- [Voiceover] The following program is a production of Pioneer Public Television.

This program on Pioneer Public Television is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota, on November 4th 2008.

Additional support provided by Mark and Margaret Ieko Juline, in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a non-profit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom in southwestern Minnesota, shalomhillfarm.org.

The Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center, your ideal choice for Minnesota resorts offering luxury townhomes, 18 holes of golf, Darling Reflections Spa, Big Splash Waterpark, and much more.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a relaxing vacation or great location for an event, ExploreAlex.com.

Easy to get to, hard to leave.

(calming classical music) - Welcome to Postcards, I'm Dana Johnson.

Today, we travel to the Alexandria area to catch up with former national star, Connie Lee.

And we check out the painting skills of Rikki Sneddon.

But first, join us for a musical performance by Josie Nelson an emerging young talent who will be sure to surprise you.

- This song is Balloons and I wrote it in the fall of this year.

("Balloons") ♪ Stop, everybody stop ♪ ♪ He just looked at me, looked at me ♪ ♪ Wait, everybody wait ♪ ♪ He just talked to me, talked to me ♪ ♪ My whole world turns upside down ♪ ♪ All because you turned around ♪ ♪ To say hello on your way out of class ♪ ♪ But when you walk into the room ♪ I started taking guitar lessons when I was eight years old in 2008, and I asked my mom to take me to learn guitar 'cause I wanted an instrument that I could take with me wherever I go and play for family and friends.

♪ All you gotta do is walk on by ♪ ♪ And I, and I, and I can't get you out of my mind ♪ I listen to a lot of music and I have a lot of different artists that inspire me that I like.

So I wanted just to be able to play music so I could learn whatever I wanted.

♪ Some days can be so hard ♪ ♪ I just think of you when I'm blue ♪ I decided that I wanted to perform live in public which was a big step for me.

So I was talking to my mom and dad, and we found a talent competition in Polk County, the Polk County Fair.

So we drove to Fertile, Minnesota, for the day and I played Bubbly by Colbie Caillat.

It was just so exciting that I never stopped performing.

The first time I had played at the fair, I didn't really expect to win or anything.

It was just all for the experience of performing, and actually ended up winning and advancing to the State Fair Finals, so that was really exciting.

I was extremely nervous, but afterwards, it was so amazing.

It was such an incredible experience.

The ultimate goal was never really to win.

I just had so much fun performing there, and would miss it so much if I didn't go back to perform.

So winning was just extra.

It was amazing, icing on the cake.

♪ I just wait another day to tell you how I feel ♪ ♪ But here we are face to face ♪ ♪ My heart beats in abnormal pace ♪ ♪ This is my shot, a leap of faith ♪ ♪ And I've gotta say ♪ I started writing my own music when I was about 10.

It just started with a short, really simple song with one or two chords maybe, and advanced from there.

I'm always writing.

This song is one that I wrote called Back To You.

I wrote it this year in the winter.

("Back To You") ♪ I know I love you ♪ ♪ but I don't wanna say it ♪ ♪ 'Cause I won't be able ♪ ♪ to forget the way I feel ♪ Tyler Ward is a YouTube musician, and he has a really large YouTube following.

He saw one of my videos on YouTube and contacted me and wanted to work with me.

So he flew us out to Colorado, and I got to meet him and work with him.

♪ I don't know where we went wrong ♪ I got the opportunity to open for Tyler Ward at a concert in his hometown, Denver, Colorado.

It was a great experience.

I shared the opening with another great performer.

♪ On that cold September day ♪ ♪ You put your arms around me ♪ ♪ I almost forgot to breathe ♪ My manager, Jaron, has some connections to producer in L.A., one of them being John Fields.

He got me the opportunity to go out to L.A. and work on some original songs, to write them and record them.

I ended up writing and recording three songs.

In the future, I hope to record a lot more music that I can share online and with everyone.

I would really love to make my own album and release that.

♪ When I saw you for the first time years ago ♪ ♪ There was comfort in your smile ♪ ♪ Hadn't seen that for a while ♪ ♪ I sat there wishing you would never go ♪ I don't know that I really have a favorite song that I'd written, but my favorite kinds of songs that I write are always when they're very real.

They all have meaning behind them but some just have a lot more meaning than others, and those are the ones that are the most fun to sing and play 'cause they really mean something.

♪ On that cold September day ♪ - Next, Rikki Sneddon tells us about her painting and collage, as we stop by her studio in Glenwood.

(lively guitar music) - [Voiceover] I like to use all the emotion so I don't wanna just paint.

All happy or all sad.

I want people to be able to relate to whatever they are looking for when they're looking for art, too.

So I like to have variety of feelings.

I've started when I was young, drawing, crafting.

I didn't really do painting back then but lots of crafts, hot glue and stuff like that, then it just evolved.

In school, I would start drawing pictures of my classmates and stuff.

I drew and drew for a few years and I stopped for a little while, then I started going to the tech school and reinspired myself with that.

I started drawing again and slowly transitioned into painting, and now the painting's taken over.

Drawing's still a part of painting, obviously, but I kinda focus on the painting.

I don't really do just drawings anymore.

(guitar music) I most often like to paint the human face, portrait.

It's got a lot of shadow and I like to play with the angles.

It's more interesting for me to work with.

If I see someone, a feature that's unique or different, interesting, sometimes I ask them if I can take a picture of their face so I can paint it later or work on a portrait of it later.

Most of the time, they say yes.

(guitar music) When I wake up, if I'm in a creative mood, just about anything can inspire me.

If I'm not in a creative mood, then nothing.

But music really inspires me.

Usually when I'm painting, I have the music blaring.

I'm just in my own little world.

(music playing in the background) The music that you hear in the background is just a mix that I have that comes over the internet.

But I like to paint with music.

It puts me in a good mood.

It keeps me from sitting down and watching TV or something while I'm doing it.

With a portrait, I will draw the outline of the face to get it where the angles are right and it looks right.

It's like my base layer, then I'll start adding paint.

There's lots of layers.

I don't even necessarily do it on purpose.

It just has to be so many layers until it looks right.

(soft music) The paints I work with most often are acrylic paints and watercolor paints.

And I use a technique for a lot of my portraits.

I mix them together to get different results.

It's hard for me to work with one and not the other.

Currently, I'm working on the finishing touches of a portrait that is gonna be going to someone that ordered it down in Florida.

It's a portrait of Debbie Harry from Blondie.

Probably almost to the end of the painting here.

I usually add some of the more highlighted parts right at the end so they don't get too muddled up when I'm doing the other colors.

They stay bright.

Just using some acrylic.

This painting has a mix of the acrylic and watercolor also.

This kind of stuff at the end, it seems I always get relieved when I get to this point in the painting 'cause I feel like I'm almost done.

The last few layers, I use them to clean up some edges and get some more rounded edges and stuff.

Timmery Turner found my shop on Etsy, and she liked what she'd seen so she invited me to be a part of the Sugar Art and Fashion Show.

They were doing a tour of the U.S. and they had been invited to do Fashion Week in New York.

She invited me to show there, so I was able to send pieces out there, so that was exciting to get out there and get some publicity, and she ended up purchasing both the pieces that I sent out there herself.

So they're getting used well.

Art I've produced with my family so far would be the creative photography project I did with my sister last summer.

My parents bought a house in Glenwood here 'cause they wanna move here, and it was kinda old and had been abandoned for a little while.

They were gonna gut it all but it was really beautiful.

There's layers and layers of wallpaper in there, and I was inspired by the flaking wallpaper off the kitchen walls.

I didn't wanna let it just get torn down and forgotten about when it was probably really beautiful.

One day, me and Hayley dressed up.

We put some paint on her face and I painted her face all up.

We did some photos and I called the collection The House That You Were Raised In.

I'd like to not have to work and I'd like to sit at home and paint all day.

I don't want it to just be on the side all the time, something that I'm fitting in and trying.

I just want it to be something more real and more full-time, have a real studio in the garage and maybe even have business hours one day.

(guitar music) - Now, Connie Lee shares the history of her local business, the Tennessee Roadhouse, and gives a one-of-a-kind performance in Alexandria.

♪ I'm an old ♪ ♪ mule skinner, hoo!

