It seems like a while since Tell the Band to Go Home has been on the air live, because it HAS been a long time, and, sadly, we’ve got one more pre-recorded show to go this week, but it’ll be a doozy! We’re fresh off the plane from Edmonton where we once again took in The Edmonton Folk Festival, and it turned out to be probably my favourite year for that trip. Lots of fun was had, and you’ll hear about it this week on the show! We’ve got new music (including a highly anticipated new disc which isn’t in stores yet…) and many tales to tell. Plus, once again, we managed to convince the folks at the festival that we were a serious media outlet, and they let us interview some rock stars, including Lissie (who is amazing and wonderful and sweet and will be a huge star, mark my words), The Secret Sisters (ditto for what I said about Lissie), and my new favourite band of all, Deer Tick. There are some fun moments in those chats, so don’t miss them! Plus, my biggest coup of the weekend… we’ll hear a few words from UNDOUBTEDLY one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Even Stu Reid will be impressed by this one…

Of course we’ll be pre-recorded because all good-hearted folks will be taking in the most fun and relaxing weekend of the summer, The Trout Forest Music Festival. Trust me folks, it’s a ton of fun and the most laid-back and affordable festival you’ll find anywhere. Check out the lineup and details for yourself: http://www.troutfest.com/.

But, if we haven’t convinced you enough, we have managed to convince the two most exciting performers at this year’s festival to join us LIVE on Steel Belted Radio this Thursday! That’s right, live, in-studio conversation, performances, and chaos courtesy of Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle! Those two are not to be missed on the radio or in person, so tune in to Steel Belted Radio, Thursday, 6:30 – 8 on UMFM, then get down to the Times Change(d) that evening for what is sure to be a show-of-the-year candidate, and then pack up the car and head to Ear Falls on Friday for more fun and hilarity. It’s going to be a great time, I assure you.

Over the next few days I’ll try to get some photos and stories up from the Edmonton festival, and then the Tell the Band to Go Home podcast for this week will be up for you to download and listen to in the car on the way to and/or from the Trout Fest this weekend. I guess I’d better get moving on some of that!

Thanks, as always!

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!