Music is as much about the places people come from, as it is the artists themselves. Google wants to celebrate that and has launched a new podcast to do so. Called City Soundtracks, the new program, hosted by musician and composer Hrishikesh Hirway, will talk to musicians while touring their hometown, blending conversation about the city with music from it.
Aimed at the U.S. and Canadian market, the podcast is available through Google Play Music and all of the usual podcasting applications. The first few episodes are already online and kick off with Oakland, California, featuring impressively experienced — yet youthful — musician, Kehlani.
In her episode, she discusses how growing up in and around Oakland affected her taste in music and ultimately the kind of music she would go on to create throughout her career.
The second episode features Freddie Ross, otherwise knock as Big Freedia. As a musical ambassador of her native New Orleans, she’s helped the underground scene of Bounce music become a nationally recognized genre. Throughout the podcast, she takes a tour of her favorite town and highlights the parts of it that inspired her the most when writing music.
The third and final episode currently available features American rock band, Spoon. Hailing from Austin, Texas, founders Britt Daniel and Jim Eno take Hirway and listeners on a trip around the of the southern city, talking about venues and old shows, their home studio and some of the special hideaways for writing music. Hint: One of them is a motel.
City Soundtracks is the first original podcast series from Google, but it seems unlikely to be the last if this one proves successful. It will feature a mixture of guests and music going forward, so seems likely to have something for everyone before long.
Which artists would you like to see featured on upcoming City Soundtracks episodes?
