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Deirdre Saravia

Deirdre Saravia
Credit Dan Skinner / Texas Public Radio
Classical Music Host

Deirdre as born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and her first paid work was at the age of 10 with the BBC as an actress on "Children's Hour." She continued to perform regularly on radio and stage for the next eight years, at which point she was informed by her parents that theater was not an option and she needed "real" work.

So Deirdre left the flashy life of entertainment and trained as a registered nurse in Ireland, continuing to London. Her nursing experiences allowed her to travel and work abroad in Europe and Africa, and while working in London for British Petroleum, she met her husband, Dr. Jorge Saravia. They moved to Mexico City where she managed his private practice while learning Spanish.

During her time in Mexico City, she worked as an extra on the movie "Lucky Lady," starring Gene Hackman, Liza Minelli and Burt Reynolds. You can see her fox-trotting in a night club scene, but you have to watch very closely.

After the Saravia family moved to San Antonio, Deirdre volunteered at KRTU 91.7 FM and hosted a World Music program while continuing to work in nursing at Santa Rosa Children's Hospital and University hospital.

Deirdre joined TPR serendipitously, when one evening Thistle and Shamrock failed to air on KSTX. Having just produced an Irish music show for KRTU, she quickly gathered her gear and substituted for Fiona Richie.

You can hear Deirdre on KPAC in the late morning and she produces World Music with Deirdre Saravia, which airs Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. on KSTX.

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World Music Pick
4:06 pm
Fri April 5, 2013

Paris Combo: Building A Relationship With Listeners On "5"

Credit TaDah Records
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World Music
10:23 am
Thu March 28, 2013

World Music Celebrations: Easter

Credit Jan Kameníček / Wikimedia Commons
Hanácké kraslice, a traditional way of decorating Easter eggs with straw in the region of Haná, the Czech Republic.
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Each week on World Music (Saturday nights from 8-10 on KSTX 89.1 FM), I take a look at celebrations happening around the world. This weekend, Christians around the world celebrate Easter as a sacred Holy Day as well as with a little fun. 

BUNNY HOPPING 

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World Music At SXSW
12:43 pm
Tue March 26, 2013

Kao=S Mixes Traditional & Modern Japan To Make Music & Visual Art

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Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Kao=S busks on Rainey Street on Saturday night, giving passers by something different from the contemporary sounds pouring out of the bars.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Kaori's movement is blurred as she dances to the band's instrumentation.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Kaori in mid spin.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
From left to right: Jack, Daisuke, Shuji, Kaori
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Jack slaps the strings and body of the tsugaru syamisen, generating a beat and melody that Daisuke then weaves in and out of with his shukuhachi.
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Tokyo-based Kao=S (pronounced 'kaus' - like house) mixes modern acoustic rock guitar riffs with the tsugaru syamisen - a traditional Japanese string  instrument - accompanied by the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and Japanese sword performance.

The band is made up of Kaori (vocal/sword performance), Shuji (guitar/vocal), Jack (tsugaru syamisen and Daisuke (shakuhachi).

"Me and Jack played together in a different [group] and I met Shuji [when] I went to Shuji's live show and I talked to him [and said], 'Let's play together,'" Kaori said.

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World Music At SXSW
10:02 am
Tue March 26, 2013

Japan's Shugo Tokumaru Is In Control And 'In Focus'

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Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Shugo said Tokyo audiences have been noticably resistance to his musical charms.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Shugo Tokumaru brings his folk/pop to Kenny Dorham's Backyard on Austin's Eastside.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
An accordian, xylophone, and melodica add subtle texture to Shugo's arrangements.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Though Shugo create his latest album all by himself, he had to recruit two other musicians to help him on stage.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Over Shugo's shoulder, the drummer stays on cue.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
A final crash, a final chord.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Shugo takes a bow.
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For his latest album, "In Focus?," Shugo Tokumaru maintained complete control over the creative process and played all the instruments on the recorded disk. In order to perform live, however, he needed some help, and had his band to back him up.

While the band delivered the songs with energy, complete with the subtle textural nuances that give Shugo's songs a little something special, he was visibly focused on the other two musicians during their performance the afternoon of March 14.

