Acoustic Sunrise

Host: Bob Cannon Acoustic Sunrise airs Sundays 8 AM - Noon E-mail Bob at wumb@umb.edu

About the show . . .

Acoustic Sunrise is just the kind of program to wake up to on a Sunday morning - and then keep listening! Acoustic Sunrise is a unique blend of solo singer songwriters with just the right touch of instrumental music.

Bill Staines, Mary McCaslin, Stan Rogers, Nanci Griffith and Judy Collins are examples of the musicians you’ll hear every Sunday.

Start a pot of coffee, grab the Sunday paper, sit back and enjoy the very best contemporary acoustic music has to offer. It’s Acoustic Sunrise.

"I'm something of a conundrum," muses the host of Acoustic Sunrise. Born and raised in Dorchester and a life-long resident of the Boston area, Bob's heritage lies elsewhere. His Irish immigrant grandfather owned a fleet of tugboats in New York harbor and an ancestor on his father's side was hanged as a Molly Maguire in coal-country Pennsylvania in the 1870's. "I think this contributed to my deep interest in history, my fondness for writing, my lust for travel and an insatiable curiosity into almost everything, including music."

Bob graduated from Boston College with a major in history and attended graduate school at Boston University for journalism. He has spent my career in the United States Postal Service in a number of different positions. Since 1993 he's served as the agency's public affairs representative and spokesperson for several of the New England States.

So how does a U.S. Postal employee come to host a folk radio show? "I came to host Acoustic Sunrise in sort of a roundabout way. I was already a long-time listener and fan of the station when I auditioned to host the program in 1989. I originally didn't get the job but out of my interview with Pat Monteith came the idea for New England Heritage, a popular short history feature which I produced and narrated and which aired on WUMB for several years thereafter. In 1990, I took over the hosting position for Acoustic Sunrise.

No great surprise but Acoustic Sunrise is Bob's favorite program aired on WUMB although he adds "I love all the programming at WUMB and have since I discovered the station in 1983." He describes Acoustic Sunrise as "just the kind of programming to wake up to on a Sunday morning - and then keep listening! It's a unique blend of a number of different styles of instrumental music, often combined in the same instrumental piece. You'll hear folk blended with World music, Celtic mixed with New Age, light jazz put together with the best banjo-picking around, eclectic country themes done with a neo-classical flavor. It's sort of the musical equivalent of Pablo Picasso painting a Norman Rockwell scene while intending to sell it to Rembrandt!"

Bob sees his weekend gig as a respite for not only himself, but his listening audience. "My 'day job' involves me in many serious, often hard-edged issues, particularly in these volatile times. Hosting Acoustic Sunrise for two hours each Sunday gives me a tranquil respite and departure from such 'real world' problems. I have heard from many listeners that it does the same for them. Glad to be of such service!"