E Town Blog

The summer is in full swing and Roger, our Talent Coordinator, has been sacrificing time in the sun to bring some of the best artists around to eTown!

4th of July is upon nearly upon us and after the holiday weekend, it’s only a short few days until John Gorka sits down with Nick Forster for his 9th appearance in front of the eTown mic.  NINE TIMES! Having been hailed by the Rolling Stone as the “male singer-songwriter of New Folk Movement”, Gorka continues to give audiences goosebumps with his writing, presentation and well…his unparalleled craft.

Mark July 12th on your calendars for an evening at the Boulder Theater with John Gorka, eTown and Hot Buttered Rum!

Along with Gorka, eTown is also bringing some bio-fueled acoustic rock to the stage. Plucking and stomping all the way from San Francisco, Hot Buttered Rum will be making their first eTown appearance.

You can call Hot Buttered Rum an electrifying acoustic rockin’ rompfest or a socially-conscious group that happens to have instruments and mics as their weapons. The band makes no separation between their music and their activism with songs about social equality, environmental responsibility, and political change.  They also back it up by touring in a bio-fueled bus and donating their time to service work at schools, Native American reservations, and political fundraisers. Take a look at their touring bus

Tickets are on sale now for John Gorka and Hot Buttered Rum’s eTown performance at The Boulder Theater on July 12th. As we mentioned last week, tickets are also available for the eTown show featuring Del McCoury and Eddie Kowalczyk (of Live) on July 23rd.

Happy 4th of July! Be safe, be well, make merry, don’t eat too much ‘que (tofu or otherwise).
We’ve got one of my favorite shows for your listening pleasure, coming to you over the airwaves this week. It was so great the first time around we decided to air it again! In this encore broadcast, banjo player and singer-songwriter Abigail Washburn visits Etown with her spectacular ensemble, The Sparrow Quartet, featuring Béla Fleck (banjo), Casey Driessen (fiddle) and Ben Sollee (cello). Plus, poetic lyricist and powerful vocalist Vusi Mahlasela, known as “The Voice” in his home country of South Africa, makes his Etown debut; Nick and I and the Etones contribute harmonies and instrumental support for him. What an honor! Now, consider all the elements of this particular gathering and then think ‘finale.’ You won’t believe how cool it sounds! (I won’t spill the beans and reveal what song it is, you’ll have to tune in)! And, there’s a real heartwarming
E-Chievement Award story, our winner from the Florida Keys who shares his sweet, funny and touching story (hint: it involves saving animals). Don’t miss it!

We are pleased to announce the return of The Del McCoury Band back for another live E Town taping in Boulder on July 23rd at The Boulder Theater.  Tickets go on sale this Saturday, June 20th at noon!

Hailing from Bakersville, NC, there really isn’t much this Grammy winning bluegrass-extraordinaire has not accomplished in his loaded music career.  Over 20 albums, 31 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, sold out venues for the past six decades, originator of the DelFest bluegrass festival, hundreds of pickin’ stomps…the list goes on.  In his fourth E Town appearance, McCoury brings his two sons, Ronnie on mandolin and Robbie on banjo, as well as Tad Marks on fiddle and Mike Brantley on bass.

Joining The legendary bluegrass group on the E Town stage will be Eddie Kowalczyk of Live.  In case you don’t remember his name, Eddie K. was responsible for numerous ballads (”Lightning Crashes,” “Lakini’s Juice,” “I Alone,” etc.) that still command the airwaves today.   Though Kowalczyk still tours with the full band, he will be ditching the electric guitar for an acoustic one as he hits the E Town stage.   Take a listen to Kowalczyk’s solo work by downloading a free song from his site here.

For more information on this show as well as all future shows, don’t forget to visit etown.org

