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The Wooden Sky On World Cafe

The Wooden Sky, inside the World Cafe Performance Studio
Rich McKie
/
WXPN
The Wooden Sky, inside the World Cafe Performance Studio

In this session, I'm bringing a little bit of my hometown of Toronto to you by way of The Wooden Sky. The band first blew me away at a live show about a decade ago. And then I realized the very tall lead singer looked familiar – hey, that guy was a teaching assistant in my radio production class back at University.

I fell in love with the band, and, as you do, I took every chance I could to see its shows. I've seen The Wooden Sky live a whole lot and every time, I'm blown away by how dynamic this band is live. On one side the band can be explosive, fiery and huge — and then, on a dime, it can be tender, beautiful and magnetically quiet. You can hear both sides of that energy reflected in the studio recording of its latest album, Swimming in Strange Waters.

But first: Do you take requests? I asked The Wooden Sky's members if they'd start off with one of my favorite songs of theirs from the band's 2009 album, If I Don't Come Home, You'll Know I'm Gone, called "Oslo." Hear it all in the player above, and watch the live performance of "Oslo" below.

Copyright 2017 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.