Nick and Yonder Mountain String Band – Ringing in the New Year – The scoop on this week’s broadcast/podcast:

By Helen ~ January 3, 2012

First, the show this week: musical guests are Flobots and Matthew Caws.  Here’s a little bit about them:

Flobots are an established progressive hip-hop group, based in Denver, who’ve made the national scene in a big way, impressing such press entities as the Boston Herald, who described them as “rap music’s most singular breakthrough act in years,” when they first hit the scene.  They continue to perform to a growing base of loyal fans. And they’re a great bunch of people, who really try to ‘walk their talk’ when it comes to being respective inhabitants of the planet.  I respect these folks, both for their creative sound and for their commitment to spreading the word about sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Singer and guitarist Matthew Caws, our other visiting guest artist, is well known as the indie band Nada Surf‘s front man. During his visit to eTown, he shares solo versions of some their best-known songs (Nick and the eTones back him up in style; and I get to sing with him which for me was a great treat, I’m a big fan of his work and especially his singing, he’s a really great, soulful singer).

This is a program that got a ton of great response when we first aired it in 2009. It takes place at Colorado College’s Armstrong Hall in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and features an up close, in-person interview on stage with a local hero whose focus is environmental education for kids. So there you have it: Our first show of 2012, brought back by popular demand for your listening pleasure.

Speaking of 2012, how did you ring in the New Year? Do you have long standing traditions? Did you party till the cows come home or did you spend it at home quietly with family, or by yourself? Did you make any new year’s resolutions, or do you hate that whole thing? Scroll down to the comment section at the bottom of this particular blog entry to share your thoughts, I’d love to hear.

Nick and I actually were pretty low key on New Year’s Eve, just a short visit to a friend’s small party, then back home early to get cozy, crack a cute little 1/3 bottle of champagne and toast each other when midnight struck. Somehow I think by New Year’s Eve we were ready to take it easy. For one thing, we’d had non-stop family activity and social events all during the holidays. For another, Nick was invited by Yonder Mountain String Band to sit in with them in their second set at the Boulder Theater on Thursday 12/28; now THAT felt like a big old New Year’s Eve party! What a blast that was, so fun. I tagged along as Nick’s guest to see him play; the Yonder guys are old friends and I also wanted to say hello. It was great to see them in action (What a great concert! I was just blown away by how good they are – and Nick of course ROCKED on slide guitar).  I had the best time, saw lots of friends, enjoyed the music immensely; but that ended up being a very late night.  By the time the 31^st rolled around I guess we were just plain ready to chill.

As for 2012, I don’t know about you, but I am feeling so energized with the coming of the new year, more so than in the past few years.  I’m excited about all of the great possibilities, especially with the coming of eTown Hall later this year; and I’m hopeful for the future.  BTW we’re now all back in the office, getting back to business. One of the things we’re working on is totaling up the results of eTown’s one and only yearly operational fund drive; will let you know how that turned out next time.

Cheers!

Helen

Tags: etown, eTown live radio, flobots, Helen Forster, Matthew Caws, nada surf, nick forster, Yonder Mountain String Band