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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With help from Fiona Apple, two Nickel Creek alums gather a band to perform old and new material. Watch the Watkins Family Hour perform three charming, country-flavored songs at the NPR Music offices.
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On this week's podcast, Bob Boilen, Ann Powers and Jewly Hight showcase the music they look forward to seeing at Nashville's AmericanaFest. -
This week's show is split much like some of our favorite records: The A-side is loud and fast. The B-side is slow and quiet. -
Mitski's music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through. Watch the singer perform three of her songs in the NPR Music offices. -
This week's All Songs podcast includes a British band, a Scandinavian band that sounds British, and an American band that sounds Scandinavian. Plus, some sonic surprises from Bob's new favorite app. -
On this week's All Songs, Bob returns from vacation a (somewhat) changed man, and he and Robin find music that they say "hits them just right." -
Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn break down the components of their electro-folk sound and share songs by some of the other artists who've inspired them. -
The soul singer, who just released his debut album, unearths the roots of his retro sound as this week's All Songs Considered Guest DJ. -
All Songs Considered celebrates the return of co-host Robin Hilton and bids farewell to Katie Presley with a mix of great new music. -
SOAK, one of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's favorite new artists for 2015, spins some of the songs that have influenced her own work, and talks about her new album.
