Bob B Boilen (born April 10, 1953, in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American musician and media personality. He was the host and creator of NPR 's online music show All Songs Considered and the co-creator of NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts , a series originally conceived of by NPR's Stephen Thompson . He retired from NPR in October 2023 after 35 years.
27-477: Big Thief is an American indie folk band formed in Brooklyn, New York , in 2015. The band consists of Adrianne Lenker (vocals, guitar), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals) and James Krivchenia (drums). Between 2015 and 2024, the band also included longtime bass guitarist, Max Oleartchik. The band's debut album, Masterpiece , was released on Saddle Creek Records in 2016. Their second studio album, Capacity ,
54-582: A bassist and longtime friend of Meek's. James Krivchenia joined the band later, originally as a sound engineer and then as a drummer. All four members of Big Thief attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts . The band's debut studio album, Masterpiece was released on Saddle Creek Records on May 27, 2016. It received generally favorable reviews from critics; it has a rating of 79/100 on Metacritic . Bob Boilen from NPR wrote that Big Thief
81-497: A second percussionist, Jon Nellen, and a new bass guitarist, Justin Felton. The setlist included 14 songs, 10 of which were live debuts. On August 27, 2024, it was announced that Big Thief served as producers and backing band for singer-songwriter Tucker Zimmerman 's 15th studio album , Dance of Love . The band had previously appeared on stage with Zimmerman. AllMusic called Big Thief's style " folk -tinged indie rock " spearheaded by
108-463: A show in Boston , and after meeting him again in Brooklyn as undergraduates, the pair began performing as a duo. They toured as a duo in 2013, and released two EPs, a-sides and b-sides , in 2014. In 2015, after performing for two years and developing a small grassroots following, they began looking for additional members to accompany them, and formed the band Big Thief with the arrival of Max Oleartchik,
135-485: A variety of roles including composer with Baltimore 's Impossible Theater. He also worked as a producer for Channel 50, and produced Science Live for the Discovery Channel . He joined NPR in 1988 and "was hired to work on the flagship news program All Things Considered on a temporary basis. Less than a year later, he became the director of the show". He held that position until 2007. As director, Boilen chose
162-481: A weekly morning show on WOWD-LP , a low-power FM station in Takoma Park, Maryland . In April 2024, it was announced he would become program director at the station effective June 1, 2024. Bob Boilen continues to play music with friend Michael Barron; both were founding members of the psychedelic dance band Tiny Desk Unit (1979–1981), for which Boilen played synthesizer. Boilen continues to write music with Barron in
189-529: The Portland Mercury that on the album Big Thief "alternately sounds like an unearthed field recording ("Little Arrow"), a pop band with a broken heart's pulse ("Vegas"), and a classic, buzzy indie-rock outfit ("Interstate")." On April 4, 2017, Big Thief premiered a new single "Mythological Beauty" on NPR. The next day the band released the single's official video and confirmed that the song would appear on their second studio album, Capacity . The full album
216-645: The "personal songwriting" of Adrianne Lenker . Current members Touring members Former members Indie folk Indie folk (also called alternative folk ) is an alternative genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music . Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its earliest origins in 1990s folk artists who displayed alternative rock influences in their music, such as Ani DiFranco and Dan Bern , and acoustic artists such as Elliott Smith and Will Oldham . In
243-491: The Road touring festivals. The success of acts like Mumford & Sons led some music journalists like Popjustice's Peter Robinson labelling this new British music scene as The New Boring or Beige Pop. A decade later, the terms "stomp and holler", "stomp clap hey", and "hoedown pop" were coined to refer retrospectively to such bands. In the late 2010s, artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker revived interest in
270-546: The band's third studio album, was announced on February 26, 2019. The album was recorded at Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington . On the same day they released the album's first single, its title track, "U.F.O.F.", and announced a new tour across America and in Europe. The band released two more singles, "Cattails" and "Century" ahead of the album release on May 3, 2019. U.F.O.F. received critical acclaim upon its release. It
297-469: The following decade, labels such as Saddle Creek , Barsuk , Ramseur, and Sub Pop helped to provide support to indie folk, with artists such as Fleet Foxes breaking into the pop charts with albums such as Helplessness Blues . In the United Kingdom , artists such as Ben Howard and Mumford & Sons emerged, with the latter band promoting the music style through their Gentlemen of
SECTION 10
#1732883727258324-564: The genre. Bridgers cites Elliott Smith as a foundational influence on her sound. Bob Boilen Since 2021, Boilen has hosted the weekly show My Tiny Morning Show on WOWD-LP . He will become the station's program director in June 2024. In 1978, Bob Boilen played synthesizers in the Washington, D.C. band Tiny Desk Unit. They were the first band to ever play the 9:30 Club at the original location at 930 'F' Street. From 1982 to 1986, Boilen filled
351-423: The last time I had the same band in my top five albums for two years in a row. But this year's Capacity (my No. 1 album) and last year's Masterpiece (my No. 4 album) did just that." Spin named Capacity #2 on their "50 Best Albums of 2017", citing the band's "open engagement with anguish in their bracing songs." The song "Mary" appeared on Pitchfork 's 200 Best Songs of the 2010s list, at #44. U.F.O.F. ,
