This article was originally published in our June 2021 issue. 

Not everyone believes in fate, but Morgan and Luke Dierker do.

In 2014, Luke was about to move from Columbia to Nashville to pursue a career in football coaching after graduating from college when he and Morgan matched on the dating app, Tinder, and decided to meet and sing together. Luke is from Gerald, and Morgan is from Columbia.

“The blend was so unique, and it was like butter when we sang together,” Morgan says. “The match was perfect. A week later we played our first show at Günter Hans in Columbia.”

Then, Luke took a leap of faith.

“I called the guy who I had the job offer from, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m not going to be moving down there,’ ” Luke says.

Instead, both Luke and Morgan decided to pursue a career in music together, something they have both been passionate about their entire lives. Now, as husband and wife, they perform together under the name Of Sea and Stone and reside in St. Louis when they aren’t on tour. In addition to multiple Missouri venues, they’ve performed on Good Morning San Diego and in Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Orlando, and more.

“We came up with Of Sea and Stone, and it works really well for the two of us because I really personify the sea in the way I sing because I sing in a lot of different notes. I’m always moving; my voice is always moving. And Luke is very stoic and very strong for the stone,” Morgan says. “I’m very emotional and emotionally driven, and Luke is very stable and strong. We’re really good opposites who keep coming back to each other. The sea is always crashing into the stone, and we just loved that personification of not only our singing and our songs but also of our love for one another.”

Luke can be seen on stage with his acoustic guitar, and Morgan plays piano as their voices blend into beautiful and occasionally heartbreaking harmonies. The couple has the ability to write a tender break-up song such as their 2019 single, “I Love You, Goodbye,” while still being happily married. The song has received more than ninety-thousand views on YouTube. During the writing process, they use their past experiences, other people’s experiences they’ve witnessed, and their raw imagination.

“I think more writers than I realized write from an empathetic point of view instead of a personal one, depending on what they’re writing about,” Luke says. “You want to make sure you’re happy with it, but other people still have to connect to it.”

They focus heavily on their songwriting process and are inspired by their simplistic and storytelling lyrics.

“We’re just really driven by what we say and how other people hear it,” Morgan says.

Of Sea and Stone is currently working on an eight-episode project where they release a song and corresponding artwork on their YouTube channel about every six weeks. The third will be released this month. At the end, they will release all eight songs plus two bonus tracks on a physical album.

See them live this month on June 5 at Unplugged St. Joe in St Joseph, June 12 at Rose Music Hall in Columbia, and June 20 at McKelvey Vineyards in Leslie.

Visit OfSeaAndStone.com for more tour dates.