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Meredith fun facts
writer, radio personality and musician, Meredith Ochs is a:
contributor
to numerous print and online
publicationsmusic and pop culture commentator for National Public Radio's
All
Things Consideredhost of her own daily satellite radio program on
Sirius
XM 60, Steven Van Zandt's Outlaw
Countryco-host of Freewheelin', a daily talk show
on Sirius XM 106 - Road Dogglobe trottin' published
photographerax-slinglin' frontwoman of the
damn lovelys
christ on a cracker, is there anything she can't do?
since no one can ever seem to find meredith, we have created a calendar to plot out her ubiquitousness. this will serve as a reminder for the girl herself as well, since she rarely knows where she is supposed to be at any given time. also, she refuses to wear a watch. we hate this, as she is usually late for lunch dates with us, and we are very, very hungry.
but before you go searching for m., read on about the strange and convoluted un-career of this iconoclast who fights authority and always wins. meredith graduated from the university of massachusetts with a degree in political science and a dream of joining the foreign service. or becoming j.d. salinger. or lucinda williams.
instead, she got a job working for howard stern. not quite the same, is it. it was fun, though, and it lead to other jobs...producing nutrition guru gary null's radio show...producing a syndicated radio show for a notorious law firm...writing for a political consulting firm.
fabled freeform radio station WFMU gave young meredith her own show, which evolved into the now-mythic Trash, Twang & Thunder, a weekly program of unfettered ranting, live musical guests and too many records. WNYC, New York's NPR affiliate, also hired the budding broadcaster to host music shows and do newscasts, among other things.
the future one-woman media hellion could not be confined by terrestrial radio, however. she was hired to write a music column for a cafe culture magazine called cups, a strange experience that caused her to have serious misgivings about cafe culture. but an editor at guitar world magazine always read cups when he bought his morning latte, and he soon lured the talented scribe away.
other publications also sought words from this wordsmith: entertainment weekly, rolling stone, new york, salon.com and many more. radio would beckon again, though, when an NPR producer noticed meredith's name attached to some very nice reviews in some very tony outlets. soon, m.'s mellifluous voice was nationwide, as the roots music go-to girl for NPR's "all things considered," where she is often heard.
now the exciting new world of satellite radio has come calling -- Sirius XM -- and meredith is on from 8pm 'til midnight ET weeknights on Outlaw Country Sirius XM 60 and every day from 11am-2pm ET on Road Dog Sirius XM 106 with co-host Chris T., where she talks about everything from politics to things that smell like ass. as if there is any difference between the two. she also spins all three Hanks, Billy Joe Shaver, David Allan Coe and people who don't even have three names.
when she is not going to museums, hanging out with ruffie or enjoying some aaloo palak, meredith is usually writing, traveling, reading and taking photographs, occasionally deejaying in public, and is always drinking coffee. but not at a coffee house.
oh yeah, she plays guitar too and has written some pretty fine songs. just ask the guy who signed her band, the damn lovelys, to his record label. or the guy who booked them on mountain stage, the legendary radio and tv show out of west virginia where many of meredith's music heroes have performed.
there's a lot more, but that's what all the links on the left are for -- specifics. if you must know, we think meredith is the perfect woman. really. she's smart, she's funny as hell, she's cool and she doesn't freak out when something boils over on the stove. and she has enviable hair. we love her and hope you will too. welcome to her world.
--Arthur P. Schmidlap and Chevy Maddox Chevy,
Portrait of Our Dust