For me, this taping for this week’s broadcast/podcast was a huge deal for so many reasons. Both musical guests that are with us have impacted my life in so many ways. For them to come together on the evening of the taping, under the same roof, was surreal to me.
First up – from Austin, TX – the Greyhounds make their first visit to eTown. Now with more than 15 years under the hood, Greyhounds is still trucking along, and earning lots of new fans with their new release – ACCUMULATOR – out on the rejuvenated Ardent label that carried such bands like Big Star (Alex Chilton) a few decades back. Greyhounds is the moniker for the music of Andrew Trube and Anthony Farrell. I first met these two around 1999 or 2000 and have enjoyed their close friendship ever since, and have been very lucky to work with them off and on throughout their long ride. It was an incredible treat to step aside from my normal duties as eTown’s director of video to fill the drum chair for their performance on the show this week. Sometimes musical matches are determined by greater powers within the universe, and I definitely think that the dynamic between Andrew and Anthony, and the stuff they create together is divine in some intangible sense. I’ve always felt like the two of them were my brothers – and that is a nice feeling to have, the longer you know someone.
Guitar legend, punk innovator and poet Thurston Moore is also with us in this week’s episode. Thurston first caught my ear around the year 1987, when I became fascinated by Sonic Youth’s Sister album. I was really into skateboarding at the time, and Sonic Youth fit perfectly with the discord that was going on with me internally as a teenager during that time. Over the years since, I probably caught Sonic Youth seven or eight times at various venues around the country. Meeting Thurston was a real treat, watching him make sounds out of his Fender Jazzmaster on the eTown stage was like going to church, and being asked to play a song with him as a drums/guitar duo is where we get to the surreal part for me.
The eChievement Award story is really cool this week too. Ever find something valuable in the dumpster? Well this week’s winner came down from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to share her story of how she turned dumpster diving into a way to provide food for thousands of folks in need.
Be sure to tune in, podcast and check out the videos this week!
– Zack