The Story Behind The Band Maygen & The Birdwatcher

Maygen & The Birdwatcher are made up of Maygen Lacey, Noah Neumann, Nik Pellinen, Ethan Moravec, Jesse Moravec, and Peter Anderson and are from the Twin Cities.

I sat down with Maygen Lacey and Noah Neumann, the two main singers for Maygen And The Birdwatcher, to talk about the band because they have been at it and playing in the Twin Cities area for a while but are relatively new up on the Twin Ports neck of the woods.

The first question out of the gate, how did you get your name? I figured out the Maygen part, and they both laughed. So the Birdwatcher name was all Noah's personality. Noah is a bonafide bird nerd and loves watching birds. They both were looking for something different and fell in love with that name. (After using many other names that they did not fall in love with.)

I asked Maygen and Noah to tell me about the beginnings of the band, and how did they start. Maygen said she sang in the choir and things like that, but was too shy to get in front of people so she sang in the studio and did some work with her brother. She then started writing some original material and it led to her stepping out in front of people and singing them.

Noah started with music early. He said he was "made" to take piano lessons and learned a more structured way of music. He said he had a good teacher and his parents were supportive, but it wasn't until later that he found a teacher who was open to breaking some rules and being more relaxed while playing. Noah also took up guitar and that is what you will find him playing in the band.

How did they meet? Noah says they met at a church function and started talking about music and realized they had similar goals and that they both wanted to make music and then after talking more, wanted to make music together.

When I asked about influences and who they look up to, Maygen said it was her family first, and then she named Brandi Carlisle and Taylor Swift. She explained each woman had their own way of crafting a song. She also predicted a Brandi/Maygen duet happening in 6 years.

Noah was sort of the same way, he named family and friends who have influenced him and backed him in his music career. When asked who was a musician or writer that he thought was good he said THE BAND was that group. He cited the fact that they backed up many artists and then stepped up to show their talent.

When I asked them what kind of career they saw for the band, if they wanted to be popular but be one of those not too popular bands they said, they do avoid doing too much because of family responsibility and they don't want to be on the road constantly but are always setting goals for the band.

I have met Maygen And The Birdwatcher many times because of the things I do for the Midwest Country Music Organization and have watched as critics and people are discovering their sound and music and have also seen their success as they win music awards.

If you have a chance, please give them a listen.