Welcome back to the Truth in His Art, your source for conversations at the intersection of arts, culture, and community. I am your host, Rob Lee. I'm so happy to be here with you today. And, this is part of my media partnership with Baltimore Magazine. Thank you for your continued support.
Rob Lee:Today, I am super excited to be in conversation with 2 guests. Together, they cofounded Sonic Lifeline, a platform providing musicians with unrestricted expression and created they created the Hemingway Room in Little Havana in the Key Highway area of Baltimore, which is a intimate jazz space that fosters deep connections between artists and audiences. Please welcome Eric Baldy and Nick Moreland. Welcome to the podcast.
Ed Baldi:Rob, thanks for having us. We're really thrilled with the opportunity, and thanks for reaching out to us. Yeah.
Nick Moreland:Thanks for having us on. We appreciate you taking an interest in in what we've been doing, in the music scene. So cheers cheers to you for that.
Rob Lee:Absolutely. It's it's it's great to to be able to to chat and, you know, I'll I'll get this out of the way early, because I'm I'm gonna touch it probably a little bit later. But, you know and when I started this podcast, back in 2019, I I was always on a sort of wave of where where are the jazz conversations? You know what I mean? And so it's always been baked in either I'm reaching out to folks that I know who are musicians or even last year, you know, for what April Jazz Appreciation Month.
Rob Lee:I was in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC interviewing folks who are musicians, jazz champions has always been. So I'm super happy to be able to have the 2 of you on.
Ed Baldi:That's amazing. That's amazing. You know? And, you know, look. Putting, you know, putting Baltimore on that in that map is part of part of one of our part of our mission, right, is to keep Baltimore in the in that in in the jazz icons of cities that you have to talk about, right, when you talk about it.
Ed Baldi:And, you know, look. Maybe we're not always top of people's mind, but something we're working on trying to change.
Rob Lee:Absolutely. Absolutely. So to to sort of set the stage, let's go back a little bit. Again, thank you both for being here. And to start things off, I'd love it for each of you to to introduce yourselves because you both have distinct backgrounds yourselves because you both have distinct backgrounds outside of Sonic Lifeline that come together.
Rob Lee:So if you will, Ed, could you start, and then we'll go down to Nick. Sure.
Ed Baldi:Sure. I've been in in live live entertainment, live production for almost 30 years now. Started my career in the theater as a stage manager doing the, you know, the New York crowd of the Broadway and off Broadway, and that transitioned into some film and television opportunities and ultimately into the live event production space. Mainly on the corporate side of things, but I work for a lot of fortune 100 companies doing their, you know, their their conventions or live shows that have incorporate staging and concerts and etcetera, etcetera. So it's, you know, very, fulfilling from a production standpoint, career path, and I've been very fortunate, to that it's, you know, it's been a it's been a good, it's been a good run for me.
Ed Baldi:And the, you know, I think, not to jump ahead, but I think the last 4 years, it disrupted a lot of people. Right? And after they would put all I think if you don't come away from the, you know, our recent times change in some way, you've missed some opportunity. So for me, taking all that experience of my professional career and putting it into the sonic lifeline, which we created during that time, has really opened up a completely new chapter for me personally and professionally. I wish I could be doing this all the time, full time, every day.
Rob Lee:Thank you. Nick?
Nick Moreland:Yeah. So, I'm like a, a full time, self taught photographer that used to be a musician. So I kinda started out on the musician side of things. So I I really kinda emphasize and I really can kinda, like, I really know where the musicians are are coming from and and the amount of time and talent and skill it takes to get to the level that they're at.
Rob Lee:Sure.
Nick Moreland:And that kinda translates over into my photography too. But but yeah. So, I used to play guitar and bass, and, I used to produce a lot of music. I would I would basically play all the instruments myself and and record it at my house, and just really fell in love with that process. And then I transitioned at some point in my life, that's a whole another story, where I went fully into photography, but with music as kind of a cornerstone of, what I was documenting.
Nick Moreland:Like, the the local music scene was like my muses when I really was exploring, and doing the most meaningful photography work. So the fact that I could bring that kind of angle Yeah. And where it meets the the skills that my uncle has, they'll be able to come full circle and bring them into this this kind of world that we've kind of been building, over the past few years is, is really fulfilling. So
Ed Baldi:Yeah. Rob, did we mention that we're that we're related, or did you mention that? I missed that.
Rob Lee:Oh, no. No. Yeah. You yeah. So talk about that a little bit because that's another piece of it where when when you're when you're working together, when you're collaborating, you're you're bringing those skill set that it's even more interesting and maybe for some people, more more challenging when it's like, and we're related.
Rob Lee:Like, you know, they say, yeah. Are you are you working with your wife? I'm like, oh. Well, are you working with your brother? Oh.
Ed Baldi:And, you know, it's interesting. This was, like, a a natural progression. I'm a I'm a I'm a few years older than Nick. I mean, you know, Nick's but, but, Nick is my nephew, on my wife's side of the family. And, you know, I think we I like you know, Nick, we we always connected from on from, you know, when when we first met, but which may have been at your high school graduation.
Ed Baldi:I don't remember exactly. But it could
Nick Moreland:Or jamming or, you know, jamming in your studio, playing music together.
Ed Baldi:That's right. Nick.
Nick Moreland:I Special bond.
Ed Baldi:So Yeah. Abs absolutely. But but, you know, always, you know, as being being I'm a creative person and working in production field, always, you know, watching Nick's professional career take shape, you know, over the recent years has been, you know, really phenomenal to to watch. And and trying to support it however however I was able to. I probably, you know, my career path was there was no straight line, right, as as you entered the theater and the arts.
