From Homeless to Harmonies: Meghanne Storey’s Music Journey

Welcome back to another inspiring episode of the Exploring Washington State Podcast! This time, Scott Cowan sits down with Meghanne Storey, a talented musician with an extraordinary story of resilience, creativity, and passion. From her challenging beginnings on the streets of Seattle to becoming a celebrated artist, Meghan shares her incredible journey of triumph over adversity.

Episode Highlights:

• A Musical Childhood: Meghan reflects on growing up surrounded by music, where family jam sessions and demo tapes sparked her early love for melodies. By age three, she was belting out “Jesus Christ Superstar,” foreshadowing her future as a performer.
  
• Life on the Streets: At just 12, Meghan entered the foster care system and faced homelessness. She candidly recounts her experiences, from sleeping in doorways to finding solace in community programs like the YMCA’s Independent Living Program and the Orion Center.
  
• The Healing Power of Music: Discover how Meghan used songwriting to cope during her toughest times. Music has been her lifeline and voice, from writing her first song at 14 to her latest releases.
  
• Denny’s Days: In a surprising twist, Meghan’s time at a downtown Seattle Denny’s provided a job and a sense of home and community. Hear how a compassionate manager helped change her life.
  
• A Flourishing Career: Meghan discusses her collaboration with Raymond Hayden, the excitement of releasing their rendition of “Silent Lucidity,” and the 19 songs they’re working on. She also shares her dreams of performing at iconic venues like Benaroya Hall.
  
• Advocacy Through Art: With a deep commitment to raising awareness about homelessness, Meghan urges listeners to embrace empathy and human connection. Her insights are as heartfelt as her music.
  
• Tacoma Scene Love: Meghan shares her favorite spots to play and listen to music in Tacoma, from the Spanish Ballroom to hidden gems like Valhalla Coffee and the Church Cantina.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of resilience and goal-setting in overcoming life’s challenges.
• Music can serve as a coping mechanism and a bridge for connection.
• Why empathy and human connection are vital in addressing homelessness.

Episode Transcript

Scott Cowan [00:00:04]:

Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. Alright. Well, I’m sitting down literally, and so is Megan.

Scott Cowan [00:00:29]:

And Megan Storey is my guest today, and that was the dog named Hendrix who is chiming in because he wants I don’t know.

Meghanne Storey [00:00:38]:

He wants my attention. I think I might have to put him

Scott Cowan [00:00:40]:

on the show. The episode. Maybe we’ll just give him tell him we’ll give him some credits on the episode and maybe he’ll be happy. So, Megan, welcome to the show. Thanks for, making this work, and, I’m looking forward to chatting with you.

Meghanne Storey [00:00:51]:

Me too.

Scott Cowan [00:00:53]:

We were introduced by this guy and as much as I really wanna make fun of him, he’s one of the nicest people in the world, Ray or Raymond Hayden. I met Ray 3 or 4 years ago now. And he’s introduced me to a lot of people around Puget Sound and you’re the latest one or latest victim. And, Ray said, you need to talk to Megan. She’s got a really cool story.

You guys just, as of today, when we’re recording this, you guys just dropped a new song. We’ll we’re gonna let’s start with that. Let’s just, for a second, before we go into your backstory, why don’t you tell the audience what the song is and why you and Ray and the others decided this was gonna be the next song to be released?

Meghanne Storey [00:01:48]:

The song is Silent Lucidity. It’s a it’s a classic. It’s a it’s a rock classic from my childhood. It’s, it’s one that kinda has a a tone that has weaved through so many people’s lives and has brought so many people together and reminds people of, you know, just things that happen in their lives. It it has so much to it. I I I’m having a hard time explaining it. But it, it’s a big song. It has a lot of history.

Meghanne Storey [00:02:14]:

It has a lot of story to tell. It has a lot of lives that it has connected, and, it means a lot to me, and it means a lot to Ray. And so we decided to do it and bring Lynn in on it just because it’s a beautiful song, and I wanted to put my spin on it.

Scott Cowan [00:02:30]:

K. And by Lynn, you mean Lynn Sorensen?

Meghanne Storey [00:02:33]:

Lynn Sorensen. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:02:34]:

Let’s give him his props there. Met Lynn a couple of times, when he was playing with Jessica Lynn Witty. And I always anytime somebody’s playing, you know, violin in, in in a rock or country setting, it’s always a little like, That’s cool. You because you don’t see that all the time.

Meghanne Storey [00:02:54]:

No. You don’t.

Scott Cowan [00:02:55]:

And he’s got a he has not been on the show. Maybe we’ll change that one of these days, but he’s got kind of a a really long backstory, which is pretty cool too. So I have to ask. Let me did you did you meet Lynn before you met Ray, or did you meet did Ray introduce you to Lynn?

Meghanne Storey [00:03:13]:

So I’ve met Lynn. I’ve met Lynn at a jam session about a year ago, but I don’t really know him. I didn’t get to know him until I got to know Ray.

Scott Cowan [00:03:22]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:03:22]:

I am really shy. I’m really shy. And I I I just, you know, I I I walked I went to that jam session and I sang a song with the band and he’s like, hey. Who are you? And I’m like, my name’s Megan. And he’s like, it’s nice to meet you. Come back. And I’m like, I will.

Scott Cowan [00:03:36]:

And then didn’t And then was that by chance, was that, like,

Meghanne Storey [00:03:39]:

at Dawson’s? That was at the North End on Pearl, actually. It was with the cover band that I used to play with a lot. And, I’m still really good friends with those guys.

Scott Cowan [00:03:46]:

Okay. Cool. Yeah. I see every now and then I see I see something that he he’s hosting kind of a He

Meghanne Storey [00:03:51]:

does run a jam at Dawson’s on Wednesday nights, and I do go there. Yeah. Okay. I do go there pretty often. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:03:56]:

And for anybody who’s not familiar with Tacoma, Dawson’s is on South Tacoma Way, about 56 in South Tacoma Way. It’s been there for a long, long time. I don’t think I’ve ever actually been inside Dawson’s just as a fun little fact.

Meghanne Storey [00:04:09]:

I love going there.

Scott Cowan [00:04:10]:

It’s one

Meghanne Storey [00:04:10]:

of my favorite places.

Scott Cowan [00:04:12]:

Before we because I think a lot of our our conversation today is gonna be focused on on when we talked before about before music, if you will, or before this chapter of your life. So but for this chapter, how’d you meet Ray? And what was your bad luck? And how did you I’m kidding. I can’t I cannot make I I cannot not make fun of Ray. It’s like I’m it’s it’s in my DNA. I can’t not do it. So, Ray, if you’re listening, the whole episode’s gonna be

Meghanne Storey [00:04:42]:

poached out

Scott Cowan [00:04:43]:

to you. Just

Meghanne Storey [00:04:44]:

He gets it from there. So funny. Yeah. I I met Ray. I’m actually it was funny. We I was, nominated for the Washington State Independent Music Awards last year

Scott Cowan [00:04:55]:

k.

Meghanne Storey [00:04:55]:

For 2024. And, I remember watching the ballot come out and we were all watching the people vote and sending it out. And my friend at the time that was playing music with me was like, who is this Bray Hayden guy?

Like he seems to be winning, but who is this guy? And I’m like, I don’t know. And he was like, Jerry Miller, Jerry Miller. And I’m like, Jerry Miller is a beast in his own right, but I think we should find out who Ray Hagen is. And he’s like, I don’t know who this guy is. I’ve never heard of him before. And I’m like, well, obviously, everybody else has.

Meghanne Storey [00:05:21]:

So we should probably find out who he is, you know. Get to the Washington State Independent Music Awards, and, I I won up and coming artist of the year, and then the duo that I was in won best duo. And Raymond won, local legend, which I will never ever let him. But that’s a great standing joke right there. Right. Right. But it was like the up and coming artist in the local legend. I was like, we should do a song together.

Meghanne Storey [00:05:45]:

We should totally collaborate, write a song together. Let’s do this. Let’s do this. And he was all about it too. So we came up with lemons, and then, it was really good. And so we decided to do why after that. And then shortly after why came amen, and then we got settled lucidity. And now there’s, like, 19 other songs that we’re working on.

Meghanne Storey [00:06:04]:

We’ve got 3 that are put together. We’re gonna be putting some more out. We’ve got a system of how we’re gonna put songs out, and, we have we’re having a great time.

Scott Cowan [00:06:13]:

Wow. That’s 19 more You guys have? Wow. I didn’t know that Ray could count that high. So

Meghanne Storey [00:06:24]:

he could play that much piano.

Scott Cowan [00:06:26]:

He, he, he, he, he and I have talked a lot and he’s been a guest on the show before, and I follow Ray on social media, not just Ray, but like his music accounts. And then like he’s, he’s, he’s extremely prolific in promotion and I’ve said this to him. So I’m not saying anything, but it can be kind of exhausting when you follow him everywhere to see all this, like this, this big wave of, of promotion buildup. And I’ve been watching it for this, the silent acidity and it’s not his fault because I follow him everywhere.

