A Backstage Peek

This was really fun to watch. This guy, Josh Turner, is not only a great guitar player, but he is just so creative and knowledgeable on the back end of things as well. He writes and records a song in one hour, and shows you his process. Just his closetful of mics alone was worth the price of admission. Hilarious and scary!

More at Josh Turner Guitar

Guitar God: Tommy Emmanuel

Monday morning, a virtuoso. True, it’s basically three and a half minutes of showing off, but Tommy Emmanuel kind of has the right to do all the showing off he wants. “Classical Gas” by Mason Williams.

Thanks to YouTuber sung hoon park

Two Poems by Caitlin Johnstone

If there’s anything that defines today’s political era, it is the amount of pure BS that is spouted and accepted every day. One of my favorite writers who cuts through all that is Australian based Caitlin Johnstone. With a sharp eye and a sharp tongue and a sharp pen she states the obvious, but forbidden, that the emperor has no clothes.

Here are two poems of hers written within the last year that I particularly like. The first is called “In Times Like These” which is self-explanatory, and the second is called “Thank You for Your Service,” written on the occasion of the death of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my reading of the two poems, as broadcast yesterday on Arts Express radio on WBAI FM and Pacifica affiliates across the nation,

Don’t Look Back But It’s Our 9th Anniversary!

Great Balls of Fire and other exultations of exclamatory joy! Hoo-roo and hoo-rah! We made it by the skin of our teeth through one more year of daily posts. I hope they’ve provided some sort of diversion and interest for you. As is my custom, on anniversary day, I post what I feel were my favorite audio pieces of the year. I’ll try to keep the list short this time, a baker’s dozen, so that you can get a chance to sample the ones you missed or re-visit posts that you enjoyed.

Thy Kingdom Come

Hey Guys, Watch This: Nellie McKay

The Underground Empire

Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse

John Sayles’s New Novel: Jamie MacGillivray

Coriolanus: Class War

“Shakespeare Without Tears”: Hamlet and the All-Seeing Surveillance State

Julian Assange In His Own Words

From Approximately Coast To Coast…

The Quiet Epidemic

The Theater of Three Card Monte

Our End-Of-Year Arts Express Thank You Poem

2nd Chance: Sex, Violence and Bulletproof Vests

The Actor’s Life: Mary Murphy

 The SAG-AFTRA actors strike has now been going since July 14th, more than 3 months without a contract. We’ve heard a lot in the press from both sides about the seemingly intractable negotiations–when there are negotiations–but I thought it could be brought closer to home by talking with someone who our regular listeners know, having done so many wonderful readings and performances on Arts Express, the wonderful actress Mary Murphy.

Click on the triangle or the mp3 link above in order to hear my interview with Mary Murphy as as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program today on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country.

Runnin’ On Empty: Jackson Browne

Monday Morning, Jackson Browne worries about a fuel shortage.

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
In ’65, I was 17 and running up 101
I don’t know where I’m running now, I’m just running on…

Thanks to YouTuber upfront27

With A Smile And A Song: Barbara Cook

Thanks to David Kenney, who played this song on his radio show Everything Old is New Again today–I had never heard it before. Though the lyric is very Disney, the gorgeous voice of Barbara Cook makes the song something special.

Thanks to YouTuber BlondieJohnson

Thy Kingdom Come

Some years ago I had the privilege of reading on the air a selection from author Luke O’Neil’s terrific collection of essays called Welcome to Hell World. Now Luke has come out with a new collection of short fiction pieces called A Creature Wanting Form, published by OR Press. This new collection is a kind of perfect companion for the current ashes in the air. I thought the best way for you to get the flavor of the book was for me to read one of the stories from the book, a piece called “Thy Kingdom Come.”

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the story as performed on the Arts Express radio program, broadcast today on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

All The Things You Are: Connie Evingson

I don’t know why I’ve never heard of her before, but I really like her voice and the band. She’s from Bob Dylan’s hometown, Hibbing, Minnesota. Irv Williams on tenor sax and Jeanne Arland Peterson on piano.

Thanks to YouTuber yoichiro tani

Mary Oliver: I Don’t Want To End Up Simply Having Visited This World

I find that as the world seems ever more bleak, I enjoy turning to the poetry of Mary Oliver. Her poems of disappointment, hope, and eventual learning from the natural world can get me through to the next day.

Here then is Arts Express favorite, actress Mary Murphy, superbly voicing a selection of poems by Mary Oliver.

Click on the mp3 link or arrow above to hear the poems as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.