KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

I've posted our June 2008 schedule on this blog. I'm really excited about it. It's local, it's musical, it's haunting, it's riveting. Here it is: June 2 - Heard Here: KFAI Producers Showcase June 9 - The Beauty of Lois Vierk June 16 - StoryCorps Griot Special June 23 - Painted Lady June 30 - The Train Plan And don't forget about our Memorial Day show: May 26 - Vietnam Blues

The Plan , Barrett Golding's half-hour radio shows "cast a very wide sonic and thematic net for each topical half-hour," writes reviewer Gary Covino . "This one, about trains, starts with a very funny and quirky interaction between Amtrak's sort-of-human but really mechanical telephone ticket attendant and a mixed-up, not-quite-sure-where-to-go-next actually human potential passenger. From there it's on to Pullman Porters, an amazing hobo story, pure sound and music -- with the elements flowing from one to the other with a kind of intuitive grace. (By the way, if Barrett rides the trains again for this series, it would be worth checking out Reverend A.W. Nix's incredible 'Black Diamond Express Train To Hell' sermon.) This is the kind of show that sends your mind and spirit off to some very unexpected place when it pops out of your radio. Public radio in general used to do that a whole lot more than it does these days. Maybe, one day, it will aga...

StoryCorps Griot records the voices, experiences and life stories of African Americans. The Griot Initiative is inspired by the role of the griot in West African culture. The griot (pronounced gree-oh) is a role of honor, designating someone who maintains community traditions and memory through storytelling, music, and dance. The StoryCorps Griot mobile recording booth will make stops of up to six weeks in nine locations across the country, partnering with radio stations, historically black colleges and universities, and other cultural institutions. The StoryCorps Griot Initiative will place a special emphasis on the stories of World War II veterans and men and women involved in the Civil Rights struggle. This Special program features 10 stories from African Americans, recorded as part of the StoryCorps project. StoryCorps is a national project to instruct and inspire everyday people to record one another's stories in sound.

Most of the time when public radio airs a story about a musician or composer, you learn about her biography and her next album. Not so on the Listening Lounge. On June 9, we present The Beauty of Lois Vierk , a 6-minute radio story about the post-minimalist composer on the show. Jonathan Mitchell produced the piece but it includes no traditional narration. It's an edited conversation, really, that focuses on the way she works. Their interview is interrupted by a noisy rain storm, which Mitchell incorporates into the story. Now the other thing that's unusual is that we'll sandwich this radio story in between a pair of long pieces by Vierk. We'll play "River Beneath the River" (13:03) and "Red Shift" (12:17) before and after the Jonathan Mitchell story.

The producers here at the Listening Lounge have been editing and re-editing radio stories for the debut edition of "Heard Here: KFAI Producers Showcase." We'll begin the show with "Joe Savage: Perennial Sideman," a profile of a local pedal steel guitar player by Joel Grostephan . Unlike traditional public radio stories, Joel doesn't narrate this piece. Instead, we hear from Joe Savage and his crying pedal steel. It's a moving piece and you won't want to miss it. Then it's on to a pair of funny essays on the subject of "People We Like Who Don't Like Us, But We Can't Help But Fancy Them." Diane Richard remembers the girl's bathroom at high school that she was supposed to avoid. Kristina Lund tells us about trying to convince her friend at work to become her friend in real life. "I have plenty of friends outside of work ... I just don't like them as much. They'll do in pinch, especially when I need to know that...

Monday, May 26 is Memorial Day. And we've got the perfect slice of radio for you to honor America's veterans. Vince Gabriel is a Vietnam veteran who's written an album of songs chronicling his experience of the war. In this documentary, called Vietnam Blues , he takes listeners back to 1968, to the jungle of Vietnam. Vietnam Blues was produced by Tina Antolini , a reporter at WFCR in Amhert, Mass. Here's what reviewer Whit Richardson wrote about Vietnam Blues: "I am a big fan of this piece. The production was smooth and seamless. Vince Gabriel's intimate narration paired with his music and lyrics was a very powerful method for telling his story. I was drawn in and remained absorbed throughout." Vietnam Blues airs at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 26 on KFAI , 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul.