We’re pre-recorded this week, live from the basement, and that allows Jeremy to stop by with a rockin’ request to start things off, and to sing along. That’s not to be missed. Then, we preview yet another Fred Eaglesmith show, but we’ve been playing him a lot lately, so it’s time to dig out a bunch of great covers of Fred songs, and some of his co-writes. We also look ahead to Mary Gauthier and Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle!
playlist
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Today we look back at our first 400 episodes (or so) by analyzing our latest set of totally unscientific, totally irrelevant, and totally interesting statistics. We look at our most played songs, albums, and artists. There are plenty of surprises and interesting results to consider, so we’ll hear from some of the songs, albums, and artists from the top o’ the pops.
playlist
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We’re pre-recorded this week, and since we’re coming to you from my basement, it allows us the opportunity to blow the dust off some discs that don’t seem to make it down to the station as often as they should. It’s another 2 hours of great hidden gems.
Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist
2:00pm – 2:30pm
Joel Kroeker – Endings – Melodrama – CDN
Jory Nash – The Ballad of Easy Chair – Lo-Fi Northern Blues – CDN
Jory Nash – Waiting for Animals to Come – Spaz Loves Weezie – CDN
Dee Carstensen – The Wish – Home Away from Home
Eileen Laverty – My Old Friend the Blues – Dancing with Angels – CDN
Gretchen Peters – Sunday Morning (Up and Down My Street) – Burnt Toast & Offerings
Melwood Cutlery – Ballad of the Moonlight Lady – Campfire – CDN
2:30 – 3:00 pm
Sam Larkin – Mirabeau Bridge – Ransom – CDN
James Keelaghan – Hillcrest Mine – Then Again – CDN
Garnet Rogers – All That Is – All That Is: The Songs of – CDN
Steven Bowers – Bees in Jars – Homing – CDN
Lisa Winn – Almost Alright – Out from Under – CDN
Bill Chambers – Theresa – Frozen Ground
Paul Thorn – I Have a Good Day – Ain’t Love Strange
3:00 – 3:30 pm
Iain Matthews – Back of the Bus – Skeleton Keys
Greg Trooper – Real Like That – Straight Down Rain
Buddy Miller – That’s How I Got to Memphis – Your Love and Other Lies
Jerry Jeff Walker – Sangria Wine – Great Gonzos
Jesse Winchester – Love Is Hard, but Love Is Fair – Live from Mountain Stage
Bob Snider – Talk to Me Babe – Caterwaul & Doggerel – CDN
David Wilcox – Eye of the Hurricane – How Did You Find Me Here
Rod Picott – Tiger Tom Dixon’s Blues – Tiger Tom Dixon’s Blues
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Moe Berg – Here’s the Story – Summer’s Over – CDN
Eddi Reader – California – Angels & Electricity
David Myles – Cape Breton – On the Line – CDN
Nathan Wiley – Black Bones – Bottom Dollar – CDN
Rory McLeod – Black, Brown, White – Travelling Home
Thanks to everyone who listened to and contributed to our 400th episode a couple of weeks back. Milestones like that get me a little curious and have me yearning to look back at what we’ve done and played over the years. We talked about some highlights during the 400th show (available for download now! ), but now, we want to look at the bigger picture, so once again, we dusted off the abacus and decided to crunch some numbers. We’re no mathematical geniuses, for sure, but we’ve come up with a very interesting list of our most commonly played artists, songs, and albums over the course of 400 episodes ( or so… more info on that to come…). Some of the big names and songs should come as no surprise, but a few of them had me scratching my head.
Did you know that:
only 7 artists have been played more than 100 times on the show, and that two of them are local?
that the #1 most played artists has 30 more plays than the #2 artist?
the song we’ve played most on the show has been played 26 times, but that the #2 spot was only played 19 times?
I managed to get away with playing the Rheostatics 55 times on a singer/songwriter show? (more than Lucinda Williams, Serena Ryder, The Damnwells, and The Lowest of the Low, among many others)
I like nerdy stats like that?
