Raising Barns, Raising Voices
(2011) A community in upstate New York gathers together to build a radio station, by hand, in a weekend. More info on this story here.
Mayor of Allston
(2009) To the uninitiated, Mr. Butch was just another homeless man on the streets of Boston. To those living in Allston, however, he was their wayfaring philosopher. With a friendly irreverence for local authority and lefty guitar in tow, this mysterious man became a fixture as an icon of the Boston street life, the unofficial Mayor of Allston. Following his tragic death in 2007, his story lives on in the memories of his friends, local shopkeepers and anyone who gave him change or bummed him a smoke.
Flower Philosopher
(2009) It’s a tradition on Valentine’s Day to give flowers to the person you love, and then they love you more, right? That’s the theory anyway. In this audio postcard from Boston, we tag along with a flower delivery man who just isn’t sold. This piece originally aired as part of NPR’s Intern Edition in Spring 2009.
Artist Interviews
Patrick Watson on Words & Music from Studio A on WFUV. An incredible musician who composes ethereal, cinematic pop music that comes to life. Throw in lots of noise-making objects, Lord of the Rings references and the promise to play my birthday party. (2010)
Eli “Paperboy” Reed on Words & Music from Studio A on WFUV. A crooning, dapper young dude from Boston, who sings like his soul, funk and gospel mentors from the South. (2010)
Emperor X on The Hoot! Emperor X is a connoisseur of public transportation, and the wonders of its mechanical lifestyle works its way into his music as fluidly as the subway glides through its subterranean tunnels. (2011)
Jason Anderson on The Hoot! You may have seen him at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. You may have seen a group of kids with huge smiles on their faces or heard a bunch of voices off in the distance singing some kind of life-affirming lyric over and over. Probably followed by an E.T. impression and a lot of laughter. Can’t keep everything too serious. Yep. That’s Jason. (2011)
Warbles on The Hoot! Tom Curtin wrote a record called The Necromancer’s Kids, about a couple’a doomed little twin souls who wander the hermetic wonderland of an nameless city, which tries to entice them into the depths of its underworld and all it has to offer there. But that’s just my interpretation. He joins us in studio to talk communicating with the dead, concept albums, and what it’s like to have to perform a sex scene in one of his songs (you’ll have to listen to find out which one!) (2011)
Boy Without God on The Hoot! There was some guest-DJing, some conversations in which we attempted to boil that vast sonic world of music into actual words, and, above all, a treat of a live performance in-studio from these lovely musicians. (2011)
