Taylor's Club Awesome

Although you may find it hard to believe it, News & Notes staffers have outside lives and interests besides the show. One of the team, show director Taylor Chapulin Orci, writes in to describe her current side-hustle, the new Club Awesome! NPR podcast. Among the many things Taylor does for the show is select the music you hear on-air, and (lucky for her!) music is an important part of her life:

I like to have conversations with people about music. It's pretty much my favorite thing to do. I don't think I'm an expert in any particular type of music, but I like to hear other people talk about what they think, what their musical likes, dislikes and experiences are.

This is why I decided to create a new biweekly podcast: Club Awesome!. The idea is that Club Awesome! is a podcast about any song that's meant anything to anyone. Ever.

Way back in November, I noticed something about the conversations I was having with people about music. Most of those discussions I could cast off as random chaff - "have you heard the latest album by this artist" -- since they never really went anywhere. These conversations were similar to the ones jocks have about sports; or the conversations kids who get stuffed into their own lockers have about Dungeons & Dragons. I realized that talking about music was another way of socializing and bonding. [Editor's Note: Hey! Quit with the nerd abuse!]

But then, there were the conversations I'd have with people about songs that had REALLY grabbed them. Songs that made their lives complete; songs that marked entire periods in their lives, that kept their memories - which existed, in the recesses of their brain - alive and kicking. You know, the kind of songs that make folks pause and say, "That was epic." My new podcast will be about those epic anthems.

Romantic inspiration aside, I've been working like a dog since November with the powers that be to get this thing up and running. The consuming struggle to get it live is one of the reasons why I decided to call it "Club Awesome" I'm sort of making fun of myself: I take things so seriously sometimes, so I decided to think of the silliest title I could and run with it. I'm very happy with the end result, and I hope it only gets better from here.

So take a listen, or better yet: subscribe. If you have any suggestions for who, or what what should be to the podcast, lemme know.

Gary Dauphin

8:15 PM ET | 06- 6-2007 | permalink

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