Hello all!
It’s been an action packed week. Au Revoir Simone was in town . . way fun! Great to see them play, and also to have them stay with us for a few days. Our house was stuffed to the gills but it was really great to have the hang time with those girls. Obviously, Erika is our kid (my stepchild and Nick’s natural born) so seeing her of course was going to be terrific. And Annie and Heather are really great people, sweet and smart and thoughtful and funny, too. PLUS, my other two beloved step kids were with us, too: Devon, home from Charlotte and Liz (and our granddaughter Kaeli) came in from Denver. And I got to see some of my favorite folks at ARS’s show: Melanie Walker and George Peters (both artists extraordinaire); former Etown staffer Christy and her beau, Danny; Kate LaCroix (great dancing, Kate!); and hello to Alex and Mary, Etown fans who discovered Au Revoir Simone at the Etown taping they played, then came to their concert at The Fox. Nice to meet you two!)
It’s officially summer at last! I’m looking out my office window (here at ETown World Headquarters . . or is it intergalactic at this point?). There’s a wicked storm coming in – really dark, swirling, heavy clouds, so beautiful. Being from the Midwest, I love a good storm!
We’ve got quite a storm of music coming to you on the air this week, not dark and heavy by any means but definitely a swirl of genres! It’s a mix of music rooted in everything from jazz, swing, and old-time to classical and ‘chamber-folk’. After a many year gap, guitarist and songwriter Dan Hicks is back in Etown! No one at all sounds like him. And of course he’s bringing those great back up singers, The Lickettes (due to technical difficulties, we unfortunately do not have photos of this show, which is a shame – The Licketts were decked out in all their ‘bad girl’ finerie, worth the price of admission alone; and Vienna is just lovely). Dan’s eclectic style and counter-culture appeal, driven by sharp-tongued and dry-witted lyrics, has twice landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone! “Dan Hicks is fly, sly, wily and dry!” said Tom Waits recently. Also with us this week is the absolutely stunning pianist and singer-songwriter extraordinaire Vienna Teng, making her first visit to Etown. She’s a Stanford computer science grad and software engineer whose career took a sharp turn several years ago, when she ditched that world to pursue her musical passions. She has since released two critically acclaimed independent albums which landed her on the Billboard album charts and Amazon’s bestseller list. Her “engaging voice, insightful lyrics and reflective piano-driven chamber folk packs quite the punch…simmers and soars.” (LA Weekly). All this, plus an inspiring
E-Chievement Award interview, awaits you this week, in Etown. See you there!
Xo Helen

Join us for the next Dinner & A Show with a delicious four course meal at the West End Tavern, followed by reserved seats for the E Town show with Nick & Helen Forster, John Gorka, and Hot Buttered Rum at the Boulder Theater.

Hello Friends!
I hope you’ve been having a fantastic week.
Boy, isn’t it amazing how fast our time fills up? We are all so dang BUSY. Trying to line up a lunch with a buddy or a night to see friends these days has become so hard to make happen. Everyone’s got so much on their plates it seems. But I’m trying to keep in perspective that being in the moment and being aware of whatever experience you are having is what being alive is about. So easy to forget with all the swirl of all this ‘stuff’’ that we call life. Maybe it’s the passing of my uncle recently, whom I loved very much, that is stirring up these thoughts so prominently at this time. Not really sure. But life is short and sweet and . . finite. And time is truly our dearest commodity. I’m always so appreciative of the people who volunteer for Etown the non-profit. To give of your time and your energy, those are the two most precious things we have to give.

Same thing with parenting. Whether you are a natural born parent, a stepparent, a foster parent, or a mentor in some way to a kid who needs your time and attention, that giving of yourself is a gift that is priceless.

I have more thoughts about step parenting (of which I am one) for another time, but I will say that, while occasionally not always an easy row to hoe, I have been truly blessed to have these wonderful girls (now women) in my life. I would not trade the years I’ve been honored to participate in helping to raise Nick’s natural born girls. I didn’t bear them; but I love them like I did. And I’m very proud of all of them.

So it is with great pride that I tell you about this week’s re-broadcast of an ETown show that involves someone near and dear to my heart. Joining us is the Brooklyn based band Au Revoir Simone, which features one of my step kids: Erika Forster, along with her band mates Heather D’Angelo and Annie Hart, they use vintage keyboards and drum machines to deliver brilliantly written, beautifully executed, electronic-based songs filled with great lyrics. They’re David Lynch’s favorite band these days, and they’ve been touring Europe, Japan and the U.S. to rave reviews.
Also with us is one of my favorite bands, DeVotchka, back for their third visit to Etown. This popular Colorado based band has a huge international following and fan base. Lead singer’s Nick Urata’s vocals infuse their songs with striking emotion, all beautifully supported by an eclectic ensemble featuring a string section, trumpet, sousaphone, melodica, and more. There’s also a creative and motivated E-Chievement Award winner who shares her inspiring story, all this week in Etown.
So, be there or be square.
Yes, I actually said that.
Sorry.
Till this week, have a good week; and for tonight, sleep tight,
Xo Helen

Dear friends,
I hope you are enjoying spring. It’s been a weird one weather wise, here in Boulder. Tons of rain. I’ve never seen it so wet and so green! Reminds me of my old hometown of Minneapolis. Here we are on the edge of the desert and it feels more like Portland or Seattle.

It’s been a weird spring in other ways. As many of you have heard, Nick and I both lost uncles we were very close to: Nick’s beloved Uncle Bim died in early spring. And my dear Uncle Hamell passed away last weekend. Hamell had been the one to give me away on Nick’s and my wedding day (my mom and dad had both passed on years before).

Both Bim and Hamell were successful in their lives. Both were loving family men. But their backgrounds were totally different.

