eTown Taping with Robyn Hitchcock and Taylor Ashton

About This Event

With a career now spanning six decades, Robyn Hitchcock remains a truly one-of-a-kind artist – surrealist rock ‘n’ roller, iconic troubadour, guitarist, poet, painter and performer. An unparalleled, deeply individualistic songwriter and stylist, Robyn has traversed many genres with humor, intelligence and originality over 30 albums and seemingly infinite live performances. From The Soft Boys’ proto-psych-punk and The Egyptians’ Dadaist pop to solo masterpieces like 1984’s milestone I Often Dream of Trains and 1990’s Eye, Robyn has crafted a strikingly original oeuvre rife with sagacious observation, astringent wit, recurring marine life, mechanized rail services, cheese, Clint Eastwood and innumerable finely drawn characters, real and imagined. Born in London in 1953, Robyn attended Winchester College before moving to Cambridge in 1974. He began playing in a series of bands, including Dennis and the Experts, which became The Soft Boys in 1976. Though light years away from first-wave punk’s revolutionary clatter, the band still manifested the era’s spirit of DIY independence with their breakneck reimagining of British psychedelia. During their (first) lifetime, The Soft Boys released two albums, among them 1980’s landmark second LP, Underwater Moonlight. “The term ‘classic’ is almost as overused as ‘genius’ and ‘influential,’” declared Rolling Stone upon the album’s 2001 reissue. “But Underwater Moonlight remains all three of those descriptions.” Robyn began his solo career with 1981’s Black Snake Diamond Röle, affirming his knack for eccentric insight and surrealist lyrical hijinks. 1984’s I Often Dream of Trains fused that approach with autumnal acoustic arrangements, deepening the emotional range of his songcraft. Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians were born that same year and immediately lit up college rock playlists with albums like 1986’s Element of Light. He signed to A&M Records in 1987 and earned early alternative hits with “Balloon Man” and “Madonna of the Wasps.” Robyn returned to his dark acoustic palette with 1990’s equally masterful Eye before joining the Warner Bros label for a succession of acclaimed albums, including 1996’s Moss Elixir and 1999’s Jewels For Sophia. About Taylor Ashton: Taylor Ashton is a shape-shifting songwriter with the heart of a novelist and the timing of a stand-up comic. Wheter it’s just his warm baritone over solo clawhammer banjo or his agile falsetto soaring over an electric, horn-laced six-piece band, his live shows unfold like a play: vulnerable, funny and slyly profound. Laughter often gives way to a hush. Taylor’s sound evokes the intimacy of Nick Drake, the soul of Bill Withers, the tender playfulness of Harry Nilsson and the searching spirit of Joni Mitchell.  Like his heroes, he thrives in the liminal space where heart-on-sleeve meets tongue-in-cheek, with a groovy brand of folk-rock in which surprising pairings of familiar ingredients add up to a greater sum that is tricky to define, but easy to love. Originally from Vancouver, BC, he started touring in his teens as frontman of the band Fish & Bird, who became Canadian folk festival favorites over four albums. Eventually, he relocated to Brooklyn to launch his solo career. His vibrant debut, The Romantic (2020), was followed by the stark Stranger to the Feeling (2023). The latter was recorded on a New York-to-LA road trip, mostly in the living rooms of friends across the States who became featured guests on the album, including members of Vulfpeck and Big Thief. Over the years, he’s toured and recorded with artists like Aoife O’Donovan, The Wood Brothers, Madison Cunningham, Courtney Hartman and his wife Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive).  Taylor has written for and sung on The Tonight Show and The New York Times, and he has established himself as a staple of Brooklyn’s prismatic folk scene.