Local Press:
Local Press Highlights: City Pages (top 5 MN videos), Star Tribune (interview), Mostly Minnesota (show review), Star Tribune (best concerts this week), The Current/ Radio Heartland (in-studio), Pioneer Press (interview), City Pages (interview), KFAI/ MSP Sound (in-studio interview and live performance), Star Tribune (pick six), Mostly MN (playlist), Twin Cities Media (calendar/ preview), The Current (song of the day), Mostly MN/ WMCM Radio (in-studio), The Current (playlist), TPT Television City Pages (top 5 MN videos) 5/21/19 By Jared Fagerberg URL: http://www.citypages.com/music/positive-affirmations-new-planets-and-warehouse-woes-in-this-weeks-top-5-mn-music-videos/510179941 “You may never be brave/You might never save anyone’s life in this life but your own.” If you needed to hear those words today, thank Katy Vernon for writing them. Vernon’s affirming new single “Suit of Hearts” is the title track of the local songwriter’s new album, representing the record’s enduring soul. For the video, Vernon and director Rouse Productions asked attendees of the singer’s release show to share the moments when they feel most brave. In the process, they created a testament to the everyday battles people win through positivity. Star Tribune (interview) 4/20/19, By Chris Riemenschneider URL: http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-strummer-katy-vernon-breaks-out-of-30-year-funk-to-write-songs-of-hope/508820032/ Her rebound led her to not only write a hopeful new album, “Suit of Hearts,” but to follow her passion. Talk about a tough room.Two summers ago, Twin Cities singer/songwriter Katy Vernon returned to the hospice care center in London where she last saw her mom alive at age 12. She went there to perform for teens with terminal illnesses, not long after coming to grips with the deep-seated sadness and self-medication she had grappled with throughout her adult life.“When you’re going through recovery, you learn that doing things to help other people helps you get out of your own way,” she said, marveling at how the seemingly unenviable gig “felt so beautiful” in the end. “It completely changed how I felt about that place, creating something positive out of something so negative.” A ukulele-strumming tunesmith who now calls White Bear Lake home, Vernon has often wittily billed herself as “a singer of sad songs on a happy instrument.” She did not realize until a few years ago, though, just how truly sad she was after losing her mom to lymphoma and her dad to a heart attack five years later. A quarter century later — and now a mother herself to two teen girls — Vernon finally sought help for her long-undiagnosed depression and accompanying alcoholism. Her rebound led her to not only write a hopeful new album, “Suit of Hearts,” but to follow her passion and play music full time and use it as a vehicle to help others.Part of the Twin Cities music scene going back to her early-’00s rock band, the Camdens — which she formed after meeting her ex-serviceman husband on a train in Europe and eventually following him home — the London native enjoyed a good local buzz off her prior solo album, “Present.” Surprisingly, though, she didn’t enjoy its rollout. “I was actually hung over the day of the release party,” she recalled with a wince. “When I looked at my behavior and my moods, I realized I was medicating with alcohol and had been for a long time. So I thought if I stopped drinking, I would feel better. And stopping did help, but I realized a lot of the heavy stuff was still there.” The heaviness, of course, had a lot to do with the lingering trauma of losing both parents before her 18th birthday. She finally sought treatment and was formally diagnosed with depression — which, she said, “was almost a relief. Just as being a woman in the music scene has its challenges, she said speaking about recovery sometimes involves sexism.“As a society, we kind of look down more at women with drinking problems — especially mothers — whereas men seem to be able to speak about it more with a certain sense of romance about it.”These newfound efforts follow Vernon’s long-standing support for the Arc Minnesota, which is the beneficiary of the annual Uke Fest she organizes every October in honor of the oldest of her two brothers, Peter, who was born with cerebral palsy and still lives in London.Katy often sings to Peter via Skype, and she visited him during the six-week stay in England that included her return to her mom’s hospice facility and gigs all over the country. That’s also when she wrote many of the songs on “Suit of Hearts.” “It was a big leap of faith, because it was the first time in my life where I got to be nothing but a musician, at least for a few weeks,” she said, noting that “Undertow” was influenced by the seaside location. “It’s so much a metaphor for recovery because you have to give up all control and trust that you’re going to be thrust back out and make it to shore.” Her record closes with “Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter,” a stirring finale featuring the Prairie Fire Lady Choir and sound bites from an interview Vernon tracked down of her mother, Juliet, speaking on a U.K. news program about raising a child with disabilities.