Nathaniel Dye: Public Service Announcement

In this episode, I’m dedicating the show to Nathaniel Dye — musician, music teacher, brass band obsessive, ultramarathon runner, and one of the most quietly extraordinary people I’ve met. We begin with Nat performing his song “Public Service Announcement” (recorded live at my Wilton’s Music Hall show in November 2024) — a funny, furious, razor-sharp call to take bowel cancer symptoms seriously.

Nat sadly died recently from complications related to bowel cancer. This episode is part tribute, part replay, part attempt to hold onto the actual substance of what he stood for: making things, teaching people, and choosing music — not as escapism, but as a meaningful way to use the time you’ve got.

You’ll also hear excerpts from my “Listen like a musician” series, and then a replay of my earlier interview with Nat (from Episode 10), where he talks about his diagnosis, his fundraising, his trombone marathon plans, and what music became for him after everything changed.

In this episode

• Nat’s live performance of “Public Service Announcement”
• Why he threw himself back into teaching and music-making after treatment
• The story behind Bowel Cancer Bucket List and the fundraising work
• A replay of our earlier chat: music, mortality, and doing the thing anyway
• The episode outro: Nat’s music, accompanied by bass/tuba greats Guy Pratt and Theon Cross

Links & references

• Bowel Cancer Bucket List (Nat’s site + donation links): bowelcancerbucketlist.com
• Matters of Life and Death (album page): Bowel Cancer Bucket List – album page
• Matters of Life and Death (Spotify): Spotify album link
• “Public Service Announcement” (Spotify track): Spotify track link
• Donate to Macmillan Cancer Support: Macmillan donation page
• Guy Pratt: guypratt.com
• Theon Cross who appears in Nat's closing song too: theoncross.com

Stay musically curious.

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