Writer / Matthew Socey
“Hi there and good evening. I’m Steve Stolen and it’s time for Stolen Moments…”
These are the words, accompanied by Oliver Nelson’s song “Stolen Moments” that start the radio show “Stolen Moments” on WFYI 90.1 FM. Host Steven Stolen entertains WFYI radio listeners with an eclectic mix of music and minimalist information and fun about the music and about himself.
“I was kind of embarrassed when they [WFYI] said ’Let’s call the show ‘Stolen Moments.’ I thought that was a little self-indulgent. It sort of stuck. I do like the inner joke and to play it at the start and end of the show, for those who got it,” he said.
“Stolen Moments,” the show, can be heard Sunday nights at 6 and Wednesday nights at 8 on WFYI 90.1 FM and wfyi.org. The show features music that ranges from music that Stolen likes to music that Stolen discovers.
“The idea became a show with eclectic music and not have it run on thematic ideas. It’s indie music, it’s blues, that coffee house feel. It’s a program that doesn’t try to be too smart. I don’t think of it in any kind of restricted way,” he said.
Stolen said he often gets asked if the show is live (it isn’t) but that’s one of the show’s strengths.
“Radio is doing what radio does, and artists do, best,” Stolen said. “You feel as though you are speaking with someone in their living room while they’re making dinner or while they’re in the car. The listener feels like you’re talking to them. You’re playing this music for them. When you accomplish that, I have just been lucky. You can connect with people the way that radio can connect in a very unique way.”
Stolen doesn’t play favorites, but regular listeners know of some “Stolen Moments” usual suspects include Sondre Lerche, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jake Shimabukuro, Joshua Bell, Barbara Cook and Rosemary Clooney.
“Rosemary sings with such incredible heart,” Stolen said. “It was later in my more mature days, I saw her sing live in Chicago with Michael Feinstein. They had this great relationship. When you see her come out there, she has a towel from the dressing room slung over her shoulder. Her glasses are sliding down and she’s just knocking out the songs. There is such a human quality to that.”
Stolen’s research for shows can be found on the back of business cards, napkins and grocery store receipts. These notes eventually wind up on a single sheet of paper with additional side note scribbles on the page. If he hears a song, he jots down the song or the artist immediately.
“It just happens. It plays to more of what I hope is really good of what we do. It doesn’t feel to contrived or scholarly. I don’t want to be a smarty pants. I don’t mind smart, just not smarty pants. The fresher it can feel the better,” he said.
While there is not a request line, he does get ideas form listeners.
“I get tons of ideas from people,” said Stolen. “I didn’t know who Townes Van Zandt was, shame on me, until someone told me about him. I heard some of him, looked him up and realized what a tragedy his life was, but what a great treasure of stuff he left behind.”
Stolen also wishes to share the lives of the artists, but not in a academic way. He doesn’t plan themed shows, but sometimes a connection is made. A recent show as it turned out featured three musicians who were also visual artists.
“I’m interested in the artists as people,” he said. “The music speaks for itself. Look at the parallels of the crazy life of Edith Piaf. People dying in plane crashes and car crashes. Dating the singers and boxers. An opera star like Maria Callas, if she were alive today, would be like Madonna. She was constantly making trouble, making bad choices. Beth Hart, whose sister died of AIDS when she was 20. Got drug problems. Her mother had depression problems. All these people have all these real life challenges and they were still these brilliant artists. It revealed the artist in them in a way that a so-called ‘normal life’ wouldn’t.”
Music and artists evolve and change over time, as do listeners. As a kid, growing up in Iowa, Stolen was not originally a fan of Johnny Cash.
“My dad played him constantly. My dad had an alcohol problem. However, in my adult life, free of that, I realized how brilliant the music was. The more it was about Johnny Cash singing those great recordings from late in his career where it’s just him and a guitar and a living room. The music can be such a revealing thing for people,” he said.
Stolen spent his formative years in Mason City, Iowa, (“a band town”) known as the inspiration for River City in Meredith Wilson’s (also from Mason City) “The Music Man.” He attended Simpson College in south central Iowa – know as, “powerhouse music program with 1,200 kids and 70 were music majors” – and then the university of Michigan for graduate school.
“I was this smart-ass kid from Iowa who never found it the least bit intimidating to go the dean’s office and tell the Dean of the school of Music of the University of Michigan how to run his program. I was in there a lot, not because I was in trouble, but I I had a lot of opinions and ideas,” he said.
Those times in the dean’s office helped land Stolen singing jobs and his first teaching job: a full-time college teaching position at age 24 at Central Michigan University. This was followed by a job in Virginia and then returning to his alma mater to teach. With seven years of teaching under his belt, his dreams of growing old in his old stomping grounds were not to be.
“I came out when I was there. In a town of 9,000 people, it did not seem where I should cast my lot in life. So I moved Indianapolis to be with Rob (MacPherson, Stolen’s spouse). I’m the only person to move to Indianapolis to start my music career. I thought I’d be here for 20 minutes, but 27 years later…,” he said.
After stints at Butler University and Indiana Repretory Theatre, Stolen’s new position is the Senior Director of External Relations for The Julian Center.
“The community is great. I am hoping to broaden and deepen relationships with the community. The Julian Center is a cornerstone institution for the city. Something I want to be sustainable and strong for the next 40 years,” said Stolen.
Stolen grew up in an an abusive household, something he doesn’t “lug around like a chain.”
“I’m proud of the fact that I was able to work through that. I have a great relationship with my family, with my mother before she died and to reconcile with my dad, who was bedeviled by addiction,” he said.
Stolen and MacPherson have been together for over 20 years. Their daughter, Abbey Clare, is 16. Sometimes there’s three different types of music going on under one roof at the same time.
“The kid wins. It’s just easier if the kid wins. She’s very keen listener well-tuned ears. She likes alternative and discovery alternative. She’s listening for new stuff so when it gets big or plays on mainstream radio, it’s old news. If it’s too famous, it’s not any good. Lana del Ray and Artic Monkey. She also likes vintage stuff. Pink Floyd, The Beatles. Rob listens to music especially when he cooks. He likes to listen to Santana and hard driving Latin music,” he said.
Stolen, who has been with the station for 22 years, was originally known for his Sunday night program “Opera Matinee.”
“When WFYI stopped playing classical music as a primary programming in the evening and Michael Tolouse left, I thought I was done. Even thought I was not the purest opera program. The station said they still wanted me to do a program and that I could do anything I want,” Stolen said.
For what he calls “cool, fun eclectic 59 minutes,” a jazz singer, a Swedeish guitarist, a local singer-songwriter, a blues harmonica player, a Hawaiian uklele and an British piano player living in New Orleans can exist on the same program. Those artists, along with Stolen and the occasional quip from the show’s producer, all keep the listener informed, entertained and more importantly, keeps the listener company.
“It’s a real pleasure when someone says to me ‘I heard your show’ or they say ‘I feel like you’re with me in the car’ or that I’m with them when they’re cooking dinner. I got a note from a woman who lost her husband and she told me she listens to my show and it makes her a little less lonely on Sunday nights. I try to remember how fortunate we are to do this,” Stolen said.