“Her voice didn’t sound at all like I remembered it,” Vernon admitted, “so that made it all the more sad at first. But that, too, became part of the healing process.” That upbeat new outlook extends to ABBAsolutely Fab, a new tribute band that Vernon fronts. about which she said, “It feels great to just get up and sing happy songs like theirs,” she said, “and to step out of being a songwriter and just let go as a singer.”It feels even better having her own happy songs to sing now, though.“Part of me, as a songwriter, wanted to write a more miserable, woe-is-me, cathartic kind of record,” she said, “but I’ve spent way too much of my life being sad.” “For 30 years, a big part of me thought: ‘Get over it already.’ But I couldn’t get over it on my own.”All of this led to many of the songs on “Suit of Hearts,” which she’s promoting with a digital/national release celebration May 18 at the Aster Cafe in Minneapolis. Dramatic but uplifting tracks such as “Latest Disaster,” “Pink Cloud” and the title track — produced with Minnesota music vet and fellow recovery advocate Kevin Bowe — reflect her turn to mental-health assistance.“You might never save anyone’s life in this life but your own,” she sings in the title song, “but that’s more than most of us can.”At her sold-out album celebration last month at the Parkway Theater, Vernon showed off her new efforts to help others by promoting the local mental-health arts organization Dissonance, for which she is also a board member. 3/25/19 Minnesota Review: Ann Treacy URL: https://mostlyminnesota.com/2019/03/25/katy-vernons-long-awaiting-cd-reveal-party-at-the-parkway-is-a-great-show/ Katy Vernon celebrated her CD release among many musical (and music-loving) friends at the Parkway Theater. Suit of Hearts came out to a full house and lots of enthusiasm. And it was absolutely worth the celebration. Ukulele player Katy’s moniker has been “sad songs on a happy instrument”. Katy has been very vocal about her experience with depression and alcoholism this album feels like the ukulele is winning. Katy seems so happy and celebrated – although I don’t want to give the uke all of the credit. Katy’s happiness is well earned! I spoke to her about some of the trials and tribulations. It’s tough when you lose your parents young. And it’s tough to take 8 years off your musical career to raise kids. Kids are rewarding, but as a mother, I can attest that raising kids can be lonely and you spend a lot of time looking for the nonexistent manual for them and you! There are so many things to unpack about the show. First – the songs titles and images on the screen behind here. That’s a reviewer’s dream but it also helps set the tone of each song. The costume changes – wow! The showmanship. Wow! But the songs were the star. Suit of Hearts, the title song, has the biting irony of a Lily Allen, the key change of a Brandi Carlisle and the unique almost falsetto voice of Katy. The lyrics speak to the everyday hero, carrying on and (I think) both appreciating the heroes around and within us. Katy brings an honesty without bravado to the stage and allows us in to what hasn’t always been a happy story, much as I love her singing I think her legacy will be the people she helps and lifts out of their own depression. The full band is amazing. The addition of the Laurels String Quartet and Prairie Fire Lady Choir. I know Prairie Fire Lady Choir weren’t swaying at full mast, but they sounded fantastic. Who else can successfully mash up I am Woman and We’re Not Going to Take It. And when women have a seat at the table, it’s best to bring other women to join. Star Tribune (best concerts this week) 3/22/10 By Chris Reimenschneider URL: http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-concerts-of-the-week-oberst-amp-bridgers-dan-shay-dessa-amp-mn-orch/507486252/ Katy Vernon: She’s come a long way literally and figuratively in her journey through the Twin Cities music scene, and now the ukulele-strumming British transplant is opening up on a personal odyssey that preceded her new album, “Suit of Hearts.” Dramatic, cliff-pondering folk-rock songs such as “Latest Disaster,” “Look to the Sea” and “Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter” were written during a stayover in England as she fought past depression, alcoholism and the lingering pain of losing her parents during childhood. It’s a triumphant, feel-good record with wistful music to match from her longtime band and album guests the Prairie Fire Lady Choir and Laurel Strings, both whom will perform at the release party along with Dan Israel. (8 p.m. Sat., Parkway Theater, 4812 Chicago Av. S., Mpls., $10-$15, theparkwaytheater.com.)
