Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
17 Unique Stations from Border to Border
Janiva Magness is one of the premiere Blues and R&B performers in the world today. She has a rich and soulful voice that can take an audience from deep sorrow to overwhelming joy. The story of her life is one of extremes and hardships. In her teens, both of her parents committed suicide and she bounced from foster home to foster home around the Twin Cities. She was the kind of “at risk” youth that typically doesn’t survive. As she describes it, that was the Fate she was born to. But, through the kindness of others she was able to discover her Destiny: music. She will be joining me on Centerstage MN to talk about her new CD “The Devil Is an Angel Too.”
Janiva told me, “I really believe people deserve the truth. People work really hard for their money and if I’m going to expect them to spend money to see my performance or buy my CD, then I damn well better give them something worth spending on….My job is about human connection, and the gift, or vehicle is the music, but the stories are about human connection. In order to do my job I have to be able to tell the truth and bring myself to that story…if someone understands by the end of a song, or end of a show, that they’re not alone in their experience – if I can accomplish a piece of that, then I’ve done my job. I feel like the world is full of mediocrity and people are B.S.ing out there, and on records there is a lot of B.S. out there, and I can’t serve that…it’s a glorious gift that this is my world and this is my job.”
Beyond her internationally acclaimed music career, Janiva is proud to be a spokesperson for National Foster Care Month and Ambassador of Foster Care Alumni for Foster Care Alumni of America. “For me it’s sort of ‘paying it forward,’ by talking about the early part of my life, it turns out that it helps other people that are still in the struggle, that are still in that part of their journey – and I want to serve that, I want to serve that. It’s so amazing.” And so is she.
Host, Carl Unbehaun, presents a cavalcade of songs by Minnesota songwriters along with his musical musings! It’s the first Thursday of the month which means that we play songs by the members of the Minnesota Association of Songwriters. Check them out at www.MNSongwriters.org.
(Aired 10/01/2015)
Everyone once in a while you hear something that truly stands out; it’ll get into your head and make your inner-animal instinct cryout with pure emotion. That happened last week to me with Danny Friedman and the Beastman Band, a 3 piece hybrid of rockabilly, R&B, Country-folk and hard funk out of Duluth MN. They’ve just put out their self-titled, debut album. I’ll be talking with Danny Friedman about the many layers to their music this week on Centerstage MN. We’ll also hear some excellent highlights of recent live performances on Centerstage MN incuding Mayda, Aaron Kaercher, the Urban Hillbilly Quartet and more.
Host, Carl Unbehaun, presents a cavalcade of songs by Minnesota songwriters along with his musical musings! MN Association of Songwriters’ President, Wayne Hamilton, kicks off this show with his international hit, “Lovin’ It.” Check out this active organization at www.MNSongwriters.org!
Get a Behind the Scenes look at local band Sass, Real College Radio-style, presented by Radio K! Recorded 09.29.17.
Check out their in-studio performance of the song “Spoiled by Rotten” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJZok…
Video shot and edited by Ellie Hendrix. Interview conducted by Sam Walsh.
Some artists “own” a style. They eat sleep and breath it. Their entire career is dedicated to it. That’s cool and all, but it didn’t work for Deb Harley, a singer-songwriter from Eden Prairie. Her new CD, “Flung Wide Open,” broke the mold of her previous work and brings many different styles into the mix. “I decided to give myself the freedom to touch on any genre because I love them all,” she told me, and it rings very true on this new CD. It’s upbeat contemporary folk music with more than a twist of blues, country and swing, and she’ll be joining me in-studio this week on Centerstage MN to talk about it.
“I felt completely open to everything,” Deb went on to say, “I felt like this is it, this is how I want to stay: open.” She will also have her guitar along to perform some live music during our conversation. While a lot of writers are drawn to sad and morose topics, “Flung Wide Open” is pleasantly positive with occasional giggles. Deb said, “I want to write music that promotes healing and hope.”