The story of street-corner poet Abi Mott; a visit with the Fort McHenry Guard Fife & Drum Corps; and a studio mini-concert with Kristen Toedtman
What’s your dream job? Think about that for a minute, and then ask yourself another question: What would you be willing to put on the line to make that dream a reality? The Signal’s Aaron Henkin interviews Barrett Rudich, whose documentary film, A Place of Truth, tells the story of a young woman who has definitive answers to both these questions. Her name is Abi Mott, and she makes her living as a poet.
As Francis Scott Key sat held against his will aboard a British ship in the wee morning hours of September 14th, 1814, the smoke cleared over Fort McHenry, dawn broke, and the words of The Star Spangled Banner began to form in his mind. What Key likely heard in those moments, though, was a different sort of music. The booming of drums and melodies of fifes would have carried across the water to his ears. In fact, those historical sounds still ring out over the grounds today, thanks to a group of dedicated musical re-enactors. The Signal’s Aaron Henkin takes us along to meet the Fort McHenry Guard Fife & Drum Corps.
Singer/songwriter Kristen Toedtman currently splits her time between Baltimore and Los Angeles. Out on the West Coast, she keeps busy as a session singer and a choir leader. But she frequently heads back East to perform with the local super-group she helped to found, The Baltimore Afrobeat Society. Next Friday, Toedtman will be here in town at the Patterson Theatre to celebrate the release of her new solo EP, Limbo. Back in 2013, when she was in town recording the album, she dropped in to the WYPR studios for a visit with The Signal’s Aaron Henkin.
