Screen Shot 2021-04-16 at 5.43.18 PM.png — eTown

Bio

eTown is an internationally syndicated radio broadcast, podcast, multimedia and events production company that launched on Earth Day 1991 in Boulder, Colorado. Since then, eTown has produced musical, social, and environmental programming focused on its ongoing global mission—to educate, entertain, and inspire a diverse audience through music and conversation in order to create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable world.

eTown attracts today's top musicians and pairs them on stage with champions of social responsibility and environmental sustainability. The eTown community comes for the music and stays for the message.

Prior to COVID 19, the shows were recorded in front of a live audience in eTown's solar powered theater, eTown Hall, which also serves as a hub for a wide range of community events. From film screenings to panel discussions, concerts, educational programming, fundraisers, and more, eTown Hall attracts a vibrant community of engaged citizens.

How eTown Started:

eTown was conceived by Nick Forster while on tour in Eastern Europe with Sam Bush & Friends in 1990. Nick, a veteran touring musician with the band Hot Rize and others, had fallen in love with live radio after being a guest on A Prairie Home Companion, the Grand Ole Opry and the WWVA Jamboree. After seeing how live music could draw disparate groups together in Eastern Europe only months after the fall of the Soviet Union – and witnessing environmental degradation – Nick was convinced that there could be a radio show that combined live music with conversation about how we live together on this increasingly fragile planet.

Back in Boulder, Nick enlisted his fiancé, Helen, to help get eTown started. Helen, a veteran performer and singer (and former partner in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival), jumped right in, and the first eTown show was recorded on Earth Day in 1991. Just a few short months later, eTown was launched on NPR and fans all across the country discovered this one-of-a-kind program.

The first eTown office was located in the Forster’s house just a couple of blocks from where eTown Hall now stands. Donna Giardina, the long-standing production coordinator, lived across the alley and became employee number one just a few months after the show started.

For many years, eTown shows were recorded on-stage at the Boulder Theater and within the walls of various iconic theaters across the country, including Town Hall in New York, the Palace Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky and Sanders Theatre on the Harvard campus.

Nick always hoped to find a permanent home for eTown and had his eye on what was formerly a church in downtown Boulder. He was turned down by the City Planning Department because the location was zoned for a church only. Relentless in his pursuit, Nick went online and became an ordained minister and then reminded the city that eTown is a 501(c)3 (as are most churches) and that eTown celebrates good works in the community and features lots of singing. The planners relented.

With permission in hand, Nick set about raising funds and assembling a team to build the new facility. In 2012, the doors to eTown Hall opened, a multi-purpose building in the heart of downtown Boulder that is not only home to eTown’s offices but also holds a world-class live music venue, full service recording studio, and community center. The building is quite possibly the greenest music and media center in Colorado!

Side note: Nick has officiated only one wedding since becoming ordained in the Universal Life Church: the marriage of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson.

In 2021, 30 years later, eTown is still evolving, with an ever-expanding audience and impactful message. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, eTown pivoted to all-virtual episodes. The organization introduced new programming, including Nick Forster’s Teach Me One Thing and the eTown Quarantine Sessions, musical collaborations recorded with artists performing in various studios across the county.

eTown prepares for its 30th Anniversary, “eTown’s 3oth b’Earthday Celebration,” on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, commemorating three decades of engaging listeners through outstanding music and inspiring conversation.

“We’ve been independent media for 30 years, and we’re just as committed now to the power of this unique combination of songs and conversations around our environment and our communities as we were when we started.”

“We owe our success and longevity to so many who have worked so hard for so long, but mostly, I want to say thanks to the thousands of musicians who have graced our stage over the years. We certainly could not have done this without you.”

Timeline of eTown:

1990: Nick Forster conceives the idea of eTown while on tour in Eastern Europe.

1991: Nick and Helen Forster launch the eTown broadcast with its first show on Earth Day.

1991: One month after the first show, Nick and Helen get married.

1995: eTown becomes its own independent radio program, separating from NPR.

2012: eTown opens eTown Hall in downtown Boulder, Colorado.

2021: eTown celebrates its 30th b’Earthday.