This week’s Steel Belted Radio has all of the makings of a classic, and unfortunately, all of the foreshadowing of a disaster:

First up, we’re starting at 6 tomorrow to cram it all in.

At 6, we are hoping to have singer/songwriter Dan Mangan on the show. This kid impressed me years ago, but with his new EP, he’s stepped up his game to the level of the pros. You’re going to be hearing about this kid some day, and I can only hope that you’ll get to know him early on Steel Belted Radio tomorrow. Unfortunately, Dan’s already given us the “I’m having car trouble” line, which doesn’t always bode well, but he said he’d try, and we’ve got super publicist Ken Beattie on his case. Dan’s in town for a FREE show at Shannon’s Irish Pub (which doesn’t really feature Irish or Celtic music, it seems) opening for Hey Rosetta! That could be a good one.

But even better than that…

Up at 6:30, and the only guests near guaranteed to show up, Brock Zeman & Dan Walsh, along with “what’s his name” the bass player. You know by now that Brock is one of the best up-and-coming songwriters anywhere, and you know by now that he plays with Dan Walsh, who’s one of the most badass guitar players anywhere, and I’m sure I must have mentioned that that they’re playing my house on Friday. Well, they’re in town Thursday to open up the show at Times Change(d), and they’re going to stop by and play us I’m sure some brand new, amazing songs, first.

They’re opening for a great band called The Deep Dark Woods. These boys have been bubbling under on my hit list for a while, but with their amazing new disc and a great appearance at Trout Forest last year, I now know that these kids are the real deal. They’re playing Times on Thursday and Saturday, but first, they’re scheduled to come in to the studio around 7:30. Unfortunately… and this is a new one… they’ve got a late night tonight, and they don’t know if they can make it to the studio that early. At 7:30 PM. Yeah, right. Ken said he’d kick their asses and get them there, but we’ll see…

Tune in and see. Will it all work out and be one of the best live-music filled episodes of SBFRR EVER, or will it be a monumental flop? Only time will tell.

And tune in for a special announcement about an even more special edition of SBFRR next week…