Copyright Paul C Hanson and Chris Wagoner 2014
Lyrics and melody by Paul C. Hanson
Arrangement by Chris Wagoner
Musicians: Chris Wagoner (violin), Mary Gaines (bass), Doug Brown (guitar), Erik Radloff (drums) , Kara Millerhagen (vocals)
Sound engineer: Jake Johnson, PARADYME Productions
Listen on Spotify (Link needed)
In the summer of 2014, my cousin Kara and I set out for our family reunion—she driving from Minnesota, and I from southern Wisconsin. Our mothers, Randvig and Donna (who was still with us at the time), are two of the six Johnstad siblings at the heart of our family tree. Every year, around a hundred of us gather in Whitehall’s city park for a three-day celebration. It’s a big deal for our family—filled with hugs, laughter, an endless spread of food, and nights of music and dancing.
Before the reunion, Kara and I had been sharing ideas for songs we were working on, hoping to carve out a little time to collaborate. But in true Johnstad fashion—always a bit competitive—we each secretly wrote a new song on the way there, intending to surprise the other. Kara wrote Meet Me, and I wrote So True, which she sings in this release.
The reunion got me thinking about all the family stories—some passed down through generations, others lived firsthand. My mom and her siblings grew up in Pigeon Falls, near our reunion site, in the rolling coulee country of west-central Wisconsin. From their stories, it seems they spent much of their youth at the local dance hall, listening and dancing to our Grandpa Iver’s band. Summers were all about being outdoors—because that’s where the action was. Music and a deep connection to nature were woven into their daily lives, and those traditions carried on to our generation. When we gather, it’s the same: we sit outside, play music, and sing.
So True captures the feeling of “dreaming ‘bout lazy summer nights” and hoping someone special will take a stroll with you through a quiet small town in Wisconsin. With Doug Brown’s guitar and Chris Wagoner’s violin setting the scene, the song paints a picture of a warm evening among honeybees and swallows. Kara’s heartfelt performance leads us to the timeless answer to life’s simplest yet most universal equation—the perfect mix of birds, bees, and music.
-PC Hanson