Pretty much right smack in the middle of the Glasgow home page is a red link that says “What’s On EPB’s Cable.” We are proud of this little resource that several members of the EPB team take time to populate with information about upcoming cable programming that you might be interested in. My personal job is to post information on upcoming events on our many PBS affiliated channels, and, as I continue to grow older, I keep discovering more and more great programming on PBS in general and KET’s many channels in particular. If you have still not graduated to the joys of PBS programming, you really owe it to yourself to check it out. On our system you can see KET programming on channels 11, 23, 24, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, and 511.

So, we have a ton of KET channels which carry a lot of their own programming about our state, but they also carry a lot of outstanding PBS programs. The What’s On EPB’s Cable link usually is populated with several suggested programs each week, but one of my absolute favorites is Great Performances. Well, I’m also crazy about Motorweek, Soundstage, and Barbeque University as well, but this post is going to concentrate on Great Performances, and, in particular, the program featuring James Taylor’s performance at Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts near his home.

My generation has contributed many things to our world that we are not particularly proud of. Unsafe gas-guzzling SUV’s, plastic shrink wrap packaging, big-box retail stores, cheap cell-phones, and corporate control of our national politics are all things we are ashamed of. But, we also brought you Bob Dylan, The Band, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and, perhaps our crowning achievement, James Taylor. It is the latter accomplishment that you can observe and, surely come to agree with me upon, if you follow my advice and tune your television or converter to channel 11 - KET at 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 9.

If you do, you will see one of the very best programs ever to appear on Great Performances, and that is saying a lot. James is doing some of his very best music accompanied only by a piano and his own guitar, which he can use to make sounds that are so pure and heart-warming that you might swear they must have come from a sunrise instead of an instrument made by man. The show is called One Man Band and he performs in a restored theater that is very reminiscent of our own Plaza Theatre. He also does a beautiful narrative about his travels about the planet and how, after all of his experiences and opportunities to live abroad, he decided to live in rural Pittsfield Massachusetts. It is a story that should resonate with all of us. Glasgow and Pittsfield look very similar to me and it makes you feel good to hear James talking about the beauty of living in a small community and see his commitment to helping that community by taping this fantastic program in his hometown theatre. Don’t miss this program!