Monday, July 6, 2015: All week long, we’ll feature some of our favorite musical performance chats from the past decade. To kick things off Bob talks with Jake Shimabukuro about his music and his chosen instrument. The native Hawaiian has been called “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.” Shimabukuro demonstrates his talents on the CD Peace, Love, Ukulele and in our performance studio, where he plays jaw-dropping versions of originals and cover songs.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015: As a banjoist for The Punch Brothers, Noam Pikelny has helped expand the sound of bluegrass. He earned the first annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Music, and released his second solo album, Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail. Pikelny joins Bob in the Sirius XM Performance Studio to discuss his work and play a few tunes. Then, you don’t get more genre-crossing than classically-trained cellists playing hip hop and heavy metal hits, but that’s exactly what The Portland Cello Project does. Four members of the group join Bob in our studio to talk about and perform some of their inspired arrangements.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015: We continue our week of performance chats with musician Janis Ian. She talks with Bob and performs a few songs from her CD Folk Is the New Black. They also discuss the signature songs from earlier in her career – like her first hit. Society’s Child dealt with interracial dating and was not well-received in many parts of the country. But Ian is best known for her heartbreaking teenage anthem At Seventeen – which won two Grammy Awards in 1975. She still performs that one on tour – she also played it during her visit to our studio.
Thursday, July 9, 2015: The Ahn Trio is a group of three Korean-born sisters, classically trained at Julliard. Angella plays violin, Lucia plays piano and Maria plays cello. The Ahn sisters will discuss their career with Bob and play a few songs from their CD titled Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac. Then, Verlon Thompson shares some of his “literate story songs” in a performance chat with Bob. Thompson is Guy Clark’s longtime songwriting and touring partner, but he’s a performer in his own right and plays some tunes from his own CD titled Works.
Friday, July 10, 2015: We conclude our week of musical performance chats with Arlo Guthrie who today celebrates his 68th birthday. Bob talks with the folk singer about the 50 year anniversary of Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, his epic 18 minute song detailing all sorts of real life indignities suffered by the draft-age Arlo in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Arlo only performs the song every ten years, saying that’s how it stays fresh. He’s currently on tour doing just that. Arlo will also talk about his career, his father, Woody, Huntington’s disease, his four musical children and possibly a little politics.