Ed Baldi:And I think that was a big takeaway for me. It's like you just one door opens and then up and you go through it and see where that leads. And and I think I've always tried to and working with anyone, especially family or young or young people in general, try to encourage, like, just, you know, be open to opportunities that that and people that inspire you or that'll work around that are around you, that that you you want to learn from and and be around. So I watched I've been able to watch Nick do that with his first his music and then his photography. So seeing that take off has been a real amazing an amazing pleasure.
Ed Baldi:But, when this this came about, you know, we both love getting out in the woods. We both camp.
Nick Moreland:Okay. Well,
Ed Baldi:I like to drive in the woods. Nick actually likes to hike in the woods. He's, again, a bit younger than I am. So, but when this, you know, this opportunity came up during the during those pandemic years when, you know, my a lot of our for for many people, like I mentioned, that many people found ourselves at a at a transitional moment, a moment of crisis for some, right, for many. But we we, enjoyed getting out into the wilderness as as much as possible during during that time.
Ed Baldi:And and I think, Nick, you you were doing a lot of live streams from from small locations for musicians or all the musician friends that we have who couldn't perform anymore. I have a lot of people, right, were streaming from their homes, home studios, porch shows. Right? And and Nick was was was involved with that and kinda invited me in because I've had all of a sudden had a lot of time in my hands, you know, to to come partake in that and and and help produce these these live streams, kind of how it started. And then, and we were fortunate in that time that that one of the one of the owners at this establishment called Little Habanas, which is in in Baltimore, around the harbor, is is a dear friend of mine, a friend a friend and neighbor from, from here in Baltimore.
Ed Baldi:And right around that as these worlds converge, he was like, you know, we have this empty this room that we built out right at the beginning of the COVID years that's empty. Gee, what can we do with it? And it was like, you you know, I think walking in that room and and feeling the vibe and hearing the acoustics going, wow. This room was really meant for for for kind of one thing. So sitting around the campfire with Nick going, hey.
Ed Baldi:What if we did this at this space? Nick's well, Nick's like, oh, well, I I got the musicians. You got the you know, it's like, you know, it's really that kind of that kind
Nick Moreland:of
Ed Baldi:approach, of of collaboration. Right? Of it should've came together.
Nick Moreland:Yeah. And it it it kinda started on such a high note because I I think because I was already immersed in the scene. We have this brand new thing that no one's heard of that we're just starting to create, but I had a little bit of, the kind of street cred just because people had seen me around, like, during the pandemic times and everything to shut down trying to trying to document the music and, like, kinda set up these kinda gorilla type shows and, kinda live streams. So our our first show was it was it was like a freak freak blizzard in, like, April, and we still sold it out with Herb Scott and, like, an incredible lineup. So to have to have that to to to start on such a high note was was also awesome too.
Nick Moreland:It's like, you know, we didn't know exactly what's gonna happen going into it, and just it was just unbelievable feeling to walk into that room and and and to see all the people there and and and to feel like, okay, this is it. This is the first step. This is, like, the first turning of the wheel. So
Ed Baldi:But that's that's when things were opening back up and we were allowed to do live shows again because before that
Nick Moreland:Oh, yeah.
Ed Baldi:You were doing the, the record shop live streams with some incredible musicians. Yeah.
Nick Moreland:I don't know what I was doing. I I like to credit myself with there'll never be a time again in history where you could get musicians of that caliber to come on a Friday night and play for, like, $20 of store credit for, like, cassette tapes and vinyl records. Like like, literally, everything was shut down and, like, there was no clubs to play at all. And then, you know, the the owner of the record shop nonchalantly asked me one day, he's like, what if we produce shows here? He's like, I got a grant, just write down on a piece of paper the gear we need, And then every everything showed up.
Nick Moreland:He's like, alright. You better teach yourself how to use a mixing board and whatever, and and I expect bands every week. And then I think we did, like, 15 shows, but it was like, like pre Columbian music from the Andes, from, like, Bolivia and Peru, and then Go Go, and then, jazz, and then, like, neo souls. So, like like, I always was trying to, kinda represent the different communities in in the DC music scene. So that's kind of how I kind of got addicted to what we're doing now, because I'm I was coming in there as a photographer, and now I had to wear all these hats, but then, like, I really, respected the the what goes into making a successful production feel a certain way and sound a certain way, and intangible things that when you come in the room, that just kind of digest them outside of the sounds that you're hearing.
Nick Moreland:It's it's a whole whole experience that that that that you're trying to craft, and that's what I really got an appreciation for when I, like, dove head first into it. Yeah. Yeah. If that makes
Ed Baldi:makes sense.
Rob Lee:It does. It does. And I and I want for the because because because I didn't mention it, because I wanna go for for the benefit, and we'll go into this next question for the benefit of the listeners, what we're talking about. We're talking about the the Hemingway room. That's the other thing.
Rob Lee:Like, we touched on, like, little Havana. We talked we touched on sort of, you know, some of the the early performances, sort of that, the period of having these streams and what becomes now, which is in its 2nd year. Right? Sort of the the Hemingway room. And I'll I'll comment on this one thing, that I thought is really interesting that that 2020, you know, period on forward, everyone got really ingenious, a lot of ingenuity figuring things out.
Rob Lee:Like, you know, I'm learning how to use different mixers myself to do what I'm doing at home, and, you know, this podcast really kinda took off in that that time frame as well. Like, you know, I talk about it, you know, in 5 years. So we're talking 2019 when this podcast started. I'm my my 800th episode as we're recording this comes out tomorrow.
Nick Moreland:And Wow. Congrats on that.
