for the
(32:29):
next show and we won't take twenty people into the show.
And I can only imagine there might have been a
time or two when Laurie was literally like like just
I think was like, okay, Rebecca, like you can't say
yes to anybody else, And I would say, oh, but
you know, there's just this one other person and it
would just be like we'd be in there for like
(32:51):
two or three hours, you know, with this show. And
I think at some point it was it was like
I think we realized, yeah, we got to listen to
Laurie and cut this down a little bit. But but
it was fun. I mean, we got carried away a
little bit, and there was something kind of fun about
that too.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
So she kind of became the editor.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
Yes, she was the editor, definitely.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
But we run a tight ship now.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
I feel like we've we've gone it down and you know,
the audience will tell you, you know, if it's too long,
and people people have a really good time, but you know,
people have to get home too. I just I just
sort of Another actually really lovely connection with Laurie that
I had in the last year or so was that
(33:38):
she was teaching actually writing to young girls, and she
was teaching a bunch of teen girls. I'm sure she
did all kinds of classes, but this was the one
that she reached out to me about and she had
me some of them were kind of messing around with
poems and songs, and so I did an interactive lesson.
(33:58):
I was zoom with her class, which was really really cool,
so nice. Yeah, I felt honored that she would even
ask me, you know, to do something like that. As
I said, I was quite a fan girl of hers,
so yeah, it was cool. It was kind of tied
into everything that I loved doing. And she sent a
really lovely message that the kids got a lot out
of it.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
That's really good. Yeah, just warm and super supportive of
people that she believed in. So of one of my
last the way that I ended up asking her out
of the blue. One day, she reached out to me
and she's like, I had the weirdest dream last night.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
This is probably a month before she passed. I had
the weirdest dream last night. I dreamt that.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I was playing in High End Stress with you and
we were all getting in the train and going to
Chicago for a show. And I said, cool, we can
do that, Like, let's do it. I was trying to
get her and like write some songs, and she's like,
I don't know, she wouldn't well, she kept kind of
(35:10):
putting it off, like, well, you know, I want to
work on some other things, but maybe you know, but yeah,
So that was kind of a moment and I told her.
I'm like, all right, well, when are you back in Minneapolis,
because she moved out to Martha Martha's vineyard. Yeah, yeah,
and she said she was going to come back in
the summer, and I was like, let's write songs, and
(35:33):
she's like, let's keep talking about it. So that was
the other thing that we were kind of chatting about.
But it all kind of started when she reached out
about the random dream with the random train and I'm.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Like, let's make that happen. Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
So, yeah, just a great person. I have a feeling
that she would be pretty disgusted this week. Yes, the
state of the world, but yeah, so for the event here,
thirteen years you've got under your belts, What are some
(36:09):
of your favorite moments. What are some things that would
stick out to you as like a performer moment or
something that you're like, Wow, that was one of the
best things that has happened over the course of these
thirteen years.
Speaker 5 (36:22):
Wow, gosh, so many.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
I feel like Rebecca is to go first.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
Oh my god. No, I mean, well, just I love
what you said, Katie about the connections that happened backstage.
Some of the most spontaneous things that happen are the
most memorable, like when truly, like I mean, I feel
like Paul Odegard might have even been performing with John
Schwartzen and you met him maybe backstage, or maybe you
(36:47):
probably already knew him, but there were just a lot
of connections backstage that then would materialize into like, oh,
we're going to bring this person out with us right now,
we're going to collaborate on a song with them, or
you know a story that we've had, you know, I
love when Laurie was actually really big with this. It
(37:09):
was kind of special when we'd have people that were
honestly total unknowns, like a closet poet or like you know,
we've kind of launched even like garage bands like you know,
the Teardowns or something that like when they first started,
were just some parents that kind of picked up their
(37:29):
instruments from college or whatever and decided they wanted to
have a go at it and like realized that it
was the thing that they really were missing in their lives.