3/20/19 Pioneer Press (interview) By Ross Raihala URL: https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/21/katy-vernon-bares-her-heart-on-new-album-inspired-by-an-all-around-tough-year/ Singer/songwriter Katy Vernon’s optimistic new album, “Suit of Hearts,” was inspired by a whole lot of pain.“I had a very rough year in 2016,” said the London native who now lives in White Bear Lake. “I crashed my car, broke my toe, broke my phone and was trying to hold onto my marriage. I recognized my drinking had been a crutch and I tried to give it up. “Then I started to personally feel even worse, because I wasn’t numbing (my pain) with drinking. I was diagnosed with depression, which in a way was kind of encouraging. It wasn’t just personal shortcomings, it was something wrong with me that could be helped.” Vernon marks the release of “Suit of Hearts,” which she calls the most ambitious thing she’s done, with a Saturday night show at Minneapolis’ Parkway Theater. She’ll perform with her full band and the Laurel Strings Quartet atop a bill that also features Prairie Fire Lady Choir, Dan Israel and Tori Evans. Making it through 2016 convinced Vernon it was time to fully commit to being a musician. She had never toured before 2017 when she booked a six-week run of shows in the U.K. “I wanted to dive in and explore the U.K. and see what that experience brought out in me,” she said. “I started writing songs more to kind of chronicle what it felt like to go home, reconnect with family and sights and places. I wanted to be brave, to go on an adventure and not be scared.” It was a challenge for Vernon, who said she had never really been on her own like she was during her overseas trip. She met her husband, Randy, who was in the Air Force, by chance on a train from Amsterdam to Berlin. They married in 1993 when she was 21 and she moved to Minnesota where they started a family. (Vernon has two teenage daughters, Lily and Daisy.) Vernon has focused on playing the ukulele in recent years and landed spots at two large U.K. festivals devoted to the instrument. Those shows served to bookend her trip, which included gigs in pubs and clubs along with some house concerts. “It was scary to be completely on my own – very daunting, but also exciting. I had to live in the moment. I was in a different city every couple of days. For the first time, I really felt so encouraged on stage. People didn’t need to know me, they could just listen to the songs. I realized I have something to offer and that people were liking my music.” She returned to Minnesota with a clutch of fresh material and renewed enthusiasm. She did another U.K. tour last year and will launch her third this summer. Inspired by her trip, Vernon set up a Kickstarter to fund her new album and raised $10,000 in a month. She made “Suit of Hearts” with songwriter and producer Kevin Bowe, whose lengthy resume includes work with the Replacements, Joe Cocker, Etta James and Steven Van Zandt. “He encouraged me to make the most of this big adventure,” she said. “He was such a team player, he really made me feel like I was co-producing. He’s been sober for a long time and he knew and respected that there were serious underpinnings to these songs. We didn’t have to belabor it.” While much of Vernon’s past music has been folk rock, she took a leap into disco for the song “Latest Disaster.” The Abba tribute band she founded a few years back helped push her in that direction. “My drummer told me he knew why I started the Abba band, because it cheered me up. It was like joining a gym. Singing Abba songs has made me a better singer and I wanted to inject some of that into my record.” During the recording process, she stumbled upon the title she ultimately chose for the album. “It was somewhat inspired by social media and the weird time we’re living in,” she said. “I’ve chosen to be very open about the grief I’ve dealt with and my recovery. I realized I wear my heart not only on my sleeve, but all over myself, with nothing to hide. And I thought, that’s a good album title. I need to delve into what it means to me.” In the end, “Suit of Hearts” offers a range of emotions. “The point was not to chronicle darkness and depression, but to show you can come out of it. There’s always hope, you can always get better.”
3/20/19 City Pages (interview) By Erik Thompson URL: http://www.citypages.com/music/katy-vernon-shares-her-journey-toward-healing-and-recovery-on-suit-of-hearts/507373911 The English seaside has inspired generations of artists, and now Katy Vernon can be added to that list. In 2017, Vernon’s life was in disarray. She had recently left her job, quit drinking, and been diagnosed with depression. Amid all that emotional upheaval, she left Minnesota for a six-week run of shows in the U.K.—and began writing the best songs of her life. “I started to get help for my depression, and I resolved to not drink to numb my feelings and self-medicate,” Vernon says now. “I allowed myself to really work through all that stuff that I was suppressing. I thought that I was really self-aware. I had written all these songs about feelings and being present—Present is literally the name of my last album. I’d done a lot of work on myself, but I was kind of missing the big picture, which was that there was something wrong with me that could be fixed, or at least helped.” Vernon, who was born and raised in South London and moved to Minnesota when she was 21, brought that newfound sense of clarity with her as she ventured back home to the U.K. “I was really, really scared to do it,” she says of the trip. “I knew it would be a lot of time by myself, which as a newly sober person I didn’t really trust myself 100 percent with. Also, it was in the U.K., where you can find alcohol everywhere you turn. But I went with the encouragement of my husband, who said, ‘Go for it. You love music. You love playing. It will be an adventure.’ So, I just jumped on a plane and did it.” Performing at two large-scale ukulele festivals inspired Vernon to develop a new style of playing and to challenge herself as a songwriter, developing techniques that she would use to write the songs that would eventually form Suit of Hearts, her third and best solo record. “I was so happy to be there and playing, but I felt so intimidated. These were the best ukulele players in the world,” says Vernon. “I set myself the task of throwing everything I knew about songwriting out the window, and just trying to start over. I tried to write with all new chords, nothing I had done before. And a lot of grief and stress poured out of me. I knew I wanted to write my way out of that. I knew I wanted to write a happy album that would cheer me up, even though I had to dig deep in order to get there. I wanted to make myself feel better and see that light at the end of the tunnel.” Intimate and unguarded, the songs on Suit of Hearts transform sad memories into happier moments. “Home” offers a glimpse of someone who feels like they don’t belong anywhere, feeling homesick for a place that doesn’t exist anymore, while “In Your Shoes (For Daisy)” offers support and encouragement to her daughters. For Vernon, who has been an orphan for 30 years, the trip to the U.K. also took on a personal significance. With her cousin as a guide, she took a sightseeing tour of Wales, visiting the places where her mom grew up and locations that were important to her. “I went back to the hospice where my mom died. That was the last place I saw her. I was 12 years old,” Vernon says. “But I was asked to put on a concert there. It was my first time walking back in that building. And there were all kinds of sad memories. But I was