Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward remembers his years as a heavy metal trailblazer; Heather Rounds discusses her novel, “There”; and David Smooke plays a little piano
There’s an old warning in the journalism world: Don’t interview your idol. And if you do, don’t let him know he’s your idol. The Signal’s Aaron Henkin has broken both rules: He shares the story of his encounter with Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward.
Heather Rounds’ novel, There, follows a young American journalist working in the northern Kurdish zone of Iraq as the region slowly regains its footing after years of war and upheaval. Not structured like a traditional novel, "There" is more a series of stories, impressions, and memories laced together from snatches of conversations, chance encounters, and pages of notes and journal entries. The fragments lend a surreal quality to the story; the rules of time and space are suspended, as in dreams. Heather Rounds joins producer Lisa Morgan to talk about “There.”
When you ask David Smookewhat he plays, he smiles at you, and he says humbly, “I play a little piano.” Smooke is Chair of the Music Theory Department at Peabody Conservatory, and his instrument of choice is something you might find in the toy aisle. Producer Aaron Henkin paid a visit to Smooke’s home to hear him play ‘a little piano,’ and he brings us this profile.