And so you know, some of those kind of raw
moments where it's definitely a person up there that like
was like wanting to do this and just didn't have
(37:52):
like a stage for their their story or song, and
like it's a very kind of humble stage, and I
feel like it's a great environment, like we've talked about
for real performances, and so I think that, you know,
I've just loved you know, some of some of them,
trying to think like we we've even had, you know, gosh,
(38:14):
one of the performances Katie, I remember that was so
powerful was Sheila Ray Charles, when Ray Charles's daughter performed.
She was just electric. I mean, she was truly like
a gospel like singing gospel and like had everyone up
on their feet and people were like just in tears.
(38:35):
It was so moving. And she was actually battling breast
cancer at the time, and we'd learned that, you know,
that she would pass on like soon after that. And
we've we've really been good about, like uh about documenting
our performances, and we're so glad that we have because
(38:57):
like that was one of the things I wish we'd
done more of, like when Laurie was with us, because
you know, we just we had a few of her
performances actually videotaped, and when we we learned about that
she passed away, we put some of those on our
Facebook and and people just I mean all of us,
just like we're just so weepy, like watching you know,
(39:20):
Laurie especially like just doing her readings because she was
just always unforgettable. But there were some of those performances
from early on that we just forgotten we'd recorded. So
we've lost a few of our performers over the years.
Like it does feel like we're sort of like a
family almost, like when when we have performers up there,
(39:41):
there's this bond that's formed, I think, and so I
am I don't know, I just really always it's fun
for me. Like one of the things Jim and Katie
we all take on different roles and then I'm kind
of I enjoy like weaving the show, like put deciding
kind of where different acts are going to go. And
(40:03):
I get feedback of course from Katie and from Jim,
but like I always love to see how the showcase
kind of takes shape because there's no rehearsal. You know,
we're curating storytellers and musicians and sort of loosely understand
kind of what they're going to do, but don't really
ask them to share what they're going to sing or
(40:24):
what they're going to write, and you just kind of
go by vibes a little bit and like, you know,
a little bit of what they tell us, and it
is sort of fun to see how the night unfolds.
And so I will say, you know, I'm I'm kind
of like, I think we've had a few that really
(40:45):
knocked our socks off, but I think there's always something
in every show that is kind of like wow, that
I have no idea that it was going to end
up like that, or you know that that song was
going to really just get me like that. But you know,
that's that's kind of what I think a lot of
(41:06):
us enjoy about the Night is just letting it unfold
and see what's what's kind of buried in it. So
and you know, honestly, I think the other thing that
Katie and I both share and I know was the same.
It's the same with Jim and and you know, even
Lori too, was just a lot of us are transplants
and making Mensota home and sort of figuring out where
(41:30):
people are at and and where we're at with them,
and and you know, building community. And I think that
it's a great place to just kind of like just
be real and vulnerable, and I think for all these years,
you know, it's it's like easy to make connections and
that kind of thing in this environment because everybody's just
(41:52):
sort of there, like craving something from the night and
and looking to connect I think too.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
So yeah, yeah, oh, there's something really really interesting and
special about the fact that it is, you know, reading
and singing music doesn't have to have lyrics, but that
makes it.
Speaker 5 (42:15):
This just kind of really interesting.
Speaker 6 (42:18):
Way of experiencing art because like you know, people always
say everyone's got short attention spans, So I mean that
works well because things are switching up. You know. The
way that you do a story is so different from
the way you experience music, and so it's almost like
you're hyper focused and listening, but also your brain is
(42:38):
kind of having this happy, little you know, break between everything,
and you're listening in different ways, and it just makes
for really captivating you know, ninety minutes to two hours,
you know, and so yeah, it's great to be a
part of that.
Speaker 5 (42:54):
You know.
Speaker 6 (42:54):
I'm sure Nick you've experienced, like as a musician, you
always want people to listen to your songs, but then
when they're listening, like to drop there's a whole different
feeling of kind of nervousness. It's like you want it,
but it's also like really scary. And then once you
actually start playing.
