Bob Boilen
In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
Significant listener interest in the music being played on All Things Considered, along with his and NPR's vast music collections, gave Boilen the idea to start All Songs Considered. "It was obvious to me that listeners of NPR were also lovers of music, but what also became obvious by 1999 was that the web was going to be the place to discover new music and that we wanted to be the premiere site for music discovery." The show launched in 2000, with Boilen as its host.
Before coming to NPR, Boilen found many ways to share his passion for music. From 1982 to 1986 he worked for Baltimore's Impossible Theater, where he held many posts, including composer, technician, and recording engineer. Boilen became part of music history in 1983 with the Impossible Theater production Whiz Bang, a History of Sound. In it, Boilen became one of the first composers to use audio sampling — in this case, sounds from nature and the industrial revolution. He was interviewed about Whiz Bang by Susan Stamberg on All Things Considered.
In 1985, the Washington City Paper voted Boilen 'Performance Artist of the Year.' An electronic musician, he received a grant from the Washington D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to work on electronic music and performance.
After Impossible Theater, Boilen worked as a producer for a television station in Washington, D.C. He produced several projects, including a music video show. In 1997, he started producing an online show called Science Live for the Discovery Channel. He also put out two albums with his psychedelic band, Tiny Desk Unit, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Boilen still composes and performs music and posts it for free on his website BobBoilen.info. He performs contradance music and has a podcast of contradance music that he produces with his son Julian.
Boilen's first book, Your Song Changed My Life, was published in April 2016 by HarperCollins.
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The singer and guitarist fields comments from listeners about her music and talks about the ways her songs can be interpreted. -
The precise serrations of Washington, D.C. band Flasher get softened for a visit to the Tiny Desk — their vocals, normally side-by-side rushing electric instruments, get the center stage treatment.
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Lucius' fifth appearance at Newport saw the group outdo itself, with choreography, a tribute to Richard Swift and many, many friends. -
The July 7 performance from the Levitate Music and Arts Festival reunited Anastasio with keyboardist Ray "The Milkman" Paczkowski, who'd been diagnosed with brain cancer.
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All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen chats with Newport Folk Festival executive producer Jay Sweet about this year's surprising lineup. -
The Icelandic composer is joined by two "ghost" pianists, making mysterious and memorable music at the Tiny Desk.
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One of the greatest living guitarists, Richard Thompson has shared two new brilliant songs from his just-announced album 13 Rivers. -
Fans of early Talking Heads albums, listen up. This group of teenagers from Brisbane could be your favorite new band.
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This week's episode of All Songs Considered features the return of several veteran favorites: the Canadian rock band Metric, the Irish folk group Villagers, and guitarist Richard Thompson. -
The band's latest song and video, "Caravan," dreams of a more inclusive, kinder world.
