I remember listening to a interview with Freedy, I believe it was on NPR and he was talking about Rain On The City, and I remember thinking how cool it would be we could get him for a cover of his friend Paul Westerburg…just one of those “that’d be very cool” ideas in the back of your mind that you don’t think will happen. So then it turns out we’ve got him for an episode, and since our policy is not to influence the cover choice, I was just sort of hoping to myself. Freedy asked me to meet him over in Greenpoint at his friends loft – which was an amazing place, a huge space filled with all kinds of interesting things, bits and bobs. Freedy had on a cool hat, a “Freedy Fedora,” actually named after him by Goorin Brothers milliners. I guess that’s the kind of cool thing that can happen if you put out great records for over 25 years. In 1994 RollingStone’s annual critic’s poll named Freedy as Best Songwriter that year (Kurt Cobain placed 2nd), and “Bad Reputation” still takes me to very specific times and places in my life. Freedy said that he’d like to cover his friend Paul Westerberg from the Replacements, that this song had inspired him and was one of his favorite tracks. I was smiling on the inside, on the outside too I think. — Anna