© 2025 WEKU
NPR for North, Central and Eastern Kentucky
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Our Listening Party's Hit Song

NPR Music's first listening party, live at the Gibson Room in Washington, D.C.
Michael Katzif
/
NPR
NPR Music's first listening party, live at the Gibson Room in Washington, D.C.

Thursday night at the Gibson Showroom in Washington, D.C., we threw a listening party. Maybe you were one of the 100 or so people who packed the room. We played music, mostly unreleased tunes. Everyone used score cards to rate the music on a scale of 1 to 10, and then we talked.

For some, hearing the twang of Gillian Welch was a welcome relief to a long drought. Her upcoming release will be her first in eight years. For others, that same music and was a deal-breaker. "You can't dance to it, so what's the point?" was one comment. "You've never been to a country bar in Houston and done the two step" was pretty much the retort.

There was a lot of applause and laughs and love for Cults from many, though Robin Hilton gave it a 4. Classical music by the group Build and jazz music by James Farm didn't fare as well as pop. Maybe the setting favored music that had more snap, less build. That said, the clear favorite — the music with the most 10s — was by Heavenly States, with guest singer Britt Daniel of Spoon. Here's a fun animation for the song we played, "Berlin Wall":

We're thinking we need to take this show on the road. Would you come?

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

/  
/
 

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.
WEKU depends on support from those who view and listen to our content. There's no paywall here. Please support WEKU with your donation.
Related Content