Of course, he’s going to be promoting it everywhere as he should be. But he is, he is one of the people that I really do admire, the, the passion with which he pursues music and the people that he pursues music with tend to also have this very passionate commitment to the art of music. And so, you know, we’re talking and and I, you know, if you, if you signed on and you’re gonna do a couple of dozen songs with them, you know, my God, that’s that’s crazy. That it’s cool.

Scott Cowan [00:07:37]:

And it’s crazy at the same time.

Meghanne Storey [00:07:38]:

It has blown up in front of us. That’s for sure.

Scott Cowan [00:07:41]:

Yeah. Yeah. And he’s Neither

Meghanne Storey [00:07:42]:

one of us was expecting it to do this. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:07:44]:

And he’s a very talented musician and he’s he’s a very, you know, he he’s he’s one of those people in life that knows he knows how to put connect people to each other that that have, complimentary abilities and and mindsets that you don’t necessarily think of yourself. And he goes, oh, you

Meghanne Storey [00:08:00]:

should talk to him.

Scott Cowan [00:08:01]:

Boom. Boom. Boom. So when when Ray and I were talking, I don’t know, probably around Thanksgiving. This this was when we were talking last time. And, you you came up and he he was telling me about the song. And full disclosure, he he sent me a a an early cut of it so I could listen to it. So I was I was able to you know, since it’s released, I can say that now.

Scott Cowan [00:08:23]:

It’s not like I’m disclosing anything. I I signed the NDA. No. That you I I think I think what you just said is very correct. I think it even is that the 2 of you together has morphed into something maybe a little bit larger than one would have anticipated. Right? And it’s, you know, and you’ll continue to build on that. So we’re going to set that aside because really the, I can talk to a lot of musicians about things that are building and music and all that that they’re releasing because it’s all very important. But your story outside of music and connected to music, but outside of it is is something that I think, needs to get some awareness built around it.

Scott Cowan [00:09:14]:

How’s that? And and my little podcast can hopefully help a little bit. So why don’t you take over so I shut up and give us kind of this your journey to where, you know, where you are today. I know it’s a long, but you get the idea.

Meghanne Storey [00:09:35]:

I got you. So I my mom says and my sisters I’m I’m I’m I’m I mean, I’m a middle child, but only kind of. I have, a couple sets of family. I have my mom’s side of family and my dad’s side of the family. And I’m the youngest 2nd to the youngest on my mom’s side, and I am the youngest on my dad’s side. There’s I have a lot of brothers and sisters. I grew up listening to my brothers and sisters in their bands and playing with their friends, and everybody was all about going to this concert and going to that show and check out this new tape that I just got. And, oh, here’s a demo tape that I picked up at a show last night.

Meghanne Storey [00:10:11]:

And, oh, you gotta listen to this, and, oh, my friends are gonna come over, and we’re gonna play some music today. And, you know, and I I I grew up immersed in that, as a child. And so, like, my brothers and my sisters and my mom’s favorite story to tell about me is that by the time I was 3, I had completely memorized the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. And they sang it at top volume everywhere we went. And then after that came the Robin Hood soundtrack from the cartoon, like, I I knew all of the Disney songs growing up. I knew I knew everything. I made friends with this little girl down the road from me, and we would put on these extravagant performances of The Little Mermaid in her family room every day after school. I mean, it was and we would fight over who got to be Ursula and who got to be Ariel.

Scott Cowan [00:11:03]:

All right.

Meghanne Storey [00:11:03]:

And we would do that. And then, fortunately, I joined a lot. 1st, I joined the Seattle Girls Choir when I was about 7. And I sang with them for, I sang with them for a long time. That’s where the majority of my vocal training came from, is from the Seattle Girls Choir. I sang I began in the in the beginning choir, and by the time I was 9, I was in the intermediate choir. And when I was 12, they were considering me for the advanced choir, which is really unusual because I was so young. But I also ended up in the DSHS system at 12.

Meghanne Storey [00:11:34]:

And I, I I was put in the foster care. And I’m a foster failure. I couldn’t stay in a foster home. No, foster homes would keep me. I kept ending it back at DSHS and they would give me bus tickets to go down to the Seattle Denny’s and hang out all night long. And then, well, they would give me a ride to the Denny’s and then give me the bus ticket to get back to DSHS DSHS in the morning. And I met a bunch of kids down there at the Denny’s who were all in the same position that I was and they weren’t going back to DSHS. They were like, why waste your time? So I stopped wasting my time and I started sleeping in the doorway around the corner from the Denny’s with my friends.

Meghanne Storey [00:12:08]:

I stayed in group homes and shelters. I I lived under a bridge for a while. I stayed at the at the Graham Street Shelter quite a bit. They have a very profound effect on my life, actually. They they were very supportive. They introduced me to the people in the independent living program at the YMCA, which was another one that saved me. There was the Orion Center where I got my GED prep prep class and stuff, which was a drop in center in downtown Seattle. And, I started doing my GED classes through there.

Meghanne Storey [00:12:37]:

They got me my GED through the United Indians of All Tribes. And then I, they, they called me in and made me sing and I met Melvin through the Orion Center and Melvin hooked me up with this program called, everybody has a song. And I went into the studio when I was 14 and I wrote a song in the studio and I recorded it and it got mixed and mastered. And I was able to, like, learn about the whole experience. And I did a little video and then we did a promotion video. And I still have a little clip of that video for me at 14 talking about, I want my music to tell about my story and where I came from and where I’ve been and how I got out of it. And I just look at myself, and I’m like, you don’t even know. You don’t even know what you’re about to encounter.

Meghanne Storey [00:13:17]:

You’re so young. You have only just started. Oh my gosh. There’s so much that happens, child. But, you know, it’s nice to see me in that moment, you know, because even at that moment, I was I was sleeping in a doorway in downtown Seattle and getting up every day and taking the bus to the studio so that I could get there and write music and be there and be part of that. And, that was a very, very big that was a pivotal moment for me. It took me a long time to figure out that that was a pivotal moment for me because I didn’t actually change my course until I was 42. But

Scott Cowan [00:13:48]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:13:49]:

Yeah. I grew up. I got emancipated when I was 16. I went to college. I have degrees. My hands fell apart when I was 19. And, I’ve had a bunch of surgeries on them. And so now I’m disabled, and music is all I have left to do.

Meghanne Storey [00:14:04]:

And I’m really thankful that I have it because I think I would go crazy.

Scott Cowan [00:14:10]:

When it comes to the system, homelessness, all of these things, this big bull your base of of situations, A lot of us like, that was never my world. Right? I I’m I’m I’m really lucky that I never I never had to experience that. Right? And what the media portrays is one thing. And I don’t know if I’m being very honest, you know, I don’t know that the media is accurate or not accurate. I I have an opinion, but that’s just based on my own opinion. But you said you slept in doorways and with other people, so there was some maybe safety in numbers.

Meghanne Storey [00:14:59]:

There was a group. There was a whole lot of kids on the street back then. There was a I’ve had people talk to me about this. We used to stay at the Seattle Times building inside the basement of the old Seattle Times building. And apparently, there was, like I remember when they came and they got us out of there because they were planning to to level it, and they they basically, like, fumigated us all out the smoke bombs and stuff and got us all out of the building. And there was like probably a 1000 kids living in there

Scott Cowan [00:15:25]:

at the time.

Meghanne Storey [00:15:26]:

And I’ve had people ask me, oh, you’re one of the Seattle Times building kids and I’m like, what? But I think there was, like, a news story about that where people were, like, there was thousands of kids living in the old Seattle Times building. There’s no adults there. There’s just a bunch of homeless kids.

Scott Cowan [00:15:44]:

Yeah.

Meghanne Storey [00:15:44]:

And that’s what it was. We were all just living down there.

Scott Cowan [00:15:46]:

But naively looking at this, you know, it seems like it would be easy to go off the rails versus stay on the tracks, if you will. Right? What why do you think, I mean, you and I are talking today, you know, you’ve had your journey and all that, but you know, you’re, you’re put together or at least at least you’re presenting as you’re put together today. I mean, I’m, I’m teasing when I say it like that, but you know, what, what was music that instrumental in helping you navigate and survive these years?

Meghanne Storey [00:16:24]:

Yeah. It was a coping mechanism for me. I had a guitar, until it got stolen. I had a guitar. I would sit outside of the Greyhound station on 9th and Stewart and sing into my Walkman. I always had music. I it’s it was a coping mechanism. I would listen to it to, you know, not be alone, but I would also write it because writing songs let me express my feelings that I didn’t feel like I could talk about.

Scott Cowan [00:16:50]:

Why? Why do you why couldn’t I mean, looking back, if you were able to put words on paper, so to speak, I mean, and but yet you couldn’t vocalize them. Why do you think that was?

