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When 2 People Sound Like Many: Illiterate Light Reinvents The Classic Power Duo

Illiterate Light performs live in the <em>World Cafe</em> Performance Studio.
Jamie Stow
/
WXPN
Illiterate Light performs live in the World Cafe Performance Studio.

Coldplay, one of the biggest bands in the world, recently announced that the Chris Martin and company will not be touring in support of their latest album until they can figure out how to negate the environmental impact of their concerts. Our guest today, Illiterate Light, debated this question on a smaller scale several years back. Jeff Gorman and Jake Cochran used to work together on an organic farm in the Shenandoah Valley and every summer, they booked a tour with friends, traveling the mid-Atlantic by bicycle. It sounds fun until you consider all the gear they had to haul around with them.

Since then, Illiterate Light signed a major label deal with Atlantic. The band's self-titled debut album is out now and the duo is worth seeing live — they are striking in performance, as Jeff plays guitar parts with his hands and bass lines on foot pedals while Jake plays drums standing up. We'll hear more about Jeff and Jake's musical spin on the power duo and about those bike tours of yesteryear, but first they perform "Carolina Lorelei" and "Better Than I Used To." Hear it all in the player above.

Copyright 2019 XPN

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.