Another show has joined the Simply Syndicated media network: The Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast. This one always makes me want to say “Yeeeeee-ha!”
Despite this Simply Syndicated debut being called Episode 1, PCRP has been around for a while. I first heard this show a couple of years ago, I think on the recommendation of Jakob from Nerd Hurdles. “What a nifty idea,” I thought. “It’s like a radio show or something, but without all the bullshittery.”
Tony Pucci, the maestro behind the show, offers up a weekly spin of unusual and eclectic independent music from around the world. This is great stuff for a variety of reasons. Tony knows his music, and his ability to program a show like this is testament to his diverse and informed musical knowledge. It’s also important for one key reason: You won’t hear this stuff anywhere else, unless you’re lucky enough to live somewhere with a campus radio station (like me) or you grew up with a hippie mom with the world’s strangest taste in music (also like me).
Most of the musicians featured on this show will not get this kind of exposure otherwise. I just got off the phone with a singer-songwriter from Vancouver who’s on her way here to play a few shows and speak to schoolkids about tolerance and diversity; she described a typical year in her life, and it really hit home how hard these people have to work just to be heard. This show, and Simply Syndicated’s Musical Mouse Mat online music store, offer a new alternative for them. They deserve to be heard.
And let’s face it: CD sales success is not in the cards for most of them. They’re just too talented, too creative, too real to land on a major label today. The only acts landing contracts these days are assembled cardboard cutouts, corporate clones and surefire sales success stories sold to sheep.
The real music is happening where it always has: in the background, in the quiet. And now online, thanks to Tony Pucci. Check it out here.
- Note: Jakob leads off this first episode with a cool Urbane Decay track, and Tony teams up with Tim Powles of The Church (one of his favourite bands, and one of mine, too). I like knowing rock stars.
Regular visitors to this spot know how big a deal Simply Syndicated is to me. The British podcasting network has kept me entertained, amused and informed for years, and when Starbase 66 joined the network earlier this year I was like a little kid the morning of his birthday. It has been very cool to have been a part of this diverse, vibrant community for so long. I made some fantastic imaginary friends, and came out of a pretty thick shell. It has made me a better person, I’d say.