Meghanne Storey [00:17:02]:

Because as a homeless kid, you can’t show weakness. You have to be strong in everywhere you go. You try to disappear into the wall because if you get seen, people are going to, they’re going to move you. They’re going to want you to change. They’re going to or they’re going to hurt you. There’s always there’s always some kind of and when you’re when you’re in that in that place, you know, you you have to really get yourself out of it and you can’t, it’s not about somebody picking you up and pulling you out of the hole. You have to climb out of it yourself, whether you’re a kid or an adult. It doesn’t matter And it sucks because, you know, being 12 years old, 13 years old, how do you climb out of a hole that you got into and you have no idea how you’re there? And it takes a little while to figure it out and find the ladder and find the ropes, but you do, you know, and and you get out, you know, you realize, you start to figure it out.

Meghanne Storey [00:17:51]:

Oh, these people have money because they have a job. I need a job. That’s what I need, is a job so that I can get money so I can get a place to live. Okay. I have a job. I have money. Let me go get an apartment. Crap.

Meghanne Storey [00:18:00]:

I’m too young. Let me get emancipated first. Okay. Now I got emancipated. Now I’ve got a job. Now I’ve got money. Now I have an apartment. I wanna go to school.

Meghanne Storey [00:18:07]:

You know, and that was just kind of how it went. You know, it’s just build up and and work towards, you know, goal setting goal setting goal setting. And that job was the number one thing. I must have filled out probably 50,000 applications by by the time I was 15.

Scott Cowan [00:18:20]:

So what was your first, making air quotes job? What was your first legitimate

Meghanne Storey [00:18:26]:

The very first job I was ever hired for was the, it was actually called the Seattle Young People’s Project, and it was on, Eastlake. And it was, it was like a office building and they wanted me to go out. I was living in a group home at the time and they wanted me to go out and detail the homelessness among the kids and write about it for their newsletter. So I did that. That was, I was 16, 15. I did that for 3 months and then I worked at the Burger King on East Lake, Lake Union down there by the Mercer Denny’s. I was trying to get a job at Mercer Denny’s. That was like, always the goal.

Meghanne Storey [00:18:58]:

I wanted to work at the Mercer Street Denny’s. Like I was, this is, I want that. And I got a job with them at the skippers on 35th in Edmonds, and I was working there for about 6 months. I moved up to shift leader and I turned I was right before my 16th birthday. And they said, okay, we’ll hire you as a hostess. And I’m like, bye, skippers. I’m out. And I went to work at Denny’s, and I was there for 8 years.

Scott Cowan [00:19:21]:

Why was Denny’s the pinnacle of employment for you?

Meghanne Storey [00:19:27]:

It was my home.

Scott Cowan [00:19:29]:

Okay. It

Meghanne Storey [00:19:29]:

was my home. It was my home.

Scott Cowan [00:19:33]:

Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:19:34]:

And I wanted to be there.

Scott Cowan [00:19:36]:

Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:19:36]:

And being able to work there and seeing all the waitresses working and talking to all the people and the tips on the tables and the amount of and being in control of how much money you make versus somebody just telling you, you can only make $4.25 an hour. Here, go make some pizza. I was like, man, you know, I I just I really wanted to I really wanted to be a waitress. I, I really, really did really, really bad.

Scott Cowan [00:20:01]:

Okay. Very important question. This may be the most important question of the entire conversation. Two part question. What’s the, what’s the best thing on the Denny’s menu and what’s the worst thing on the Denny’s menu?

Meghanne Storey [00:20:14]:

Well, nothing’s good on the Denny’s menu anymore. It’s all crap.

Scott Cowan [00:20:18]:

Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:20:19]:

But when I worked there,

Scott Cowan [00:20:20]:

the

Meghanne Storey [00:20:20]:

best thing on the Denny’s menu was the SuperBird, which is still a good sandwich. It’s still a good sandwich, but it’s it’s not as good as it used to be. And, the worst thing was liver and onions, which thankfully they’ve taken off.

Scott Cowan [00:20:32]:

I don’t recall Denny’s serving it. Oh.

Meghanne Storey [00:20:35]:

Oh, it was terrible. It was terrible. Yes. They served it. Yes. They served it. And it was, like, one of the most popular dishes on the swing shift. The dinner lunch, dinner time.

Meghanne Storey [00:20:43]:

You know, the older couples would come in, they all wanted liver and onions, and I’m, like, this smells awful. Why are you eating this?

Scott Cowan [00:20:50]:

I I have to agree. My my Denny’s my Denny’s opinion is the super bird is the is the,

Meghanne Storey [00:20:55]:

super bird. That’s where

Scott Cowan [00:20:56]:

it’s at. Yeah. It’s so funny that

Meghanne Storey [00:20:57]:

that to

Scott Cowan [00:20:57]:

me, that’s the iconic Denny’s thing. Not the grand slam breakfast or anything. No. Give me a Superbird. Okay. Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:21:03]:

Biscuits and gravy used to be pretty good there too, but the gravy has gone downhill too. There’s still good gravy. It’s still good. It’s just not as good as it was when I worked there.

Scott Cowan [00:21:10]:

So But I

Meghanne Storey [00:21:11]:

think I’m a little biased.

Scott Cowan [00:21:12]:

What shift did you typically work at Denny’s?

Meghanne Storey [00:21:15]:

I worked swing grade shift, so I was typically there from 2 o’clock in the afternoon to 6 in the morning. Oof. They tried me on the day shift and took me off of it because I didn’t smile enough.

Scott Cowan [00:21:25]:

You didn’t smile on it. And it it it 2 AM, you don’t have to smile at the at the people coming out of the truck.

Meghanne Storey [00:21:30]:

Always smiling at 2 AM.

Scott Cowan [00:21:31]:

Yeah. So

Meghanne Storey [00:21:32]:

At 2 o’clock in the morning at Denny’s, you would get, like, on the weekdays, you get, like, your taxi cab drivers, and and then you get, like, the guys that were break they were coming down from. We had a practice session, a practice space next door to us. And so we got a lot of musicians in our Denny’s. We were the popular Denny’s in downtown Seattle so that we were the Denny’s to go to. And you went there first. And then if you really didn’t wanna wait, you’d go to the Aurora Denny’s and hope you didn’t get shot in the parking lot.

Scott Cowan [00:21:57]:

Gotta love Seattle.

Meghanne Storey [00:21:58]:

Gotta love Seattle.

Scott Cowan [00:21:59]:

Gotta love Seattle. So you worked up And

Meghanne Storey [00:22:01]:

then we ended up having a shooting in our parking lot, which was terrible.

Scott Cowan [00:22:04]:

You you worked there for 8 years?

Meghanne Storey [00:22:06]:

I did.

Scott Cowan [00:22:08]:

Wow. That’s I don’t think I’d last 8 hours at it working on a day.

Meghanne Storey [00:22:13]:

I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It was my home. It was my home base.

Scott Cowan [00:22:16]:

Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:22:16]:

The manager was like a father to me.

Scott Cowan [00:22:18]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:22:19]:

And we’re still close. Like, I still talk to him. One of our one of my one of my street brothers passed away recently and, he actually lived with the manager for his whole life. Like, he ended up just staying with Patrick forever And they became best friends, and it’s a really good ending for him, but at the same time, I wish things would have been different for him. You know? I think he could have made some different choices, and maybe other people could have made different choices. And things could have changed a little bit, and his life could have been a little easier. But, you know, I’m glad that he was able to have the life that he did because he came from the same place I did.

Scott Cowan [00:22:55]:

What you’re saying is that that specific Denny’s during the time that you were there was a a safe haven and Yes. And understood the things that were happening to its employees and to you outside of their shifts?

Meghanne Storey [00:23:13]:

They knew what was happening to me before I was an employee.

Scott Cowan [00:23:16]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:23:16]:

They were giving me places to sleep. They were feeding me. They were they were doing things for me. And it was a it it wasn’t there was a lot of different servers. There was turnover, but that one manager always was there. He was always there.

Scott Cowan [00:23:30]:

And I’m gonna guess he gave you liver and onions.

Meghanne Storey [00:23:33]:

No. He never did. He gave me super birds. French fries, cheese, and bacon soup. Alright. Lots of coffee. So what place to live. So this one

Scott Cowan [00:23:42]:

this one person had a, very large impact on on this period of your life.

Meghanne Storey [00:23:50]:

Oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:23:51]:

And if you don’t think about a a restaurant manager, having that sort of impact on on you or others. You know what I mean? To me, you know, you don’t think about that. That’s that’s really cool.

Meghanne Storey [00:24:04]:

But he was in the prime position. He was the graveyard manager at the downtown Seattle Denny’s, and there was a whole lot of street kids roaming around. And Mhmm. He was like, you guys are not safe out here.

Scott Cowan [00:24:14]:

Right.

Meghanne Storey [00:24:15]:

Come in, have some coffee, eat some French fries. Wow. We’ve got a few mistakes in the back. Why don’t you guys eat some food?

Scott Cowan [00:24:21]:

That’s amazing.

Meghanne Storey [00:24:23]:

Yeah. And then he gave me a job.

Scott Cowan [00:24:25]:

And then you worked at And

Meghanne Storey [00:24:26]:

he gave me a place to live. And

Scott Cowan [00:24:27]:

Yeah.

Meghanne Storey [00:24:28]:

He’s just always yeah. Amazing, amazing human being. Amazing human being.

Scott Cowan [00:24:33]:

So after 8 years, what was the motivation? What was the opportunity that

Meghanne Storey [00:24:40]:

It wasn’t an opportunity.

Scott Cowan [00:24:41]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:24:42]:

The Denny’s closed and, I went to the North Auburn Denny’s and I worked in Auburn for a while. My daughter I had my daughter. My oldest child was born. And, my hands started to bother me, really bad. And I had a lot of problems with my hands. They would ache. They would hurt. I couldn’t hold on to things.

Meghanne Storey [00:25:01]:

I was dropping things a lot, breaking things. And I kept going to the doctor, and they were like, we have carpal tunnel here. Wear these braces. And so I did. They did a carpal tunnel release on me and it was still happening and I’m like, I don’t know what’s going on. And when I was 19, I walked in to know I was 22. I walked into my doctor’s office and I was like, something’s gotta give. Let me go.

Meghanne Storey [00:25:27]:

Sorry. It’s the time of day where people are gonna start walking outside, and he’s just gonna continually work. That’s okay. It’s okay though.

Scott Cowan [00:25:33]:

So you went to the doctor, something had to give.

Meghanne Storey [00:25:35]:

I went to the doctor. I was like, something’s gotta give, and he did x rays. And he called me 3 days later, and he was like, I’m so sorry, Megan. You have to quit your job. You need to call a lawyer, and you need to call the surgeon. You have aseptic necrosis of the purple lunate, and it’s bad. And I was like, what’s that? And he goes, you need to go see this doctor. So I went to go see this doctor, and he did this really cool x-ray of my hand where you could, like, see the motion and the movement inside and stuff.

Meghanne Storey [00:26:00]:

And, he said that my lunate bone had collapsed. I was in stage 4b, kine box disease, our key and box, however you wanna pronounce it. It’s a German word. I don’t know. So my hands fell apart. I had the aseptic necrosis of the carpal and I had the surgery done on my right hand where they did a fusion and my right hand doesn’t bend anymore.

Scott Cowan [00:26:20]:

And I

Meghanne Storey [00:26:20]:

was like, okay. And then my left hand had it too and I ended up having 8 surgical procedures to stop the damage in both hands.

Scott Cowan [00:26:29]:

Wow.

Meghanne Storey [00:26:30]:

I’ve had nerves move, bone cut out, fusions, I’ve had releases. I mean, it’s everything from your trigger fingers to your decarvein, to your carpal tunnel. I’ve had this one released here. It’s just like never ending, but when was

Scott Cowan [00:26:48]:

the last time you had a had to have a procedure done?

Meghanne Storey [00:26:51]:

I’m I they want me to have one now, but I chose not to, because I don’t I feel like I’m Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. You know? Like, I just have so many scars on my hands, and I’m really tired of having surgeries. The last surgery that I had to have was actually on my hand. And I I broke a bowl, and it went through my hand, and it cut through 2 tendons and 5 nerves. So here we are.

Scott Cowan [00:27:16]:

Oh, okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:27:18]:

Yeah. But I still play music because music is I don’t know. It’s weird. I don’t know how to explain it.

Scott Cowan [00:27:25]:

Well, I think no. I I am I am not a musician. No one wants to hear me sing. In fact, I’m paid handsomely to not sing ever. You know, ASCAP is plays you know, as long as there are no no no music credited to me, I get paid by them to, you know basically, they bribe me to shut up. No. I I have no musical aptitude. I I absolutely love music.

Scott Cowan [00:27:50]:

I listen to music a lot, but I don’t have the the talent. And that’s fine. I mean, there’s not, you know, there’s that’s okay. But the musicians that I know, and I know a lot of musicians, they see and and not just musicians, I’ll just say artists, all seem to have this uncontrollable obsession with creating. They they just won’t they won’t stop. And and that’s awesome. I mean, I think it’s wonderful. Even sometimes it’s detrimental to people to be so obsessive, sometimes, But I don’t think that’s very often.

Scott Cowan [00:28:29]:

I think more often than not.

Meghanne Storey [00:28:31]:

I don’t know. I definitely call it an obsession. I write all the time. Like, I’m constantly writing. I I have a book out that I put out last year. I have another book I’m putting out this year. Right. But I just, It’s a coping mechanism, you know, it’s just like, it’s how I deal with things.

Meghanne Storey [00:28:48]:

It’s how I handle things. And if I couldn’t do writing or write songs about it, you know, situations or feelings that I have or, you know, different different stuff that comes up, I think I would go crazy. I think I would go crazy.

Scott Cowan [00:29:04]:

And and so people find ways to to cope. They find way an outlet that, you know, whether that be painting, writing, singing, playing piano, all the above, whatever. It’s, you know, it’s it’s very to me, it’s very sort of I’m I’m I’m struggling for a word here, but I find it, it’s wonderful that people, regardless of not everyone can be Taylor Swift, and not everyone wants to be Taylor Swift. But that doesn’t stop people from releasing their art.

Meghanne Storey [00:29:49]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:29:50]:

And that doesn’t mean that the art isn’t as good, better, just different. Mhmm. It’s the the the the music industry seems almost, in my opinion, stacked against you to be successful, financially successful. Yeah. It just seems very, very

Meghanne Storey [00:30:09]:

I don’t even know that it’s stacked against you. I I don’t know that that’s what it is, to be honest with you. I look at the music industry, and I don’t think I I I hear all these people saying it’s a 100,000 streams, you know, 100,000 songs a day being uploaded, and, you know, you have to stand out, and it’s always a challenge, and the music business is stacked against musicians, and, you know, you just have to, you know, it’s really, really hard to get out there. And I think I think the focus needs to change. I think the focus needs to change. I think it’s not about how many songs you can get out there. You know, it’s not really I mean, it is. It is about that.

Meghanne Storey [00:30:47]:

That is part of the game, but it’s more about, you know, connecting with people. You know, it’s it. If you can connect with 1 person and just connect and just connect with 1 person through a song that other app, I could do that with 1 song that I’ve written. My job is done. I’m happy. You know, I just need one person. I’ve had that. I’ve had a couple people.

Meghanne Storey [00:31:10]:

So there’s a there’s a song that I wrote that that tends to kind of get people to come up and be like, wow, thank you for writing that. Wow, that’s really amazing. Wow. What were you thinking when you wrote that? You must have been in a really dark place. I’m so glad that you wrote that. I can really feel that it resonates with me. I, you know, and I’ve heard that a lot about that particular song. It’s called Alone, and I I don’t know.

Meghanne Storey [00:31:33]:

I just think it’s more about connecting. It’s not it’s not about, you know, try you make it because you can connect with people, because you can create the connections. It’s a it’s a language of emotions. It’s, it’s it it it’s not a race to the top, I think.

Scott Cowan [00:31:50]:

I don’t disagree with you. Unfortunately, I do think that some artists do only

Meghanne Storey [00:31:58]:

Oh, they do.

Scott Cowan [00:31:58]:

Yeah. Only a race to the top is the only measure of success. And I think there’s so many places on the continuum of of what success is. Mhmm. Don’t get me wrong. I think every single one of us would like to be worth a $1,000,000,000. But if we were all worth a $1,000,000,000,000, then there’d be somebody with a trillion and we would still be poor. I mean, it

Meghanne Storey [00:32:18]:

doesn’t still be broke. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:32:19]:

We still be broke. But

Meghanne Storey [00:32:20]:

Look at us all now. $20 an hour. Come on. That’s a big, big difference for 4.25.

Scott Cowan [00:32:25]:

But it’s not.

Meghanne Storey [00:32:26]:

But we’re still broke.

Scott Cowan [00:32:28]:

Exactly. Right? You know, it’s your rent still takes, you know, all of it. Any the the the point though is that when I talk to people who are authors or, you know, musicians and all that, the thing that gets me that inspires me is the obsession. Isn’t the right word, but just you are you, not just you, but you all are drawn to and inexplicably, you cannot stop creating. That’s correct. And that is something that should be appreciated and celebrated more. Doesn’t and I’m not saying, like, everybody should be, you know, making a $1,000,000,000, but I think people that create art should be acknowledged as contributing a great deal to to the quality of our of the fabric of life.

Meghanne Storey [00:33:26]:

I agree.

Scott Cowan [00:33:27]:

And we all have our ways. I mean, we all we all have our ways. But you, especially, you know, what you’ve what you’ve shared with us is that, you know, during the time of, you know, the sale times building or doorways or, you know, I’ll say couch surfing, you were able to address your emotions in the form of, of writing and slash music. That’s a good choice. Many people don’t have those outlets or they don’t allow themselves to have those outlets. And that’s when I think it becomes very tragic.

Meghanne Storey [00:34:08]:

You lose them. You lose them. I lost a lot of people. There’s a lot of people I lost. Yeah. And You lose them.

Scott Cowan [00:34:13]:

Not to make this you know, we’re not trying to go into a deep, dark place here with the with the show because we we we avoid that. I I just, you know, I appreciate you sharing this this vulnerable side. And I hope that if one person listens to this and they they they draw some inspiration from it, then that’s that’s we’ve we’ve both my whole

Meghanne Storey [00:34:34]:

goal my whole goal with all of this is I I think what I want is for people to look at people a little bit differently. When you see somebody walking down the street, if you’re walking down the street and you see somebody sitting on the side of the road begging for change, you don’t have to give them change. You don’t have to give them anything, but say hello. Let them know that you understand where where they’re coming from. Let them know that they’re a human being. You know, stop and talk to them for a second because that’s actually more valuable than change. You know, letting us know that we’re, you know, it’s that human connection then you’ve got all these people that are living on the streets, and and they feel so separated from the rest of the world. There it’s a totally different lifestyle.

Meghanne Storey [00:35:14]:

It’s a totally different vibe. There’s no politics. There’s no rules. There’s no regulations. It’s everybody’s out for themselves. It’s constant war zone out there, and and and they feel like they live in a diff completely different world from the rest of everybody else.

Scott Cowan [00:35:28]:

Right.

Meghanne Storey [00:35:29]:

It’s not it’s not the same.

Scott Cowan [00:35:32]:

So if I gave you the magic wand to solve this, and and honestly, I’m gonna preface this by saying I know it’s not necessarily a solvable solution. What do you think needs to be done to change change the the what’s happening. I mean, we’re we know the media says there’s, you know, thousands and thousands of homeless people on the streets. You know, they’re living in their cars. They’re tents. They’re on the side of the road, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The media portrays that everywhere. In your opinion, having done your variation of that, What needs to happen to start improving this quality of life for these people?

Meghanne Storey [00:36:20]:

Well, we have to stop treating them like they’re less than human. A lot of people, their situation isn’t gonna change unless they can change it. We can’t do anything for them. We cannot. We can’t go out there and say, you need a job. Here, let me dust you up, put some clothes on you, and send you out into the workforce. Okay. That’s a great idea.

Meghanne Storey [00:36:41]:

But what about all the stuff that’s going on inside that human being that got them there in the first place?

Scott Cowan [00:36:47]:

Mhmm.

Meghanne Storey [00:36:47]:

We can’t change them. The only person that can change them is them. What we have to do is allow them the space to be who they are and go through what they’re gonna go through so that they can be successful. We have to allow them to be human beings. We have to stop treating them like they’re pieces of shit, and we have to stop treating them like they’re separate. The separation, the gap between the two worlds has to go away. We are not any better than somebody sitting on the side of the street. I’m no better than somebody sitting on the street because I have a house over my head.

Meghanne Storey [00:37:15]:

Oh, my lord. Do you know how hard I worked for this? Like but I had to make changes in me, and these people have to make changes in them. And the only way that they’re gonna be able to do that is if they can see the silver lining. And as long as the 2 worlds are so separated, there’s no silver lining.

Scott Cowan [00:37:31]:

K.

Meghanne Storey [00:37:32]:

They have to make the changes. We can’t do anything for them. All we can do is make an area for them and a space for them to do it. And they’ve gotta go through whatever torment and trauma they’ve got in their bodies, in their minds, in their souls, in their spirits. They have to figure out how to cope with it. Some people can and get off the streets and other people can’t, and they stay there. But it doesn’t matter if they’re still there, if they stay there. If they choose to stay because that’s where they’re comfortable or if they choose to stay because that’s what they know or if the reason that they stay is because they they they can’t find a way out, it doesn’t matter.

Meghanne Storey [00:38:02]:

They still need to be part of the human race. They’re not pieces of crap. We’re all human beings. We’re all in this together. We’re all on this planet. We can’t go anywhere. We’re making it impossible for people to live here. It is ridiculous.

Scott Cowan [00:38:16]:

I don’t think I can add

Meghanne Storey [00:38:17]:

my opinion. Well, I

Scott Cowan [00:38:19]:

I can’t add anything to that. That was that was extremely comprehensive. Let me this is a very direct and personal question. You have you have kids?

Meghanne Storey [00:38:30]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:38:32]:

How are you as a parent doing what you can to help your kids not have to go through what what you went through?

Meghanne Storey [00:38:42]:

I I make sure that they’re listened to, that they feel heard, that they have space to, you know, do what they’re gonna do. My son is a musician. My daughter is a gymnast. She’s not interested in music at all. My oldest daughter, she definitely had her times where she ran away from home and, you know, I just you give her space to do what she’s gonna do. She went and stayed with her dad for a while. She came back home. She went back to her dad’s house.

Meghanne Storey [00:39:07]:

She stayed with her sister for a while. She came back home. She tried New York out for a while. She came back home. You know, you just give the best I don’t know. I as far as moming, I always tell my kids, I’m sorry. I’m not a traditional mom, and, I don’t really know what I’m doing here. So we just have to wing it.

Meghanne Storey [00:39:25]:

We’re all just winging it. I’m better with this group of kids than I was with the first group. You know, I guess it depends. Like, I was younger with the first group, so I was able to connect more of this one. I’m a more of a able to take more of a parent parental type seat and be like, okay, that’s a bad choice. You’re not gonna do that. You know, whereas before I was like, well, let’s try it out together. Let’s see if it works, You know? It’s just it’s just a matter of, you know, giving them space to be who they are.

Meghanne Storey [00:39:50]:

Hopefully, they grow up and make it because we’re all trying.

Scott Cowan [00:39:54]:

I, I my daughter my daughter came to live with me when she turned 13, And I love my daughter, and she’s 30 now. So this is, you know, 17 years ago. And, she’s a good kid, got 2 kids of her own now. And I just remember going, where the hell is the manual? You get I what do I do with a 13 year old girl?

Meghanne Storey [00:40:19]:

Who is this thing and what where’s my daughter’s? I

Scott Cowan [00:40:22]:

used to

Meghanne Storey [00:40:22]:

say I

Scott Cowan [00:40:26]:

oh, it was it was Insanity. It was it was it was a good kid. I mean, it wasn’t she but even as at that time, I was a single dad, you know, her her brother was 16 at that time and and they were both going to high school in to comment stadium. And I, I always was looking for that manual. And, you know, it was a joke, but, God, I don’t know. There wouldn’t have been an amount of money I wouldn’t have paid to find a manual.

Meghanne Storey [00:40:52]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:40:52]:

But I think as as parents, you know, we all, you know, I mean, I I I I was a I think I was a pretty easy kid for my mom and dad. I was an only child, and I didn’t put them through too much intentional grief. But and neither did my kid. My kids are both good kids too. I’m not saying that, but I don’t know. I don’t know what you do. My kids’ friends, I I watched, you know, as they they became homeless, some of them did, and and they struggled and they weren’t getting good feedback on, you know, and not been my, what I mean by good is like caring, not, not, not authoritative and yelling and you will not do this in my house, blah, blah, blah, but somebody who would listen and, and, and, and try to have empathy. And I think through my limited observations, I mean, I think the thing that we’re missing is empathy.

Scott Cowan [00:41:47]:

You know,

Meghanne Storey [00:41:47]:

I think it’s a lot of it. Yeah. And a lot of it is empathy.

Scott Cowan [00:41:52]:

So you’re now, you know, you’re a musician. I, you know, I you and I are have connected on Facebook, and I see that you’re you’re playing frequently.

Meghanne Storey [00:42:00]:

Mhmm. So As often as possible.

Scott Cowan [00:42:01]:

Yeah. So let’s let’s let’s kinda grind the gears and go back into to the music business in in Washington state right now. Where are you finding an audience these days?

Meghanne Storey [00:42:14]:

You know, it’s funny. I, I find, I find an audience pretty, pretty regularly. I go places sometimes it’s, you know, just a couple of people. Sometimes it’s a whole room. We had a really good crowd the other night. It just kinda depends on, you know, who’s out. I it it it getting people out is definitely a challenge sometimes. I try to, one thing I try to do is with my show is I engage the crowd in my show, and I try to make them part of it.

Scott Cowan [00:42:41]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:42:42]:

I I ask people questions. I have guessing games. I like to give away merch. I like to talk about, you know, different stuff that’s going on today. I like to, you know, find people that are musicians and bring them up on the stage to sing a song. I, you know, I like to do stuff like that, and that tends to draw people, I think, to the shows because they have a good time. I think that I like doing the Tacoma scene. I like playing a lot in Tacoma.

Meghanne Storey [00:43:07]:

It’s where most of my, I think Okay. My fan base is is in the Tacoma area, Pierce County. Wonderful. But I live here. So One

Scott Cowan [00:43:15]:

question I like to ask musicians, so I’ll ask you this first question. Now I want you to think about this because there’s 2 parts to the question. So as a performer, as a musician, where’s your where’s the best room to play at that you’ve played at so far?

Meghanne Storey [00:43:28]:

I love playing at the Spanish ballroom.

Scott Cowan [00:43:29]:

Okay. Why?

Meghanne Storey [00:43:31]:

It’s the best sound system I’ve come across. It’s just a beaut and it’s a beautiful room. The artwork is phenomenal. The Mcmenamins  in North Tacoma, a a beautiful room. The Elk Temple Lodge is just beautiful all the way around. I mean, every floor, every stairway, every elevator, I it’s a beautiful place. I love playing there.

