eTown is a non-profit, nationally syndicated radio broadcast/podcast, multimedia and events production company. Our mission is to educate, entertain and inspire a diverse audience through music and conversation in order to create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable world.
Since 1991, eTown has produced musical, social and environmental programming to uplift and inspire listeners around the world. We attract today’s top artists and combine them with champions of social responsibility and environmental sustainability. The eTown community comes for the music, and stays for the message.
The shows are recorded in front of a live audience, in our solar powered theater, eTown Hall, which also serves as a social and environmental hub for community events. From film screenings to panel discussions, concerts, educational programming, fundraisers and more, eTown Hall attracts a vibrant community of engaged citizens.
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 Prairie Home Companion, the Grand Ol’ Opry and the WWVA Jamboree. After seeing how the power of music could draw disparate groups together – and witnessing environmental degradation in Eastern Europe – 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 wife, 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.
Now, almost 30 years later, eTown is still evolving with an ever-expanding audience and impactful message. With the advent of COVID-19, eTown is rising to the challenge by producing new content, and exploring virtual recording methods and other ways of staying connected in these trying times. All of this is being created in our very own solar powered multi-media events and concert hall in downtown Boulder.
After 40+ years in the internationally acclaimed Bluegrass band, Hot Rize, and almost 30 years running as eTown’s Host, Nick continues to bring people together through music! And this time, he is bringing his brand of “guilt-free gospel” to his home town of Boulder, Colorado with a recurring Sunday morning sing-along.
In February of 2019 Nick hosted the first ever “Hippy Bluegrass Church” service at eTown Hall. Backed by an amazing cast of bluegrass musicians, Nick leads the audience through a non-denominational community sing-along for kids of all ages.
Nick was in Hot Rize for 40+ years. They are/were awesome.
Add some links and videos?
“Almost eTown” is Nick’s solo (and very portable) version of eTown. Creating content for the radio show as well as podcasts and independent festivals worldwide.
Email us for more information about bringing Nick’s “Almost eTown” to your neck of the woods!
Nicks highlights (what are your highlights?)
Click here for a complete list of Nick’s recording credits
add album art gallery here
As a gifted conversationalist and raconteur, Nick has not only been the host of eTown, but also the primary researcher, interviewer and scriptwriter for the show since its inception in 1991. Many hundreds of shows later, Nick has cultivated an immense body of work and is masterful in creating the framework for what becomes a very engaging hour of radio, and live taping experience too.
Pulling from his storied life experiences growing up on the east coast, touring with the Bluegrass band Hot Rize as well as his rich history with eTown, Nick is currently working on an autobiography and an “on the road” blog that he started a few years ago while on tour with Hot Rize.
“Sometimes radio interviews can be high-strung or very fast. They don’t always ask you fun questions, or about things you want to talk about. Hanging out with Nick out there was like hanging out with one of your friends. Very cool”.
Max Gomez (Musician)
