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Guest: Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Hitchcock is one of the true eccentrics of British music, a songwriter who has revealed the beauty in the absurdity of life for five decades. He first rose to fame with the influential art-rockers the Soft Boys in the mid-‘70s before going solo in the early ‘80s producing over two dozen acclaimed albums including Elements of Light (1981), Ole Tarantula (2006), and Storefront Hitchcock (2000), the soundtrack to a down-n-dirty concert film by Jonathan Demme. His songs have been covered by artists including R.E.M, Sparklehorse, and Suzanne Vega. He has also saluted his chief songwriting inspirations, Bob Dylan and Syd Barrett, by covering their work on tribute albums and tours. Robyn will be joining us to discuss his new memoir, 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left. Cataldi's print review of the book can be found here at "PopMatters.com.

"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. From time to time, the host and authors will be joined by notable musicians, writers, and artists who are die-hard fans of the subject matter covered. Expect lively conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it. "Reading Is Funktamental" can be heard the second Wednesday of every month from 10 – 11 AM on Wave Farm: WGXC 90.7 FM and online at wavefarm.org.

Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.