Bim was from an old, established family, well bred, well educated, accomplished, a WWII veteran, fluent in French, a member of the business world in Manhattan, a talented actor in later life. Bim was a great conversationalist, could sing a hundred songs from memory (and often did, much to the delight of those around him). Elegant, loveable, well spoken and ever curious: that was Bim.

Hamell and his siblings (my mom was his sister) were orphaned during the influenza epidemic following WWII and all of them were sent in different directions to be raised apart. He ended up being sent back to Yugoslavia, where distant relatives were to raise him but who ended up mistreating him instead. So Hamell stowed away on a ship bound for America when he was 14 years old and never looked back. He and my mother located each other as young adults and stayed close for the rest of their lives. Hamell personified the American Dream, apprenticing for and eventually starting his own successful business casting parts for lighting fixtures. He worked into his early nineties, was one of the sweetest, gentlest, kindest, loving guys you’d ever want to meet. He was self-educated, a voracious reader, a lover of classical music, and loved by everyone he met.

Both Bim and Hamell led remarkable lives. They were huge role models and beloved family elders. My heart is indeed sad over the void left by their recent exits.

It’s actually sort of fitting timing that our broadcast this week features two elderly legends of American music who are near and dear to my heart. First, the legendary Ralph Stanley is with us (and his band The Clinch Mountain Boys) sharing songs from his 60+ years as a performer of bluegrass, old-time, and roots music. Nick’s up close and personal conversation with this 82-year-old icon (about Ralph’s rich performance history and his recent involvement in current events) is worth tuning in for. Then, long-time, ‘hard travelin’ Ramblin’ Jack Elliott takes the ETown stage, with musical support here and there from us. Nick and Jack have a one-of-a-kind Etown conversation you won’t want to miss. Plus, there’s a very special ‘in-person’ E-Chievement Award featuring a woman who is making real difference in the lives of urban kids.

I hope you’ll join us.
Be well, talk next week,
Helen

All of us at ETown have lost a friend. As most of you have heard, Koko Taylor, the ‘Queen of the Blues’ passed away on Wednesday, June 3rd. We had the honor of having her with us to tape an ETown show almost a year ago, on June 19, 2008. She was charming and down to earth, a lovely and approachable person. She was warm and friendly to everyone one of us that day. And she was just wonderful to behold on stage. We feel so fortunate to have had that time with her and to have documented what would become one of her last recorded live performances. Koko’s personal story as she shared it with us is truly inspirational. She had a challenging childhood (she and her siblings were orphaned when Koko was just 11 years old); she mentioned during her conversation with Nick during that taping in June that often she and the other kids were shuttled around to stay with this aunt or that cousin every few days, with just a bowl of corn bread and milk for dinner most nights. “When you’re hungry,” she recalled, “It doesn’t matter what you eat, as long as you are full.”

But Koko overcame that adversity and several more to become an internationally celebrated Blues performer, with the well deserved nickname of ‘The Queen of the Blues.’ Her incredible singing voice was noticed when she was still just a teen. Her subsequent career as a Blues performer lasted for almost 50 years, during which she was recognized with just about every Blues award known to man. ’ All in all, Koko Taylor received 25 Blues Music Awards, more than any other blues artist, female or male. Koko was nominated for a Grammy for seven of her last eight albums, winning the 1984 Grammy for the live multi-artist work called ‘Blues Explosion.’ More recently, she received the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment For The Arts in 2004.

She will be deeply missed.

Hi everyone,
It’s been an interesting week. Things are always super crazy busy around ETown and this week was no exception. I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the trickier it gets to keep it all going and to keep on track of everything. Those of you who know me well, know me to be a multitasker extraordinaire. But lately I find that a lot of stuff slips through the cracks without me even realizing it. How about you?

Still, I’m counting my blessings. My parents used to always tell me, “If you have your health, you have everything you need. Everything else will fall into place as it’s meant to.” Three things remind me of that this week.

First is the fact that, as some of you know, up until recently I’ve had to deal with daily, chronic pain. For over two decades it has been relentless and non-stop. It’s taught me patience, acceptance . . it’s also caused me to despair at times. But recently, through a friend, I found a wonderful doctor who specializes in pain issues. She has really rocked my world and changed my life! I’m so much better than I’ve been in years. So much less pain, so much more active, so many more options! What a complete blessing and joy (for those of you who have not had a similar problem, be it pain or illness, I know its hard to imagine what the heck I’m even talking about . . but those of you who have, I know you totally get it).

