Bob Boilen highlights music heard at the DIY Musician Conference

Congratulations to CD Baby artists EB and Anna Larson! Both artists were featured in the August 21st entry of NPR’s All Songs Considered after co-curator Bob Boilen selected them as part of his session at this year’s DIY Musician Conference in Austin.

In previous years, Bob featured a number of artists whose music he first encountered at the DIY Musician Conference, including AHI and Jilian Linklater. 

For his 2019 session, Boilen took over 125 songs and selected five that he played to the audience. He then explained his thought process when he listens to new music. Afterwards he brought each of the selected artists on stage to ask them questions, a nerve-wracking but worthwhile experience for EB and Anna Larson.

What songs did Bob Boilen respond to in his listening session?

From EB, Boilen selected the single “La Criox,” a song titled after the omnipresent fizzy water La Croix with a playful misspelling as a nod to the often-mispronounced name.

The U.K. pop-rapper self-describes her YouTube videos as “weirdly cute,” and the video for “La Criox” is right in line. EB dances her way around a Santa Cruz beach, chugging bottles of Lagunitas IPA and detailing the sacrifices she’s already made and may be willing to make to continue her career in music.

The cheerful scenery belies a serious message, best summed in the line “You won’t get here any other way than to sacrifice your soul.”

Continuing the serious, timely topics, Boilen selected “Acting Alone” by Anna Larson.

In her debut solo single, Larson laments the inaction in the wake of mass shootings in America. It came out in 2018, but “Acting Alone” is sadly as relevant today, if not more so. Larson is contributing all download proceeds from the song to Moms Demand Action. “Oh what a shame, that there’s no way to keep this from happening,” Larson sings with biting sarcasm.

It’s a good song for a good cause.

The DIY Musician Conference is the best networking opportunity for indie artists

The DIY Musician Conference is not only a great time, but also a great networking opportunity. 

Would Boilen have eventually discovered these songs without first meeting the artists at the Conference? Maybe. But the connection happened a heck of a lot quicker as a result of them all being in the same room.