Blue Dot

Best of Blue Dot: Vocalist Annie Haslam and the good vibrations of Daniel Belquer

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English vocalist Annie Haslam from the progressive/art-rock band Renaissance.
Esa Ahola

Dave gets to talk to his teenage crush, English vocalist Annie Haslam from the progressive/art-rock band Renaissance. Annie has had an amazing career working with artists like Steve Howe (Yes, Asia) and John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia) but is best known as the lead singer for Renaissance. Annie talks about her circuitous rise to vocal stardom (she has a five-octave range) and her battles with a hearing problem caused by a childhood injury.

Then Dave visits with musician, engineer, and creator Daniel Belquer to talk about his work with vibrations to create immersive experiences for concert-goers. Using haptic garments like vests that transmit vibrations, people in the deaf community can experience something that, though not perhaps aural music, is definitely a sensory experience that can be used as a new creative medium. This program is definitely all about good vibrations!

Dave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.
Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.