Ed Baldi:Appreciate it. Yeah. Amazing.
Rob Lee:And a lot of that is from the home studio, figuring it out because we're unable to, you know, be in person. And, you know, it's it's something about them being able to take some of those ideas out of necessity. I I heard sort of those porch concerts. I still see those. I think those are really cool and really some it's an it's a unique and intimate way of doing it and seeing people use sort of parameters and, like, these barriers.
Rob Lee:Like, let's say, you have the biggest arena. You can, you know, kinda do certain things. But if it's like, I got a porch. I'm gonna get this double bass in here. I'm gonna go get this mixer and these speakers.
Rob Lee:These all of this in there. So it's kind of creative problem solving with the parameters that are there and being able to take that once we're able to be back in the same space with each other is beautiful. And one of the other things I I heard before moving into this this next question is sort of where that collaboration works, you know, with the 2 of you and sort of both having these similar interests and seeing, like, having the, you know, what I heard from Nick hearing the having the the background as a musician and having sort of being in the scene and kinda kinda doing storytelling, but through this understanding of artists and being able to leverage sort of that background. And for Ed, your your background in in life production, live event production, those things coming together being, like, equally yoked. And it's like, I'm gonna leverage my skill set, leverage yours, and see where we meet.
Rob Lee:You know? It's it's Reese's. It's it's peanut butter and chocolate.
Ed Baldi:Well, you know, the the the the name even, you know, the calling the Sonic lifeline, you know, even the beginning, I was like, I think it's hard it's hard to We think back now. It's just such recent history, but, like, what to put yourself in the mindset of what it was like back in those years of, right, of uncertainty for many people. Right? Or just, and so it really was a lifeline for musicians, for for ourselves, and and the so this the name itself is very meaningful to me to me, personally. I think it was meant to to to really give an opportunity for for for artists to be able to play and perform and and the la you know, Nick and I wanted to create those spaces and those opportunities.
Ed Baldi:That was a lifeline. I don't know what else I would be doing. It literally saved saved saved me during that that period, you know, mentally in many ways. So I want I wanted to to get that across. I think that that was an important part.
Ed Baldi:And I think coming out of that was, I looked around the city. I live here in Baltimore and at Nicks Town, DC. Right? And I had been travel I was on the road a lot before that. I was my career had me out of town.
Ed Baldi:And so now I'm in in town looking at my kids who are going to school here and and the community I live in and realizing I I didn't do enough wasn't involved enough in our in our city or where I lived, in a city that needs that needs all of us to be involved if you live here. I think then, and I didn't know I didn't know I mean, I didn't know where I could let I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to lend my skills or where to jump in. I only knew how how to do shows, how to put on shows. And and I felt in some way that that the city we I needed this.
Ed Baldi:City needed this. The the musicians need needed this, and it was the only way I knew to help to be really get involved and say, let's build let's get people in a room together. And I said this the other the other night, at the show. I try I try and since every show, like, I think it's really by by some design, trying to get people from different parts of the city in a room together to hear a really positive sound coming from our city. Yeah.
Ed Baldi:Not just the sounds and stories I heard as I traveled the world and people said, oh, you live in Baltimore? Oh, well, here's what we know of Baltimore. Right? It's like, oh, well, so so I felt a duty. I still feel I feel a duty to try and to promote from within, from from this community we have and the musicians and the artists we have.
Ed Baldi:That that's a a big piece of what we do. And, you know, even to this, like, you know, Nick and I, I love talk. It's great. Thank you for letting us talk about it, but we try and make that story and the musicians and the experience around that, the that's the that should be under the spotlight, not necessarily Nick and I. We're we're behind the scenes, hopefully, making it happen.
Rob Lee:That's that's a good point. And and thank you for that because it's it's baked into, you know, what I'm doing here. I'm based in Baltimore as well. I spend time in Philly, spend time in DC. I was actually just in DC the other day, and I was like, this is moving around too much.
Rob Lee:But it is one of those things where when I go to a different city, I was recently in Columbus to do some comic thing. Right? Because talking to so many different people, different artists, different creative folks, different people with and from different communities. And I felt, you know, I had to had to slag off the, you know, Browns and and and and Cleveland and all of that stuff because that's where I was at in Columbus. And I think it was a Saturday, and I was like, oh, yeah.
Rob Lee:You guys got football, big football town, and had to throw my Ravens dig in. But, you know, sorta used it as an opportunity to dispel some of that, you know, anti Baltimore sentiment or that ill informed Baltimore sentiment. And just under the guys that we have a lot of creativity there, which is always left out of the conversation, a lot of different scenes. And, you know, I know this is a question that's gonna come up, you know, I might as well get to it now that, you know, as I was talking about traveling, there's Baltimore, there's DC, there's Philly. And, you know, as I was sharing before we got started that and a little bit when we we were we were talking earlier that, you know, I've done these interviews through this sort of lens of arts, culture, community, but specifically in those cities with, you know, jazz, with music.
Rob Lee:And there's sort of this pipeline. Right? There's sort of this interactive thing that's there. And cities, in in my opinion, have a lot of similarities. They're they're unique, but they have a lot of similarities.
Rob Lee:So from your perspectives, you know, what is what does that look like as far as the the the where the cities may be overlap through sort of this lens of jazz and this lens of performing arts overall? Where do the cities sort of overlap?
Ed Baldi:I'm really glad you brought that up. And then, look, and I'm not an authority on this. So, you know, I can only speak from my hands on experience of recent and talk and what I've learned from so many incredible musicians. You've mentioned some of them, Lionel Lyles, who was on your show, Brandon Woody, you know, Clarence Ward. Right?