there to put on a concert for young people going through terminal illnesses, so I had to check my own issues at the door and not bring them in with me. So I sang, and it was a really lovely event. And that really changed my memory of the place. Those kinds of experiences are so good, to push yourself through and create a happier memory out of somewhere.” Vernon threads layers of her mom’s speaking voice, from a long-lost interview with her on the BBC program Panorama, into the song “Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter,” a way for the singer to have her mother personally involved in an album that drew so much inspiration from her. “I sat on the same beach that my cousin was telling me was my mom’s favorite beach,” Vernon says. “And it was such a powerful moment, of realizing both the end and the beginning of my mom’s life, and all this stuff that I didn’t know about her. How joyful that all was for me. ‘Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter’ was inspired by that day at the seaside. Because I thought, as lost and lonely as I feel, I did come from a family. There is a heritage there, I just didn’t grow up with it and I didn’t know it. And I felt really British, and connected to the land. And I realized that I’m not this broken, rubbish person. I came from something nice, I’m lucky enough to have a happy, healthy family myself. There’s a lot to celebrate.” And Suit of Hearts is indeed celebratory, even hopeful despite the songs’ fractured origins, with lyrics focused on reassembling a life from its broken fragments. As Vernon sings on the title track: “You wear your suit of hearts/You tear yourself apart/But you’re not broken/Just a little rearranged/And none of us get out of here/Without a little change.” Vernon acknowledges the flaws and failures of her past, while rejoicing in the fact that she has changed her life—and her music—in a positive way. “The little throwaway line I have in my Twitter bio says, ‘Singer of sad songs on a happy instrument,’” Vernon says. “It took me a while to even realize what that meant to me. And I think I was always a little embarrassed or insecure about how heart-on-my-sleeve I was about grief or any of those things that were difficult to sing about. But the more that I think about it, I’m the happy instrument. I’ve always loved singing and dancing and being a goofball, so that balances out this sad, kind of intense stuff I want to write about.” Though a full band backed her in the studio, and the Laurel String Quartet and the Prairie Fire Lady Choir also appear on the album, Vernon proudly asserts that Suit of Hearts is first and foremost a ukulele record. “In the past, I thought that I would be taken more seriously if I played at least half my songs on guitar,” Vernon says with a laugh. “But I realized that’s really silly. It’s still me. And I want people to realize that you can still front a band with a ukulele and it doesn’t have to be this twee, cutesy thing. It can really rock.”
- KFAI/ MSP Sound (in-studio interview and live performance)
- Star Tribune (pick six)
- Mostly MN (playlist)
3/13/19 Twin Cities Media (calendar/ preview) By Markus Akre
URL: http://twincitiesmedia.net/blog/cool-shows-next-week-3-18-3-24/ As you may know Katy Vernon toured the UK a couple of years ago and it was a trans-formative trip for her. Not only was it a very literal homecoming, it was also the kickoff to a huge creative leap for Katy. Katy traveled to play two of the largest ukulele festivals in Europe. The Greater Northern Ukulele Festival and the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain. They were six weeks apart so she decided to leave her job and jump in! Katy independently booked over 2 dozen other shows and traveled the entire country on her own. Katy spent 9 days alone in Brighton by the sea. Every day Katy would walk to the sea and explore the town. This inspired so many songs and also gave me time to reflect and recharge. 2016 was a very difficult year personally, Katy set off on this tour newly diagnosed with major depression and newly sober. Being alone was exciting and daunting at that time. Katy sat by the sea and let all of that fear and uncertainty pour itself into songs. This record is the most vulnerable Katy have ever been, but it is also more importantly the strongest she has ever been. These songs were written to inspire her to get through life’s struggles. They include happy anthems meant to embrace life. ‘Suit of Hearts’ is meant to reflect the vulnerability of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but also convey the strength of baring your entire self openly and honestly. One that I think you will enjoy is the song ‘Latest Disaster’. It’s obviously very ABBA inspired. It’s been so fun for Katy to expand her sound and incorporate more pop influence. Katy feels like this is more of a organic growth of the band. They loosening up and started to have more fun. Another song that means a lot to Katy is ‘Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter’. Katy was inspired to write this as she walked the childhood haunts of her mum, and her cousin told her stories about the generations of women in their family that she never knew about. Katy wanted to pay homage to them. In addition to a choir of women singing on the song, you can also hear her own mum’s voice. Katy was able to track down this audio from the BBC last year, having not heard her voice since 1984. Kevin Bowe and Katy got chills editing it into the song.3/8/19 The Current (song of the day) Song: Undertow URL: https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2019/03/08/katy-vernono-undertow
3/3/19 Mostly MN/ WMCM Radio (in-studio) By Ann Treacy URL: https://mostlyminnesota.com/2019/03/03/mostly-mn-music-with-katy-vernon-anna-stine/ We had a wonderful show today and I could just cry because I didn’t push record in time. So the best parts of the show – the interviews with Anna Stine and Katy Vernon aren’t on the archive. BUT I have videos of each of them singing. It’s such a treat to have people play music the studio and we were twice blessed today. Next we had Katy Vernon, whose CD (Suit of Hearts) is coming out March 23 with a big hurrah at the Parkway Theater. Katy haven’t known each other very long but I am so impressed by her. In the promotional video for her upcoming CD release she has a quote from Alice in Wonderland – I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then. We talked about that line. First I learned that Lewis Carroll spent in Brighton and so did Katy. She went there for a 9 day writing retreat. She learned about a secret-ish tunnel from Carroll’s to the see and at one point he saw a rabbit (presumably white rabbit!) running into the tunnel. And that fit into her song Undertow, a song I liked before and love now. But it was great to hear from Katy how the quote fits into her own life – how she has recovered from depression and substance addiction to a better place. I met Katy one night as we both volunteered to interview people experiencing homeless for three-year survey of a night on the streets in the Twin Cities. She has heard about it from a social post of mine and then there she was – after midnight at the bus transit at the Mall of America. So that’s not much about her singing, but it’s a lot about her songs and her humanity. One of the monikers I love for Katy is “sad songs on a happy instrument” and it’s very true. But we talked about how that’s less true than it once was – it feels some of the sunshine from the ukulele in sneaking into the lyrics! I really enjoy her music – it’s hard not to dance even when the dark tones take over the theme.
