Payne Avenue’s art and soul
An art and music-oriented city in St. Paul and its growing community.
By Adam Groven and Lexie Smutka
Mat Greske was trapped in a cycle of loan denials. He and two of his high school friends, Gregg Schmitt and Chad Medellin, had come up with the idea to open a store with two themes: vinyl records and coffee. However, independent banks were not willing to invest in the dreams of three 26-year-olds — an age group seen as a risky investment. The group quickly pivoted from the banks, turning to a nonprofit organization by the name Neighborhood Development Center which specialized in considering risky loan applications.
They were on the way to opening a store.
While looking for a location to open their business, the trio came across a vacant, 2-story brick building. It was on Payne Avenue, a culturally diverse springboard for immigrants and St. Paul’s hub for art and music. They wanted their shop location to be in inner city St. Paul — near their friends and where independent businesses could thrive — and this was exactly that place. Soon, Greske, Schmitt and Medellin were living together in the building’s three-bedroom apartment upstairs.
They signed the building’s lease and got to work on a fix-up checklist. They made the building handicap accessible, added a public restroom, transformed the “greasy” kitchen into a stage, remodeled the coffee-serving area, and bought new countertops. With a tight budget, the work largely involved do-it-yourself methods.
“[We] spent about eight months building [the shop] out,” Greske said. “And the landlord helped with some of those costs.”
Caydence Records & Coffee officially opened in October 2016, and since then the business has become intermingled with Payne Avenue’s music community. Each week on Friday and Saturday, Caydence hosts live music performances for local musicians. Doing this not only helps with sales and business but also boosts the publicity of lesser-known bands in the community. On occasion, Caydence gets the opportunity to host more popular bands such as Communist Daughter and Chris Stapleton’s band 303. Currently, their shop is booked out for live music gigs well into the early months of 2024. This year Greske was even invited to participate in the Payne Fest — an annual community music event — and offered up his shop to host the participating bands.
“This neighborhood has a lot of spontaneity and personality, and it is kind of rough around the edges, but everyone around here… [are] characters and they’re goofy and they seem authentic.” — Matt Greske, owner of Caydence Records & Coffee
Despite Caydence’s success, Payne Avenue faces struggles. It’s poverty-stricken and is one of the lowest-income areas in St. Paul. It also has a crime rate 153% higher than the national average. Swede Hollow is located about five miles from Payne Avenue, and it’s known as a place where John Dillinger and his gang’s violent crimes played out. Mobsters roamed the streets and the bootlegging of alcohol was prevalent. The police force turned a blind eye in exchange for hush money.
However, knowing this doesn’t deter Greske in the slightest.
“This neighborhood has a lot of spontaneity and personality,” Greske said, “and it is kind of rough around the edges, but everyone around here… [are] characters and they’re goofy and they seem authentic.”
Aside from offering Caydence as a venue for up-and-coming musicians, Greske also caters to the artistic side of the community. Over the past summer, a group of local artists and Caydence staff members painted a mural on the north side wall of Caydence’s building. Greske and his crew obtained grant money, rented a skylift, and then, after a month of work, the mural was completed. The mural consisted of a painted phonograph, vinyl records, and various floral designs that brought life to the otherwise plain, brick building.
Caydence isn’t the only business supporting Payne Avenue’s art world, however. The first arts group to emerge on Payne Avenue was the East Side Arts Council, and it has been in business for 30 years. Sarah Fehr, the director, offered some insight into the goal of her organization.
“We are a help in revitalizing the neighborhood and street through the arts,” she said. “One of our main goals is to reflect the cultures of the East Side… and we are a bridge that connects people to art.”
Urban Roots, a nonprofit organization centered around garden-based education, is another business located on Payne Avenue and is managed by Sara Johnson. She said that the artwork and events occurring on Payne Avenue have “been an influence and inspiration” and that members of the community were brought together to create some of the murals around Payne Avenue.
Greske and the community’s shared love of art and music continue to revitalize Caydence and Payne Avenue as a whole.
“We get a mix of customers coming in for coffee and stuff like that, but oftentimes it’s more so the art,” Greske said. “Music is a great connector of all sorts of backgrounds and music is its own language. In culture in general, [it] really links up all sorts of different people.”
