If you follow “A Song & A Friend,” you’ll have been seeing an episode series called “The U2 Experience.” Maybe you’ve listened to it some, if so, thank you.

My co-hosts are John Drury, Todd Bushong, and Erik Fisher. John, Todd, and Erik and I became close friends in the summer of 1998, during college, and we shared an apartment. Working for the campus landscaping crew by day, and in the evenings, hanging out, driving around, talking about life and music; a common experience, and one easy to romanticize. But the fact that we still talk regularly along the same lines indicates I was right back then: that there was something special about this particular configuration.

What you’ll hear in the pilot episode, is in that summer of ’98, prior to meeting each other, we discovered we had all been U2 fans in one form or another. It became one of the through lines of our friendship through the years. We didn’t always agree, and as John said, “U2 might not be any of our individual’s favorite band, but they are our favorite band, as a friend group.“

Therefore, what you’ll hear in the episodes is not constant praise of the band, although we do share what we love with enthusiasm. We also talk about our memories of growing up in general and our reflections on music, faith, family, friendship, culture, and so much more. U2 have been active un every decade of our lives (they’ve been a band longer than our ages.) So discussing their activity and choices brings out topics on our life experiences.

Micro Bio of each host:

Erik Fisher – marketing pro, family man, and host of the long running pod: “Beyond the To-Do List.”

Todd Bushong – multi-discipline audio/visual production pro. Proud of his canine companion, Winston.

John Drury – professor of New Testament and Spiritual Direction. Long time rock musician himself, and proud family man as well. Host of the podcast “Fresh Text.”