FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday Morning Café Returns Nov. 8 with Creating from the Soul: A Conversation in Story & Song Featuring Javier Mendoza (aka Hobo Cane)
The growing St. Louis-based community event brings together live music, storytelling, reflection, and meaningful conversation to help adults slow down and reconnect
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 31, 2026 — Sunday Morning Café (SMC) will host Creating from the Soul: A Conversation in Story & Song with Javier Mendoza (aka Hobo Cane) & Dr. Tom Wagner, a resilience researcher and therapist for over 30 years, on Sunday, November 8, 2026.
As part of a growing series, Sunday Morning Café events invite adults to step away from the noise and overstimulation of modern life for an experience blending live music, storytelling, research-informed reflection, refreshments, and authentic connection.
Founded by Dr. Tom Wagner, a resilience researcher and therapist for more than 30 years, SMC was created in response to the loneliness, overstimulation, and disconnection many adults experience today. Through its signature “mini retreats,” SMC creates space for people to slow down, reconnect with themselves and one another, and reflect on what matters most. Its guiding philosophy: What is deepest within us is most universal between us.
The November event will explore creativity as a deeply human experience through the life and music of St.
Louis–rooted singer-songwriter and storyteller Javier Mendoza, also known as Hobo Cane. Mendoza has spent 25 years building an independent career around soulful roots music and a belief in music’s power to heal and connect people. His journey has taken him from working as a staff songwriter for Warner-Chappell Music in Miami to developing his artistic voice in St. Louis and Nashville.
In a casual, interview-style conversation led by Wagner, Mendoza will share music and stories shaped by cultural identity, vulnerability, hope, healing, and human connection. Rather than a traditional performance or lecture, Mendoza will tell his story through both words and music, with opportunities for guests to ask questions and become part of the conversation. Together, they will explore larger questions: Where does creativity come from? What changes when we create from a place of authenticity? And what might the creative impulse reveal about purpose, resilience, and what it means to be human?
Part performance, part guided reflection, and part community gathering, Sunday Morning Café is intentionally difficult to fit into a single category. SMC attendee Dr. Tim Bono, author of Happiness 101: Simple Secrets to Smart Living & Well-Being and a popular “Science of Happiness” professor at Washington University in St. Louis, described the experience this way:
“Our brains are on overdrive by the demands of our daily lives, text messages, emails, and alerts. What makes Sunday Morning Café events wonderful is that they provide an opportunity to unplug from all of that and reflect meaningfully on what is actually important and what brings us a sense of purpose and fulfillment. You can look forward to an afternoon of reflection, music, laughter, and connection.”
Event Details
What: Creating from the Soul: A Conversation in Story & Song with Javier Mendoza (aka Hobo Cane) & Dr. Tom Wagner, Founder of Sunday Morning Café & Resilience Researcher
When: Sunday, November 8, 2026
Happy Hour Prelude: 3:00 PM with appetizers and drinks on the outdoor patio
Main Event Time: 4:00–6:00 PM CT
Where: Eden Theological Seminary
Tickets: $25 for students and young adults age 25 or under; $35 general admission. SMC events are open to all, with discounts available for those who find the cost difficult. Tickets and discount information are available at TomWagnerSpeaker.com/events.