Ed Baldi:I've learned so much from speaking with the artists here. I've I feel a real and I know one of your questions, what's next for Sonic's Lifeline? So I'm I'm gonna you're you're hitting on 2 topics because I do you know, the the the pipeline you talked about, which was thriving in a big piece of jazz history, music history here on these coasts, Baltimore sound, Philly sound, New York sound, right, DC sound, I'm I'm gonna get there in a moment. I'm gonna thread this together, Robin, away. Yeah.
Ed Baldi:You you know, as we wanna expand, you know, the the artists that we have here and say, oh, let's let's do a show. I grew up. I'm originally from New Jersey. Right? I'd let's let's do a show.
Ed Baldi:Let's I wanna bring musicians up there and kinda spread the sound of what we're doing here. One of the biggest challenges be becomes in the ex the costs, the expense of putting on a fully produced show in another city and moving the musicians, you know, but, you know, by the time they put the expensive hotel or transportation, right, that's they should be getting paid many times what they're getting paid for these performances. So to your point of it's how do we how do we regenerate this pipeline that musicians can move among the cities at minimal expense to allow them to be able to play at venues like the Hemingway or or or Smalls in New York or or or Blues Alley and then
Nick Moreland:all of all
Ed Baldi:of you know, the just just kind of re all link link us all together and recreate an easy way for them to move through the system and allow us as producers, promoters to to invite musicians from other from those those sister cities. Right? Yeah. So the it's a really I don't have an answer to it. I have a couple ideas which were in the works of further developing Yeah.
Ed Baldi:That maybe on the next podcast we can talk about.
Nick Moreland:Absolutely. But,
Ed Baldi:but it's a it's a very big it's constantly on our mind because, we really wanna take the Baltimore sound outside and bring it on the road as well as have the Philly sound come visit us. We the last weekend, we in our Hemingway Hemingway room lineup, we try and have a weekend that is that is musicians coming to Baltimore to give them a welcoming experience of our city. And we had some incredible musicians coming up down from New York or or or like, should be all okay from a couple different place.
Nick Moreland:Anyway, that's South Carolina. Yeah. South Carolina, New York. So
Ed Baldi:I I digress, Rob. I'm sorry, but that's a really wonderful topic that, you know, that is. And I love that you've been to those cities and interviewed the musicians in those cities. I think there's some, there's probably some more collaboration for you and
Rob Lee:I to talk about about linking all this together. Absolutely. And, you know, and and, Nick, you were you were touching on a BLO a little bit. So talk a bit about that, like, sort of bring that together and and more so even the the curation and the scheduling of these shows. And one I'll say, I had a great time.
Rob Lee:I was able to go to the Friday show, the first show.
Nick Moreland:Oh, awesome.
Rob Lee:And I was I I great time. I enjoyed I enjoyed my old fashioned in the back. I was writing copious notes. I had a had a great time. It was amazing.
Rob Lee:The I I felt like I was being whisked off into, like, this exclusive room. I was like, am I underdressed? What am I what am I doing? And the the fog machine was a was a really good touch as well, and it just felt like I know I'm in Baltimore. Right?
Rob Lee:And, you know, I'm definitely a big Baltimore advocate, but also I felt like I was being transferred to, like, just a different place and the music was a part of it. It was just such a really cool experience and I raved about it over the weekend. So in building out sort of what that experience looks like and what you're aiming for, What what comes to mind, and what's the the curation process of, like, these are who these are the folks I know. These are the folks that I can kinda get. Talk a bit about that.
Nick Moreland:Yeah. So and I've got to excuse me. Another little bit of fire engines coming down the street. So, there's, like, so many different ways I could, you know, go through the series of with who I booked. So it's kind of like, I'll make a huge list, and I'll sit down and I'll kinda map out in my head.
Nick Moreland:I'm like, alright. If we went in this direction, then what would the next show be? And then what would the next weekend be? And then, we kinda look at it now as, like, seasons. So we're trying to map out, like, what is the fall season gonna be?
Nick Moreland:And then I think we try to go for an artist every season that's like someone that's from out of town, like, like I was talking about that we that that we could bring down here. And, I booked trying to get Luke Stewart to come down because he's kinda like a friend of mine I've had for years, really heavy in the avant garde scene, like, always traveling to Europe and always traveling all over the place. And, like, it's like him and BLO would just be such a crazy combo. Like, I don't think anyone's done that here. So I was like, that that was kind of the reasoning behind that that whole weekend, the the Friday, Saturday.
Nick Moreland:It's almost like the the BLO show and and and the Luke show, I I kinda thought of them as like a package of, like, you know, 2 completely different shows that will complement each other that are a little bit outside, of what some of our other shows have sounded like in the past. Like, we've never had a band like BLO or like Luke Stewart in our series. So it was like, completely new experience, all the way around, and the fact that they were both available on those dates. I'm like, we just this has gotta gotta happen. This has gotta gotta be on the calendar.
Nick Moreland:So, I hope that answers it, but it's kinda like, like when I curate, you know, there's so many aspects of jazz. There's the neo soul, the the Latin jazz, there's the more avant garde stuff, there's the straight ahead, there's, you know, even like Ethiopian and like Brazilian jazz. So it's like, I never want someone to come and feel like they have the same exact experience. I've seen the same exact band. So I just I try to add the different flavors, and like the different kind of seasonings, to it so that it's not just, just one thing every time, all the time, you know.
