Summer Music Series: Thelonesomekid performs in The Current studio

The painter, punk poet, and bandleader Gretchen Seichrist isn't the kind of person who rests on her laurels.

"There's not a distinction, really, between living around the house, painting and music," she says. "I'm constantly making something, or thinking about making it."

Previously the leader of Patches and Gretchen, Seichrist showed up to band practice one day and let them know that Patches and Gretchen was over and that they'd now be Thelonesomekid, a new band with a new vibe who would be heading down to Mississippi to make an album.

"It's an intuitive thing; if there's too much thinking, you lose it," she says.

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Seichrist now has two albums under Thelonesomekid moniker under her belt, and her latest release, The Last Days of Sugar, just came out this spring. It was recorded in 2015 in Water Valley, Mississippi at Dial Back Sound with Matt Patton of Drive-By Truckers.

Unfortunately, Seichrist had to shelve the release for nearly two years due to a severe and frustrating battle with Lyme Disease. Her performance in MPR's Maud Moon Weyerhauser studio was her first appearance since her diagnosis and treatment, and she's eager to return to focusing on her art.

You can hear more sessions from the Summer Music Series on Tom Weber's show on MPR News on Fridays at 11 a.m.; and on The Current's Local Show on Sunday nights at 6 p.m.