 Lakeland PBS presents Common Ground, brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota. Production funding of Common Ground is made possible in part by First National Bank Bemidji, continuing their second century of service to the community, a partnership for generations, member FDIC. I'm producer-director Scott Knudson. In this music episode, singer-songwriter Dennis Warner shares his rich storytelling style. Also, Olivia Skia fiddles outdoors for us in Grand Rapids. Well, I'm Dennis Warner and I'm a singer-songwriter based here in Minnesota. I've spent a lot of time in northern Minnesota. I'm just such a fan of Bemidji and public television and I couldn't miss this opportunity to come here in Bemidji and talk to you today. Acoustic, Americana folk, singer-songwriter, those are all labels I guess that have been upon me throughout my career. I kind of think of myself as just a folk singer, but everybody else sees a little bit something different than what I'm doing. And I kind of like that I'm not genre-specific, you know, that people see different things in me, because that's what music is. You know, you write a song, it's a personal song about something, and then other people interpret it differently. So, if the style is a little bit different too, that's kind of cool and just kind of broadens your audience a little bit too. Well, Sweet Northern Home. I started writing that song as a student here at Bemidji State. And it's sat in a notebook for years, probably a decade before I ever really did anything with it. And we were at our family cabin down by Bacchus, and Tammy and I woke up to this noise of outside. We didn't know what was going on, like six in the morning or five in the morning. We stepped outside and here was an eagle trying to teach its young how to fly or something. There was an adult eagle, and then two baby eagles sitting in the top of the biggest white pine on the lake. And the adult would dip down and come back up, and then the babies would do that, and they were like teaching how to fly. And so then all of a sudden I figured I got to incorporate that in that song. So Sweet Northern Home is written about Northern Minnesota, so that's why I wanted to do that song here. It's very special to this region. There's nothing like the sound of the moor with the sweet smell of balsam and pine Waking up, not feeling hurt In a long sweet northern time How to fly Once and they sing As dawn breaks up in That's where I run to Away from the city life Escaping up in The sunshine Reflects all the magic to The dreams that keep running Just out of each of my hands Still there's one dream I truly believe in And I live it here Again I hold up in Now that's where the city life Escaped in The sunshine And sometimes alone I desire, I desires My sweet north I've been involved in music I think all my life. My dad was a semi-pro country western musician and singer-songwriter And he would always be playing around the house So I'd be singing and probably before I was talking I was singing Always loved music. I kind of started writing my own songs from high school on I didn't necessarily feel that I was writing really good material Until I was well into my thirties probably And then finally got some things figured out And by that time I'd been studying with a lot of great songwriters And taking songwriting workshops out of Nashville with different people One more angel was a song that I wrote for my wife's Tammy's grandpa who died And then some years later here when my mom passed away about three years ago We sang that at her funeral. She always liked that song And we had some of the best musicians in Minnesota show up for her funeral Came and supported me and if you're familiar with Kat Perkin She sang that song with me. I didn't know if I'd be able to make it through If I'd be able to sing at my mom's funeral so she learned it And then I did really well with the emotional state She sang harmony but that just is a very powerful song to me And one more angel With the blossoms of the springtime On the river shimmering in the sun Wailing from a distance And in the hope of the good things yet to come Oh life, life is always changing Never know what's waiting around the bend But I have the, but until then one thing I know Watching over one more star in this peaceful midnight sky Oh there's one more angel watching over me In my heart love never says goodbye On the mountain climbing into the clouds On the field side winding towards the valley And on the wings of the truth where there's no doubt Oh love, love is never changing While the mystery of time continues on But I have the faith we'll meet But until then one thing I know There's one more angel watching over me One more star in this peaceful midnight sky Oh there's one more angel watching over me In my heart love never says goodbye Oh there's one more angel watching over us One more star in this peaceful midnight sky Watching over us love never says goodbye What I discovered happily, it scared me to play for kids They are fantastic, they love to sing, they want to have fun What singing for kids really taught me is to tighten up my show They don't have the patience for me to tune in that 12 string And they could care less if it's slightly out of tune But the experience factor that I get from singing for kids And learning how to be a real performer Prior to doing kids shows I'd been on stage probably 15, 18, 20 years Or something like that before I ever played for kids And I felt like after a couple years of kids programs I felt like I was really becoming a performer and an entertainer So it's really helped my adult shows just playing for kids Beads on one string, it's one of the only kids songs that I've written You know, I think I've written just a few And it was the very first one that I wrote about our connectedness in the world Like beads on a necklace, we're all different colors, sizes and shapes But we're all held together by one string And the song became a book, the book became a curriculum for elementary schools It's used now, gratefully, not only around our country but in other countries as well Trying to teach kids about the negative effects of bullying And the positive effects of feeling this connection that we have to each other It's an important song, it's definitely took my career in a whole different direction From doing just adult shows and family shows And actually doing kids programs and going into elementary schools And talking to them about bully education And trying to be more positive and be in role models and things like that We're all beads on one string Every man needs on one string We're one world I touch, you touch And we feel so misery Plans sometimes key How we love to eat And everyone has to sleep Cause we're all beads on one string Every man needs on one string We're one world So what, so do I We cough, we sneeze Into the same air We trust, we give And we die Sometimes we're gonna lose We hug, and we need cut And we bleed Somehow we discover that we're so much like each other Yes we are, yes we are Leads on one string We're one world Leads on one string Leads on one string One string We're one world Oh yes we are Probably my favorite part of touring is just the act of getting in the car And going, it's the whole process And as I'm talking and mentoring, you know, younger musicians who say Oh I hate touring or I hate staying in hotels and this That's not me, you know, that's all part of what I'm doing If you're gonna be a traveling musician, you're gonna have hotels You know, you're gonna have long drives You're gonna have lack of sleep That's just all part of the process And I've learned to really like most of it And I'm sure there's things that aren't much fun, you know, and you When your car breaks down in Ogallala, Nebraska Or your transmission drops out of the car At Pure South Dakota at five o'clock on a Friday night You know, there's always little challenges that come up You know, if you're home, you know, your furnace goes out Water heater goes out, there's always challenges and things The performance obviously is fun It's great to be up on stage And there's so much more to getting to that point And I've learned to just enjoy all of it while I'm on that journey Thanks so much for watching Join us again next time on Common Ground If you have an idea for Common Ground in North Central Minnesota email us at legacy at lptv.org Or call 218-333-3014 To watch Common Ground online, visit lptv.org And click Local Shows For episodes or segments of Common Ground, call 218-333-3020 Production funding of Common Ground was made possible In part by First National Bank Bemidji Continuing their second century of service to the community A partnership for generations Member FDIC Common Ground is brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund With money by the vote of the people November 4th, 2008