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- Recruiting Musician Soldiers
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- Nathanael Johnson
Rob Roy is a bagpipe player (how could he not be?) in the Army Band. But the pipe and drum ensemble has faded from it's former glory. There are pipers around, but he has a problem - he not only needs to get them to join the band - he needs them to join the military.
It's interesting because they are using craigslist - usually the domain of independent musicians and black-market entrepreneurs. Some users resent the Army using this guerrilla marketing tool and wonder, is the Army setting up innocuous-looking online bait to lure credulous musicians to Iraq?
(Script in Station Info. Contact me at 415 647 1499 if you need anything else.)
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Piece Description
Rob Roy is a bagpipe player (how could he not be?) in the Army Band. But the pipe and drum ensemble has faded from it's former glory. There are pipers around, but he has a problem - he not only needs to get them to join the band - he needs them to join the military. It's interesting because they are using craigslist - usually the domain of independent musicians and black-market entrepreneurs. Some users resent the Army using this guerrilla marketing tool and wonder, is the Army setting up innocuous-looking online bait to lure credulous musicians to Iraq? (Script in Station Info. Contact me at 415 647 1499 if you need anything else.)
2 Comments
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Review of Recruiting Musician SoldiersA surprising piece -- who knew the Army would turn to Craig's List to find musicians to fill their ranks? PDs should block out space on their ATC clock for this piece -- we've got too little good military news these days. |
Broadcast History
Broadcast on KALW, San Francisco August 31.
Transcript
When a band loses a musician its usually just a matter of putting an ad in the paper and holding auditions to find a replacement. But it?s not quite that simple when, to join the band, you also have to join the Army. The 91st Division Army Reserve band ? Based in Dublin California - is looking for few good, bagpipers. As KALW?s Nathanael Johnson reports, the band is pioneering some innovative, but strangely familiar, tactics to fill the ranks.
Music
NJ01: Rob Roy is a bagpiper. And really, with such a tartan-checked name, how could he be not be?
Ambi Music post pipes fade under
NJ02: But that?s not his only job: If need be, Roy is prepared to put down the pipes AND switch to a different sort of instrument.
RR01: We are all qualified on the M16. Most of us are qualified on 9 mm pistols. We are all soldiers first. If it came down to it we would pick up a weapon and go into...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
TRT 4:50 (not including lede)
About 6 sec of music in beginning fades up under intro
Suggested intro:
When a band loses a musician its usually just a matter of putting an ad in the paper and holding auditions to find a replacement. But it?s not quite that simple when, to join the band, you also have to join the Army. The 91st Division Army Reserve band ? Based in Dublin California - is looking for few good, bagpipers. As KALW?s Nathanael Johnson reports, the band is pioneering some innovative, but strangely familiar, tactics to fill the ranks.
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Aaron Henkin
Posted on November 08, 2006 at 11:39 AM | Permalink
Review of Recruiting Musician Soldiers
Man, the stuff you can find on Craigslist! This piece starts off sounding almost like one of those mockumentaries you might hear on Morning Edition on April Fool's Day. But this is the real deal, and as the piece progresses, producer Nathanael Johnson takes us into some thoughtful philosophical territory. I love Nathanael's treatment of this piece. He takes a few well-chosen opportunities to hit comic home-runs with his narration, but he also treats his subject with journalistic due-diligence and respect. This is a really well done story on a thought-provoking topic.