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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This week's essential listening includes joyful rock from Joanna Gruesome, a mansion of curious sounds from Eskmo, an incredible mix of cultures and sounds in Young Fathers and more. -
With her huge voice and an assist from talented trombonist Daniel Walter Eaton, Nika Roza Danilova offers up a curious combination in the NPR Music offices. -
Out of thousands of submissions, one soulful musician came out on top.
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In honor of Valentine's Day, we asked for your ideal romantic songs. On this week's All Songs Considered, we count down the 10 most popular tunes that make you swoon. -
All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton share their favorite songs of the week, including a dance jam, loud-and-proud Texas punk and music from Courtney Barnett worth waiting for. -
The Israeli singer has a compelling, unusual, wholly original voice. On Gold Shadow, his first official release in North America, he writes with passion and poetry. -
Hypnotic grooves, funktacular space-jams and a little bit of throat singing. It's another episode of All Songs Considered, chock full of music to make you feel alive. -
Weird and kind of wonderful, Dylan sings Sinatra. -
We kick off 2015 with a mix of new music and a trip in a time machine back to 2000 and the very first All Songs Considered episode. -
Every year, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton go on a musical holiday adventure. This year, they take a rocket ride to outer space and are joined by a few special guests.
