Adam Lifto. Photos: Chris Emeott
One local band blends sound, story and recovery.
Twin Citizen’s sound might be shaped by the band’s instruments and musical technique, but its identity and heart come from the lived experiences each member brings to the table—including journeys through substance-use recovery and the desire to make meaningful connections with audiences.
The group, founded by Mahtomedi lead guitarist Adam Lifto, began just as some COVID-19 restrictions began lifting. Joe Hartley, who provides vocals and rhythm guitar, saw a Facebook post. “Adam made this post, looking for musicians who were in recovery, which I am,” Hartley says. “He wanted to get some sober bandmates to jam together and get back out playing again.”
Along with a few others who answered that initial call, Lifto and Hartley began practicing and writing music together. “I didn’t know how to manage playing with other people and doing it sober,” Lifto says. “I was looking for people to walk that path with. And then we developed relationships with one another and are able to remain in recovery and have some success.”
Ryan Taylor
While the other original members departed for various reasons, Lifto and Hartley were eventually joined by Forest Lake bassist Laura Lunde, St. Louis Park keyboardist Ryan Taylor and Woodbury drummer Sam McKinney. “This lineup is really clicking,” Hartley says. “We’ve got something cool going on, and we’ve really got it dialed in as far as our sonic textures.”
“I’m so happy to be a part of this,” Lunde says. “When we got in that room together, we all gelled really well.” In fact, Lunde says part of her musical journey was tied closely to Hartley’s. “I was in another band that frequently performed with Twin Citizen, and when Joe left that band, I took his spot,” she says. “I had to learn all of Joe’s guitar parts. And they made me a better player and let me know how Joe played more intimately than I would otherwise know.” It felt like fate when Twin Citizen’s bassist position opened up, and Lunde jumped at it. “I knew all of these people were such gifted musicians that can groove and have a great time.”
Laura Lunde. Photo: Aust Johnson
So, how do the members of Twin Citizen describe their sound? “Like Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers covering Pink Floyd songs,” Lifto says, laughing. “I’ve played with a lot of musicians across genres over the years,” McKinney says. “This is something new and refreshing. The intricacy of the guitar parts and the dialogue between Adam and Joe as they play off each other is really stunning.” “Listening to each other and seeing where we all fit together has been the biggest thing that’s made our sound,” Taylor adds.
Twin Citizen plays shows regularly all over the Metro, at venues like First Avenue’s 7th St. Entry, the recently closed Palmer’s Bar and Zhora Darling. The group also recorded and released a handful of tunes—including Kimmy Gibbler, Escape Room and Everywhere I Roam, which can be streamed on most major platforms.
The songwriting process, Lifto says, is collective and fluid. “There are so many influences in this room, which makes our music different every time we approach a new song,” he says. “Every single song sounds like Twin Citizen, but it doesn’t sound like a certain genre or label.” Sometimes, a riff or melody from one member will form the skeleton of a song, and the group builds from there. Other times, the structure emerges from jam sessions, where someone will throw out an idea, and the others see where it leads.
Joe Hartley. Photo: Lane Peterson
All of the band’s members have been playing at least one instrument since childhood, and most have pursued formal education and/or jobs in the music industry. McKinney teaches two days a week at Woodbury’s Rock U Music School and says the community’s commitment to the arts is one of the things that drew him here. He also runs McKinney Creative Ventures, where he works with local small businesses to help them build and manage their digital footprints. “I’ve become very active in the [Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce] and other networking groups,” McKinney says. “Woodbury is an incredible community, and my family and I want to be part of it for the long term.”
For McKinney, joining Twin Citizen led to a significant turning point in his life. “I credit this band, in a large part, with the fact that I am in recovery now,” he says. “And not only being in recovery but even asking the questions in the first place that led me to discover I had a need to be.”
Lifto recalls a pivotal night that changed his own perspective on what it meant to be a musician. “On the day that Prince died, I was at First Avenue, and it was the first time I had been in a club sober,” he says. “That moment was like my beginning. I thought, ‘Wait, maybe playing music sober can be done.’”
He thinks about that night often, especially when the band plays in venues where alcohol is front and center. Lifto says it’s about “being alive and being sober and being authentic, to show other people that this is also a way that you can go.”
Sam McKinney. Photo: Chris Emeott
McKinney says the band’s mission isn’t to evangelize recovery, but it’s naturally part of what it is. “It is a core component of this band that will always be at the essence of who we are as people,” he says. “The hope is that people will see it, be inspired by it, have the ability to have conversations with us openly and feel that they have a safe space to do that.”
In practice, that means conversations with audience members after shows that sometimes touch on sobriety, mental health or personal change. “It could plant the initial seed of a thought that can be a major catalyst of change,” McKinney says.
Find Twin Citizen’s current gig schedule and watch for new music releases at twincitizenmnmusic.com.
Twin Citizen
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