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World Music At SXSW
12:44 pm
Mon March 25, 2013

Marianne Dissard's Latest, 'The Cat, Not Me,' A "Strange Album"

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Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
From left to right: Andrew Joslyn, Josh Karp (Budo), and Marianne Dissard.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Marianne's body position on stage provides an interesting complement to the pattern on the Brass House walls. She used the boxes in the forground as drums throught her set
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Walk a mile in her shoes; Marianne towers on stage over her boots.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
The red lighting provided a dramatic glow at the SXSW showcase
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Marianne Dissard is an artist in every sense of the word.

She is a filmmaker, a poet, a singer, and not a single word or movement is wasted. When she plays live, all these elements combine on stage to deliver a story of depression, exhaustion, frustration, intrigue and joy.

The Tucson Music Factory showcase on March 12 at SXSW was the debut of her live collaboration with Budo, a Seattle-based producer and multi-instrumentalist who is known more for his work in Hip Hop circles than World Music.

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World Music (& Film) At SXSW
3:50 pm
Fri March 22, 2013

Award-Winning Documentary Takes A Punk Rock Look At Intellectual Disabilities

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Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät starts their set at Headhunters on Red River Street.
Lead singer Kari Aalito
Guitar player and founder of the group Pertti Kurikka.
Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
The view from above at Headhunters
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Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Pertti Kurikka's Name Day), a punk band from Finland, is the subject of the documentary "The Punk Syndrome," which won the SXGlobal Audience Award at this year's SXSW Film Festival.

The documentary provides a sincere and honest look at the lives of the four band members, who are all adults living with varying degrees of mental intellectual disabilities.

The band is made up of Pertti Kurikka (guitar), Kari Aalito (vocals), Sami Helle (bass) and Toni Välitalo (drums).

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World Music At SXSW
11:21 am
Fri March 22, 2013

The Drifting, Laid-Back Sway Of Bordeaux's Alba Lua

Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Benoit (left) and Clement talk about life in Bordeaux and the difference between French and American men.
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Clément, the lead singer of Paris-based French band Alba Lua, still calls Bordeaux his hometown and loves to talk about life in southwest France. Though they are proudly French, the name of the band is actually a mixture of Spanish and Portugese.

"Alba is the dawn (in Spanish), and Lua is the moon in Portugese... I like the association of the two words and sometimes you can see the moon in the daylight and it has always been beautiful to me."

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World Music At SXSW
3:25 pm
Thu March 21, 2013

The Meteoric One-Year Rise Of Iceland's Asgeir Trausti

Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Ásgeir Trausti has a bright future with his English language album a few months from release.
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Iceland's Ásgeir Trausti has taken the music charts in his native country by storm since his debut album, "Dyrd I Daudathogn," came out in September of last year. The presale of his album broke records on Icelandicmusic.com, reached gold sales in six weeks and has since gone platinum.

While some of the musical backing in his songs may sound familiar, the vocal stylings in his native Icelandic make the vocal feel more like a participating instrument than a means to deliver the lyrics.

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World Music At SXSW
12:07 pm
Thu March 21, 2013

An Independent Musical Voice From Chile: Diego Peralta

Credit Chris Eudaily / TPR
Diego Peralta was in the U.S. for the first time at this year's SXSW.
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With undisputable pop leanings and an ear for a sweet vocal melody, Diego Peralta is one of the leading independent voices on the Chilean music scene in his hometown of Valparaiso.

Diego was one of only a few musicians representing Chile at this year's South By Southwest Music Festival (SXSW), and this was his first time in the United States.

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World Music At SXSW
11:08 am
Thu March 21, 2013

Lisa LeBlanc And Her French-Canadian "Folk Trash"

Credit Lisa Leblanc facebook photo
Lisa Leblanc is from Rosaireville, a town of 49 people in New Brunswick, Canada
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Lisa LeBlanc's musical idols are from the world of classic rock and metal. They're big rock stars with charisma, many of them men. Her approach to folk music is bold and confrontational, a style that she has deemed "folk trash."

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