There’s a moment in this week’s episode where folksinger and creative lifer Anna Vogelzang says, “I needed someone to look at me and say: you’re still doing this.” I’ve been thinking about that. Because it’s not always easy to tell, is it? Whether we’re still in it. Whether it still matters. Whether we still matter.

Anna’s someone I’ve admired for years — not just because she writes these beautiful, poignant songs, but because she’s a true creative lifer. She’s kept showing up through multiple records, two kids, three cities, and a shifting music industry that’s made persistence its own kind of poetry. In this episode, we talk about the transition from ambition to authenticity, how her creative process evolved after becoming a mother, and what it really means to build a sustainable life in the arts.

There’s a lot of honesty here. About burnout. About the identity crisis that comes when the thing you’ve wrapped your whole life around starts to feel… different. And about the ways we come back to ourselves, not in spite of change, but because of it. Anna also shares what it was like to write 144 songs for her new album Afterglow — and how the very act of writing became a lifeline when she wasn’t sure she could still call herself a musician.

As always, this show is for anyone trying to make art a part of their everyday lives — or for anyone who believes in the power of supporting those who do. If you're in a season where the dream feels far away, or you're wondering if it's worth continuing, I think you'll find something in Anna’s story that keeps you tethered.

P.S. — Be sure to check out the gorgeous live performance of “Small Dreams,” recorded in-studio with Packy Lundholm. It’s the kind of song that meets you where you are, especially if where you are is somewhere in-between.

Check it out and then listen to Anna’s brand new record “Afterglow”. It drops tomorrow, everywhere.

Get full access to The Morse Code with Korby Lenker at korby.substack.com/subscribe