Speaker 5 (43:13):
It's just a really beautiful experience because it's very rare and.
Speaker 6 (43:16):
Special to have a room full of people, especially two
hundred people really focusing and listening to you, and every
single act, you know, there's just this kind of ebb
and flow to the evening every single act, you know,
whether people are crying or they're laughing. I mean, this
sounds just like pr you know, kind of language, but
(43:37):
it isn't. That is the journey that people go on,
and as a performer, you go on it too, you know, backstage,
so it's very special.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Any particular act or moment.
Speaker 6 (43:50):
For you, you know. I also couldn't name a single person.
There's just something really special to the connection between all
of them. So I think I've I've experienced, you know,
really different highs from very eplectic people so many.
Speaker 5 (44:11):
I would take Katie Bernon.
Speaker 6 (44:12):
But that would look very self serving, but I've enjoyed
her very much.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
No, I uh, I was trying to earlier today, I
was trying to figure out how many times I've done that.
I think it's this might this upcoming one. It's either
the fourth or fifth.
Speaker 4 (44:27):
I think it's I was going to say, like the fifth,
I think this is.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
I think it's the fifth.
Speaker 7 (44:31):
Ye.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
It was kind of what I was coming up with
the upcoming one. But a couple of things that come
to mind for me. Walter Chancellor. Yeah, so I was
bugging him about Prince, so you know, I'm all about that.
So he's telling me some stories. That was a good time, uh,
since he played on the Emancipation record. And then the
other one, just going back to Lourie was I was
(44:53):
there the night she did Johnny Goes to College that
ended up in the New York Times.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
That was something that was incredible.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
People talk about that like they'll bring it up to me.
They're like, you know, I read that thing she wrote
and it was in the New York Times. I'm like,
it's cool to think back and go times.
Speaker 4 (45:11):
That was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
Yeah, but I remember standing there in that church basement
and she was doing it and saying that they had
reading the story she wrote, and I'm just like, wow,
this isn't what an incredible, deep, funny, sad like it
had all of the things about dropping your kid up
and I don't rely another kid in college it Katie,
you you're there, so you probably oh.
Speaker 5 (45:33):
Yeah, it's all very very true.
Speaker 8 (45:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (45:35):
No, I was there that night too, and feel very
lucky that I was, because it just kept taking me
more and more, you know, on this journey literally with her.
Speaker 5 (45:45):
And yeah, such a good writer.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
Yeah, anybody anybody who asked kids, I think, could hear
that story regardless of their age and just you know,
you're going to be a puddle.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
But also laugh.
Speaker 5 (45:58):
We do.
Speaker 4 (45:58):
You know that particular recording we did post on Morningside
after Dark Facebooks, so because we did miraculously record that one,
and yeah, it absolutely the best.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
Yeah. It takes you through everything.
Speaker 3 (46:15):
It takes you through kind of her family life and
where things were there. It takes you through your kid
growing up and moving away. It takes you to you know,
with her dad, you know where she talks about.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Her dad coming to get her and.
Speaker 3 (46:28):
You know all of that, like all of these different
relationships that go on through time that have different things
that happen with It's it's a wild ride in a
short period of time.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
It's just great, great writing. So I'm glad you got that.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
I'll have to look that up and listen to it,
because I was there that night and I was just like,
this is really damn good.
Speaker 4 (46:50):
Yeah, yeah, well you know what, and I can I'll
send it over to you too. It just you can hear.
What's great is the audience just she's got them in
the palm of her and during that reading, I mean,
because like you said, the writing was so immediate and
so good. And actually, I don't know if you knew this,
but on Monday, we'll have a neighborhood friend of hers,
(47:11):
Lauri Yang, an original story by Laurie that had had
never really been published before. Cool is sort of a
fund It's called Pull the Rope, and it's just another
one of these class You just hear her voice in it,
you know. We read it and we were all like,
(47:32):
oh my gosh, this is incredible. And so Jim Mahoney,
who's one of our collaborators, is an educator, and he
worked with Laurie on a writing workshop and I think
she I think that's where she brought the story to
the class and shared it with them, and he just
cherished it and held on to it. And then you know,
when we talked about just making this night dedicated to Laurie,
(47:56):
He's like, Oh, it'd be so amazing to have someone
read this story. It was just such an incredible story.
