Andras Jones had a dream. He dreamt that a conventional little FM radio could help people with their problems, assist them with tough decisions and/or maybe just engender a little giggle from them for the synchronicities of life. His dream came true in August of 1998. He called it The Radio8ball show, also known as “The Pop Oracle Live Call-in Divination Show” on KAOS 89.3 FM at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The show airs every Tuesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. and occasionally features a live in-studio musician. Jones has been on the radio for nearly nine years now, but recently he’s decided to take the show on the road and perform it live in front of an audience. This week, Radio8ball will be in Seattle at Capital Hill Arts Center featuring Tacoman Jon Auer of the Seattle pop band The Posies.

How to play Radio8ball

The way the radio show works is a listener calls in and asks a question like, “Will I marry my boyfriend?” “Should I move to Texas?” or whatever it is they want to know. Then the caller either picks a number (if Radio8ball has a musician in studio that day) or the “Oracle” (Jones) hits shuffle on the CD player. After the song is played, they have a discussion about how the song might have answered the person’s question.

The on-stage show has a new twist on the old formula. Each audience member with a question will come up on stage, ask his question, then spin a giant wheel that Jones custom ordered picturing all the signs of the zodiac. Prior to the show, each zodiac sign will be written on a whiteboard with a song title assigned to it. When the wheel is spun and it lands on a zodiac sign, the corresponding song will be performed by Auer, and then the three of them will discuss the meaning.

Jones is also a singer/songwriter and an actor who has appeared in movies “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master,” and “The Attic Expeditions” and television shows “Saved by the Bell,” “Alien Nation,” and “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” just to name a few.

Mr. Jones

Jones is the son of noted psychologist Richard Matthew Jones, a former professor at Evergreen and author of “The Dream Poet” and “The New Psychology of Dreaming.” Andras Jones cites his father’s dream interpretation teachings as one of the influences that led him to invent Radio8ball.

“In my father’s dream seminars, they would interpret dreams as if they were poetry, in order to depersonalize it, to more easily figure out what they mean,” Jones explains. “[Radio8ball] is kind of the inversion of that. We interpret poetry as if it were personal dreams.”

Why Auer?

Jones selected Auer as the musician for this event because he felt his music was well suited for it. Auer had participated in the radio version of the show before.

“When it came time to open the live show, he was a great choice for it,” says Jones. “His songs are really sincere and really smart. The best answers on the shows come from pop songs like Harry Nilsson’s — songs that are simple but in the context they aren’t so simple anymore. [Auer] is uniquely suited because he’s so smart. The thing about his music is it is really good, of course that’s subjective, but I think it’s good.”

Jon Auer, co-founder of the Posies, is known as a songwriter’s songwriter. The Posies are largely thought to be one of the most influential DIY bands of their era. Jon Gilbertson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Death Cab for Cutie, another Bellingham band, owes a debt plus interest to The Posies. When Ben Folds needed help with a very important celebrity client, it was Auer he called on. The result was William Shatner’s acclaimed album Has Been.

Queen Latifah told the San Francisco Chronical, “Dude, that song ‘Coming Right Along’ off “The Basketball Diaries” soundtrack? It’s like one of the slowest, darkest records you could hear, but it’s so cool and so deep and the strings on it are crazy. When I feel like I’m blue, I put that record on and take myself even deeper.”

The other Posies co-founder, Ken Stringfellow (who is a touring member of R.E.M.), said when he first met him, Auer was already a prodigy at age 13.

Auer and Stringfellow were both members of Big Star, (with Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens), a band that critics referred to as the American Beatles.

Auer has been performing as a solo artist at venues around the globe these last couple of years in support of his first completely solo album, Songs from the Year of our Demise, Auer not only penned all the songs himself, he also performed most of the instruments and served as his own producer and studio engineer.

“I’ve played over 1,000 or 1,500 shows in my life, but I’ve never done anything like [Radio8ball],” says Auer. “It’s more about them (the audience) and what they are experiencing. It’s neat because once the journey starts you don’t know where it’s going to take you.”

In addition to the Seattle show, apparently the journey is heading toward California. Auer mentioned, “I’m actually going to take it to L.A. to do this show with Andras down there too.”

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/radio8ball. To consult the Oracle and ask a question now, visit www.radio8ball.com.

[Capital Hill Arts Center, Thursday, June 14, 7:30 p.m., all ages, $15-$20,

Thursday June 14 7:30 p.m. $15-$20, 1621 12th Ave., Seattle, www.brownpapertickets.com]



My name is Angie and I’m just a shot away. If you can’t rock me, somebody will.