Friends,

A couple months ago, I took a leave from The Current. It had become apparent to me that I hadn't been taking care of my health and overall well-being, and it was affecting me both personally and professionally. I needed to fix that.

How? By stepping away and doing a different kind of work — on myself. That is what I've been doing and continue to do every day. Unfortunately, that left team Current short-handed in my absence, but luckily for me, MPR saw that with time I might come back with a clearer sense of what I should be doing, and as a healthier person all around. Believe me, I have not taken this time lightly.

So what will I be doing when I return? I'm excited to share that going forward I'll be dividing my time between The Current and Classical MPR, the service that was my first home at MPR in the '90s. I'm one of the few weirdos in the world who is as passionate about a 19th-century symphony as a three-minute Replacements tune, and I've missed my weekly dose of Brahms and Stravinsky greatly since being away from the classical chair. And hey, if a little of my enthusiasm for classical music can get an unsuspecting Current listener over to the classical airwaves (or vice versa) for a few minutes to discover an entirely new world, even better.

I have a lot of thanks to share today. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Jill Riley and Sean McPherson for creating an awesome Morning Show each weekday. I also want to say thank you to everyone who has checked in on me. It feels good to have friends. Everyone at MPR has been generous, and every person who has contacted me has been tremendously supportive and kind. Thank you all.

So, see you back on the airwaves soon. It's good to be back … both to The Current and to my old Classical MPR home.

Steve