Check out our interview with Ted Leo, who will be appearing with comedian Wyatt Cenac this Friday at the Fitzgerald Theater as part of Minnesota Public Radio’s storytelling-meets-music series Wits.
(Photo by Matias Corral)
Long ago there was a stylized way of doing radio announcing, and if that had remained the case, I would have had to do something else. But with MPR the premise was much more conversational. I got to be like a regular person—no phony-baloney—and the approach was a real godsend.
- Gary Eichten, speaking with METRO about his 40-year career at Minnesota Public Radio, which comes to a close today.
From our friends at MPR:
A dear friend of ours, Tom Keith, a sound-effects creator for A Prairie Home Companion and former host of The Morning Show (as Jim Ed Poole), passed away last week. This Saturday, Nov. 12 we will be gathering together to celebrate his life and we hope you can join us.
Friends and colleagues of Tom are putting on a show in his honor at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. No speeches, no laments. Songs, magic, dancing, jokes, juggling, loon calling, the Mighty Wurlitzer and a pie in your face.
Approximately 600 free tickets will be available to members and the public on the day of the show beginning at 4 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Theater Box Office. Tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Limit 2 tickets per person. If necessary, overflow seating with a live feed of the show will be shown at the Central Presbyterian Church just one block from the Fitzgerald Theater.
Hurrah for Tom Keith
Saturday, Nov. 12
5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Doors at 4 p.m.
“There are a fair number of phonies in the media, possibly because there’s a certain amount of acting involved. But Tom Keith was not one of them.” - Bob Collins, on his blog, news cut.
Read more reflections on Keith on the Prairie Home Companion website, and share your own memories with MPR here.
Photo via Prairie Home Companion.
Jim McGuinn’s office, the nerve center of The Current, the indie rock station for Minnesota Public Radio that is surging up the ratings rankings and has quickly earned both a national and international audience, is filled with a raucous song not by the Black Keys or Built to Spill, but rather, five-year-old Jameson McGuinn singing about how he hates homework. “Isn’t it awesome!” McGuinn says proudly.
It is this sense of humility, accessibility and sheer unbridled love for rock-and-roll that McGuinn brings to The Current on a daily basis. He loves music, no matter the form, and wants you to love it, too. Even though The Current is currently in the middle of their busy Fall Member Drive (shameless plug: if you haven’t pledged or donated, you should; here’s the link), McGuinn took a moment to answer our really stupid questions.
Read the full Q/A here.
