Bob Boilen
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.
Significant listener interest in the music being played on All Things Considered, along with his and NPR's vast music collections, gave Boilen the idea to start All Songs Considered. "It was obvious to me that listeners of NPR were also lovers of music, but what also became obvious by 1999 was that the web was going to be the place to discover new music and that we wanted to be the premiere site for music discovery." The show launched in 2000, with Boilen as its host.
Before coming to NPR, Boilen found many ways to share his passion for music. From 1982 to 1986 he worked for Baltimore's Impossible Theater, where he held many posts, including composer, technician, and recording engineer. Boilen became part of music history in 1983 with the Impossible Theater production Whiz Bang, a History of Sound. In it, Boilen became one of the first composers to use audio sampling — in this case, sounds from nature and the industrial revolution. He was interviewed about Whiz Bang by Susan Stamberg on All Things Considered.
In 1985, the Washington City Paper voted Boilen 'Performance Artist of the Year.' An electronic musician, he received a grant from the Washington D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to work on electronic music and performance.
After Impossible Theater, Boilen worked as a producer for a television station in Washington, D.C. He produced several projects, including a music video show. In 1997, he started producing an online show called Science Live for the Discovery Channel. He also put out two albums with his psychedelic band, Tiny Desk Unit, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Boilen still composes and performs music and posts it for free on his website BobBoilen.info. He performs contradance music and has a podcast of contradance music that he produces with his son Julian.
Boilen's first book, Your Song Changed My Life, was published in April 2016 by HarperCollins.
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Members of Sigur Rós found their way back together slowly, but the Icelandic group's singer says that when they started playing it felt like nothing had changed. -
The group preserves and pays homage to one of Cuba's most important musical forms, with a vitality demonstrating that the septeto tradition is still fresh and alive in Santiago de Cuba today.
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The All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk host shares his favorite albums and songs of 2022. -
Gaelynn Lea shares her journey from performing at the Tiny Desk to scoring a Broadway show.
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Choosing one winner from all the incredible entries NPR Music receives each year is no small feat — but this year, one songwriter gave a captivating performance that rose to the top.
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Unsigned artists: Starting next week, you can submit your songs to the 2022 Contest. If you win, you'll get to play behind Bob Boilen's desk.
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The Middle Eastern duo's music marries traditional Arab sounds of magam, religious songs of ancient Syria, jazz, and slick pop hooks.
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For the second consecutive year, NPR teams up with globalFEST for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST.
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For the second consecutive year, NPR teams up with globalFEST for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST.
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Hear our collection of now-classic holiday misadventures featuring All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton, with guest appearances by Taylor Swift, Steve Martin, William Shatner and more.
