yarn (yärn)
n.
1. A continuous strand of twisted threads of natural or synthetic material, such as wool or nylon, used in weaving or knitting.
2. A long, often elaborate narrative of real or fictitious adventures; an entertaining tale.
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003.
My background is in the theater. Which explains, to some extent, why I came to the audio business with a desire to tell stories, or at least to help people tell stories. Back in the '90s, as a part of New York's downtown theater scene, it may not have been fashionable to prefer straightforward narratives over nonlinear abstraction, but that's what drew me to theater in the first place: great stories that pulled you in and wouldn't let go. That were that dirtiest of words on the indie scene: entertaining.
Enter Bob Edwards. Kurt Andersen. Liane Hansen. Scott Simon. Jay Allison. Daniel Zwerdling. Anne Garrels. The Kitchen Sisters. Jad Abumrad. Brooke Gladstone. And of course Ira Glass. Reporters, hosts, and storytellers that put the focus on others, that shone the spotlight on the world around them, not their navels. They were what drove me, in the spring of 2005, to blow my tax refund on audio equipment, to teach myself to use Audacity and to spend three weeks of a summertime writer's conference locked in a stifling hot room, editing my brains out.
Everyone has a story. Yarn features a few of them -- recorded, mixed, and edited to sound their very best. To make an impression, and -- if I've done my job -- entertain.
Eric Winick
Eric Winick hails from Marblehead, Massachusetts, birthplace of the American Navy. He is the founder of Yarn AudioWorks, an audio production unit dedicated to remarkable stories and sound-rich documentaries. "How Are You Who You Are?" (co-produced with Jay Allison), appeared on Transom in June 2008; a 12-minute version (with additional production by Larry Massett) appeared on Hearing Voices and aired on NPR's "All Things Considered" in November 2008. The Transom version was also broadcast on KUT's "O'Dark 30" (Austin) in February 2010, "Re: sound" (WBEZ/Third Coast) and "KUOW Presents" in July 2009 and KFAI's "Listening Lounge" in September 2008. His production of Jim Perakis' "Blue Collar Babysitter" aired in January 2010 on WILL's "Sidetrack" (Urbana, IL). "Seating Mr. Pacino" by John Morogiello aired in February 2010 on KUT's "O'Dark 30" and was a PRX News Station Pick of the Month (January 2010). "The Bakers of Butter Lane," about a cupcake bakery in NYC's East Village, was a PRX News Station Pick of the Month (April 2009) and aired on WAMC/Northeast Public Radio in March 2009 and "Sidetrack" that month. Eric's production of Annie Lalla's memoir "Damsel, Distressed" aired on "KUOW Presents" in July 2009 and "Sidetrack" in July 2008; his co-production (with Wayne Liebman) of Liebman's memoir "Meal Ticket" was a PRX News Station Pick of the Month (Jan 2009) and aired on WBHM's "Tapestry" in January 2009 and "Sidetrack" in February 2009. Eric serves by day as Director of Marketing at Playwrights Horizons, an off-Broadway theater, for whom he has created podcasts with Craig Lucas, Theresa Rebeck, Anne Bogart, Adam Bock, Adam Rapp, and others. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Lisa Zullig and son, born October 2009.
Photo by Jay Allison.
Yarn AudioWorks logo by Bradford Louryk.