Scott Cowan [00:43:52]:

So that’s that’s your that’s your favorite as a performer. Favorite place? Okay. So now I want you to flip the script. You’re going to be in the audience. Where’s the best place to see live music.

Meghanne Storey [00:44:05]:

You know, that’s, that’s kind of a loaded question because

Scott Cowan [00:44:11]:

of course it is.

Meghanne Storey [00:44:14]:

Seeing live music is it it okay. I love to see live music, so I’m always happy to see it wherever I go. There are definitely some places where it’s better than others, and it’s because of the shape of the room. Right? There’s some places where you sound like you’re in a box, and there’s other places where it’s like, oh, wow. This is awesome. The Spanish ballroom has great sound. You can never go wrong going to a show there. But I actually really, really like to go to shows that are outside.

Scott Cowan [00:44:40]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:44:40]:

I like to go to outside park shows. Those are my favorite thing to do. Alright. The dancing, the people, there’s music, it’s outside. It’s

Scott Cowan [00:44:48]:

I Alright. There’s no wrong answers. So You

Meghanne Storey [00:44:51]:

dance in the grass with your shoe with your bare feet. It’s great. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:44:53]:

Alright. Now as a musician, Washington state only, what venue that you haven’t played in would you love to play in?

Meghanne Storey [00:45:05]:

Washington state only. You know, I’ve got, honestly, I I always shoot really big. It’s really big. I got a big dream out there. I’m looking at the stage at Benaroya Hall.

Scott Cowan [00:45:16]:

Really? Benaroya? Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:45:17]:

I wanna play there.

Scott Cowan [00:45:18]:

You wanna do Benaroya?

Meghanne Storey [00:45:19]:

Yeah. I do.

Scott Cowan [00:45:20]:

Alright. Why? Why Benaroya?

Meghanne Storey [00:45:22]:

It’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful. It’s a beautiful place to sing. The acoustics in there are phenomenal. And when I’ve heard people sing in there, it’s just like it it’s I I I saw a choir sing there, for Christmas several years ago. It was a long time ago now, like, right after it opened. And it was just beautiful. Absolutely.

Meghanne Storey [00:45:44]:

The music surrounded me. I could feel it coming in my ears. I could feel it coming in my feet. I could feel it coming through osmosis into my skin, and I was just like, I I want I wanna do that.

Scott Cowan [00:45:56]:

I’ve never asked this question. You’re on Ben you’re I I I’m teleporting you. You’re on the stage at Benaroya Hall. You get to sing one song. What would it be?

Meghanne Storey [00:46:12]:

I would sing it’s a song I wrote called amen.

Scott Cowan [00:46:15]:

Okay. Alright. So Benaroya Hall you would sing Amen. Alright. Yep. Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:46:24]:

And it would be beautiful.

Scott Cowan [00:46:25]:

Alright. I gotta ask you, just out of curiosity, you the Spanish ballroom is I I went to it for the first time, a couple months ago. And I grew up in Tacoma. I I I went to Franklin Pierce High School, so south end of, you know, kind of Calabrio. Okay. And, the Elks temple, the Elks Lodge, whatever you wanna call it, had been vacant my entire childhood. I mean, it it it was it was just this big white elephant. The city old city hall building, there’s been multiple attempts at resurrecting it through my lifetime, but not really successful.

Scott Cowan [00:47:00]:

But I had never gone into spent you know, to make minimum since it had been restored. And I was nervous because I had kind of pretty high expectations of the place, and it exceeded my expectations. I mean, yeah, what an amazing Amazing. Amazing, cool space, and I can’t wait to go back and actually explore more of it and and, you know, spend some time checking out the various bars and all of that.

Meghanne Storey [00:47:27]:

Try food in every restaurant. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:47:29]:

They have food

Meghanne Storey [00:47:29]:

to eat downstairs.

Scott Cowan [00:47:30]:

And, yeah. And we saw, a Tacoma band called the Twang Junkies. They they opened up for, a sale band called the Heats, that night. I know

Meghanne Storey [00:47:41]:

the Heats. I you’re a second person to bring it. We were talking about the Heats last night.

Scott Cowan [00:47:45]:

Yeah. And, I’ve seen the Heats, you know, I the first time I saw the Heats was in 1980. You know, I I I know Steve Pearson, quite well. So it was really excited to see the band back together at this place I hadn’t been to blah, blah, blah. And the Twine Junkies, you know, I know those guys as well, and I’ve seen them lots of times in, you know, places in Tacoma from the Valley to the Spa, you know, all, all around the Tacoma area. Right. And they never sounded better than they did that night. They were amazing.

Meghanne Storey [00:48:16]:

Yeah. The Spanish ballroom is the best.

Scott Cowan [00:48:17]:

They were amazing. And I was totally like, wow, this is such a cool, a cool venue. The only problem as far as I’m concerned is it doesn’t have great parking. That’s that, like and if that’s the only

Meghanne Storey [00:48:29]:

problem. Even the parking in the back for the bands, like, we we have to drag the drums have to go up the stairs.

Scott Cowan [00:48:35]:

Yeah. Well, that’s that’s, you know, that’s what you have. You gotta pay the price. Come on now. No, it’s just, it’s an odd to come as lucky to come as lucky to have this awesome room. And so you say as a performer, do you want to play there or Benaroya hall? But yet as an audience member, you want to play outdoors As a performer out, do you like performing outdoors?

Meghanne Storey [00:48:56]:

I do. I love it.

Scott Cowan [00:48:57]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:48:58]:

I love it. Okay. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:49:01]:

No no wrong answers here. But let’s keep it to Tacoma. And now I have to ask my important question. In your opinion, where’s a great place to get coffee in Tacoma?

Meghanne Storey [00:49:14]:

I love Valhalla on 6th Ave is really good. Valhalla has got good coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:49:19]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:49:19]:

There’s a place down on 21st, and I think it’s 17th or no. 21st in Oaks. It’s 21st in Oaks, that has it used to be called Rousseau’s, but it’s called something else. Now it’s really, really good too.

Scott Cowan [00:49:31]:

K. And

Meghanne Storey [00:49:32]:

then our satellite coffee. You can’t go wrong with satellite coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:49:34]:

I used to live right there. Yeah. I used to live. It’s just the building next to

Meghanne Storey [00:49:38]:

me. Satellite.

Scott Cowan [00:49:39]:

Alright. Satellites all of those well, I don’t know the the middle one, but but Valhalla is, you know, you you’re

Meghanne Storey [00:49:46]:

So good.

Scott Cowan [00:49:46]:

You can’t go wrong with Valhalla. Tacoma, I think Tacoma has a great a great amount of coffee options that are super, super solid.

Meghanne Storey [00:49:54]:

And not Starbucks.

Scott Cowan [00:49:57]:

And not Starbucks.

Meghanne Storey [00:49:59]:

I don’t like Starbucks, but that’s just me.

Scott Cowan [00:50:02]:

I worked for Starbucks for 7 years, in the corporate offices. I we have to okay. This is my opinion, and I’ve said it before, so you can tune out for 30 seconds, audience, if you heard me. But basically, we all all of us that are coffee drinkers that like good coffee, quote unquote, good coffee. The Valhalla’s of the world wouldn’t exist without Starbucks educating the masses that it’s okay to pay $5, $7, dare I say, even $10 for a cup of good coffee. Starbucks introduced coffee in a way that it wasn’t Denny’s anymore. Like, you could sit at Denny’s and nurse a cup of bad coffee all night long, and I saw

Meghanne Storey [00:50:41]:

Even Denny’s changed to Millstone when Starbucks came out, though.

Scott Cowan [00:50:44]:

Okay. But but you know what I’m saying? Diner coffee.

Meghanne Storey [00:50:46]:

Yeah. You

Scott Cowan [00:50:47]:

know? And I and I I drink gas station coffee. I love I just love coffee.

Meghanne Storey [00:50:51]:

I do too.

Scott Cowan [00:50:52]:

So I’m not trying to be pretentious and snobby, but Starbucks introduced the masses to the idea that you could there was something more than a stale cup of coffee that the waitress threw in your cup at 2 AM.

Meghanne Storey [00:51:05]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:51:06]:

Okay. And then the wave of of micro roasters that came behind Starbucks and created a different level of quality that Starbucks can’t do with the volume that they do?

Meghanne Storey [00:51:21]:

The volume that they do. Yeah. They used to I don’t know. I worked at the SBC in Westlake for a while.

Scott Cowan [00:51:26]:

Mhmm.

Meghanne Storey [00:51:26]:

And, there was a lot of you know, you can’t you can’t drink Starbucks if you like SBC. And I I just I liked the SBC flavor better than Starbucks because it was softer. There’s just a bitterness to the Starbucks flavor that I didn’t care for.

Scott Cowan [00:51:39]:

Sure. And, you know, and then and then Starbucks solve that problem for you by buying SBC. So Yes.

Meghanne Storey [00:51:44]:

They did. Yeah. Uh-huh. But it doesn’t make it better because now I’m I didn’t have a job after that.

