Monday, August 24, 2015: This week, we present another round of some of our favorite musical performance chats from the past decade. Today, Bob talks with Reggie Pace and Lance Koehler about founding their band called No BS Brass! With four trombones, three trumpets, a sax, a tuba and drums, the band can really make some noise. They’ve been rocking fans in the Richmond, Virginia area for years, now the band is hoping to introduce its sound to the rest of the country. They will start by blowing the windows out of our performance studio. Then, Bob sits down with 12 members of the Austin-based classical collective Mother Falcon for a private concert in our performance studio. They’ll play a few songs from their “orchestral rock” album titled You Knew and discuss the unique challenges that face such a large band when on tour.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015: We continue our series of musical performance chats with Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz. The Indiana sisters join Bob in our performance studio to discuss the beginning of their music career and to play a few songs from their self-titled album Lily & Madeleine. Then Bob sits down for a performance chat with musician Chad Lawson. He’s an award-winning pianist and his latest CD is titled The Chopin Variations. They discuss what it’s like to be an independent artist trying to make a career in today’s music world.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015: All this week, we’re presenting some of our favorite musical performance chats from the past decade. Singer-songwriter David Wilcox has been characterized as a cross between musicians James Taylor and Nick Drake. Although his music does have a quiet, acoustic feel, its tone and message are unique to this guitarist. His album Airstream was written over two years as Wilcox, his wife, and their son traveled across America touring. He plays selections from the records and talks with Bob about his career in music. Then, Bob talks with Jimmy Carter and other members of The Blind Boys of Alabama about the Grammy-winning gospel group’s album called I’ll Find a Way. It was produced by Justin Vernon of the indie folk group Bon Iver and features guest appearances by a new generation of fans of the Blind Boys.
Thursday, August 27, 2015: We continue our series of some of our favorite musical performance chats. Today, singer-songwriter Josh Ritter talks with Bob and performs a few songs from his CD, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. Then, Patty Larkin joins Bob in the performance studio to play songs from her latest album Still Green. Her 13th recording, much of the album was written in a primitive shack on the remote dunes of Cape Cod. You can hear Larkin playing no less than seven instruments on the album —- acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, bass, slide guitar, keyboards and kalimba.
Friday, August 28, 2015: Today we conclude our week-long series of musical performance chats. For more than 50 years, the male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo has kept alive the traditional sounds of their home land. These three-time Grammy winners were South Africa’s first black musicians to receive gold record status. They crowd into our performance studio to sing a few traditional childhood tunes from their album called Songs from a Zulu Farm. Then, Sweet Honey in the Rock, the internationally renowned all-female vocal ensemble, brings its powerhouse sound to our performance studio for a conversation with Bob and to share a few of their songs. The Grammy award-winning group was founded in 1973 and took their name from Psalm 81:16.