A Good Start

Sometimes it’s hard to tap into the great wealth of universal brilliance floating around us and yank out a piece for yourself the second you need it. I felt that way during our weekly meeting last Wednesday. The production staff brought forth story ideas (interesting, meaningful ones about peace with Iran and how many words can be written with a single #2 pencil), but mine seemed less than engaging. A slow start: them’s the breaks when you’re an intern, right?

Well, my producer suggested I tap into my young blood to come up with an interview for the show, hinting that more music might be a welcome addition. I checked the 9:30 Club lineup and saw that Feist would be in town this week. I ran it by the chief, and he told me to run with it. It took days to track down her manager and several more to get her to settle an interview, but we settled on this Wednesday. In the meantime, I pulled together as much information as I could about Feist, broad and deep bios and travel-accounts and soulful music discussion pieces.

The day of, my producer and host gave me the green light to tag along on the interview, where I would take notes. After a lengthy wait in a dressing room, Feist came in and gave us 30 attentive minutes of friendly eloquence. The host really seemed to enjoy her company and, to my relief, had truly enjoyed her most recent album as well. On a less job-focused note, she was really nice and down-to-earth, and meeting her was terribly cool. So, slow on not, I guess I’m off to a good start.

Becky Martinez
Weekend Edition Saturday