Scott Cowan [00:51:49]:

Right. Right. No. No. I’m I’m gonna take the Starbucks has some some some drinkable coffees, but I do think that if you look just a little bit harder, you can find really good coffee at places like Valhalla. The challenge though, is when you go to a community, you don’t know that Valhalla is good. You don’t know if I, if I dropped you, if I took you and dropped you in Vancouver, Washington, you wouldn’t know what a good coffee shop is.

Meghanne Storey [00:52:16]:

I would have to go smell coffee shops until I find one that smells good.

Scott Cowan [00:52:19]:

And so you probably go to Starbucks just because it’s quote unquote safe. And you know, that’s

Meghanne Storey [00:52:23]:

what I did in New York, but I looked for Starbucks. I looked for Starbucks when I was in New York. Yeah. And you can stay in in Hawaii. Where is the Starbucks at? Because that I can it’s reliable, you know? But

Scott Cowan [00:52:33]:

I always joke with the guests, you know, please don’t say Starbucks. It’s kind of a running joke. I thought maybe for fun, you would say Denny’s to me, but, you know, and I would give you a hard time. Alright. So last last last Tacoma food drink question. Lunchtime. Lunch in Tacoma area. What what do you think?

Meghanne Storey [00:52:48]:

Oh, man. I was thinking about this question. I asked actually asked a friend of mine who is very, very much a food connoisseur, and his answers did not agree with mine. I there’s this place in South Tacoma on South Tacoma way across the street from Dawson’s called the Church Cantina.

Scott Cowan [00:53:02]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:53:03]:

Oh my gosh. It’s it’s vegan.

Scott Cowan [00:53:06]:

K.

Meghanne Storey [00:53:06]:

But, it’s really good. You’d never know it. You’d never know it. It’s delicious.

Scott Cowan [00:53:10]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:53:12]:

And then there’s another place called Shakabrah Java on sixth Avenue. Yep. That’s really, really good. Yeah. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:53:17]:

So I haven’t been to the church cantina, but I’ve been to Shakabrah Java. What what what just like curiosity, what did your friend suggest that you didn’t agree with?

Meghanne Storey [00:53:25]:

He was what was he talking about? He was talking about, like, there’s a restaurant inside of the 7 Seas Brewery, in downtown that he really likes where they make a smash burger.

Scott Cowan [00:53:36]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:53:37]:

And we go there often and get oysters. And then he he’s quite a food connoisseur. So he’s like a matador. Oh. Matador is really good too. They do have amazing nachos. I will not. I disagree with that at all.

Meghanne Storey [00:53:50]:

That was the best nachos I’ve ever had in my life, for sure. But, yeah, I don’t know. I still like I like the church. I like going to the church. I think the atmosphere of the church is cool. They’ve got coffins on the wall to hold all the bottles of alcohol in and all their all their different coffee flavors and everything. It’s all the church is great. I love the church.

Scott Cowan [00:54:10]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:54:12]:

Probably one of my favorite places. Yeah. But if you’re looking for good biscuits and gravy

Scott Cowan [00:54:16]:

Yeah. What do you got?

Meghanne Storey [00:54:18]:

You have to go to this little hole in the law on sixth Avenue called the is it the Soul Food Kitchen or the Soul Kitchen?

Scott Cowan [00:54:24]:

Uh-huh. Mhmm.

Meghanne Storey [00:54:25]:

And, they don’t really have any heat. They’ve got a little heater that they kinda move around in there. Oh my gosh. You have to eat there. Eat there.

Scott Cowan [00:54:36]:

The the one I haven’t been there in a long, long time, but the one greasy spoon in Tacoma that I used to love to go to was Marsha’s Silver Spoon.

Meghanne Storey [00:54:45]:

Oh my gosh. I forgot about

Scott Cowan [00:54:46]:

that place. Have you ever have you ever been there?

Meghanne Storey [00:54:49]:

I was there once a long time ago. I totally forgot about that funny. I haven’t even thought about that place in forever.

Scott Cowan [00:54:54]:

Yeah. That was that was always when I when I worked in in the Tacoma area. We’re kind of down the butt.

Meghanne Storey [00:54:58]:

Of of Tacoma.

Scott Cowan [00:55:00]:

Yeah. That was kinda like, oh, let’s go for lunch again and, you know, you know, I’ll have a heart attack, but that’s okay. Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:55:05]:

It’s okay. It’ll be good.

Scott Cowan [00:55:08]:

Silent Lucidity just dropped today. So this episode’s coming out about a week later, actually. And so, we’ll make sure that there’s a link people can go and check it out. What else do people need to know about you?

Meghanne Storey [00:55:25]:

I you know, I don’t even know how to answer that question. I don’t know. I think I just I don’t know. I don’t know.

Scott Cowan [00:55:35]:

Okay. Let’s let me let me help you a little bit. Do you and Ray have any plans on performing live together in the next

Meghanne Storey [00:55:45]:

period? 2025 is gonna be an amazing year. Yes. We are gonna do some shows together.

Scott Cowan [00:55:50]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:55:51]:

He is very excited. I I’m I’m I I feel a little bit proud of myself because he says I sparked in him a desire to play live again and I’m like, yay. Okay. Because he’s a great piano player and I’m really I love playing with him because there’s something so magical about being able to just have, like, the vocals on the piano out there and being able to kinda harmonize with the different piano notes and, you know, surprise people. It it yeah. I love it. I just love it.

Scott Cowan [00:56:16]:

Okay. So

Meghanne Storey [00:56:18]:

definitely gonna be doing some shows.

Scott Cowan [00:56:19]:

You guys are the the 2 of you, or will it be will it be more of an ensemble, or do you think it’s just gonna be the 2 of you, or what do you envision?

Meghanne Storey [00:56:29]:

I’m not really sure. I do have a band, and my band is gonna have some music coming out that’s different from what I do with Raymond.

Scott Cowan [00:56:35]:

K.

Meghanne Storey [00:56:36]:

We have kind of more of a I don’t know how to explain our sound. It’s not really pop. It’s not really folk. It’s not really rock. It’s kind of some kind of combination there of, and it leans heavily towards, like, the grunge thing, but, it’s also, like, it’s fun and feel as good to to play and sing to and listen to. It feel it’s feel good. It feels good. We have a lot of fun with our band.

Meghanne Storey [00:57:02]:

It’s it’s very different from what what I do with Ringo. It’s very different.

Scott Cowan [00:57:06]:

Where do you and your band typically play in the Tacoma area?

Meghanne Storey [00:57:11]:

We play we play all all over the place actually. We’re we were in Bremerton last month a couple of times. We’re gonna be in Kingston, in January on 18th.

Scott Cowan [00:57:22]:

Alright.

Meghanne Storey [00:57:22]:

We I mean, we just kinda go all over the place. In Tacoma, we play at the Spanish ballroom sometimes. You can find us, like, you’ll see me and my drummer down at Dawson’s for jam nights on Wednesdays. You’ll see me and my drummer out during the week doing duo shows. On the weekends, if if it’s a full band show, you’ll see all all 3 of us in places. But a lot of times lately, it’s been, like, me and my guitar player on 1 night, and then my drummer’s somewhere else, and then, you know, because we’re trying to we’re still trying to get the momentum going because the band formation is fairly new. We just kind of put it together within the last 6 months and made the decision that we were going to actually be a band and and move forward and do this.

Scott Cowan [00:58:03]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:58:05]:

So like now we’ve been writing a lot of songs and we’ve done We played in Yelm. We play I mean, it’s kinda all over the place. We haven’t really done a lot in Tacoma in the heart of Tacoma specifically.

Scott Cowan [00:58:15]:

Okay.

Meghanne Storey [00:58:15]:

But we played around at different venues, you know, kinda all over the place.

Scott Cowan [00:58:19]:

You just said something I haven’t heard anybody say before you play in Yelm. Where on earth are you playing in Yelm?

Meghanne Storey [00:58:24]:

The quarter mile.

Scott Cowan [00:58:26]:

Quarter mile?

Meghanne Storey [00:58:27]:

That guy that guy built an amazing sound system and stage inside of that place. Weird stuff. Amazing. I love playing there, and he’s a great guy. He’s just got a great attitude. He’s got a great personality. He’s super fun. The owner of that place is just fantastic.

Meghanne Storey [00:58:42]:

I just love going there. He even built us a little green room in the back. It’s great.

Scott Cowan [00:58:46]:

Now where is this at, Danielle?

Meghanne Storey [00:58:48]:

It’s, I can’t remember the address. It’s like it’s I mean, there’s the Yelm was only so big. Right. But it’s, it’s kinda off the beaten track. So, like, if you go down the main street, like, you’ll see, like, the White Horse Tavern, you have to take a left and kinda go off, on it’s, like, on 3rd, in Yelm, but it’s it’s it’s a super fun place. I really like going there. I’ve been there a few times, and I really enjoy it.

Scott Cowan [00:59:08]:

Alright. Right? Yeah. I I did not know that Yelm had a place for live music. That’s kinda So

Meghanne Storey [00:59:18]:

a couple of them.

Scott Cowan [00:59:18]:

That’s kinda cool.

