Lessons in the Living is a delightful EP from Katy Tessman and her son Sweet Lou, who is also in Burning Blue Rain. Summer is the perfect time for its release because it taps into so many summertime memories of being a kid.
How did you and Louis approach the new EP, Lessons in the Living? Did you have a few songs that led to a collection or talk about a theme you wanted to explore?
I wanted to record these three songs together as a gift for my parents and siblings. Even though they were written separately between 2022 and 2024 through a songwriting challenge I participate in, they all centered around family, memory, and the people who shape us.
Once Sweet Lou and I started working on the arrangements, the songs began to feel like a collection of snapshots in a photo album. Louis had recently acquired a pedal steel guitar and taught himself how to play it, so we wanted to make sure that instrument became part of the landscape of the EP. The warmth and nostalgia of the pedal steel ended up fitting these songs beautifully.
Because the stories were so personal, we approached the production in a really intentional way. We wanted the recordings to feel intimate, lived-in, and honest, almost like sitting around with family listening to stories.
The collection is a love letter to your family. Have they heard it? What was the response?
My family has always been my biggest supporters of my music, constantly showing up and encouraging me. They actually heard these songs when I first wrote them, and it was their response back then that made me realize they were worth recording.
What touched me most was hearing how much the music brought everyone back to certain moments and experiences we shared growing up. Music has always been part of our family, so creating something that honors those connections felt really special. I think they felt loved, and that was exactly my hope.
How many experiences did you have to explain to Louis from “Summer Was Sweet with You”? Never mind Big League Chew, even dimes seem quaint these days. But the thought of waxy bottles brought back some memories for me.
“Summer Was Sweet with You” is really a musical Polaroid of my childhood summers spent with family at the cabin on Caribou Lake. That time shaped so much of who I am, and it was always important to me to offer my boys a similar kind of childhood filled with freedom, imagination, connection, and candy store trips.
What’s especially meaningful is that when I wrote the song, Louis immediately connected to it because so much of his own childhood was shaped by summers at Caribou too. Even though the details may be a little different across generations, the feeling of those summers has remained the same.
The song is definitely full of Gen X nostalgia, but I hope what people connect to is the feeling underneath it. Whether it was candy cigarettes, swimming all day, building tree forts, or disappearing outside until dinner time, so many people remember a childhood rooted in imagination and play. That kind of joy feels timeless to me.
You and Louis have been playing together on stage on and off for years. How has that relationship changed over time?
It’s changed a lot, in the best possible way. At first, it was very much a mother encouraging her son’s creativity and musicianship. Over time, though, it evolved into a real artistic partnership.
Now there are moments where I genuinely look to him for musical direction, production ideas, or arrangement choices. He has incredible instincts, and watching him grow into the musician and producer he’s become has been one of the great joys of my life.
There’s also something really beautiful about the trust we’ve built. We know each other so well personally that it creates a level of musical communication that feels very intuitive.
It’s incredibly rewarding to share both the stage and the creative process with him as peers and collaborators.
Please tell us about the big East Coast tour! And where can folks see you locally to hear the new songs.
I’m really excited about my New England tour this June because it marks my first time bringing my music to that part of the country. I’ll be performing in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, which will officially make it my 27th state performed.
I’ll be performing in a variety of spaces, from listening rooms and libraries to a folk festival, all community-centered environments that fit the storytelling nature of my music.
Locally, people can hear the new songs at my homecoming show with my band on June 28 at White Squirrel in St. Paul at 6:00 PM. That show is going to feel especially meaningful after returning from the road.
Mostly Minnesota 