He is a songwriter who’s won an Oscar, 3 Grammies and 2 Golden Globes for hits like “We’ve only Just Begun” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.” Her TV and film scripts include Confessions of a Shopaholic for Jerry Bruckheimer. They are the co-authors of Gratitude and Trust: Six Affirmations that will Change Your Life. We spoke at Glenn … Continue reading »
Category Archives: Music
Episode 92: Jill Sobule
Like many people, I became a fan with I Kissed a Girl, a song that is both witty and warm, qualities that seldom coincide. At a time when the music business has squeezed out the middle, offering only massive stadium concerts or total oblivion, she’s resourcefully built a musical life — crowd-funding an album, touring with … Continue reading »
Episode 70: Emanuel Ax
Pianist Emanuel Ax was born in Ukraine and lived in Warsaw and Winnipeg before arriving in New York, where he studied at Julliard and later at Columbia, earning a BA not in music but in French. One sign of his esteem as a performer is the roster of colleagues who’ve regularly performed with him, including … Continue reading »
Episode 67: Andrew W. K.
Hard rocker and host of the Cartoon Network show “Destroy Build Destroy,” he is our first guest to have a hit record and to give a motivational speech at Yale. Best known for his songs It’s Time to Party, Party Hard and Party ‘Til You Puke, he has elevated the party from ephemeral fun to … Continue reading »
Episode 55: Lucy Wainwright Roche
Singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche grew up in Greenwich Village in an illustrious musical family, but she soon joined the wagon trains carrying courageous hipsters over the river to Brooklyn. Oh, Pioneers! Her latest album, There’s A Last Time For Everything, was released in October. To whet your appetite, listen to her sing something from Hair … Continue reading »
Episode 52: Lissie
A singer/song-writer at the start of what promises to be a glorious career, Lissie’s first album went platinum in the UK. She’s opened for Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. She’s given a TED talk. In October, she released her second album. “At her age,” says Randy, “I was just learning how to vacuum my apartment, … Continue reading »
Episode 44: Eugene Drucker
Eugene Drucker is a founding violinist with the Emerson String Quartet, an association that’s endured for more than thirty years. His most recent CD, “Journeys,” features two string sextets: Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence and Schoenberg’s Verklaerte Nacht. In addition, he is the author of a novel, The Savior, published in 2007, defying the conventional wisdom … Continue reading »
Episode 17: Judy Collins
Judy Collins began her 50-year career at age 13, performing a Mozart piano concerto. She recorded her first album, Maid Of Constant Sorrow, in 1961. She provided Bill and Hillary Clinton with a name for their daughter, but that is not a routine part of her act. Her new CD/DVD project was recorded live at … Continue reading »
Episode 7: Rickie Lee Jones
Is it OK for a teenager to prefer John Lennon’s tepid version of Money to Barret Strong’s hard-rocking original? Rickie Lee Jones says it is, making an elegant argument that we need different music at different phases of life. She should know: her 1979 debut album included the enormously popular Chuck E’s in Love; it … Continue reading »