GRAND RAPIDS – Maygen Lacy and Noah Neumann of Maygen & The Birdwatcher brought their trademark harmonies to KAXE’s studio.
The stripped-down performance featured the dual vocalists plus Evan Haukos filling in on fiddle and mandolin. Based in Minneapolis, the group were in Northern Minnesota for a concert that evening in Aitkin.
The trio began their session with “Full Moons,” a song from their 2021 debut album Moonshine. With Lacy singing lead, the song compares the cycles of a relationship to the waxing and waning of the moon.
Next, the group debuted a currently unreleased track called “Jericho." With Haukos switching to fiddle, Neumann took the lead on the somber and sweet melody. According to Lacy, the performance was their first for anyone outside of the band.
They were heading to record new music with Erik Koskinen soon after their visit to Grand Rapids, but there is no time table for the song's official release.
The unreleased music continued with a song inspired by a trip Lacy took to the Smoky Mountains.
"There was just this invasive species, beautiful, most beautiful flower I've ever seen in my life," she said, "I was like what is this? Growing everywhere all over the mountain, by the rivers, this is crazy."
That contrast of the visual beauty and knowing the plant was out of place led her to write "Rhododendron," one of the group's favorites to perform live.
To close out the session the trio went with the rousing "He Ain't Me" from their latest release, the Bootleggin' At The Flower Shoppe EP.
Listen to the complete interview with all four performances above.
Centerstage Minnesota, Fridays at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. on KAXE/KBXE, is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
