Episode 162 - Erin McKeown - Part One

Above The Basement - Boston Music and Conversation

We took a lovely drive to Western MA to sit alongside a flowing river with our new best friend Erin McKeown.

OK, she might not be our best friend, but we certainly wish she was. Erin is a force of nature. A persistent welcoming smile immediately put me at ease. So much so that we talked for almost two hours. Which is why this episode is in two parts.

We talk music, Musical theater, writing, name dropping, COVID, hope, and other things too numerous to mention. Over the last few decades Erin McKeown’s unique voice and guitar playing has garnered her a loyal fanbase, has grabbed the attention of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, has been awarded several Drama Desk Award nominations for her musical Miss You Like Hell, numerous awards and residencies, a writing fellowship, and is now a Professor of the Practice at Brown University.

Her most recent event was a live stream celebrating the 20th anniversary of her first album Distillation, where she ceremoniously burned the dress she wore for the album cover and many promotional photos.

The end of an era, but the beginning of another. As we finished the conversation, a huge Blue Heron flew right by us. Erin said it was an omen. We looked it up. The heron symbolizes stillness and tranquility, and how these two things are needed to recognize opportunities. It also signifies determination, because there will be plenty of marshes and ponds that you will wade through in life as well.

A great way to end our conversation.