And we all thought about this one neighbor who was
really close to her and like might have even been
a part of some of the things in the story,
and of course she was just super honored to be
a part of it. And yeah, so she'll be there
on Monday. And then you know, like John Eller and
(48:19):
John Munson are in a band they're calling the John's
Know John John John John. Yeah, and you know, obviously
like you know you And there's just a lot of
people in this one that really, I mean, we could
have gone on and on with all the people. I know,
(48:39):
there are many tributes and things going on in the spring.
This is sort of like just a little, our little
way of remembering her, but with much bigger ones out there,
I know, to come gotcha, you.
Speaker 3 (48:52):
Know, I think people need to know about this stuff.
I think one of the important things about shining a
light on things like this.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
I've got a buddy in Way, Illinois.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
I go play out there every year pretty much, and
he does a songwriter series.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
It's in the round.
Speaker 3 (49:06):
He's got Rett Miller from The Old ninety Seven's my friend,
Andrew Hira from Billy Pilgrim.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
He has had Lee Nash.
Speaker 3 (49:13):
From Sixpence and None, the Richard Hehouse has all of
these people show up and it's just in the Round.
Martin Zeller's done it too, and it's just like the
greatest Thing, and it's kind of a similar It's all music,
so it's different than yours, but it's you know, it's
a captive audience. People show up, warm vibes in the room.
It's the pin drop that Katie was talking about. And
(49:35):
I think shining a light on this is good for
two reasons. A, let's get people coming in the door,
make sure they keep coming out to check this out
out of.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
The curiosity part.
Speaker 3 (49:44):
But also I think just shining a light on stuff
like this is important because you want other people to go.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
You know.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Rebecca and Laurie had a great idea, you know, and
I live in Michigan and I want to do something
like this, and you know, that's that's how great art spreads, right,
So that's one of the reasons I wanted to do
it as well, is just you know, hopefully there are
some people out there listening, and I've got a I've
got a modest listening base, but they're all over the place.
(50:12):
I've got even I think twenty.
Speaker 4 (50:15):
This is that's such a I'm so glad you mentioned it, Nick,
because we've actually had other people in other communities reach
out like how did you start it? And we are
always here as a resource, like if people like what
they're hearing and that maybe they want to do something
like this in their community, that the three of us
would love to be a resource like, because it's I've
(50:37):
had two or three other groups in different parts of
the country that have started their own version of this
and even taking it like five notches above what we've
kind of been doing the same thing over and over again,
and they've thought of other ways to really elevate the
event and inspire kind of other possibilities. And I just
(51:01):
think it is it is so fun to really gather
like this and and look around at like the talent
in their midst and especially you remember kind of what
Laurie would do too, is like you know, there were
for all the connections and everything Laurie would have, she'd
always be looking for the sort of the person the unknown,
(51:23):
you know, the person that needed a little coaxing to
kind of come up on stage and sing or read
something and and be bold and brave. And you know,
I just think that that experience is also just something
that a lot of us, even me, like, I'm a
big chicken. I should probably sit down and try to
(51:43):
write something and do this someday for myself. But we
love that that people are gathering like this, and and
I think, especially now, it's so important to remember there's
like there are good people out there and people that especially,
like we've said, in the winter, where the storytelling tradition
I think would would sort of take root. I think
(52:05):
from the beginning of time, people loved coming indoors and
being around a fire or something like that, and like
listening to stories this time of year. So the concept
is just so so kind of fundamental to who we
all are and and so easy to replicate wherever people live.
Speaker 3 (52:24):
So yeah, and your event has a lot of heart,
and I think that's important to lose not lose focus.
