At the end of every summer, eTown’s hometown of Boulder, Colorado becomes home to a big radio shindig for music industry and radio executives to gather, see some great live music and discuss the state of the industry. Every year when the FMQB Triple A Conference rolls around, it’s a lot of fun for us here at eTown. Not only do we get to interface with a lot of our friends in radio that carry the show on stations around the country, but we also get to put together a special taping for them to attend during the conference that gives them an up-close-and-personal look at the inner workings of eTown and how we put our show together on a weekly basis. We always seem to find some great artist pairings for these special tapings, and this year was no different as we were happy to welcome two newcomers to the eTown roster of artists – Ben Folds and Greg Holden.
If the diverse musical offerings Ben has given our ears over the years doesn’t already, I’d say meeting him, listening to his conversation with eTown host Nick Forster and watching him completely shred a piano six feet away from face pretty much sealed the deal that Ben Folds is an artists in the truest sense. It’s easy to watch Ben’s world from afar and still get the sense that this guys is serious about the art he creates, and that he is really good at it. Recently, Ben has been collaborating with symphony orchestras in various cities, which is something you’ll hear a lot more about during his interview portion of the show. What I didn’t know is that Ben is also a great photographer – something that clearly floats my boat as both a drummer and photographer myself. As a sucker for silly (and sometimes sick) comedy, I was very happy to see that Ben also collaborated with two of my favorite Adult Swim comedy geniuses, Tim and Eric, for one of his latest music videos. You can check that out, here:
Ben Folds – You Don’t Know Me from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.
Also with us is British-born / New York-based singer/songwriter Greg Holden. Greg’s music is sparse, beautiful and cinematic. It’s no wonder he has been able to get many of his songs in television shows and movies during the development of his career. In this week’s episode, you’ll hear Greg treat us all to a few solo numbers – just him and his guitar – plus a great collaboration with Nick, Helen and the eTown house band – the eTones.
In addition to music and conversation with this week’s two visiting artists, we also have a great, in-person eChievement Award segment about a woman who started an organization to combat genocide in places like Darfur. Jewish World Watch is doing great things, and we are excited for you to hear more about their work in this week’s award segment.
It safe to say that this year’s eTown taping during the FMQB Triple A radio conference was another great success. If you happened to have been there, you’ll get to relive some of those moments in this week’s broadcast/podcast. For the rest of our fans and listeners – you are in for a real treat this week. Be sure to tune in on your local station, grab the podcast from iTunes, and check out all of the behind-the-scenes video clips below.
Thanks for joining us!
– Zack