The radio is often viewed as a forum for music, news, and discussion. However, a new show called “Critical Karaoke,” which airs on KRCC, combines music with discussion and creates hour-long episodes of conversation about music and all that it inspires.
The show includes three Colorado College professors as hosts: Steven Hayward of the English department, Ryan Banagale of Music, and Idris Goodwin of Theater and Dance. Each episode focuses on a theme, under which a few songs are chosen that loosely fit into it. After they play each song, Hayward, Banagale, and Goodwin begin the conversation. The show is not scripted and therefore allows for a wide-range of discussion.
“Though the show is about music, it’s not about music in any kind of limited or limiting way,” said Hayward. “The show takes music as a point of departure to talk about any number of subjects: history, culture, the role of technology in artistic production, the status of the work of art and the artist at the dawn of the twenty-first century.”
The idea for “Critical Karaoke” originated at the Pop Conference put on by the Experience Music Project in 2004 that Banagale attended.
At the conference, musical artists and critics were tasked with preparing a discussion about any song that they thought carried significance. As a critical response to the seemingly endless lists of “The Greatest Songs of All Time,” each speaker would simply focus on the song itself and why it held meaning for them rather than try to substantiate its worth. They would play the song and talk for its duration and stop when it ended.
Banagale brought this concept into the classroom for his Popular Music block a few years ago, in which students prepared similar presentations for their final projects.
“I was amazed at the ways that each member of the class shared their insights and experiences about their respective song, while also going into detail about particular aspects of the music and lyrics themselves,” Banagale said.
But, he says, he’s always thought the idea could be expanded into something even bigger. So, he pitched the idea to Hayward about a year ago and they’ve been working on it ever since.
Coming from completely different academic backgrounds, the three hosts work together to use music to discuss modern issues confronting artists and audiences today. Banagale has a Ph.D. from Harvard in historical musicology. He’s also a CC alum and says he approaches the history of music from a “very multi-lens, liberal-artsy perspective.”
“I try to draw on all periods and all styles of music history to help give a fuller view of whatever music is under consideration,” said Banagale.
Hayward, on the other hand, earned his doctorate in Shakespeare studies. He sees his role in the show as bringing in the historical and literary background knowledge. He often points out trans-historical connections between pieces, which he says are important in a show like this one.
Coming from theater, dance, and hip-hop perspectives, Goodwin brings that much more to the discussions.
“I think the show is unique because of the spirit of collaboration behind it,” said Hayward. “We’re from three different departments in the College, and we have very different musical and scholarly backgrounds. We’re very different as writers. But we respect each other and together produce something that’s unique.”
“Critical Karaoke” episodes air every second Friday of the month at 7 p.m. on KRCC and are repeated again the following Sunday at 4 p.m. However, the Critical Karaoke team also produces a short daily segment called “A Day in the Life,” in which they discuss what happened on each day in musical history. You can hear them everyday at 6:30 a.m., noon, and 9:30 p.m. at http://www.krcc.org or on their website at http://www.criticalkaraoke.org.