The Rural We: Rebecca Sheir and Eric Shimelonis
A former public radio reporter and a composer/musician bring their talents and community support to the Berkshires.
It hasn’t even been three years since West Stockbridge, Mass. residents Rebecca Sheir and Eric Shimelonis moved to the Berkshires. It was, Rebecca says, a complete leap of faith. But they have quickly settled in, buying a Sears kit house, creating a business in their basement that specializes in podcasting, and getting involved in local organizations. Eric is even running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen. It appears the leap of faith is working out. Rebecca shares her journey with us.
When Eric and I met in Washington, D.C., in 2013, we were blown away when we learned how much we had in common. At the top of a lengthy list was a longtime relationship with the Berkshires. I’d been a regular at Tanglewood, Kripalu and the Williamstown Theatre Festival since my New York City college days. Eric had spent summers creating music and design sound for various local theaters.
At first, we wistfully joked that someday we’d ditch our city lives and relocate to the Berkshires. When our son was born in December 2015, we stopped joking and made a five-year plan. But after the 2016 presidential election, we realized we had no desire to live in the nation's capital any longer — and our plan went from five years to two months. The election was November 8th; we moved to West Stockbridge on December 30th.
If you swing by the basement of our Sears kit house on Great Barrington Road, you’ll find the brain-/nerve-center of Sheir and Shim LLC: a full-service audio-production company specializing in podcasting. With my 15-year track record as a public-radio reporter and host, and Eric’s decades of experience in the music world, we’ve pooled our talents to produce podcasts for Slate Magazine, Wine Enthusiast Magazine, and WBUR (Boston’s NPR news station).
Our primary project is Circle Round, the children’s storytelling podcast we produce for WBUR. Each week, we find folktales from around the world and adapt them as sound- and music-rich audio plays for modern audiences. Every episode stars top talent from the stage, screen and airwaves, including Richard Kind, Kathryn Hahn, Billy Porter, Jason Alexander, Ed Asner, William Jackson Harper and – later in May – Diane Rehm. We often cast local actors to play the supporting roles, and look forward to recording three episodes on-stage with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in June.
Beyond our workaday lives, community involvement is a top priority — whether by frequenting the county's many play groups, or by joining entities like the West Stockbridge Historical Society, with whom Eric is planning the first-ever West Stockbridge Jazz Festival. Eric is also a founding member of our town's Vision Committee, and is running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen (election: May 13th).
Back in December 2016, when I told my friend, mentor and NPR colleague, Susan Stamberg, that Eric and I were leaving D.C. for the Berkshires, I'll never forget what she said: "It's so beautiful up there… much better for children and mental health and creativity."
Two-plus years later, I couldn't agree more!
