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!
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.
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,
A lovely routine performed by magician David Schwartz on Penn & Teller Fool Us. He puts some great effects together and presents what for me was a very fooling set of magic.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Wow, this collection of 67 voices and accents by Jake Wardle is pretty impressive. Some of them are stereotypes but a lot of them are very good, and to have it all done by one person is quite a feat.