QUOTES
...from public radio producers via prx.org
"I almost hesitate to make any critical statements about a program that is trying to expose public radio audiences to the music of Mum. Instead, I would prefer to simply praise the effort to expand the scope of music on public radio and leave it at that. However, I believe that this type of adventurous musical programming is so desperately needed that I will risk potentially distracting the ears of a few Program Directors in the hopes that this could become a stronger addition to my public airwaves. Some folks in the radio world may look at a program like this and draw the rather myopic coclusion that a feature such as this 'may be more useful to AAA stations and college stations which focus on contemporary music and approach it with a broad palate and wide musical view.' To me, however, this seems a strong recipe for making sure public radio stations have no audience in the future. It's essential for stations to think long term in their programming and start cultivating younger listeners... maybe kids in college would be a good demographic to start looking at? I don't know... I'm not a PD. I think the most important suggestion I could possibly make to Mr. McEnerney would be this: Please keep going! You're doing important work to expand the public radio audience and I, for one, greatly appreciate it."—John Schaefer, Producer, Boulder, CO
"If you like Mission of Burma you'll want to hear this. Clint Conley gives a snappy interview here. If the interview was edited, it was edited well. I was into it for the whole 25 minutes." —Justin Grotelueschen, Producer, Malden, MA
"Full Disclosure: my kids and I are Dan Zanes fans. The former Del Fuegos rocker is filling an important niche in making cool family music. Like Pixar movies, it appeals as much to us discerning grownups as the kids. Zanes has enlisted some of his famous pals like Sheryl Crow, Lou Reed, and Deborah Harry to sing along with him but he doesn't really need to. The fun and the surprise come from Zanes himself and the dancehall rapper Rankin' Dan (aka "Father Goose") and kids and musicians from his Brooklyn neighborhood. My kids and I enjoyed the Behind the Music aspect to the Well-Rounded Interview. It's a good conversation: the host doesn't step on Zanes, there's music throughout which is woven in fairly seamlessly, it doesn't feel long at 20 odd minutes. We all learned something about the journey of a rock musician-turned dad who wouldn't settle for mass market kids music. Stations would be doing a service for kids and parents suffering from Raffi-itis (or worse) to run this some weekend."—Mary McGrath, Executive Producer, Open Source, WGBH, Boston, MA
"Last year, the music industry released more than 3,800 CDs—and that was a down year. This fact drives home the point that there is a constant flow of new albums and artists. This makes the premise of most music criticism and reporting very simple, regardless of media: demonstrate why this artist and their music is above the fray. In other words, why should a listener care? Most music "journalism" (term used loosely) acts as a filtering system, helping listeners/readers/viewers figure out what's interesting to them and what isn't. That's the long and short of it.
"Radio is in a unique position compared to print media because radio can mix its reporting, interviewing, and criticism with the actual music.
"This piece focuses on a New York group called the Burnside Project, combining interview segments with musical excerpts. While the group does have some interesting musical moments, this 25-minute piece forces the listener to do too much of the work. The producer lays out all the points, yet the listener is left to connect them on their own. After a 1:27 spoken introduction, the interview begins. Music is woven in on occasion, then the piece ends with a previously unreleased recording. Unfortunately, the piece does not have much of an internal structure, the interview seems loose and goes on and on without much of an idea what or why this discussion is important. For example, about midway through the show there is an extended discussion about the band's writing process. The singer summarizes his efforts by saying "Sometimes I write pages and pages of lyrics." Never is it really explained why this is significant or important. No context is given to the discussion. This happens over and over again during the piece.
"At 25 minutes, the piece is too long and needs some editorial guidance to bring out it's best points. Cutting it down by half, ideally by three-quarters, would better serve the artist and the best segments of the interview material. Further, there are some minor issues with host diction and production (the interview segments have some occasional light distortion). However, the producer's enthusiasm and passion for music journalism is palatable. With time and more experience, he should grow into an impressive talent with much to offer.
"This piece, at this length, would be difficult to place on most public stations. An edited, much shorter version, may be more useful to AAA stations and college stations which focus on contemporary music and approach it with a broad palate and wide musical view.—Eric Nuzum, Kent, OH
"Before I heard this piece I had assumed that I would write that whether one enjoys it or not depends on whether you like Burnside Project (who I must confess to not being familiar with until now), but this is not the case. The band comprises a trio of engaged and engaging musicians whose enthusiasm for their work is infectious. This Well-Rounded Radio interview is aptly named: providing an insight into the artistic process and the nature of the musicans' collaboration, and also revealing the dramatic impact of digital editing software on music composition. In addition there is ample use of their music throughout the interview for those not already in the know. Don't be put off by the host's somewhat speedy and fact-filled preamble, (I felt a bit breathless just listening); he is clearly knowledgeable and interested in his subjects, and appears to be a natural fast talker! —Transom Editors, Atlantic Public Media
QUOTES
...from past interview subjects and record labels
Also check out our new postcard with some listener raves.