Second, a dear friend of mine has recently been really, really sick with a mystery virus, for almost seven weeks now. She and I recently spent some time together and we were talking about the fact that she’s had such great health up to now and that this experience has been a tough one for her. It’s ironic that she, who has been one of those friends for me who has seen me through a tremendous amount of discomfort, is struggling now with her own challenge. And she too talks about learning to accept and find the patience she needs to deal with this. That kind of experience also gives you such an appreciation of those times when good health is present; but we generally take that state for granted, and it often takes an experience like hers or mine to make you realize just how right my parents were in saying what they did to me back then. Of course, I was a sweet young thing who had absolutely NO idea of what they were talking about at the time!

Third, I’ve been reading Nick’s grandfather’s health book this week. Henry Forster (what a dear! I got to meet and spend time with him when Nick and I were first dating, and I just loved him) lived to be 100 years old! He enjoyed great health in later life. But when he was 43 years old (in 1932!) he was a mess . . low energy, felt terrible, even thought he had ulcers. Back in those days, one would go to a spa or a sanitarium to recover from poor health, so Henry did that very thing, he went to one of those places to find out how to get healthy. What he learned during his stay there apparently changed both his state of health and his eating habits/lifestyle, the latter he felt very strongly kept him feeling great and enjoying life to its fullest. Henry worked until he was in his mid 90’s, he walked 3 to 5 miles a day, had a memory like a 18 year old and was really, really cool. He wrote this book in the late 1970’s or early 80’s I believe, when few were talking about such things. And it’s interesting that the stuff the folks at the sanitarium told him back then are things taken almost for granted today: limit red meat, do not eat white sugar or white flour, eat things as fresh and as unaltered as possible. Pretty cool.

I believe the arts in general are a big part of what gives life its zest; and among the arts, music is a big factor in our health and welfare. And of course, friendship plays an important role too. With that in mind, let me tell you about some musical friends who are featured on the air in this week’s broadcast of Etown. We welcome Calexico to Etown in this rebroadcast episode. These Tucson-based eclectic rockers, led by Joey Burns and John Convertino, deliver songs influenced by spaghetti westerns, surf, twang and 50’s jazz, sprinkled with just the right amount of southwestern spice.

Plus, Nick and I and The ETones take the stage with the man with the extraordinary voice, Dave Alvin, as he swings back to Etown to play some songs with us from his CD called “West of the West, Songs from California Songwriters.” He took songs by writers as different as Jackson Browne, Kate Wolf, and Brian Wilson, and put his own unique spin on them, giving them a unique sound that only Dave can create. That’s this week’s broadcast of Etown, bringing you another fine hour of great music and engaging conversation, along with an amazing E-Chievement Award story. I hope you will join us.
Until next week, have a good week, and for tonight, sleep tight,
Helen

Hi all,
I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing Memorial Day weekend. It rained buckets off and on here, but no one really seemed to mind. The Boulder Creek Festival came and went, as did the Bolder Boulder (for those of you who are unfamiliar with the latter, it’s a 10K race – just under 54,000 people registered for the privilege of participating, and the rain held off until the race was over which was great for all concerned.

In honor of Memorial Day, Nick and I have rented and been watching Ken Burns’ epic documentary, ‘The War,’ about World War II. You know, we are so incredibly lucky to live in the time that we do and to have benefited from the efforts and sacrifice of the young men and women who took part in that event. It’s so easy to forget the meaning of Memorial Day, in the wave of barbeques and parties, beer and brats. These days, we not only remember those that have fallen in past wars, but also turn our attention, support and concern toward those who currently are in Iraq. I hope and pray for their collective safety, and I wish for a speedy end to this war. I may not support the war itself (in fact, disclaimer: I think it was ill conceived and a big mistake, that’s my own personal opinion, I’m speaking solely for myself there and if you disagree with me I salute your right to do so) but I most definitely support our troops, I deeply appreciate and value their efforts and sacrifice, I regret that they’ve been put in harm’s way, and I hope for their safe return soon.

Speaking of returning, some old friends return to Etown in the encore broadcast we have for you on the air this week: our friends from Los Lobos, David Hidalgo & Louie Pérez, join us to perform a rare duo set, sharing tunes old and new. There are intimate, stripped down moments, but David and Louie also rock the house with as well, with Nick and me (and the other Etones) backing them up. Plus, they let us in on some personal, behind-the-scenes stories about how they came to their exceptional songwriting craft. Also returning to Etown is singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne, with his full band. Ray treats us to some of his brilliantly written songs (sung with that powerful, expressive voice – makes your heart melt). You’ll find all this, along with a moving E-Chievement Award story from Washington State, in this week’s repeat airing of one of my favorite shows to date.

The bluegrass band Long Road Home is taping their very first CD – live – at ETown Hall! I’ve been both nights so far, and they sound just great. Look for this band and catch a performance sometime, they are worth hearing and enjoying.

That’s all for now. Thanks friends, see you next week,
Xo Helen