Category Archives: Big Stone Gap

The Other Side of the Microphone

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Jack’s weekly guest blog

 

DSCN1013Both Wendy and I have some experience of radio broadcasting; in my case that covers BBC Radio Scotland,  ‘Scene Around’ on Heartland fm in Scotland, and ‘Celtic Clanjamphry’ on WETS fm out of Johnson City in Tennessee.

But when Wendy’s The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap was published we suddenly found ourselves on the other side of the microphone. Some of these interviews were on local NPR stations ahead of book signing events, others nationally syndicated shows like ‘Weekend Edition’. It was fascinating to see how other presenters worked and the studios were set up, from very relaxed and laid back to pretty frenetic.

Interviews get repeated from time-to-time and we don’t always know that will happen; messages or emails or phone calls from someone say they heard us as they were driving through some remote part of the country. Which is fun.

Even more fun is that for once we do know ahead of time. The widely broadcast NPR program ‘With Good Reason’ interviewed us in 2013, and it was probably the one we remember most fondly. Very relaxed and long enough to cover our road trip to small towns across America, seeking out bookstores and talking about our experiences with Little Bookstore.

‘With Good Reason’ is broadcast in many states at different times. Find your local listening time and station here: Where and When to Listen

Or, if you’d like to listen to it any time during the week. the podcast link is – Little Bookstore Nov. 28 – Dec. 4

We hope you enjoy listening – we had a lot of fun making the program!

 

The Monday CD: DECEMBER by George Winston

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decemberSo it’s close enough to Thanksgiving now that we can listen to Christmas music with impunity, right? Because I LOVE George Winston’s CD December. In high school I used to listen to it in bed at night, falling asleep to the piano sounds of snow. Now I haul it up on Pandora, turn it up on the Christmas stations, and even play some of it on my dulcimer.

December is what the Christmas season SHOULD sound like – even when it’s moving fast, it’s got a relaxed feel to it, and a sense of holistic purpose. It untangles the inner knots of your stomach. It lets you remember that yes, this too shall pass, and there’s more than one way to see a situation, resolve an argument, and play “Greensleeves.”

DEFINITELY more than one way to play “Greensleeves.”

I look forward to this CD all year – it’s one of those seasonal treats, like strawberries, that should only be played during the time period. (Although I did once haul the CD out during an August heat wave, as a kind of reminder that this too would pass.)

Yes, I recognize this CD is not a book, but you know, if you listen to it start to end, you actually hear the story of December passing. It’s kinda cool that way.