Nepal’s folk music senstation Prem Raja Mahat, at the WYPR studios

Prem in his living room, demonstrating his skill on the harmonium

***THE SIGNAL AIRS FRIDAYS AT NOON & 7 P.M. ON 88.1 WYPR***

(Click here for mp3’s of some recent stories from the show. And PODCASTERS, click here for a link to subscribe to The Signal’s weekly podcast.)

• Before Nepalese immigrant Prem Raja Mahat came to the US and opened up a restaurant in Baltimore, he was a famous folk music sensation in Nepal. We meet Prem, visit his restaurant, hear his music, and talk with him about his unusual path.
• We talk with Baltimore artists Emily C-D and Jessie Unterhalter…They recently spent 101 days traveling through India, and they returned with their suitcases full of art and their heads full of inspiration.
• And British immigrant William Wright recalls the misadventures of his first 24 hours in the United States – a day that included getting lost, being hit up for money, and ending up stuck in the audience at a middle school orchestra performance.

LINKS AND OTHER HELPFUL INFO:

Prem Raja Mahat performs Saturday, April 12th, at Herndon Middle School in Herndon, Virginia (901 Lucast Street), at 6:00 p.m.

You can find out more about the Stoop Storytelling Series at: www.stoopstroytelling.com

Prem Raja Mahat, with The Signal’s Aaron Henkin, at WYPR

Prem Raja Mahat, with his cousin Ratna Shahi, at the Himalayan House grocery and restaurant

The fine art of the ‘doodle’ enjoys an elevated status this weekend in a special exhibit at Baltimore’s Load of Fun Gallery. It’s a specially curated collection of those absent-minded masterpieces created when we should have been paying attention to something else. The Oodles of Doodles exhibition opens Friday evening (04.11.08) at 8 o’clock, with live music from Red Sammy, Among Wolves, Butterflies, and Junestar. Load of Fun Gallery is at is at 120 W. North Avenue, and more information is online at: www.loadoffun.net

Also happening at Load of Fun over the weekend: The Doll Project Fundraiser for House of Ruth of Maryland… This sewing circle and doll-making workshop benefits the area’s largest and most comprehensive domestic violence program and helps to empower women staying in temporary shelters. More information is online at www.hruth.org

Monday, April 14th, it’s the senior recital of a young man with one of the deepest and most resonant voices you’ll ever have the pleasure of hearing. Morgan State University student Soloman Howard’s senior recital is going to include the music of Verdi and Mozart, it’s free to the public, and it’s happening this coming Monday, April 14th, at Morgan’s Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center, 2201 Argonne Drive, in Baltimore.