NEW YORK, NY June 29, 2009 —For the July 4th holiday weekend, WNYC features highlights from David Garland’s recent Spinning On Air episodes, and a brand new show with Akron/Family. Explore daring, passionate, original music created at the nexus of art and pop. From the newest cutting edge to the unjustly forgotten, from the wild and strange to the thoughtfully personal, Spinning On Air connects listeners with music and musicians who are extending the boundaries of song. We hear the music and mysterious story of Connie Converse, a rare interview and performance by Antony of Antony and the Johnsons, the innovative Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear, and a new show with the imaginative band Akron/Family.

Special Series celebrating innovative, independent voices from David Garland's Spinning on Air. Thursday, July 2nd through Sunday, July 5th on 93.9 FM and wnyc.org

Connie Converse
Thursday, July 2 at 7pm

Connie Converse Walking In the Dark, a special edition of WNYC's Spinning On Air with David Garland, airs many of Connie's songs for the first time, and tells her story with interviews, commentary, and readings from her letters, journals, and poetry. Joining host David Garland are Oscar-winning animator Gene Deitch, who knew and recorded Connie in New York, and the voices of Connie's brother, Philip Converse, and actress Amber Benson, who reads Connie's writings. Originally aired March 15, 2009. For a complete rundown with podcast, slideshow and related links, go here.

Grizzly Bear
Friday, July 3 at 7pm

With lyrics that abstractly imply shifting personal relationships, and music that's full of angles, shadows, and flashes of color, it seems Grizzly Bear's songs would hardly hold together. But somehow these tenuous elements combine to form songs that are forceful and engrossing. The Brooklyn-based band Grizzly Bear joins host David Garland in the WNYC Studio to perform and talk about their new music and their album Veckatimest. Originally aired May 24, 2009. More here.

Antony
Saturday, July 4 at 8pm

Antony, of Antony and the Johnsons, joins host David Garland to present and talk thoughtfully and in depth about his latest album The Crying Light, and to perform solo in the WNYC Studio. The Crying Light is lyrical, restrained, and haunting; a meditation on and investigation of human consciousness and action in the natural world. Expect unusual insights, harsh beauty, gentle anger, and musical richness. Originally aired February 8, 2009. More here.

Akron/Family
Sunday, July 5 at 7pm

The band Akron/Family is celebrated for their musical adventurousness, the transcendental spirit in their music, and the crackling excitement of their marathon live shows. Akron/Family visited Spinning On Air in 2005 when their first album was released, and have returned several times since to share their changes and development. The band's latest album is Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free, and this time they join host David Garland in the WNYC studio again for a quiet, informal performance of some of their new songs, and to talk about their continuing musical journey.