Nick Moreland:Yeah. So it all falls under the umbrella of jazz. That's such a broad, kinda umbrella, especially in this area with all the different communities that are are playing that music. So
Ed Baldi:Yeah. Rob, that ties into I think also if you, you know, join us again at the at the show, you'll see that even, you know, you know, that room that room that the Hemingway room specifically, it's it's the setup of that, the design of that room is is very bespoke to to that audience. Right? We stage goes away, but every time we bring in, it's reconfigured to go, what works well for that performance? Right?
Ed Baldi:The shape of the stage, the way we kind of configure it, the the the way Nick lights it. Right? So there's there's there's definitely, a lot of thought into the whole that whole experience, that that fits the audience. And and the fact that if you go in that room the next day and it there's nothing in that room, and you go, wasn't there something here last night? Nope.
Ed Baldi:It's all gone.
Nick Moreland:Or, you know, it's like a baby shower or like a Yeah. Right. You know, it it could be a could be anything not related to jazz. So Well,
Ed Baldi:probably worth mentioning BLO is, Brock Lanzetti Ogawa of of, of of Snarky Puppy, Incredible, the violinist, guitarist, and percussionist. And, mister Lazard, the with the that's the second time we had the pleasure of working with them, and I hope there's many more opportunities with them. It's just a really incredible sound and wonderful people to to work with.
Rob Lee:Yeah. They they were they were great. And just, you know, go going into something, I and I think even, you know, as far as sort of the the the sort of the the the the talk, the the sort of coverage at the beginning and sort of the coverage, you know, I have to be between, sets. This this notion is this this this concept and this belief and goal of having folks in the same room. Like, you know, that's the thing that I kept thinking of, and I try to go in doing events like doing live.
Rob Lee:Because I I thought about the room for a podcast as another one of those things that the room can be configured for, but thinking about, like, movie nights and different events and getting into the production side of things, it's kind of a hard pull to get folks to come out. But once you have them coming out, and then it's just, like, a really, really good time. And as I said, you know, I raved about it when I was down there in DC. I was in Anacostia the next morning, and, you know, I was talking with my partner. I was like, yo, we gotta do family jazz night.
Rob Lee:We're gonna go here. We're gonna go to the Hemingway room. You know, we're not gonna have cigars, but we could. It's gonna be great.
Ed Baldi:And
Rob Lee:Yeah. And really just raving about it. And, you know, for me, and I think for a lot of folks, you know, we we have those sort of economic things. We have those sort of time things. It's easier not to do something than to do something.
Rob Lee:So when one does something, it's just like, if it if it's good and it hits, it's like, I wanna come back and I wanna come to the next one, and I wanna see what else is planned. And that's what I was thinking through when I was going going through, like, coming up with these questions. And one of the other things that I think stuck out when when doing some of the preparation and the research that that sticks out, and I think it's it's it's baked into how how the 2 of you, like, build out sort of these shows, but also even the curation and all of really finding artists that are as as Nick was touching on that are that that hit different parts of this sort of full spectrum, this umbrella of jazz, but also that you can let Cook. That you can, like, kinda do their thing. Like, it's that sort of trust there.
Rob Lee:It's like, you're gonna show up because look. When I was talking about booking some musicians at one point, I got, like, 15 interviews. It was supposed to be 25. There's a lot of no shows. You know?
Rob Lee:I'm not gonna make any names.
Nick Moreland:So, you
Rob Lee:know, finding sort of the the right mix and the right people who just crush it, you know, that's another thing that I I thought. You have any comments or any insights on that?
Ed Baldi:We look at our we're not a venue. I think that's number 1. Like, we're not we we don't wanna be. We're not just a venue. We're we the artist that we develop relationships with or any with that we work with, we wanna be viewed as a as a produce a coproducer of that experience that evening.
Ed Baldi:You know, every show we do is multitracked. So beyond the show, we spend time. We make sure that the artist walks away with a really nice mix of that show that they can do what they hopefully, put it out there. You know? We want the library to live on afterwards as we develop the library and work with artists in the future on what they want to do with that library.
Ed Baldi:So, the the a lot of thought into the the how that evening looks. So and I think that that is something as we, you know, as we work more and more to peep to people, oh, it's not just a show. Right? We're not. And I this is I've said this before, but, you know, we're not jazz brunch.
Ed Baldi:Right?
Nick Moreland:We're not
Ed Baldi:jazz brunch in many places, and you should. And the more venues that offer that are that pay musicians to play, there should be because that that's a the I love it. Right? But we just we're a little a little different, and we we go into other venues to do that. That we have the fortune we're the good fortune of the Hemingway room being our kinda home base and the good fortune of our friends at Little Havana offering that to us.
Ed Baldi:We we we do a we curate a a jam session every Tuesday night in DC at a place called Whitlow that that Joe Palmer hosts, incredible Joe Palmer on. And we try and create a similar vibe of artist centric experience where and, again, this this you know, you're talking to Nick and I, so it's a lot about us tonight, but I think, it's really trying to create that create that stage and give them that stage exactly like you said where they can cook. Right? And and, you know, as an audience, I I'm gonna go back back back in the when I moved to Baltimore, it was been almost 17 years now. There was a club called club 347.
Ed Baldi:It was near the near Mercy Hospital, and it was a little it's a parking lot now, I have to say. Many of the people in the jazz community around here will know 347. It was, a place where a lot of people, like, I I hear now from paid their dues there. And I was just an audience member. We go there and walked away feeling like I had just left, you know, Madison Square Garden.
Ed Baldi:Right? The the musicians that that came there and the the experience that I had and the music I heard and the and the the emotion, they the cook, they cooked on stage the entire time. And and I it that always stuck with me all these years. So when now we have the opportunity to try and recreate a little bit of that stuff, that magic that somehow happened on those nights of those jam sessions, that that's very important. I think it happened because you give the space to the musicians to feel at home, to be at home, to not think about you're here to entertain an audience.