Advance praise for ‘Suit Of Hearts’
I didn’t expect “Suit of Hearts” to touch me as quickly and as deeply as it did upon my first few listens, but it did and it grabbed me the way any great song or long-playing collection of songs does: What did I miss the first time? What did she say? What was that? Are there more riches to be had? Sure enough, the songs on “Suit of Hearts” are best heard again and again, and by doing so we the lucky listeners (the second track, “Listen,” btw, is a string-thing of peaceful easy beauty that advocates for my favorite thing, listening) get to know something intimate about my friend and sometime collaborator, the Singer-with-a-capital-S Katy Vernon, as she bares her soul and beautifully tells her stories of family, kicking the bottle, life, love, motherhood, the tightrope of show biz, and the joy of singing.Great tunes abound, including the set-closer “Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter,” a haunting cry for freedom featuring Katy’s late mother’s recorded voice); the should-be pop-dance smash “Latest Disaster,” the wised-up confessional “Catch Myself,” and the terrifically timeless saunter “Look to the Sea,” to name only a few off this supremely full-bodied and gorgeously produced (by Kevin Bowe) and played (the strings and Paul Odegaard’s trumpet are especially spectacular) gem. Katy’s voice is a thing of robust beauty, and she wears her heart on her sleeve throughout, but from what I hear here, it’s obvious that heart is so big, kind, and generous that it needed more fabric. “Suit of Hearts” is the sound of an artist simultaneously growing and in full bloom, and it’s exciting to hear. Jim Walsh Author/writer/columnist/journalist She’s come a long way literally and figuratively in her journey through the Twin Cities music scene, and now the ukulele-strumming British transplant is opening up on a personal odyssey that preceded her new album, “Suit of Hearts.” Dramatic, cliff-pondering folk-rock songs such as “Latest Disaster,” “Look to the Sea” and “Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter” were written during a stayover in England as she fought past depression, alcoholism and the lingering pain of losing her parents during childhood. It’s a triumphant, feel-good record with wistful music to match from her longtime band and album guests the Prairie Fire Lady Choir and Laurel Strings, both whom will perform at the release party along with Dan Israel. Chris Reimenscheider – Star Tribune Pioneer Press Article By ROSS RAIHALA | rraihala@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press March 21, 2019Katy Vernon bares her heart on new album inspired by an all-around tough year
Singer/songwriter Katy Vernon’s optimistic new album, “Suit of Hearts,” was inspired by a whole lot of pain. “I had a very rough year in 2016,” said the London native who now lives in White Bear Lake. “I crashed my car, broke my toe, broke my phone and was trying to hold onto my marriage. I recognized my drinking had been a crutch and I tried to give it up. “Then I started to personally feel even worse, because I wasn’t numbing (my pain) with drinking. I was diagnosed with depression, which in a way was kind of encouraging. It wasn’t just personal shortcomings, it was something wrong with me that could be helped.” Vernon marks the release of “Suit of Hearts,” which she calls the most ambitious thing she’s done, with a Saturday night show at Minneapolis’ Parkway Theater. She’ll perform with her full band and the Laurel Strings Quartet atop a bill that also features Prairie Fire Lady Choir, Dan Israel and Tori Evans. Making it through 2016 convinced Vernon it was time to fully commit to being a musician. She had never toured before 2017 when she booked a six-week run of shows in the U.K. “I wanted to dive in and explore the U.K. and see what that experience brought out in me,” she said. “I started writing songs more to kind of chronicle what it felt like to go home, reconnect with family and sights and places. I wanted to be brave, to go on an adventure and not be scared.” It was a challenge for Vernon, who said she had never really been on her own like she was during her overseas trip. She met her husband, Randy, who was in the Air Force, by chance on a train from Amsterdam to Berlin. They married in 1993 when she was 21 and she moved to Minnesota where they started a family. (Vernon has two teenage daughters, Lily and Daisy.) Vernon has focused on playing the ukulele in recent years and landed spots at two large U.K. festivals devoted to the instrument. Those shows served to bookend her trip, which included gigs in pubs and clubs along with some house concerts. “It was scary to be completely on my own – very daunting, but also exciting. I had to live in the moment. I was in a different city every couple of days. For the first time, I really felt so encouraged on stage. People didn’t need to know me, they could just listen to the songs. I realized I have something to offer and that people were liking my music.” She returned to Minnesota with a clutch of fresh material and renewed enthusiasm. She did another U.K. tour last year and will launch her third this summer. Inspired by her trip, Vernon set up a Kickstarter to fund her new album and raised $10,000 in a month. She made “Suit of Hearts” with songwriter and producer Kevin Bowe, whose lengthy resume includes work with the