♪ (Connie laughs) ♪ From down Minnesota way, hey, hey, yeah ♪ ♪ And I can make any of you listen, sometimes ♪ ♪ I won't accept your pay, hey, hey, yeah ♪ ♪ Yodel-a-ee ♪ My music style, I would have to say it's kickin' country.

I think anywhere you grow up, it's gonna have an influence on the talent that you have, and especially on music, for sure.

I grew up, born and raised in Minnesota.

But, basically, I'm kind of a Tennessee native as well 'cause I've been going back and forth to Nashville since I made my first record at the age of 12.

So it's been kinda like my second home.

I was very fortunate to come from a musical family.

When I first started out singing, I sang at everything.

We would do a lot of weddings on Saturdays and different family gatherings and stuff like that.

We weren't singing at any bars or anything, but in church, all the different church functions.

I really grew up singing a lot of the country gospels, it's as big a part of me as the country is.

Woo!

(laughs) ♪ Good morning to you, sir, hey hey yeah ♪ ♪ Do you need another skinner ♪ ♪ I say (mumbles) hey hey yeah ♪ ♪ Yodel-a-ee-he-he ♪ ♪ He-he-he-he-he-he ♪ ♪ Oh, one more time ♪ There happened to be a Grand Ole Opry Roadshow that came out locally here.

We snuck backstage and got an audition with the promoter, and one of the stars of the Opry finally said, "Here, let's get my guitar picker over here."

We're in the dressing room and I sang, and they actually put me on the show for the first time that night.

Like I said, I was just 14 years old, out there in front of 8,000 people.

And they hired me on for six years with the Grand Opry Roadshow, I toured with them.

And my sisters and my family, we travelled and opened up for the likes of Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Roy Clark, Bill Anderson back then, all those names, Minnie Pearl.

We just had as much fun as we could because it was like a dream come true to get to do that.

That's how I started.

♪ I hit town without a clue ♪ ♪ Minding my business like I always do ♪ ♪ Just my luck I ran smack into you ♪ ♪ I never could've thought it would be like this ♪ ♪ He's got the kind of charm that I can't resist ♪ ♪ I figured what's wrong with a little bit of kiss or two ♪ ♪ But I fell in love ♪ ♪ I fell in love ♪ ♪ I fell in love ♪ ♪ Took me by surprise, put me on the floor ♪ ♪ Right between the eyes like a two by four ♪ ♪ Lord, help me, I fell in love ♪ After my parents had taken ill a little bit more, and my dad had had a stroke, I wanted to come up in this area and, basically, be a little closer.

And lo and behold, I met my husband, back in Minnesota, here in Alexandria, and decided to stay here in Minnesota and sold my place in Nashville.

Hence, we started Tennessee Roadhouse.

♪ I fell in love ♪ ♪ I fell in love ♪ ♪ I fell in love ♪ ♪ Took me by surprise, put me on the floor ♪ ♪ Right between your eyes like a two by four ♪ ♪ Lord, help me, I fell in love ♪ ♪ Woo hoo!

♪ He had a restaurant on this location for 37 years.

So he'd already been established in the restaurant business and pretty much knows what he's doing.

(laughs) So restaurant business was pretty new to me.

Singing, entertaining was my game.

But coming from Nashville, and living in Nashville and being in the entertainment world, I knew of what it was like in different places in Nashville that I would go and sing at, say, Robert's or anywhere downtown.

Anywhere in Nashville, you're gonna run into great musicians and singers, and everybody's singing and they have great music.

You never know who's gonna come through the door.

It could be the president of Sony Records or it could be a booking agent, or it could be an artist, Toby Keith or Kenny Chesney walking in, or Chet Atkins.

You never know, everybody's friends of friends.

That's kinda what I wanted to depict right here, in the heart of Minnesota.

The heart of Tennessee in the heart of Minnesota.

So that's when we started with the music, and we put everything up on the walls.

It was just like going back, you think you're in downtown Nashville, on Broadway there and you're going into a restaurant or a bar, then you listen to some great music.

You never know who you're gonna see in there, and have great music and just have a great experience.

So that's how Tennessee Roadhouse got its start right here, in the heart of Minnesota.

(audience cheering and clapping) Welcome to Tennessee Roadhouse!

You havin' fun already?