Again, these fabulous facts might not surprise you one bit (especially that last one), but they might be interesting. I had fun torturing Jaine and asking her to guess who made the top of the lists (she did pretty well), and I’d love to share the torture. If you want to get in on the fun, send me an email or leave a comment on the website or on Facebook, and we’ll give away some prizes this week. Off the top of my head (actually, on the top of the stack on my desk), I have a copy of the wonderful new record by Catherine MacLellan (who’s been played 31 times so far…) to give away, and it’s one of this year’s finest. I’ll see what else I can dig up to give away, so get in on the fun and email, post, or give us a call tomorrow.
Also! Our old pal Stu from CKUW and I have been talking about doing some kind of promo flyer for a long time, and finally, at long last, it’s here. We worked together to create this thing (actually, he did all of the work and i just bugged him and bugged him and bugged him to get the damn thing done) and we’ve got some real spiffy copies to distribute. They’re pretty impressive, and well worth the wait. It’s got program listings for shows on UMFM and CKUW that you might like, and it’s a nifty little keepsake for nerdy dorks like me. You can check it out on the website now, or pick one up at your favourite store or music venue soon, or just let me know you want one and I’ll make sure one gets put aside for you. They’re fancy and expensive, so who knows when or if we’ll print them again, so get ’em while they’re available and listen to some great music on the radio!
We’re working on much more to come, but that’s all the news that’s fit to print for now. Any feedback or support is always appreciated!
Our old pal Stu from CKUW and I have been talking about doing some kind of promo flyer for a long time, and finally, at long last, it’s here. We worked together to create this thing (actually, he did all of the work and i just bugged him and bugged him and bugged him to get the damn thing done) and we’ve got some real spiffy copies to distribute. They’re pretty impressive, and well worth the wait. It’s got program listings for shows on UMFM and CKUW that you might like, and it’s a nifty little keepsake for nerdy dorks like me.
For now, copies are NOW available at The Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, and we’ll be getting them out and about in the next little while. Get on out there and seek one out, or let me know and I’ll make sure one finds you. You can even download it to view or print yourself!
Let us know what you think! Oh, and check out that other guy at that other station: twangtrust.ca
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I had the opportunity (thanks to Kurtis and Stu) to head down to Bayfield, Wisconsin to see Steve Earle with the Dukes & Duchesses (featuring Allison Moorer and The Mastersons) on July 22, 2011.
I’ve been a Steve Earle superfan for a long time (well, not as long as our old pal Stu, but most of my music-lovin’ life), and I’ve seen him a whole bunch of times, but this was probably my favourite show of all.
First off, the location was pretty cool. I’d heard about this Big Top in Wisconsin before (first when my friends The Wailin’ Jennys played there, and I met up with them the next day), and I’ve watched the impressive lineup of past artists, always wondering whether I’d get the chance to check it out. The concerts are held in a specially constructed circus tent set us a fully functioning concert venue. It’s set on the side of a ski hill, just south of a tiny town called Bayfied, Wisconsin, which is right on the shore of Lake Superior. A more lovely or inviting little town, you will not find.
Also, Steve is once again promoting a stellar new album, “I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive.” Again, I’ve been a fan for a long time, but his last couple of albums of his material (I try not to dwell on Townes…) have been his best so far.
Once again, he’s got a strong lineup of Dukes backing him up (now including a duo called The Mastersons) and his lovely wife Allison Moorer (who I’m a fan of on her own.)
Whereas once upon a time, the best advice Steve could follow would have been to NEVER GET MARRIED AGAIN (dude’s been married 7 times now; he once joked that instead of ever getting married again, every could of years he was just going to find a woman and buy her a house and give her half of everything he owned, thus saving himself the trouble of actually getting married,) it seems that Steve has finally found his match, proving that there’s probably someone out there for everyone. Although on the surface, it looks like kind of a Beauty and the Beast scenario, it seems as if both are perfectly happy. In fact, it was only a little over a year ago that they had a son together.
Steve used to be about the most ornery guy around, and I was terrified of him in the past. Now, whenever Allison is around, he’s as sweet as can be. He’s even inviting people to come and chat with him after the show. In the past, Steve would only invite people he wanted to beat up to meet him after the show.
He seems to have come to terms with a lot of wrongs in his past and is humble and appreciative. Sure, I still wouldn’t want to get on his bad side, but he’s pretty tolerant, even of the “Play Copperhead Road!) guy, who seems to come to every show.