Replacements, Joe Cocker, Etta James and Steven Van Zandt. “He encouraged me to make the most of this big adventure,” she said. “He was such a team player, he really made me feel like I was co-producing. He’s been sober for a long time and he knew and respected that there were serious underpinnings to these songs. We didn’t have to belabor it.” While much of Vernon’s past music has been folk rock, she took a leap into disco for the song “Latest Disaster.” The Abba tribute band she founded a few years back helped push her in that direction. “My drummer told me he knew why I started the Abba band, because it cheered me up. It was like joining a gym. Singing Abba songs has made me a better singer and I wanted to inject some of that into my record.” During the recording process, she stumbled upon the title she ultimately chose for the album. “It was somewhat inspired by social media and the weird time we’re living in,” she said. “I’ve chosen to be very open about the grief I’ve dealt with and my recovery. I realized I wear my heart not only on my sleeve, but all over myself, with nothing to hide. And I thought, that’s a good album title. I need to delve into what it means to me.” In the end, “Suit of Hearts” offers a range of emotions. “The point was not to chronicle darkness and depression, but to show you can come out of it. There’s always hope, you can always get better.”Katy Vernon shares her journey toward healing and recovery on ‘Suit of Hearts’
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 by Erik Thompson in Music Katy Vernon puts the ‘U.K.’ in ukulele – Randy Vanderwood In 2017, Vernon’s life was in disarray. She had recently left her job, quit drinking, and been diagnosed with depression. Amid all that emotional upheaval, she left Minnesota for a six-week run of shows in the U.K.—and began writing the best songs of her life. “I started to get help for my depression, and I resolved to not drink to numb my feelings and self-medicate,” Vernon says now. “I allowed myself to really work through all that stuff that I was suppressing. I thought that I was really self-aware. I had written all these songs about feelings and being present—Present is literally the name of my last album. I’d done a lot of work on myself, but I was kind of missing the big picture, which was that there was something wrong with me that could be fixed, or at least helped.” Vernon, who was born and raised in South London and moved to Minnesota when she was 21, brought that newfound sense of clarity with her as she ventured back home to the U.K. “I was really, really scared to do it,” she says of the trip. “I knew it would be a lot of time by myself, which as a newly sober person I didn’t really trust myself 100 percent with. Also, it was in the U.K., where you can find alcohol everywhere you turn. But I went with the encouragement of my husband, who said, ‘Go for it. You love music. You love playing. It will be an adventure.’ So, I just jumped on a plane and did it.” Performing at two large-scale ukulele festivals inspired Vernon to develop a new style of playing and to challenge herself as a songwriter, developing techniques that she would use to write the songs that would eventually form Suit of Hearts, her third and best solo record. “I was so happy to be there and playing, but I felt so intimidated. These were the best ukulele players in the world,” says Vernon. “I set myself the task of throwing everything I knew about songwriting out the window, and just trying to start over. I tried to write with all new chords, nothing I had done before. And a lot of grief and stress poured out of me. I knew I wanted to write my way out of that. I knew I wanted to write a happy album that would cheer me up, even though I had to dig deep in order to get there. I wanted to make myself feel better and see that light at the end of the tunnel.” Intimate and unguarded, the songs on Suit of Hearts transform sad memories into happier moments. “Home” offers a glimpse of someone who feels like they don’t belong anywhere, feeling homesick for a place that doesn’t exist anymore, while “In Your Shoes (For Daisy)” offers support and encouragement to her daughters. For Vernon, who has been an orphan for 30 years, the trip to the U.K. also took on a personal significance. With her cousin as a guide, she took a sightseeing tour of Wales, visiting the places where her mom grew up and locations that were important to her. “I went back to the hospice where my mom died. That was the last place I saw her. I was 12 years old,” Vernon says. “But I was asked to put on a concert there. It was my first time walking back in that building. And there were all kinds of sad memories. But I was there to put on a concert for young people going through terminal illnesses, so I had to check my own issues at the door and not bring them in with me. So I sang, and it was a really lovely event. And that really changed my memory of the place. Those kinds of experiences are so good, to push yourself through and create a happier memory out of somewhere.” Vernon threads layers of her mom’s speaking voice, from a long-lost interview with her on the BBC program Panorama, into the song “Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter,” a way for the singer to have her mother personally involved in an album that drew so much inspiration from her. “I sat on the same beach that my cousin was telling me