And it's free, right, there's no cover to get in.
Speaker 5 (52:33):
It's free thanks to our sponsors.
Speaker 6 (52:36):
People, the musicians and the writers are not always going
to be donating their time, so we actually have payment
for the artists as much as we can, and people
know that. So as an audience member you can always
make a donation. The church, you know, definitely benefits from those.
And also, you know, the musicians are being paid and
(53:00):
we're kind of working towards building up you know, more
so as well.
Speaker 4 (53:04):
The writers too.
Speaker 6 (53:05):
Yeah, an audience number to know that, you know, because
it has value and we're very proud that we're able
to you know, to do that. You know, it developed
over the thirteen years. But where we stand right now,
you know, we are paying the performers, which feels yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
Cool, awesome.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
Anything else the note, what we missed in anything, or
we cover the bases here?
Speaker 6 (53:31):
Yes, we should mention that the next one in February.
Oh yes, at the twenty fourth, Is that right?
Speaker 5 (53:38):
Is that?
Speaker 8 (53:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (53:39):
Yeah, twenty fourth? The call. The theme is the call,
which is you know, will be a completely different kind
of vibe and show, but what people are called to
sort of perform or present at that one will be
a whole other thing. But so, I don't know if
we even mentioned the theme for Monday as I was there,
(54:03):
so again, it's it's you know, a combination of performers
who were there with Lori and remember those years, and
also very sort of very specific kind of experiences that
were you know, sort of described or music performed by
(54:23):
some of the people for Monday that are I think
going to be really kind of captivating. So so anyway,
we have fun with the themes, We do a little
brainstorming session and come up with what we think is
important for right now. So I think these two will
be pretty cool this year.
Speaker 1 (54:43):
So nice.
Speaker 3 (54:44):
Do you have the lineup yet for that one announced
or still in the down low?
Speaker 4 (54:51):
Yeah, we're getting We're pretty close. We like to leave
a couple of spots open for a few last minute decisions,
but yeah, right, Katie, I mean it's I think that
we'll be announcing that pretty much. Yeah, right after this show.
We'll be super close to letting people know what that
one will be like. But we're so happy you're going
(55:12):
to be in this one on Monday, Nick, this is
so great.
Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah. I was trying to think when the last one
it must have been.
Speaker 3 (55:19):
Was it twenty twenty one or no, probably twenty nineteen,
maybe even I think it was twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (55:25):
I think it was before our last record is out.
Speaker 4 (55:27):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (55:31):
I don't know where time goes anymore.
Speaker 4 (55:33):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
Yeah. Well, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
It's going to be a blast, and I look forward
to seeing you on Monday night Morning Side after Dark.
I'd like to thank my guests Rebecca Sorenson and Katie
Vernon for appearing on the episode talking about this great
(55:59):
event Denim, Minnesota, just blocks away from lovely Southwest Minneapolis,
and spending some time honoring our friend and yours, Lorie Linden,
incredibly talented songwriter and author.
Speaker 1 (56:17):
Check out her book Pedal Pusher.
Speaker 3 (56:19):
By the way, you will be taken for a ride
on Allan that. It's a lot of fun and it
was a great honor Laurie today and hopefully we can
do more of that in the future. Otherwise, so thank
you for listening and sticking with us over the holiday
break and into a strange new year, and I hope
(56:40):
you'll continue to listen and we'll be back with more
episodes soon. So like thank you for listening. From Minneapolis
Studio twenty four. This has been the figure AIDS podcast.
Speaker 8 (57:00):
I did just sink so damn low. How do you
feel when you're alone? Your conscious clear and coasting clear?
(57:23):
Will us amercodor you be.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
Wisha?
Speaker 2 (57:30):
Small month gold.
Speaker 1 (57:34):
It keeps going on.
Speaker 7 (57:38):
When long time, sweetheart, we said, small moth gold, It
keeps going.
Speaker 8 (57:51):
All when alone, Hold time Mompi Moti
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