Nick & Helen Forster
eTown Hosts
info@wlnz.org
Click Here to see this month's
musical guests and program schedule
About Nick...
Etown host and co-executive producer Nick Forster
is has been a professional musician for 25 years During that time he has been a
member of the world renowned bluegrass band Hot Rize, and a worked with popular
artists like David Wilcox and Michelle Shocked.
Born in Beirut in 1955, Nick was raised in
upstate New York. He started playing drums at age ten, but abandoned them in
favor of his first guitar a year later. As a teen, he played in folk and
folk-rock bands. His desire to pursue music as a career in the mid-seventies led
him to Colorado, where he met up with the three young men who would join him in
forming the contemporary bluegrass band Hot Rize in 1978. For the band, Nick
supplied bass, vocals and guitar and was also well known for his exceptional
ease and grace as the M.C. and host. He won recognition as a writer as well,
earning praise from Rolling Stone Magazine as "an exceptional songwriter."
Hot Rize established an acclaimed international
reputation, releasing ten albums and touring worldwide for over 12 years. The
band appeared on countless radio and television programs, including Austin City
Limits, The Grand Old Opry and Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Hot
Rize earned both a Grammy nomination and the International Bluegrass Music
Association's Entertainer of the Year Award in 1991.
Since 1991, Nick has worked as co host and
executive producer of etown that airs regularly on WLNZ, Lansing Public Radio.
He also remains an active player in the music world, performing at major
festivals and playing recording sessions for various artists like Big Head Todd
and the Monsters and Kathy Mattea. He also is an accomplished record producer
whose most recent project was nominated for a Grammy.
 About Helen...
Etown co-host and co-executive producer Helen Forster is a Minnesota native and
has extensive experience both on stage and behind the scenes. After studying and
performing theatre in Minneapolis, she moved to Telluride, Colorado and became a
primary player as an actress, writer and producer with two professional theater
companies: SRO, an improvisational comedy troupe modeled on Chicago's Second
City and Plunge Players, a formal theater company led by L.A. director Paul
Fagan. During this period, Helen also performed in radio theater productions,
co-authored three children's musicals and honed her skills as a vocalist.
In addition to her extensive resume as a
performer, Helen has broad production experience. For several years, she was
co-owner and co-producer of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, an annual music
festival with international acclaim. During this time, she also produced and
directed numerous stage productions and live "on-the-air" radio theater pieces.
Since 1991, Helen has co-hosted and co-produced the popular program etown along
with her husband, Nick Forster.
Outside of etown, she has performed as a vocalist
on Prairie Home Companion and in concert across the country. She is also a
nationally established commercial voice-over talent.
etown, The show...
etown's mission is to produce high quality programs of diverse music and
conversation in order to entertain, educate and engage a wide audience in
appreciating and protecting our cultural and natural resources. Like old-time
radio variety shows, every etown show is taped in front of a live audience at
the Boulder Theater in Colorado or at various locations throughout the country
and features performances from many of today's top musical artists. The show
includes two musical guests, an interview guest and the presentation of the e-chievement
winner. At the end of every show all musical guests collaborate on a
one-of-a-kind exciting finale.
etown can be heard weekly on WLNZ at 1:00pm on
Wednesday, 2:00am Friday and 5:00am Sunday
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