was my mom’s favorite beach,” Vernon says. “And it was such a powerful moment, of realizing both the end and the beginning of my mom’s life, and all this stuff that I didn’t know about her. How joyful that all was for me. ‘Somebody’s Daughter’s Daughter’ was inspired by that day at the seaside. Because I thought, as lost and lonely as I feel, I did come from a family. There is a heritage there, I just didn’t grow up with it and I didn’t know it. And I felt really British, and connected to the land. And I realized that I’m not this broken, rubbish person. I came from something nice, I’m lucky enough to have a happy, healthy family myself. There’s a lot to celebrate.” And Suit of Hearts is indeed celebratory, even hopeful despite the songs’ fractured origins, with lyrics focused on reassembling a life from its broken fragments. As Vernon sings on the title track: “You wear your suit of hearts/You tear yourself apart/But you’re not broken/Just a little rearranged/And none of us get out of here/Without a little change.” Vernon acknowledges the flaws and failures of her past, while rejoicing in the fact that she has changed her life—and her music—in a positive way. “The little throwaway line I have in my Twitter bio says, ‘Singer of sad songs on a happy instrument,’” Vernon says. “It took me a while to even realize what that meant to me. And I think I was always a little embarrassed or insecure about how heart-on-my-sleeve I was about grief or any of those things that were difficult to sing about. But the more that I think about it, I’m the happy instrument. I’ve always loved singing and dancing and being a goofball, so that balances out this sad, kind of intense stuff I want to write about.” Though a full band backed her in the studio, and the Laurel String Quartet and the Prairie Fire Lady Choir also appear on the album, Vernon proudly asserts that Suit of Hearts is first and foremost a ukulele record. “In the past, I thought that I would be taken more seriously if I played at least half my songs on guitar,” Vernon says with a laugh. “But I realized that’s really silly. It’s still me. And I want people to realize that you can still front a band with a ukulele and it doesn’t have to be this twee, cutesy thing. It can really rock.” Present: Released 2015
Present Press:
U.K. expat Katy Vernon: ‘death, drinking, disability’ songs meet the uke
The combination of getting older and having a day job is an eternal struggle with which most artists deal. On her latest album, Present, Katy Vernon finds solace and contentment in her current life, somewhat appeasing those demons that force you to create while living a “normal” life. The record is an example of the mystery that is the human mind and a reminder that music is about making people feel they are part of something — a larger tribe. On it, Vernon digs deep into the creative psyche, revealing the complex interchange of ideas between human beings. City Pages sat down with the U.K. expat and current Minnesotan before her album release on Sunday at Icehouse to find the process behind her latest musical venture. City Pages: What drew you to the ukulele when you first began performing? Katy Vernon: I’d been writing and singing for a long time but was in a creative slump. I played guitar a little but I was always primarily a vocalist and the idea of playing solo was completely daunting, so without a band I felt pretty lost. I saw Lucy Michelle play a tenor uke that had a fuller sound and really changed the way I felt about it. A friend, Dave Kapell, had been telling me for years that it would be a good instrument for me so we went shopping together, and I literally asked the guys at Twin Town for the one Lucy played. I wrote my first song in a couple of weeks and it just felt instinctive to me to play it. It suits my voice well and I like the levity it brings to some of my sadder songs. On Twitter I call myself “singer of sad songs on a happy instrument.” CP: What do you think is a common misconception about the instrument or even people who play the ukulele? KV: I think most people still think it’s pretty twee. Every time I write a song on it I’m trying to make it sound different. It’s at versatile as any other instrument. I also put together Uke Fest every year and that embraces the large range of how it can sound. We had 16 different acts this year and none sounded the same. I think you can embrace people’s misconceptions and have fun with it. There’s a history to cutesy songs being played on the uke and that’s fine but there’s so much more it can do. CP: How did you come to working with your producer Kevin Bowe on this project? How do you think he changed the songs? KV: I knew Kevin a little and he invited us in to his IPR [Institute of Production & Recording] sessions, which is a chance for bands to track for free and students to learn recording. I don’t think he had any idea how ambitious we were going to be when we came in. We had just come off a residency so we were super tight and we did five complete songs during that morning.One of my favorite musical moments was when we played a song that day and when we were done the entire room of students clapped and said it was a hit! That was an unexpected and sweet moment. We went back and did the rest of the album that way and then spent the next year putting the rest of the tracks together at his home studio. It was amazingly productive.
