Caffe Tempo hosts live music performances every Saturday morning

Wayward, an Indie-pop band from Minneapolis performed live Saturday morning

More stories from Stephanie Smith

Jonathan+Edwards%2C+lead+singer+and+guitarist+for+Minneapolis+band+Wayward+comes+to+Cafe+Tempo+to+perform+for+Saturday+Morning+Acoustics.

Photo by Stephanie Smith

Jonathan Edwards, lead singer and guitarist for Minneapolis band Wayward comes to Cafe Tempo to perform for Saturday Morning Acoustics.

Saturday mornings at Caffe Tempo on Water Street now provide live music for guests to listen to as they sip their hot coffee or nibble on some blueberry muffins.

The cafe has been home to many aspiring musicians at the store’s other location on Madison Street, but owner Paul Wiersgalla wanted to bring something different to the new location. In lieu of other ongoing performances at the cafe, he decided to start an event called Saturday Morning Acoustics from 10:30 am to noon.

“With the evening performances, there can be so many conflicts between kids, activities and commitments, so Saturday mornings give people an option for flexibility to get out, get some coffee, meet friends, listen to music and then go to Menards,” Wiersgalla said.

The Water Street location has been open just over a month and Wiersgalla said because this location is a student-orientated facility, he is anxiously awaiting their return from the semester break.

Saturday’s performance was the cafe’s second week of the event. The first event was a packed house and guests were responding very well to the performance, Wiersgalla said.

A Minneapolis-based indie pop band named Wayward performed a set full of covers and originals. Usually a two-man band, guitar player and lead singer Jonathan Edwards was the only one who came to perform at the cafe Saturday morning.

Edwards said he has been told he sounds like or resembles Jason Mraz, Ed Sheeran or The Lumineers when it comes to the style of music the band performs and the sound of his voice.

Although the band enjoys singing covers, such as Ed Sheeran’s “Don’t,” Edwards said he enjoys singing songs he writes – which are typically inspired by or written about his newlywed wife or about their love or marriage in general – even more.

“It’s fun to see someone already know a song but it’s even more fun to see someone already know my own song,” Edwards said.

Edwards enjoyed engaging with his audience at the cafe and was quite personal with them as he went through the set list.

Wayward, 21, is recording a new album that will be coming out on Spotify in about a month for everyone to listen to.

Wiersgalla said he has already had quite a few bands and solo performers sign up to play at the cafe for the Saturday Morning Acoustic event.

“I would encourage anybody who wants to perform to come in and put their name in or refer a friend who is a musician,” Wiersgalla said.

Wiersgalla said he hopes to continue the event for as long as possible seeing that performers keep signing up to play. As of now, there is a long list of performers waiting to play on Saturday mornings.