"This is awesome man! Thank you so much, I'm sending it around to everybody!""—Eli "Paperboy" Reed
"Great job man. Really good.""—Ed Valauskas, producer of Eli "Paperboy" Reed and The True Loves'Roll with You
"I was pleasantly suprised to hear such a lengthy, detailed, and well researched interview. Illustrating the interview with pertinent songs was rather well done, too. Great work.""—Steve Coleman with The Fleshtones
"Great show on The Fleshtones. You really matched the songs up with the comments well. Good ears. Thanks for the shoutout about Sweat. Cheers!""—Joe Bonomo, author, Sweat: The Story of The Fleshtones, America's Garage Band
"I listened all the way through and loved it. Curtis cracks me up! I like the natural sound, catching the soundcheck going on upstairs. Thanks for your interest, for coming all the way from Boston, and for doing such a good job on this. We appreciate it and will soon send out notices to our email lists about this and some of the other choice bits of press we recently racked up. It's been great. Keep up the good work!""—Michael Lachowski, Pylon
"This is cool. Thanks!""—Jenny Toomey of The Future of Music Coalition
"Great show! I was really impressed by how you put it all together in such a professional way. Thanks so much for having me take part in Well-Rounded Radio. 'Twas a pleasure, and I'd love to do it again sometime.""—Eilen Jewell
"You asked all the right questions!""—Russ Gershon, Either/Orchestra (from an upcoming interview)
"Thanks, this is awesome! I've already made a post about it on Panos' Brew!""—Panos Panay, Founder + CEO of Sonicbids
"Great interview. Talking with George you really get a view of the industry side of things, which is probably a bit different for most listeners. Thanks again for setting this up!"—Eddie Estabrooks, SideOneDummy Records, home of Flogging Molly
"A wonderful job and lots of fun! Thank you soooo much for spreading the word and sounds of The Rudds! We really appeciate it and you have a fan in the band!"—John Powhida, The Rudds
"So addicted to these deep interviews now!"—Samantha Wood, publicity for The Rudds
"The interview is great. Thank you so very much! Lots of unexpected music there...I hadn't heard stuff from "Soar Away Home" in a long time, and it seems like a real long time ago, a musical childhood almost. I've passed the link on to my mailing list."—Guy Mendilow
"Thanks for such a well paced, well edited interview! I'm extremely pleased to be a part of your program, and really appreciate you putting it all together. What a great looking, great sounding, well curated program you present. Thanks again."—Jonathan Kane
"Nice job, Charlie. You covered all the bases it seems!"—Bob Dubrow, Owner + Founder, Kimchee Records, Hilken Mancini + Chris Colbourn
"The interview sounds great! You did a wonderful job with the editing. Very exciting! Thanks again."—Jeffrey Simmons
"Hello Calabashers, Charles McEnerney of Well Rounded Radio just put out the podcast of his Calabash Music interview with me. It's a great listen -- we discuss the state of digital music and new opportunities for international musicians -- all interspersed with some great selections from the Calabash catalog. You can download the entire program and then help spread the Calabash word by sending the link to your friends. I'm sure you all have friends who would like to learn about Calabash Music, and with podcasting, this radio program can spread easily via word-of- mouth. I highly recommend tuning into Well Rounded Radio regularly."—from Brad Powell from Calabash Music's December 2005 e-newsletter
"I thought the interview was great, thanks! Sounded really good!"—Nicholas Reville, Director, Downhill Battle + Participatory Culture
"There's some inspired editing in there--and somehow we came off somewhat charming and interesting! Haha!—Ryan Walsh, Singer/songwriter/guitarist, The Stairs
"The segment sounds really great -- thank you! Thumbs up and let's go! I especially liked what you chose to use from "We are Destroyed."—Howard Fishman, The Howard Fishman Quartet
"It sounds great. You did an amazing job! I love it. I will post a news brief on the Baskervilles site indicating that the piece is ready. Fabulous!"—Rob Keith, The Baskervilles
"This is great, you did a fantastic job! I'll spread the word and send the url out to the mailing list, as well as promote it on other lists I am on."—Greg Weiss, Owner, Secret Crush Records (home of The Baskervilles)
"The interview is amazing! Thanks so much for, not only taking the time, but for doing such an phenomenal and thorough job editing and piecing the Douglas Fir clip together. I really think you captured the dynamic of the band, in an informative and interesting manner. You rock! Both Patrick and I are really impressed with what you are doing with Well-Rounded Radio. It's unique, informative, and I think appeals to a whole host of fans, both music and otherwise, who aren't usually treated to such in-depth and well-organized audio features. The listener is ushered in and invited to hear a side of the musicians/bands that one would not normally get with just a printed article."—Jay Walsh, The Douglas Fir
"That was fun! I'm looking forward to hearing the interview."—Clint Conley, Mission of Burma + consonant
"Thanks Charlie...I just checked it out. Fantastic! Let me know if we can link to this from our site, as we'd love to do that."—Clayton Scoble, Francine
"Loved the broadcast!"—Gerald Hammill, Burnside Project
"Thanks Charlie - I listened to it this morning and it sounds cool."—Richard Jankovich, Burnside Project
"I just received my copies of the Well-Rounded Radio interview. I loved it! I think you did a great job with everything and deserve major air-time with the program. Best wishes and many thanks!" —Blake Hazard
"Thanks so much for the Well-Rounded Radion CD. We really enjoyed the show and wish you all the best with the program. We are going to put the Ashby interview up on our Web site." —Evelyn Pope, singer/songwriter, Ashby
"Enjoyed the interview. Thanks for the well-informed questions, it made it real easy for me. Mixing the music in with my commentaries sounds really good. Thanks again.""—Mark Dwinell, Bright
"I am really impressed with the way you cut the interview together. I need to give a copy to the other guys in the band to hear it! Thanks again."—Adam Dobkowki, guitarist, Pressure Cooker
"Thanks for the CD. Everything came out very well. Good job!" —William Cowie, Producer, Ashby
"I think you did a lovely editing job moving between mesostics poems and consonant songs. It's a fine interview (though it sounds like I had six cups of coffee!). I'm sending your web address out far and wide." —Holly Anderson, poet (from interview with Clint Conley of Mission of Burma and consonant)
"Thanks a million for the interview and everything!"—Jacques Pardo, singer/songwriter, Atlas Soul