Ed Baldi:Okay? Yes. We love having an audience. It helps make all this possible, but it really is creating a space for musicians to give us the opportunity to peer behind that curtain and experience something that we don't always get to see. That's if we can do that, we've, I think, done our job.
Ed Baldi:So that that's that's kind of the to me is is, you know, creating that place where people can come together and just, wow, how did that happen? You know? That's that's what we're trying to create.
Rob Lee:It's great.
Nick Moreland:And, you know, and and it's not like there's there's certain venues that these guys play at, and they gotta play standards, they gotta play tunes, or there's, like, a certain repertoire that they're kind of caged in here. I mean, you can play a song for 30 minutes. You can play a song for 20 minutes. It could be completely spontaneous. It could be, you know, like, there's no pressure to play anything besides what you wanna play.
Nick Moreland:So it's like, it gives them the ultimate freedom to play, like, without the the the, yeah, the limitations of, like, having to stay within a certain box. Yeah. They can create whatever box they want to when they're in the room.
Rob Lee:That's good. That's that's a that's a really good point. And, yeah, before I move into this this sort of last question, I got some rapid fire questions for the 2 of you. But, yeah, that's that's a really good point. Like, when I think those best situations, like, I I was sharing a bit of sort of my, experience when I interviewed Lionel.
Rob Lee:You know, Lyles, it was sort of a weekend of doing, Artscape and doing a bunch of interviews and I'm like this is something that I haven't really done and there were some nerves and this is a new sort of setup and, you know, I have this to protect me from, you know, my flubs or what have you, but doing it in person and doing it right after the performance is just a whole different setup. And, you know, the folks that booked me, you know, from from BOPA, it wasn't, you know, one of those things that we need you to ask these specific questions in this way and so on. It was just like, hey. We trust you. We we know you know what you're doing.
Rob Lee:You know, who did you book? You know, pretty much let me do my home own thing sort of empowering the the the the artist in this instance. So I have your the the performer in this instance to to do their thing. And I felt like that was a really one enriching moment for me to do something, you know, that I had some nerves about, some trepidation around, and really being able to take it to that next stage. I felt empowered, I guess, is the point I'm getting at.
Rob Lee:And I would imagine sort of the way that you're describing this approach with Hemingway, Rome, and the artists that are involved, there's just like, hey. We know what you're doing. Do your thing.
Ed Baldi:Rob, the name of your podcast is the the the truth
Rob Lee:In this art. Yes.
Ed Baldi:You cannot get to truth in art unless you, I think, free have the freedom to find that truth. And I think that's kind of what you've created in your podcast and what we're trying to create here.
Rob Lee:That's a really good point. Thank you. So I wanna move into this last question, and, you know, we were we were teasing this a little bit, and this is probably sort of, to be continued, but I at least wanna get, a sense. So this is, you know, sort of the as we're recording this, there this is the, you know, towards the the ending of this this year. Is it the end of year 2?
Rob Lee:Is it sort of continuation of year 2? And sort of the second part of that question, what was the the key learnings, I guess, from year 1 to year 2, you know, as far as putting on these shows and and and and and really just growing it?
Ed Baldi:Yeah. I, well, the you know, this is, I think, like Nick mentioned earlier, being able to booking
Nick Moreland:it
Ed Baldi:as a thinking of it as a season was a was a learning because because look. As as generous as little Havana is and, you know, coordinating with them to take over that room on fixed fixed dates it's something I have to work hard with them because, you know, if it's, you know, spring and wedding season and, like Nick mentioned, a wedding party comes in and wants to book that room, guess what? There's no jazz that night. Right? It's like so right.
Ed Baldi:You know? And look. They're they're extremely supportive of it. And, so so what one thing we learned over the years that you know, trying to get get a consistent audience. Because other thing, you know, this is completely self produced between Nick and I as a Sonic Life line.
Ed Baldi:We operate that the, you know, it's not this is not a pay to play for the artist. This is not how many people you can bring. This is we we're the I, we operate like we're the Kennedy Center, but we're not. You know? But, so so, unfortunately, if there's 5 people in the audience, that's that's on us.
Ed Baldi:That's not on the artist. Right? So building a consistent audience has been a bit a bit of a challenge. And part of that may have been, you know, we're not we didn't have consistent dates. So this fall was the first time we were able to say every 3rd Friday Saturday, we're gonna do a show.
Ed Baldi:Yeah. And and I say that and with some sadness that in November, we've had to change the dates. It was supposed to be November 15, 16th. We've had to change the date to November 23rd for the next show, and that is simply out of Nick and I and Mark professional careers. And, you know, a work opportunity came up for me, and it's I, unfortunately, not, you know, have to go and and travel and and and we had to change
Nick Moreland:you couldn't refuse. An offer couldn't refuse.
Rob Lee:So we're
Ed Baldi:not we we're not at that level yet, Rob, where we can turn down other other work, but we won't we'll get there. We'll get there eventually. But, so I think learnings have been consistent that the audience the community would like more consistency as when this is happening, how do we find it. Yeah. The art I think we we I would we could be booking shows more than just, you know, twice 2 weekends a month.
Ed Baldi:We would love to. There's so many incredible musicians out there we wanna continue to work with. So that's that's a big piece of it, as well, I think, of of a learning. Right? Just trying to do do more.