(audience cheering) ♪ Oh, Tennessee ♪ ♪ Tennessee Roadhouse ♪ ♪ Steaks, barbecue, and seafood ♪ ♪ Now come and get you some ♪ ♪ Oh, Tennessee ♪ ♪ Tennessee Roadhouse ♪ ♪ Great food, great drinks, great music, ♪ ♪ Great people, great fun!

♪ Right?

(audience cheering) ♪ Oh, in Minnesota, it knocks me, Southern hospitality ♪ ♪ You know you're gonna like it for sure ♪ ♪ Alexandria, Minnesota, exit 103 ♪ ♪ Just off I94 ♪ ♪ Oh, Tennessee ♪ ♪ Tennessee Roadhouse, hoo!

♪ ♪ Come on in and grab a beer ♪ ♪ 'Cause you're all sure welcome here ♪ ♪ At the Tennessee Roadhouse ♪ (audience cheers and applauses) When I do the Connie Lee & Friends here, I'm on the radio every Sunday night at six, but I actually do the show in-house here at Tennessee Roadhouse every two weeks.

Tonight will be a fun show.

In fact, we're all busy here settin' up for the show tonight, Connie Lee & Friends.

That's why I'm all dressed up by the way.

(laughs) My sisters will be joining me tonight doing some great harmony.

I have Kevin Klimek on lead guitar, part of the Tennessee Roadhouse band.

Jim Favor on bass, Brian Johnson on snare drum.

We keep it kind of acoustic the best we can, but we end up gettin' almost a full band.

I also have Amy Evans who also is one of the best pianists I've ever worked with.

She worked on the road with me for about five years, and now she is on the show tonight as well.

Oh, I think everybody knows what this is.

I just figured out I was really tall I'm 5'2', blonde on a good hair day if you're on the radio.

When I come out, you know it.

(laughs) I just have always been real flamboyant.

For a small, short person, on a good hair day that can maybe be 5'2'', I got quite of a large voice.

I'm Johnny Cash.

(audience cheers and claps) After a Connie Lee show, I like 'em to be feeling good, like man!

I needed to get to that because I felt good and I wanna go back, so we don't hold anything back.

We don't charge cover or anything for folks to come in.

You just come in and have some great barbecue, great food, and you're gonna be a part of this great show that's put right here in Alex.

♪ Love is a burning thing ♪ ♪ It makes a fiery ring ♪ When you're doing a lot of the bigger shows, it's not that you're disconnected, but you're farther... Say, if you're doing the bigger shows, the nearest first row might be 25 feet out or whatever, and you're at a distance.

But when you're in a setting as we have at the restaurant and you're just maybe two feet away from the guests, and they're joining the show and we're this close, it's quite a connection, it's very interactive with the audience, so that's what's the cool part about it.

I like to keep it really casual.

We interact with the crowd, I have these little condensed mics that can pick up conversations 40 feet away.

Usually, we get the crowd involved and get the feedback from them if they're havin' a good time.

My band as well, we talk or tell different stories about different road stories and stuff and a few jokes here and there.

Since Kevin and I are here, we try to be 24/7, we'd like to be.

It's so great 'cause it's like you guys are comin' in our homes, so we feel like you are always our guests and you're in our home.

Even in our restaurant here at Tennessee Roadhouse, I'm tying that back in, that's kinda the effect that we try to even have with our crew here, is like our family.

We want every person, every guest that walks through that door to feel like they are the only person, and they're having this special feeling.

The song truly does remember when.

If you do a great song, and all of sudden you're doing it and it'll take that person back, it'll take you back to that particular moment of that time and how you felt.

It's always still about feeling, how you feel, and how it makes you feel.

- That's all for this week.

For more information, go to our website.

See you again next time on Postcards.

- [Voiceover] This program on Pioneer Public Television is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota, on November 4th 2008.

Additional support provided by Mark and Margaret Ieko Juline, in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a non-profit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom in southwestern Minnesota, shalomhillfarm.org.

The Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center, your ideal choice for Minnesota resorts offering luxury townhomes, 18 holes of golf, Darling Reflections Spa, Big Splash Waterpark, and much more.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a relaxing vacation or great location for an event, ExploreAlex.com.

Easy to get to, hard to leave.

(calming classical music)