Dale Connelly/photo by Bruce Bisping

It's gotten harder and harder to find Dale Connelly; now it may be darn near impossible. In 2008, the co-host of the "The Morning Show" - an acoustic music lover's best friend - learned the program was being cancelled after more than 25 years on the air. He was comforted, however, with the thought that he would be hosting "Radio Heartland" on the web, on digital radio and for a Saturday evening program on KNOW, 91.1 FM. That experiment appears to have run its course. MPR announced Wednesday that Connelly will be leaving the station after 34 years of service. His last day will be Friday, June 4. Radio Heartland, which is heavy on acoustic and local music, will continue on the web and on digital radio - but without its celebrated host.

Connelly said late Wednesday that he doesn't know what he'll do next, besides getting out and hearing more live music. "I'll go to a lot more concerts now, because I won't have to get up in the morning," he said. Connelly said he wouldn't rule out a return to radio, but doubts that he's marketable outside of public radio. "I can't imagine being at a commercial station," he said. "I'm too laid back." Connelly does hope to continue to be part of the media by continuing some type of blog.

Here's the memo that was sent to MPR members:

From Valerie Arganbright, senior director for MPR membership:

I'm writing to share some news with you about Radio Heartland.

It's been eighteen months since Radio Heartland has been in existence. We've closely monitored its growth during this time and have come to the conclusion that in order to continue with Radio Heartland music on Web and HD, we need to decrease programming expenses.

We're continuously evaluating all of our activities, programs and services as we focus on serving your needs in a financially sustainable way. Along with Dale Connelly, we have been constantly assessing the sustainability of Radio Heartland since its launch and we all agreed that we would make changes, if needed, after eighteen months. Unfortunately, the sustainability we all worked toward was not achieved.

As a result, while we'll be able to continue providing the wonderful music that you expect from Radio Heartland, we've cancelled Dale Connelly's weekday morning show and his Saturday evening show on MPR News. This means that Dale will leave MPR. His last show on Radio Heartland will air on Friday, June 4.

Dale is part of the fabric of what built MPR into the strong service that it is today. We know that he will be greatly missed by you, and that's why we wanted to let you know about this change first hand. We're deeply grateful to Dale for his 34 years of innovation and service to MPR and to you for supporting him. It's because of this that we do not take lightly the difficult decision to end Dale's involvement with Radio Heartland.

Radio Heartland producer, Mike Pengra, will continue picking the music that you'll hear on Radio Heartland. And you'll continue to hear Thistle and Shamrock with Fiona Ritchie, Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, American Routes with Nick Spitzer, and A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor.

You can send a message to Dale at radioheartland@mpr.org. We'll make sure that it reaches him.