Java Blend at The Java House

Last fall I took a journalism class taught by Iowa Public Radio’s Ben Kieffer.  The class, Interviewing Across Media, focused on interviewing techniques and the important skills that are needed for getting the most out of an interview.  It was a great class and it really helped me get over a lot of my personal anxieties associated with conducting a good interview.

Every Friday, beginning at 2 p.m., Ben hosts “Java Blend,”  an hour-long show featuring local and national indie music artists.  The show takes place at The Java House in downtown Iowa City and is free and open to the public. The Java House also provides free coffee samples and snacks during the program.


Since I had some time off yesterday, I decided to go check it out.  The musical guest was Brother Trucker, a band based out of Des Moines.  I got there about 30 minutes early and found that I should have gotten there a bit earlier.  The place was pretty full, but luckily I was able to find a seat before the program started.

I brought my new camera and decided to take some pictures while I was there.  This made it difficult for me to pay much attention to the exchange between Ben and the band, but I was able to glean some information when I wasn’t preoccupied with ISO and shutter speeds.

From what I heard, it sounded like a lot of the band’s musical inspiration comes from their time growing up in Iowa.  I really liked their sound and hope to check them out again sometime.