Gaelynn Lea May Newsletter
Happy Spring!  I  hope t his newsletter finds you well as the weather grows warmer! Paul and I about to head out on another tour so I just wanted to say hello and send you a list of upcoming shows with ticket links and such! Enjoy the rest of your May!
West Coast Tour: A Picture Diary
Paul and I had a great time exploring the West Coast this March and April! While it is difficult to recap over 40 shows in one newsletter article, I CAN mention some of the highlights:

1) SXSW: In mid-March I had the chance to perform in Austin for my first South by Southwest Music Festival...  This was exciting in and of itself, but the experience was made even more memorable because my friend Al Church flew down to play  guitar with me! Al has played on my last two albums and we're making plans for the next one. He's an awesome musician and human - needless to say, we a blast! We played four shows together in 2 days, including my official showcase at St. David's Bethell Hall. We also ate our weight in tacos.... So we dubbed ourselves #TeamTaco, of course! 


2) T he scenery in Western Texas and Arizona: I had never seen the desert before, so I was snapping pictures of cacti right and left... You can't get much farther from Minnesota, landscape-wise!


3) Hanging out with Paul by the ocean: Paul and I traveled the entire length of California, so we were lucky to get quite a bit of ocean time on this tour! Since we both love Duluth for its majestic Lake Superior, it was comforting being around a big body of water... and it didn't hurt that temperatures were in the 70's! 


4) Enjoying a visit from my Dad in San Francisco, hanging out in Seattle, doing another TEDx Talk (out soon... promise I'll share when it's online!), and spending time with my pup Clara back at HOME! 


All in all, this was one of my favorite tours so far... I can't wait to return to the West Coast later this year!  Thank you to everyone who came to the shows and supported us along the way - you made our 54 days on the road truly delightful! 
Home in Time for Homegrown 
Every year at the beginning of May, my hometown of Duluth hosts a magical week-long event called Duluth Homegrown Music Festival. It is too amazing for mere words (experience it for yourself next year!) but Google  describes it as suc h:

The Homegrown Music Festival is Duluth, Minnesota's annual showcase of local music, which includes Dulut h, Superior,  Minnesota's Iron Range and communities on the north and south shores of Lake Superior.  

It began as a simple birthday party with a handful of bands and a bunch of beer. Now it's a complete bureaucracy, run by a volunteer steering committee and a board of directors, featuring 200 musical acts, along with a few filmmakers and other artists.

But that description hardly does Homegrown any justice - it is a joyful celebration of community made even more festive by the (slightly) warmer temperatures of Spring - giddy Dulut hians are seen frolicking the streets in summer garb after a long winter hibernation. 

There are of course tons of concerts (featuring exclusively local bands... the only national acts are the ones who came out of the Twin Ports) in every imaginable venue (including the town trolley). But there are other fun events too - like a poetry showcase, a film screening, a Saturday morning jog led by Alan Spar hawk, and even an annual Kickball game (Teams: Friday nig ht bands vs. Saturday night bands)... It is all so glorious! Aside from C hristmas, Homegrown is my favorite time of the year.

I was surprised to learn that my Homegrown set this year was going to be at Clyde Iron Works, which is a pretty big venue - so I wanted to do something to make the show extra special. I did one song solo to start off the set, but then I invited my band mate from The Murder of Crows, Alan Sparhawk (also of LOW), to join me for a couple songs. Alan has been an incredibly important part of my musical journey - introducing me to the looping pedal and playing alongside me as I sang my very first original song - so it meant a lot to have him on stage with me that night.   

After that I asked Al Church and Dave Mehling to join me onstage for the rest of the set. Both Al and Dave are about my age - we all grew up in Duluth originally (they now reside in Minneapolis) - and they've both been musical wizards since high school. We are working on my next album together and it is such a joy to play with them... It was really fun to share a glimpse of the musical future with my hometown crowd of family and friends!

The show ended up exceeding my EPIC FUN expectations! I was so grateful for Alan, Al, and Dave for creating such a magical vibe onstage. Luckily Dave caught almost the entire show on Facebook Live... So you can watch it at the link below!

Anyway, Homegrown Music Festival is awesome and if you can make it to Northern Minnesota for it's 20th anniversary next Spring I guarantee you won't regret it! Thank you to the staff, volunteers, musicians, and community members for another great Festival... and Happy Homegrown!


Hitting the Road Again: May Tour Sc hedule 
Paul and I had a great week spending time with family and friends in Duluth, but now it's time for us to hit the road again for a two-week tour out to Washington DC and back! It should be a fun trip... I'd love to see you at a show somewhere along our route! 
Take good care of yourself t his May, and keep in touch! 
Love,
Gaelynn Lea

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