Music

Caroline Rose On 'Superstar', A Concept Album Recorded While She Gained Fame

XPN | By Raina Douris,

Published April 7, 2020 at 12:29 PM CDT

A couple years ago, Caroline Rose made a big impression with the release of her third album, Loner. It was a big departure for her: Up until then she'd usually been categorized as a folk artist, but Loner was a foray into power pop, punk, and electronic music. It was hailed by critics as her best work yet.

Now, Caroline Rose is back with a new album that came to her in the aftermath of Loner's success. It's called Superstar, and it's a concept album about a person who wants to be famous. She recorded the songs in the order they appear on the album, often while she was on tour, setting up a portable recording rig in dressing rooms before her shows.

Today, Caroline Rose joins me to talk about Superstar, putting some of the worse parts of herself into a fictional protagonist, and who she'd cast to play the album's narrator in a movie. She'll also plays songs recorded live for you from the album. We start with the first song on the album and the beginning of the story, "Nothing's Impossible." Hear it in the audio player above.

Music

Raina Douris

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She was also involved with Canada's highest music honors: hosting the Polaris Music Prize Gala from 2017 to 2019, as well as serving on the jury for both that award and the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.

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John Myers

Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.

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