In the late 80s & early 90s I worked weekends on the air at Oregon Public Broadcasting, which meant long shifts with not much to do. I would kill time browsing the public radio satellite for interesting shows. I stumbled across New Sounds (which was distributed at the time by NPR). I'd stand next to the big bulky machine when it was time for the New Sounds feed, plug in my headphones...and stand there listening for an hour. Every week. EVERY week. John introduced me to Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, La Monte Young, Alvin Lucier...and about a zillion other creative musicians who didn't get much (or in most cases, ANY) radio play elsewhere. I think it would be hard to overstate how much John's musical curation shaped my view of music. Classical, world, experimental, jazz, rock, minimalism, conceptual works...John's unique musical stew turned me on to the fact that there is a huge range of possibilities out there. He opened my ears & opened my brain. Impossible to thank him enough.

Fred Child

St. Paul, MN