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Betting the family farm on rockstar dreams

Donnie and Joe Emerson’s dad took out a $100,000 loan against the family farm so they could record their album and become stars, but it flopped and the family almost lost it all.

As teenagers growing up on a remote farm in the US in the late 1970's, brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson formed a band, hoping to make it big. Excited by his sons’ talents, their dad took out a $100,000 loan against the family farm to build them a recording studio. They released ‘Dreamin’ Wild’ in 1979, an album full of lo-fi charm and innocence, but it flopped and the family farm was jeopardised. However, decades later, they discovered the album they recorded had a life of its own.

Pétur Guðmannsson is the only full-time forensic pathologist in Iceland and deals with every murder and unexplained death in the whole country. After being approached by crime writers asking him very specific questions about death and dying, he now teaches a university course where he shares his professional insights. The reporter was Emilia Jansson.

Clips from KJRB Spokane Radio and Light In The Attic Records

Presenter: Seyi Rhodes

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41 minutes

Last on

Fri 19 Jan 2024 03:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 18 Jan 2024 12:06GMT
  • Thu 18 Jan 2024 18:06GMT
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  • Fri 19 Jan 2024 03:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected