Garrison Keillor!!

I am beyond excited to announce a new show.. here are the details!!!

After a record sell-out of tickets for the fall season of A Prairie Home Companion, host Garrison Keillor has announced that he’s creating a new, non-broadcast variety show entitled The Rhubarb Show which will be “a club version of the radio show” and will premiere on Saturday, September 21 at 9 p.m., following the broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion at the historic Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul.

Each of the shows will feature some guests from the APHC broadcast, as well as some local talent we’re excited to showcase. Sound effects wizard Fred Newman will be featured each week along with magician Bill Arnold, and musical guests include: Chic Gamine, the Canadian girl group (with a guy drummer), and Katy Vernon (September 21) and a few other surprises.

Tickets for the Rhubarb Show go on sale at noon on Thursday, August 15th. Tickets categories include “Box Seats” (which include wine and desserts) $40.00; $20.00; $10.00 and $5.00. A $2.50 facility fee will be added to the price of each ticket. MPR Members receive a $2 discount on the top two tiered price categories.

Stone Arch Festival and More….

I have been waiting for years to return to the Stone Arch Festival! No kidding. My old band The Camdens played this festival 2 or 3 years in a row way back when this was just a little baby festival. It has grown to become not only one of the better art festivals in the City but a tradition for many families including mine for Father’s Day weekend.
I sang there two Summers ago with The Mad Ripple and am thrilled to be returning with my very own band.
We haven’t had a lot of full band shows so this will be a fun chance to rock out with the rhythm section.

Show time: Saturday, June 15th 3:15 pm
City Pages Stage under the Central Avenue Bridge
Full schedule at http://www.stonearchbridgefestival.com/

We’ll be nicely warmed up too as we have a gig at Manitou Station in White Bear Lake the night before.
This is the kick off to the annual Manitou Days.

There will be a parade at 6pm and all kinds of fun events happening. We play 9pm-Midnight. So don’t miss your chance to see and hear us play more songs in one night than ever!!!

Summertime in MN, The sun will shine soon!

Singing for a cause…

This has been a very emotional and rewarding week. After seeing the video I made for my song ‘Peter’ I was approached by Arc of the Greater Twin Cities. This organization supports disabled people and their families. I was always aware of them but had never thought about a deeper connection I would feel to them. They told me how many other siblings and family members of disabled people would be touched by the song and invited me to sing at their annual meeting for volunteers.
They showed the video and I gave a speech about my brother and then sang another song. That was the hard part : )
Anyway I have never felt so embraced by a room full of people. What an amazing day and I will be looking to get more involved in the future with the work they do. I sold 41 CDs and gave half the money to Arc.

My next show is also solo and for another great cause.
Saturday, May 18, 2013

MusicWorks Minnesota will present a benefit concert at The White Bear Lake High School S. Campus Theater on May 18th featuring local ukulele slinging songstress Katy Vernon and modern bluegrass group Erik Brandt and the Urban Hillbilly Quartet.

Through the MusicWorks Minnesota Band Together program, the concert at the White Bear High School theater will aim to raise funds for an artist in residence program for next year to support music in public schoolsWBL Poster.

The event is $10. All proceeds to charity. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online http://bit.ly/14ggucd

I will be selling Cds to raise money for the night. Please help spread the word.

Thanks, Katy x

PS: For any of you in the South part of the Cities, please come to the 318 Bar in Excelsior on Wednesday, May 22. Intimate Katy Vernon Trio Show!

Turf and TV!

This is a busy time. Sorry I haven’t been posting.

This SUNDAY night we play the Turf Club.
TURF CLUB. Sun Mar 24
KATY VERNON | METEOR BOYS | SLUSH PUPPIES
Doors 8:00 PM | $5.00 | Main Stage
Yes, it’s a Sunday but lots of people have Spring break, so maybe you can join us. Fun line up. The Slush Puppies, The Meteor Boys (Who played on my CD) and then the Katy Vernon Trio at 11pm.
Then….
Don’t miss the Katy Vernon Band live on tv!

8:30pm to 9:30pm, Thursday, March 28th, 2013

TC Muzique is a LIVE show, so it will be airing Thursday March 28th, 8:30-9:30 on MTN Channel 17 (cable access) and also online via livestream at www.tcmuzique.org and www.livestream.com/nelharrisonstudios!

This is a super fun show. I was lucky enough to play it with Jim Walsh and the Mad Ripple. In fact that was my first gig ever with the Mad Ripple and the first time I met most of my band mates!

Fun and merry music making will be had by all.

Tune in to see how the new lineup is shaking out and also what dress I decide to wear : )

Newest press

It was pretty exciting to see a new article in the latest issue of White Bear Lake magazine. It’s a new glossy monthly and they ran a lovely picture that my husband took. It’s the same picture we used on the back of the cd cover. The photo was taken in Bayfield, WI. A really nice town on the other side of Lake Superior from Duluth.

The best part of appearing in local press is that kids from school run over to show me and get excited. That is always a fun thing to experience.

http://whitebearlakemag.com/article/katy-vernon/katy-vernons-debut-albumBeautifulKatyonrocks copy

The Driftwood Char Bar…

Hello again. This is a busy month. Just the right way to kick off a new year.

First of all the band will be playing at the Driftwood Char Bar in S. Minneapolis this coming Saturday, Jan 12th. Music starts at 9pm, we play around 10pm.

A funny story about that venue is that it was the first place I ever played a solo show. I was singing backup with The Mad Ripple’ that night and was asked to open. I was hesitant and not at all sure I was up to the task but decided to just go for it! I played for maybe 25 minutes and felt myself shaking throughout but I did it and it was a huge leap for me at the time. No-one booed me off the stage and I didn’t break anything : )

How sweet now then to be returning with my very own band.

Ever since I picked up the ukulele I have tried to live by the motto “Do one thing everyday that scares you”

 

 

New Website!

Hi there. Thanks to the talented Mr. Simon Husbands I now have an official website. I can’t tell you how exciting this is.

It’s still hard for me to put myself out there and talk about myself so darn much, but here goes.

Some of you have asked about my band name. It’s the Katy Vernon Band for now and who knows if that might change. It’s been a long journey getting my name out there though, so it feels right. As many of you know I lost my parents at a young age and it’s inspiring for me to feel like I am carrying on with their name.

None of this past years progress could have happened without the help and talents of my fine musician friends and cohorts. Huge thanks to Kevin Steinman (Who you just have to hear sing at www.kevinsteinman.com) for guiding the process of my solo cd ‘Before I Forget’ and to all the amazing musicians on the record.

I am lucky enough to be able to call them friends and for the most part band mates.

I will be sharing my thoughts, gig updates and other news in this blog. I hope you will enjoy it with me.

In the words of my guru/mentor/friend Jim Walsh “More to come”