B. J. Leiderman

From Philosopedia

B. J. Leiderman (14 February 1956 - )

Leiderman, who grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, and is the only child in a musical family, studied journalism at American University, then became known as a composer and songwriter.

He has public-radio shows like Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, and Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me. He also is known for his HBO, MTV, Coca-Cola, General Mills, and Nickelodeon jingles. On Fox Kids Network, he won an Emmy Award.

National Public Radio (NPR) describes his themes as "among the most recognizable in all of public radio {[[1]]}."

Called a "technology junkie," Leiderman is an atheist and laughing humanist who has been music director of Christ Unity Oceanside Church in Virginia Beach, at which he sings pop and rock and hymns.

Two of his demonstration songs are "Pray" and "Walking Down the Street." The latter tells of a man, dumped by his girlfriend, who jumps off the Empire State Building and tells what he sees as he drops (including his girlfriend on the ground below, yelling that she'll take him back).

To illustrate how he differs from other music-making groups, for these demos he used Pro Tools and a collection of 1990s-era boxes: Korg M1, Proteus 1, E-mu Proformance piano module, and Roland SRV2000. The mics were Sennheiser 421 on "Pray" and a Rode NT-2 on "Walking." He plays drums on a DrumKat through a Roland TD-10 drum brain.

Leiderman - the laughing humanist- currently lives in Virginia Beach, where he is hard at work on his debut album, Hypocritical Mass.

(See entry for Freethinking Musicians [[2]])