Ed Baldi:Right? And then,
Nick Moreland:you know, for me, I feel like, you know, I'm always going to jazz clubs in DC and always going to new spaces, and I'm on with I'm I'm kind of on, like, reconnaissance missions in a way where I see the things that I really love and enjoy about these spaces, but then also maybe things that could be improved in certain ways, and and and how I can take what I'm learning from all these spaces that exist around us. And and and and use those lessons, and experiencing these shows, the the better what we're doing here. And just just just take back little pieces of of of all those, things I've been experiencing over the past 2 years. Because I'm, I'm kinda in the position where, you know, I have my business, but when I'm not working, I'm seeing him use it. Like, I'm in the scene as as as as deep as I can possibly be.
Nick Moreland:So that that kinda keeps keeps, you know, keeps my ear to the streets a little bit to to see what's trending, what's what's happening, and and and where where things are going in this area. So
Ed Baldi:Rob, may maybe something again, future collaboration stuff for us can you talk about. You know? It's, it would be interesting because because, you know, we're not I'm sure we're not the only ones that think like this, right, a a a better approach to to the way we're doing this. I would love to build a coalition, amongst, you know, of the like minded promoters, producers, and club and club owners throughout, you know, up and down these coasts and other cities. Right?
Rob Lee:And sort
Ed Baldi:of, you know, sort of continue this discussion about how do how do we con together, you know, create more opportunities to move musicians up and down the East Coast and share these sounds and and rebuild that that that pipeline that once existed. Something we'd love to continue that conversation with, with you and and see if we can get some others involved in that conversation.
Rob Lee:I think that I think that would be good. I think it's I think it's I think it's a really good a good thing, a good approach because, I think, sorta in the and and I definitely relate as far as the seasons. I relate as far as being consistent, figuring out ways to have folks come out. Like, you know, there's a volume thing. I'm always working.
Rob Lee:I'm always putting out some stuff. But, you know, I started thinking of things very much through seasons and, you know, I'm planning out sort of my next season. And it's gonna be very tight, very consistent and, you know, literally just 1 per week. You know? No.
Rob Lee:A new thing is popping up versus, man, you might get 3 this week. You might get 5 next week. I do a lot. And it's, you know, kinda kinda bringing that down a bit, you know, which is not really my choice, but it's like this is sort of a thing that makes sense to be able to extend and expand and do other things that are of interest to move the needle and to stretch sort of the boundaries of what I'm doing creatively. And, yeah, I think, you know, sort of the learning from one stage to the next is really important and definitely the the seasons are a piece and how one defines it and how one, you know, connects.
Rob Lee:Because this is I I always joke about it, but it's it's a lot of truth in it that this is a collaborative art project. You know, like, when I have folks on there, some folks who they got nothing. I'm like, this is this is gonna be pulling teeth. And there are other folks who talk more than me, and it makes it like, am I even known as podcast? So it's it's sort of one of those things, you know.
Rob Lee:And it's it's it's just trying to, like, figure it out and find it. But the the point is, and and I'm, you know, kinda close out on this, it's about those, you know, those reps. You're able to get those reps in, you learn from each one of those reps. And I love what you were saying there, Nick, about kinda being on those reconnaissance missions. When I go into other cities, I'm like, alright.
Rob Lee:How can I steal this and bring it back to Baltimore? How can I make And, yeah? So that's that's that's really great, and I'm really happy of the the work that the 2 of you are are doing and sort of the mission and, you know, continued success. This is this is great stuff. And, so with that, wanna move into 2 2 rapid fire questions, you know, in these 6 five moments that we have here.
Rob Lee:Now I give you this preface. You don't wanna overthink these. You know? It's kinda like that saying. It's like, I said what I said.
Rob Lee:You know? Alright. Hey, guys. Rob Lee here chiming in the middle of the podcast, and we'll be right back to that in a moment. But I wanted to remind you that if you're following me on Instagram, and I hope you are the truth in his heart, make sure that you explore the links, link in bio.
Rob Lee:I know that people always talk about follow me, link in bio, and all of that. But there's some valuable stuff in there such as a survey for my newsletter. You've probably received the newsletter, and if not, definitely sign up for it. There's some interesting stuff there. We have profiles of certain guests.
Rob Lee:We have sort of, you know, curated episodes because we're we're we're around 800 right now. And, it's a lot to go through, and all of them won't be available on every platform all the time. So being able to revisit and go back there, to check out those episodes is important. So definitely check out the survey. Let us know what you think of the newsletter and what you would like to have included in there, and, continue to make this podcast, yours as as well as mine's.
Rob Lee:And, yeah, back to the podcast, Rapid Fire. When spirits are down, right, like, you know, we all have those moments of, like, man, I didn't book that person or, you know, for me, that podcast didn't go well. Without fail, what boosts your spirits? Is it a song? Is it cat videos?
Rob Lee:Is it a good meal? What brings up your spirits when you're down, especially when it's something creative?
Nick Moreland:For me, it's, it's nature. You know? Like, if I have the opportunity, it's running on the trails. I do crazy 40, 50 mile bike rides. I go sit by the river.
Nick Moreland:I go out in the mountains. Like, so for me, that's that's how I recharge from, like, an extremely stimulating week of sometimes gig after gig, and then going and producing shows in Baltimore, which I've an amazing time doing. But then when I get the first free chance I I can, I gotta I gotta be out in nature a little bit, and then and then I'm all good?
Ed Baldi:I hear you. I sit down at the piano and go and play mute and and and work on a very personal music space. So I I'm a musician as well, but I won't but I put that you know, I I don't put myself at the top of the list of musicians, so that's it's for me. It's sitting at the piano.
Rob Lee:Yes. Cat videos for me. Not it's like, man, what is that feline doing? That's great. That's great.