And he is playing Copperhead (not even reluctantly), as well as a great selection of classics from his catalogue, which fit in nicely with the strong new songs. He’s even letting his band members step up to the mic and showcase – inviting Allison to do a few songs is a no-brainer, but it was refreshing to hear The Mastersons, and what a surprise to hear longtime bass player Kelly Looney do a song of his own!
Every once in a while, I get inspired to record a show, not because I’m some evil bootlegger looking to make a buck, but because I have a really bad memory, and I like something to remind me of the great shows I’ve seen and heard. My recordings are decidedly low-quality, and not in any way meant to be audiophile recordings, and certainly aren’t meant to take the place of authorized recordings. In fact, I really hope that they inspire you to get out to a show or buy a CD (ok, or a digital download) of your own.
With that in mind, if you want to download this amazing show for yourself, go ahead and enjoy. You don’t need to post it on your site or host it anywhere else, just let other folks know to stop by and visit my site. Don’t ever sell it or do anything bad. Look both ways before you cross the street, too.
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I’ve had the great pleasure to see a lot of great shows in my life. Even though I’m an obsessive music nerd with an embarrassing CD collection cluttering up my house, there are surprisingly few artists still remaining on my “must-see” list, whom I haven’t yet. On July 20, I had the opportunity to cross one of those names off my list, when I traveled to see Gillian Welch & David Rawlings in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the Fitzgerald Theater.
The shows and CDs are billed as Gillian Welch, but really, she would likely be a LOT less interesting without her amazing partner David Rawlings. I read that they think of themselves as a two-piece band called “Gillian Welch,” and I totally agree. I can’t really imagine one without the other.
It’s Welch’s voice and lyrics that draw you in, I’m sure, but the powerful guitar playing and tight harmonies provided by Rawlings are absolutely essential. They work well together musically, of course, but they are comfortable and funny talking together, finishing each other’s sentences and adding a lot of colour to whatever the other is doing. They are without a doubt one of the most perfectly matched pairs I’ve ever heard, and I hope that they never really decide to go “solo” and do anything apart.
Welch just released a new record “The Harrow & The Harvest” after an 8-year gap between records. That’s almost inexcusable, especially after only releasing 4 previous discs. Luckily, those discs were so strong that expectations were high for a new one, and there was a hungry audience, eagerly awaiting a new recording.
Reviews are mixed about whether the wait was worth it and whether the new disc stands up, but after seeing many of the new songs performed live, I’m a believer. It’s worth picking up, and worth investing some time getting to know.
And live is where these songs belong, obviously. On disc, they’re not embellished with a lot of extra accompaniment, so you’d think that the live show would be much like what you can get at home, but there’s something so pure and powerful about this duo, that it almost has to be seen to be believed.
Welch and Rawlings are one of the only “true” acoustic acts I’ve ever seen – no amplifiers, no pedals, heck, they don’t even use or need monitors – the stand close together and sing and play in such tight harmony that it’s almost as if they become one. They truly become a group much greater than the sum of its parts, and put on one of the most riveting live shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve witnessed plenty of great ones.)
The show promises to reign long on my list of favourite performances I’ve witnessed, and it has now become the high water mark, by which I will measure future singer/songwriter shows. I know that it will be a long time before I see something so captivating and powerful and memorable again.
Every once in a while, I get inspired to record a show, not because I’m some evil bootlegger looking to make a buck, but because I have a really bad memory, and I like something to remind me of the great shows I’ve seen and heard. My recordings are decidedly low-quality, and not in any way meant to be audiophile recordings, and certainly aren’t meant to take the place of authorized recordings. In fact, I really hope that they inspire you to get out to a show or buy a CD (ok, or a digital download) of your own.
With that in mind, if you want to download this amazing show for yourself, go ahead and enjoy. You don’t need to post it on your site or host it anywhere else, just let other folks know to stop by and visit my site. Don’t ever sell it or do anything bad. Look both ways before you cross the street, too.
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It’s our 400th episode, and that seems like a milestone worthy of a bit of a look back at what we’ve accomplished (and screwed up) over the course of 9 years and more than 800 hours on air. We took a trip back to episode #1 and covered a lot of the great memories that have happened along the way.