Talks & Entertainment

Boilen is the host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered (one of the most downloaded music podcasts on iTunes) and Tiny Desk Concerts (intimate shows performed in Bob’s cubicle), and a musician in his own right (his band was the first to play at the 9:30 Club).

HIs first book, Your Song Changed My Life: From Jimmy Page to St. Vincent, Smokey Robinson to Hozier, Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It, is an oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians.

Is there an unforgettable song that changed your life? Boilen posed this question to some of today’s best-loved musical legends and rising stars, giving readers a revealing look into the most meaningful, personal experiences of musicians including Dave Grohl, Trey Anastasio, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Cat Power, Smokey Robinson, Jeff Tweedy and more.

Your Song Changed My Life shares the momentous events that have shaped not just the lives of these stars, but ultimately the landscape of modern music, and illustrates the ways in which music is revived, restored, and revolutionized. In conversation with musician and writer Carrie Brownstein, co-creator of Portlandia, guitarist in Sleater Kinney and author of Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. Book signing to follow.