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Feel the music: A live festival performance from Strand of Oaks

You may want to take a moment right now to make sure you have some tissues nearby. When I welcomed Timothy Showalter of Strand of Oaks back into the World Cafe studio for our first in-person interview since before the pandemic, that was the one thing I wish I'd had ready. Because Timothy is one of those people who feels... and makes you feel, too, both in conversation, where he's earnest and generous and empathetic, and with his music.

You will hear Showalter talk about making his latest album during a time of great upheaval in his life, which included moving to Austin, Texas, after living in Philadelphia for almost two decades. You'll also hear live performances from a show that was kind of like a homecoming for Showalter; the full-band performances here were recorded at the XPoNential Music Festival near Philadelphia back in September. It was his first time playing these new songs in front of a live audience — and yes, I can tell you this one got a few people choked-up, including me.

Copyright 2021 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 was also involved with Canada's highest music honors: hosting the Polaris Music Prize Gala from 2017 to 2019, as well as serving on the jury for both that award and 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.