Meghanne Storey [00:59:19]:

There are a couple of

Scott Cowan [00:59:19]:

them. Alright. Yeah. I did not know that, so I learned something today. Well, I haven’t learned a lot, but that’s that’s great.

Meghanne Storey [00:59:24]:

We play everywhere. Everywhere. From Kingston, I’ve got shows booked in I’m working on some stuff in Oregon for for this, spring.

Scott Cowan [00:59:32]:

Mhmm. I’m

Meghanne Storey [00:59:32]:

hoping I can get it to work out, but I have to get everybody to agree on dates that are in the same week.

Scott Cowan [00:59:37]:

Right. Right. Yes.

Meghanne Storey [00:59:38]:

And that’s a challenge.

Scott Cowan [00:59:40]:

And that’s the the joy of independent music and wearing all the hats.

Meghanne Storey [00:59:45]:

Yes. Exactly.

Scott Cowan [00:59:46]:

Okay. Well, I appreciate you sitting down with me and sharing your story because I think it’s important that it is heard by more people and you should keep sharing it as much as you can. And, you know, so I appreciate you sharing it here. I also the the new song the newest well, the new the new one that you just released. I I really think you guys did an amazing job with it. Genuinely and I agree with you that it was probably one of those songs that would be, tricky to, repackage.

Meghanne Storey [01:00:27]:

It’s a big song.

Scott Cowan [01:00:28]:

Yeah. And, and this what’s funny is that that’s probably the only song by that band that I actually like. That’s just not a band I ever got, you know, things.

Meghanne Storey [01:00:37]:

There’s another song on that album called Is Anybody Listening? Is There Anybody Listening? Yeah. Phenomenal.

Scott Cowan [01:00:43]:

Yeah. I I know that they’re hugely popular and, you know, influential and all that, but I just, you know, just not one of those ones that got clicked with me. And that’s okay. I mean, you know, those, you know, just didn’t click with me. So I appreciate that. I’m going to oh, I know. We have the most important question of all. You ready? Remember I warned you that this was this was not an option.

Scott Cowan [01:01:07]:

You have to you have to answer. So we set the rules up. It’s a either or answer. Okay. Neither or both is not an acceptable option. You must answer either one one of the two things. And then you have to explain like homework, like when you were in school, you have to show your work. You have to, explain your reasoning.

Scott Cowan [01:01:31]:

Alright. Are you ready?

Meghanne Storey [01:01:33]:

I’m ready.

Scott Cowan [01:01:34]:

Okay. Very serious question. Cake or pie? Cake. Why?

Meghanne Storey [01:01:41]:

Because it’s delicious. And pie pie crust is not as good as cake.

Scott Cowan [01:01:49]:

There are no wrong

Meghanne Storey [01:01:49]:

answers here.

Scott Cowan [01:01:50]:

There are no wrong answers here.

Meghanne Storey [01:01:51]:

No. Pie crust is not as good as cake. I mean, pie crust is kinda dry, and you have to put things on it to make it kinda, you know, even with the stuff inside of it. The inside of the pie is always delicious unless it’s minced meat. But you never know until you actually bite into it what kind of pie it is. When you look at a cake, you know it’s gonna be delicious. It could be chocolate. It could be white cake.

Meghanne Storey [01:02:12]:

It could be green cake. It could be flour cake. I don’t care. I’m eating it. Chocolate German chocolate is my favorite, but, you know, you can’t go wrong with cake. You just can’t go wrong. Cake is delicious.

Scott Cowan [01:02:21]:

Alright.

Meghanne Storey [01:02:22]:

Let the people eat cake.

Scott Cowan [01:02:23]:

Alright. Now I have to ask a follow-up question. Growing up in your life, more cake or more pie as a as a kid growing up?

Meghanne Storey [01:02:36]:

Definitely more cake. I wasn’t exposed to pie a lot.

Scott Cowan [01:02:38]:

Okay. So just so to clue you in on kind of the the the joke here is, a, I think it’s a funny question. And because it’s like and some people are just, like, as adamant as you are. Like, it’s cake, it’s pie, the others are wrong. Other people are, like, asking me which one of their children they have to give up. You know, it’s it’s fun to watch that.

Meghanne Storey [01:02:59]:

Oh, that’s funny. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [01:03:00]:

Some people are like, I started asking the follow-up, like as, as kids, what were you exposed to? And what I’m finding is that your answer is almost always predicated on your, your upbringing.

Meghanne Storey [01:03:18]:

Probably you’re only your problem.

Scott Cowan [01:03:19]:

If you, if you grew up as a kid with cake and, and, and, and a particular type of cake, like, you know, it was always, you know, a Costco sheet cake or, or, you know, grandma’s scratch baked cake, whatever, or pie, whatever. It’s almost always going back to when we were kids. It’s interesting

Meghanne Storey [01:03:41]:

to me.

Scott Cowan [01:03:42]:

It is just

Meghanne Storey [01:03:42]:

My grandma used to try to make pies a lot, and she wasn’t very good at it. My grandpa made better pies.

Scott Cowan [01:03:46]:

Okay. See? And I think and there’s no wrong answer here, though. I mean, there is there well, actually, there is. Pumpkin pie is the wrong answer. It’s just it’s just foul and

Meghanne Storey [01:03:54]:

That shouldn’t be a thing. I like pumpkin pie if you put pepper in it, though.

Scott Cowan [01:03:58]:

Oh, We’re done here. No. Just kidding.

Meghanne Storey [01:04:02]:

I put pepper and everything. I made cookies last night for, we had a little, listening party for the song before it came out. Uh-huh. And I brought cookies and everyone’s like, wow. These cookies are so good. What did you put in them on my pepper?

Scott Cowan [01:04:16]:

I Try it. Are you talking, like, black pepper? Or

Meghanne Storey [01:04:21]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [01:04:22]:

And or okay. Help me out here. What type of cookies did you bake?

Meghanne Storey [01:04:26]:

Chocolate chip walnut.

Scott Cowan [01:04:27]:

Chocolate chip walnut. And how much pepper did you put into the dough?

Meghanne Storey [01:04:33]:

One and a half teaspoons.

Scott Cowan [01:04:35]:

So pretty significant amount.

Meghanne Storey [01:04:37]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [01:04:38]:

I’m not gonna lie. That sounds horrible.

Meghanne Storey [01:04:41]:

It’s delicious.

Scott Cowan [01:04:42]:

It sounds I’m just telling you my initial reaction is it sounds horrible.

Meghanne Storey [01:04:46]:

Everybody is so surprised when I tell them that. I’m like, no. Pepper is the secret ingredient. It it for some reason, it brings out the sweet flavors and it kinda tones everything down and makes it just gel. So if you ever put too much sugar in something, add some pepper.

Scott Cowan [01:05:02]:

I’m gonna repeat myself. This sounds horrible. You’re selling me on it though. That’s the thing. It’s like, if you, if you were to like be in the room with me and said, here, try a cookie, I would try one.

Meghanne Storey [01:05:11]:

You should. They’re delicious. I’m like,

Scott Cowan [01:05:12]:

I would, well, I mean, I’m not, I’m not gonna, I mean, look at me. I don’t say no to cookies. But where did you learn to put pepper in a cookie?

Meghanne Storey [01:05:26]:

I I was trying to I I I tried to make thanksgiving dinner and I well, I did make thanksgiving dinner and I, really wanted to, I don’t like pumpkin pie.

Scott Cowan [01:05:38]:

We’re we’re all in degrees.

Meghanne Storey [01:05:39]:

So I was like, how can I make this taste good? And I read, like, up on the Internet and then I I actually have a I have about halfway through a naturopathic, a master’s degree in naturopathic medicine.

Scott Cowan [01:05:49]:

And one

Meghanne Storey [01:05:50]:

of the things that I learned in my naturopathic medicine class was that when things are too sweet, like when you’re doing like, when you’re making like lozenges or you’re making syrups and things like that and you need to tone down the sweetness because the berry that you’ve used or the amount of sugar that you had to use to create that, you need to tone it down. You use black pepper to offset it. And so I was like, well, let’s try it in the pumpkin pie and see if it works. And it did. It did. It was delicious. And now I’m like, okay, pepper goes in everything. I I put it in everything that I make.

Scott Cowan [01:06:22]:

There you go, folks. Pepper goes with everything. From Meghanne Storey. Yes.

Meghanne Storey [01:06:27]:

It goes with everything.

Scott Cowan [01:06:29]:

Megan, thank you for thank you for this. I I got nothing to add.

Meghanne Storey [01:06:36]:

If you add a little tumor to it, it’s good for your bones and your joints too.

Scott Cowan [01:06:40]:

I understand that that that one, but pepper and cookies.

Meghanne Storey [01:06:46]:

It’s delicious. I’m telling you, you gotta try it. 1 and a half teaspoons of black pepper. Try it.

Scott Cowan [01:06:53]:

I’ll I’ll report back to you.

Meghanne Storey [01:06:55]:

Okay. Let me know.

Scott Cowan [01:06:56]:

I will. Megan, thanks so much.

Meghanne Storey [01:06:58]:

Absolutely. Thank you. I had glasses burning. Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun.