© 2024 WGLT
A public service of Illinois State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Midwest State Of Mind: Kevin Morby Explains 'Sundowner'

Would you call yourself a country person ... or a city person? Even if you are a city person, there might be times you wish you could get away, slow down the pace, listen to the crickets and watch the fireflies. That's where Kevin Morby's new album, Sundowner, takes you.

Kevin Morby has lived in the biggest cities in the country – in New York, in Los Angeles – but a few years ago, he settled back down in Kansas City, where he lived for part of his childhood. In this session, Morby gives us a look into how living in Kansas City shaped that album, and he'll play you some of the songs from Sundowner, beginning with one called "Valley."

Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She is also involved with Canada's highest music honors: Since 2017, she has hosted the Polaris Music Prize Gala, for which she is also a jury member, and she has also been a jury member for the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.
Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.