When it comes to finding out what makes musicians tick, Mako Funasaka has proven himself to be a master interviewer capable of relaxing and opening up his subjects, revealing valuable insights into their careers and musical pedigrees. At the same time, his reputation for providing an audience with intelligent, penetrating portraits that help define, if not explain, each artist's influences and approach. Historically, Funasaka has focused on illuminating blues artists, helping to define this oft-neglected genre through illustrating its role in much of today's music. Yet this new series will go well beyond the blues, embracing many categories of music which will include folk to classical, jazz to funk and most things in-between, Funasaka, a self-confessed 'non-musician', has been documenting music since 2001, originally indoctrinated back in 1970 with his first exposure to Top 40 radio.
http://www.podcasts.com/the-talkinblues-podcast-7b759d2bf
The Talkin'Blues Podcast Episode 43: Chris Whitley Part 1
From the Talkin' Blues Archives. Back in September of 2004, I had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing one of my musical heroes, Chris Whitley, the day after his performance at Hugh's Room. Portions of this interview was to be used for my television series back then but that fell through. I am not mic'd for this interview as I had no idea it would ever wind up on this podcast project. My brother, Tom, was kind enough to edit and clean up the audio for this podcast episode. For more information on Chris Whitley, please go to: www.chriswhitley.com<br>