Rob Lee:And and having sort of those those opportunities to recharge. For me, really, it is stepping away, like, really being able to reset and to enjoy things without having, you know, some other intent with it. Like, you know, almost last second. Like, obviously, you know, I went to the the show this past Friday, the BLO show this past Friday, and I was gonna have my girl come. It was always like her coming.
Rob Lee:And, and it was one of those things where I was like, I'm working too. So I was like, let me do this. Let me do my work piece because it's like, I'm gonna enjoy. I'm gonna have that. I'm able to split minds, but it's like adding the 3rd layer to split there.
Rob Lee:So I was like, alright. Cool. Let me get my work piece done. And once I have that settled, because I know we had this conversation coming up, then we're good. And I was like, we're absolutely going to the next show.
Rob Lee:The next
Nick Moreland:show.
Ed Baldi:Absolutely. That's that's
Rob Lee:what it is. That's what it is. It's like, you know, when I go to a movie, I do a movie review podcast. It's like, am I watching this for fun, or am I watching this for research? I have to delineate sometimes.
Ed Baldi:The the the next show you got you're gonna come come sit right next to me at that that barstool down front. It's the most incredible experience. It's like you're right. It's it I can't tell you what what joy it gives me to just you know, you put all all the effort work to make happen, then you sit there and you you write it it just it takes it takes over in a way I can't describe.
Rob Lee:That's that's great. I'll take that invitation. So so I like this next one. This one I was really happy about, and this would be a nice one to close out on. I find that some of the best jazz musicians, right, they have really great nicknames and stage names.
Rob Lee:So have either of you ever used an alias? And if so, what was said alias?
Nick Moreland:Like like, for in the music world or in in our, in our personal lives? Because I've, you know,
Ed Baldi:Knicks got many. I
Nick Moreland:don't know I don't know if you ever heard of, Muddy Waters.
Rob Lee:Yeah.
Nick Moreland:But the but, you know, I'm I grew up in PG County. In in certain parts of Hyattsville, I'm known as Dookie Waters. I like it. But, basically, I had band practice in the basement of this house. It was like this corner house, huge yard, $350 a rent, rent a month for this massive basement space.
Nick Moreland:Yep. The sewage pipes, something happened, and then all overflowed in the basement. So then the band came came back over for practice. The next week. They're like, smells like some Dookie Waters down here.
Nick Moreland:And then and then they started calling me that. So then I I became Dookie Waters. So
Ed Baldi:That's good.
Nick Moreland:And I re and I ran with that for a while. House is still there. If anyone is in, West Hyattsville, it's on a a Manorwood Drive in Jamestown Road. The corner house is the Dookie Waters house.
Rob Lee:Oh, man. That's amazing. That's amazing. I love it. Ed, you got any you got anything?
Nick Moreland:You know, I don't I don't
Ed Baldi:have many others. Although now, you know, because I'm Nick's uncle, I get a lot of people saying, oh, you're uncle Ed. You're uncle Ed. So I I think I've set up I'm uncle Ed.
Nick Moreland:Here here's why that happens. Because the musicians will ask me what's Ed's phone number, and I'll share my contact. And I have him stored as uncle Ed. So then they save him as uncle Ed. So so all the musicians have him stored as uncle Ed in their phone.
Nick Moreland:So
Rob Lee:That's good.
Nick Moreland:So he is uncle Ed.
Rob Lee:There you go. That's good. That's good. I I don't have any aliases, that I'm aware of. So I don't I don't know what people call me outside of this podcast, but it's I always do this running bit where I'm always on my p's and q's of where I'm at because, you you know, definitely, Ed, you you saw me you you saw me in person rather tall.
Rob Lee:Right? And it's one of those things where I'm like, alright. I need to buy my p's and q's. I can't hide. I can't just be in the cut.
Rob Lee:Right? So it's like, I can almost see it. Truth in his art cutting up. They just call me the name of the podcast instead of my name. It's just like Oh,
Ed Baldi:that that's where you get recognized as. Oh, the truth in this art is here.
Rob Lee:Yeah. That's just truth in this art is here. It's like, can I can I be Rob for a second? Nah. Truth and the art.
Nick Moreland:It's a strong nickname, though. You know? It works.
Ed Baldi:It's just Yeah.
Rob Lee:So that's kinda it for the podcast, in terms of the the conversation. So there's 2 things I wanna do as we close out here. 1, I wanna thank both of you for coming on and spending some time with me. This has been a lot of fun. It's been great to learn more about Sonic Lifeline, your your individual insights as well.
Rob Lee:And 2, I wanna invite encourage both of you to share anything in the the final moment, social media, websites, stuff like that where the folks can this is sort of the shameless plug portion of the podcast. So if you will, the floor is yours.
Ed Baldi:Well, the, thus the sonic lifeline, you know, dot com for the for the web or the sonic lifeline on Instagram. The next show in the Hemingway room will be November 23rd. The incredible Phil Thomas as musical director, local Baltimore musician and musical director. He did a show with us last year that was all around the music of Donny Hathaway and built built an entire cast. It was called Dear Donny, and we're doing something similar, this this on this show, songs that speak, and will be a lot of, a lot of vocal song, a lot of songs that kinda in the neo neo soul world, a lot of songs that kinda speak spiritually or have meaning to it.
Ed Baldi:So, and Phil Thomas leading as musical director on November 23rd, the Hemingway room. You can find us at the Sonic Lifeline.
Rob Lee:And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Ed Baldy and Nick Moreland from Sonic Lifeline for sharing a bit on the Hemingway Room. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods. You've just gotta look for it.
