This KGNU interview features Monica LaBonte and Courtlyn Carpenter, organizers of the Sound Post Sessions in Longmont. They describe the series as a twice-monthly concert series at the Times Collaborative, showcasing both touring and local artists in a listening-room setting. Courtlyn shares details about the season kickoff party at Dry Land Distillers and the schedule running September through May, while Monica talks about Mixtape, a Nashville-style songwriter swap she curates. The conversation includes live in-studio performances by Monica, highlighting her heartfelt songwriting and the intimate spirit of the sessions. (Studio Session: 9/10/25)
Joanne Cole: [00:00:00] One, two. I’m thrilled to invite into the studio two guests today from the Sound Post Sessions. Thank you. Courtlyn—that’s Courtlyn to my right—and Monica to my left. Welcome to KGNU, ladies.
Monica & Courtlyn: Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Joanne Cole: Come close to that mic and tell me what these Sound Post Sessions are.
Courtlyn Carpenter: The Sound Post Sessions take place in downtown Longmont, and it’s a concert series. We have some internationally touring artists coming through. We have some local artists coming through. We do a songwriter-in-the-round. It’s a nice listening room where people can really enjoy the music as it’s intended to be heard.
Joanne Cole: Where is that Sound Post Sessions in Longmont?
Courtlyn Carpenter: So it’s at the Times Collaborative, which during the day is a coworking space, but twice a month we convert it into a listening room in the evening.
Joanne Cole: And what’s the address there?
Courtlyn Carpenter: I think it’s 338 Main Street.
Joanne Cole: I’ll double check.
Courtlyn Carpenter: Okay, great.
Joanne Cole: So you’re having a kickoff?
Courtlyn Carpenter: We’re having a kickoff party. We will be [00:01:00] celebrating the start of the season on Friday at Dry Land Distillers, which is also right downtown in Longmont. It’s open to the public. We’ll be talking about the series and playing a playlist of all the artists coming through, and having a fun celebration.
Joanne Cole: The 12th—what day is that again?
Courtlyn Carpenter: It’s Friday.
Joanne Cole: So the kickoff for the season?
Courtlyn Carpenter: Yes, this Friday.
Joanne Cole: Wonderful. And who is going to be the kickoff musician?
Courtlyn Carpenter: So this is more of a kickoff party, where we’ll just be having activities and talking about the series and sharing in the merriment of the upcoming season.
Joanne Cole: And how many days will it run?
Courtlyn Carpenter: The series—this is our second full season of shows. It runs from September through May, and we do two shows a month on Thursdays.
Joanne Cole: Want people to mark their calendar—two Thursdays in Longmont.
Courtlyn Carpenter: Yeah, two Thursdays a month. And you can find out more information online at soundpostsessions.com.
Joanne Cole: Thank you so much, Courtlyn. And Ms. Monica, will you introduce yourself?
Monica Marie LaBonte: My name is Monica, and I am the [00:02:00] creative director of Mixtape, which is our songwriter series. I host two artists, and myself and the other artists are all on stage at the same time. We swap songs, and it’s like a Nashville-style songwriter swap.
We share stories, talk about the songs, talk to the audience, laugh and cry. I love it so much.
Joanne Cole: Second year doing this as well?
Monica Marie LaBonte: It’s my second year with the series called Mixtape. That’s the songwriter part.
Joanne Cole: And it’s part of this whole Sound Post Sessions thing. So when will you be performing that with these songwriters?
Monica Marie LaBonte: The first show of the whole season, Mixtape, will be Thursday, September 18th, with Megan Burt, Alicia Craft, and myself.
Joanne Cole: Wonderful.
Monica Marie LaBonte: Yeah.
Joanne Cole: So you’ve brought your guitar. Let’s hear a tune from you.
Monica Marie LaBonte: Sure.
Joanne Cole: I know we just threw you in. We didn’t give you time to warm up. And this is what live radio is—I love it. Monica’s always great. For this, this is Monica LaBonte right here on [00:03:00] KGNU.
Joanne Cole: That’s beautiful—live music right here in the KGNU studios. Monica, thank you so much for that. What was the name of that song?
Monica Marie LaBonte: That song is called By a String.
Joanne Cole: Very gospel-y.
Monica Marie LaBonte: Yeah.
Joanne Cole: I started this morning with some gospel music, so this is the Morning Sound Alternative where we play music hopefully touching on all genres. My name is Joanne. I’m joined in the studio with Monica and Courtlyn, and we’re talking about the Sound Post Sessions.
Monica Marie LaBonte: It’s on the third block between Third and Fourth.
Joanne Cole: On Main.
Monica Marie LaBonte: Yes.
Joanne Cole: Perfect. And it’s a workspace during the day—mm-hmm—converted into a creative [00:05:00] space—mm-hmm—on these Thursdays.
Courtlyn Carpenter: It’s very historic in feel. It’s got the exposed brick, and you can see the rafters, the old wooden floor. It’s really a funky, vibey space. We love it.
Joanne Cole: Sounds great. I’ve been around Boulder County long enough to see Longmont come into its own. Main Street is really a thrill. Local business and local endeavors like what you’re doing—my hat’s off to you. Thank you so much for trying to keep creative spaces and bring in creative music.
If people wanna know more, Courtlyn, what shall they do?
Courtlyn Carpenter: If you wanna learn more, we have a website that has all of our upcoming shows and more information about us, and it’s soundpostsessions.com.
Joanne Cole: I wanna thank you ladies for coming in.
Monica & Courtlyn: Thank you.
Joanne Cole: Monica, you wanna go out with one more song?
Monica Marie LaBonte: Oh, sure. Yeah.
Joanne Cole: Because it’s just beautiful and it sounds great.
Monica Marie LaBonte: Thank you.
Joanne Cole: When you say Nashville—I have musicians come in, they’re like, “They want the full setup.” And I’m like, “No, boys, we’re gonna do this bluegrass style.”
Courtlyn Carpenter: Yeah.
Joanne Cole: You’re all gonna hunker around that microphone, and it sounds great. So I wanna thank you guys [00:06:00] again for coming in. The event is called Sound Post Sessions—two Thursdays a month.
Courtlyn Carpenter: You can find out on our website, and we do have a kickoff party happening this Friday, September 12th. It starts at six and runs till about nine, and it’s at Dry Land Distillers.
Joanne Cole: Oh, it’s at Dry Land Distillers?
Courtlyn Carpenter: Yes.
Joanne Cole: Very good. That’s good information. Thank you so much again for coming in. This is Monica, gonna sing us out.
Joanne Cole: That’s Monica—tell me your last name again.
Monica Marie LaBonte: Monica LaBonte.
Joanne Cole: Thank you so much. That’s gorgeous.
Courtlyn Carpenter: Thank you.
Joanne Cole: Our guests have been Monica and Courtlyn with the Sound Post Sessions. Thank you ladies so much for coming in. Greatly appreciate you, everything you do, and we hope to see you out there on Friday the 12th at Dry Land Distillers.
All right, thank you. We’re gonna go out with them, so we’re gonna start this. It is 10:55, and this is KGNU FM 88.5 Boulder, KGNU [00:09:00] 1390 AM. This is the Morning Sound Alternative.