The songs didn’t change during the recording process so much. I think the biggest factor was that we had really learned how to play together and tighten up our arrangements prior to going in. I could have agonized over every choice, and Kevin would get a couple of takes on everything and keep it moving. He told me to put all the stress on him, so I did. He’s incredibly encouraging and I felt completely listened to and involved.
One song that Kevin absolutely had a vision for and that we started over after the IPR sessions was “Pearl.” We had rushed that one and so when we re-did it he made a couple of keyboard sound suggestions and we added some single uke strums and it took on more of a Roxy Music vibe. I think if we had started at his studio in the beginning rather than going the IPR route, he would have had even more creative input, but I really wanted a band sound and I feel like we got that. He took what we were all already doing and made sure we didn’t overthink it.
CP: You mentioned you write a lot about tough situations in your life, such as losing your parents at a young age. How did/does music help you move forward when you’re faced with tragedies like this?
KV: It’s always been my outlet. I found it hard to talk about a lot and at some point people expect you to just be okay and stop talking about grief, but it’s always with you. I found pretty early on that I could put my feelings into song and then luckily people enjoyed them.
It might sound like a break up song or something else that people can relate to and although I know it’s cathartic for me it’s an even exchange of pretty singing and enjoyment for the listener. So hopefully it doesn’t sound totally self indulgent. It’s just a huge part of who i am and also a way to keep my parents memory and presence in my life.
I knew after my last record that I didn’t want another whole album that focused on that though. I’m trying to grow. The record is called Present because I’m trying to live in the moment more and not look back so much and not stress about the future either. Some of my deepest fears have already come true but I have so much to be grateful for.
CP: How do you self-edit to make it not cheesy and trite?
KV: On paper I might sound cheesy, English girl with a pixie haircut singing songs on a ukulele! But anyone who’s ever seen me would know that’s not the case. I pour my heart out on stage, and I just try to be really true to how I want to express myself. I definitely self-edit anything cheesy out.
I think that’s why I found it so hard to write happier songs. Whenever I write I just want to say something I don’t think had been said a million times. Love songs and happy songs are hard without breaking into the cheese. Songs about death, drinking, and disability are more my style.
CP: Tell me about the song “Lily.” How did you come to writing that piece? What headspace were you in when you were writing it?
KV: This was my happy song success story! The chorus came to me almost fully formed in the shower, I think a lot in there, and I loved the idea of someone painting the world with happiness. My daughter Lily wakes up every single day with a powerful joyful attitude that is so foreign to me that I just marvel at it! She’s also incredibly creative and really great at art. She drew the back cover art for this record.
Once I had the idea for the song I had to do some serious Crayola research to look up all the color names I wanted to name check. I’ve never done that with a song before so it was a fun project. Of course now there’s pressure to write a song about my other kid, Daisy, but she came in to the studio and sang backing vocals so that made her happy.
CP: Any other songs on this album that you’re particularly proud of or you embody when you’re on stage?
KV: “Pearl” is my favorite song on the record for now. It was such a turning point writing wise. I was really struggling with anxiety and grief and needed help trying to lessen some of the stress in my life. I actually turned to hypnosis therapy for help.
After leaving one session I had a strong sense of releasing some of my issues and sat down and wrote that song. It came flooding out of me all at once and is a really hooky beautiful song that I just love performing with the band.
I’d also say that the song that embodies me most right now is “23.” It’s about singing for myself and not fitting into the cookie cutter mold of whatever people judge as music industry success. I realized one night on stage that I’m not auditioning for anyone. I’ve got the gig. I gave it to myself after almost giving up. I don’t want to tell my kids they can do anything they want in the world but not tell myself that. It’s my own personal anthem!
CP: What are you excited to share at the album release show?
KV: In addition to unveiling all the new songs we will also throw in a few really beautiful covers that people haven’t heard us play before. Most importantly the evening will showcase how great the band [Clay Williams on guitar, Simon Husbands on keyboard, vocals, Chris McAtee on drums, Reed Pagel on bass, and Paul Odegaard on trumpet] is.
They have my back In every way and are some of the best players in town. No matter how I feel when I get on stage I know I will always feel better when I’m up there because playing music with them is pure joy.
Television: WCCO News..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ4qySAtDSs WCCO/CBS..http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/11/15/women-who-rock-katy-vernon/ TPT Almanac ; TPT Almanac Full Band Thank you to ‘Almanac’ for having us on as guests. Click to view Almanac Appearance Recently featured on WCCO News: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/11/15/women-who-rock-katy-vernon & MPR News.. http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/10/03/ukulele TPT Almanac http://video.tpt.org/video/2279389099/
Online: Back to the City. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPfcdm_9jKA Local Current Blog – by Aaron Bolton · The UK singer-songwriter transplant that now calls our skies home, Katy Vernon, is strumming those four happy ukulele strings on her new release Present. The record jumps off with “23.” It’s a vibrant introduction to the dark material hiding behind those bright tones and shimmering vocals. Vernon may be warm and fuzzy on the surface, but take a closer listen for a darker tone. Add her to your Sunday calendar for her show at Icehouse.