378-521: The music between the news stories for that show. Those musical snippets, or "buttons", were the starting point for the creation of the show All Songs Considered in 2000. He then helped create NPR Music in 2007. Boilen co-created and produced the Tiny Desk Concert series in April 2008 for NPR Music, hosting intimate performances at his desk. The series, curated by Boilen and the team of NPR Music,
405-537: The night before the album release in LA at The Fonda Theatre on May 2, another in LA on May 3 at The Bootleg Theater, and a third night in Brooklyn, NY, at Elsewhere on May 5, 2019. U.F.O.F. was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards . Big Thief released their fourth studio album, Two Hands on October 11, 2019. The album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas , shortly after
432-561: The recording of U.F.O.F. and is billed as its "Earth twin". The album's lead single " Not " was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards . On August 10, 2021, the band released the songs "Little Things" and "Sparrow", both which were produced by Big Thief drummer James Krivchenia. "Little Things" was recorded with Shawn Everett at Five Star Studios in Topanga, California , in October 2020. "Sparrow"
459-509: The same year. However, the announcement received backlash with criticism pertaining to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The band first released a statement defending their decision to perform in Israel, then eventually retracted their previous statement and canceled the concert dates. The cancellation was received with opposite backlash from the concert venue. The band previously performed at
486-540: The venue in 2017. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards , Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and "Certainty" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance . In July 2023, the band released the single "Vampire Empire", which they had debuted in a live performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier in February of the same year. In October 2023, "Vampire Empire"
513-431: Was "a band bound by great songs," and called the title track of Masterpiece "one of the best songs I've heard this year." Jillian Mapes, writing for Pitchfork Media , gave Masterpiece a rating of 7.7 out of 10 saying the songs on the album "sound cherry-picked over a lifetime of writing". Robert Christgau described the album's songs as being "fragile, noisy images of a love perpetually out of reach". Ben Salmon wrote in
540-593: Was called "Best New Music" by Pitchfork , scoring a 9.2 and came in at #33 on Pitchfork's 200 Best Albums of the 2010s list. At Metacritic the album received an average score of 87/100. In the first album's release week U.F.O.F. reached the top of Billboard charts, including the #1 position on Alternative New Artist Albums, Americana/Folk Albums, Top New Artist Albums, #2 placement for LP Vinyl Albums, #6 placement for Current Alternative Albums, #8 placement for Current Rock Albums, and #142 for Billboard Top 200 Albums. The band also had 3 sold out album release shows, one
567-434: Was inspired by a comment made by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson when he jokingly invited musician Laura Gibson to perform at Bob's desk. The two of them went to see Gibson at a show at South by Southwest in 2008 and the loud crowd made it impossible to hear her. The series is named after the band Boilen played in from 1979 to 1981, Tiny Desk Unit. He retired from NPR on October 2, 2023. Since August 2021, he has hosted
SECTION 20
#1732883727258594-608: Was recorded in four different locations across the United States after the band quarantined in the Vermont woods for two weeks in July 2020. Later that month the band confirmed the album's title Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You and a February 11, 2022, release date. In June 2022, the band announced two concert dates in Oleartchik's hometown of Tel Aviv , Israel, for July 6 and 7 of
621-521: Was recorded with Sam Evian at Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskills , New York, in July and August 2020. On September 7, 2021, the band released the song "Certainty" followed by another song, "Change", on October 6. They also announced plans for a North American tour in 2022. In the November 2021 issue of Mojo , Big Thief announced their plans to release a 20-track double album in early 2022. The album
648-463: Was released as a 7" single, with the song "Born for Loving You" as a B-side. On July 11, 2024, the band announced the departure of bassist Max Oleartchik, a decision which according to the band was made for "interpersonal reasons with mutual respect in our hearts". On July 28, the band performed their first show in nearly a year at Project Pabst in Portland, where they debuted a five-piece lineup featuring
675-529: Was released in 2017. In 2019, the band signed to 4AD and released two studio albums: U.F.O.F. in May 2019 and Two Hands in October 2019. Both albums received critical acclaim; U.F.O.F. was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards , and the song " Not ", was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards . The band's fifth studio album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You ,
702-488: Was released in February 2022. A double album, it reached the top ten in the Netherlands and was also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2023 Grammys , while its second single "Certainty" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance . After nine years within the band, Max Oleartchik departed in June 2024, with the band citing "interpersonal reasons" for the departure. Adrianne Lenker met Buck Meek at
729-438: Was released on June 9 via Saddle Creek. Capacity received critical acclaim upon its release. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics , the album received an average score of 81 indicating "universal acclaim" based on 15 reviews. Capacity appeared on multiple album-of-the-year lists, including #1 on NPR's " Bob Boilen 's Top Ten Album's of 2017". Boilen said, "I don't recall
#257742