Buzz Blog
RadioWest’s first local-music-series show aired on Feb. 28, 2009, with now-defunct Band of Annuals. Over the approximately 20 shows, RadioWest has profiled Utah’s best bands and up-and-comers. The hour-long episodes are filled with an insightful and probing Q&A with host Doug Fabrizio and, of course, lots of incredible live music.
RadioWest co-producer Benjamin Bombard (full disclosure: Bombard is my roommate, and I've been a guest on RadioWest several times) notes that while there are a lot of great bands and an abundance of genres to choose from locally, it can be a tough task to find the right ones for the program. “It's really challenging to find musicians who can really talk, can really get into and explore their music, how they make it and what it means to them,” he says. “That's what we look for with this series. We want to find stories, whether they lie in the bands' histories or if they're revealed in their lyrics.” Stories. Stories. Stories. That’s what it’s all about.
While this compilation disc doesn’t delve into what’s behind the tunes, full episodes of the local music series may be streamed here. Bombard recommends streaming the Matteo show, which he notes as the best interview RadioWest has done in the series. “There was a lot to explore, a lot for an interviewer and, in turn, an audience to connect to. There was this story of exploration and experimentation and ideals and love and faith,” he says. “They're doing something you just don't hear anywhere else. And, it's great music!”
The compilation offers songs recorded live in-studio from bands like Desert Noises, The Moth & The Flame, Spell Talk, Holy Water Buffalo, The Legendary Porch Pounders and Matteo, among others.
For a pledge of $120 to KUER, the compilation can be all yours.
Here’s a sneak peak of the album:
Fabrizio summed up “Why local music/art?” and why the show is dedicated to this series on the album’s back cover:
Iff you want to really learn about a place, look for the art created by the locals. I’m not talking about issues you might find in lyrics or spray painted on walls. I’m talking about something else, though it’s hard to explain and I don’t know if I really want to pin it down. For some reason, up and down the state, Utah has really inspired musicians. We started a series on local music to find them and give them an opportunity to talk about their work and then play it for those who might be listening. This CD is the kind of thing you could share with someone who asks, ‘What’s this place like?’ Enjoy. - Doug Fabrizio
