Category Archives: Coming Up on TTBTGH

The Tell the Band to Go Home Pledge-O-Rama Spectacular, This Sunday!

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UMFM’s 6th annual Pledge-O-Rama starts TONIGHT! Each year we look to listeners to help cover some of the monumental costs of running a radio station that is not beholden to major advertisers. The costs are huge but we think the benefits of having the station are huge. We’d love for you to help us out:
http://tellthebandtogohome.com/music-angels/
http://www.umfm.com/events/pledge/
https://www.umfm.com/info/donate/
This Sunday, Tell the Band to Go Home ramps up our efforts to once again raise at least $3000 toward the overall goal of $34,000. It feels like a bit of an uphill climb this year, so we could sure use your support.
We always try to bring in some big guns to help, and this year, we’ve got a number lined up, and more possibly will be added!
We’ll catch up with TTBTGH favourite & friend Christina Martin! She’s hard at work on a new album. We’ll hear the first single and find out what she’s been up to. We may even have some long-distance live music! http://christinamartin.net/
Live in-studio:
Another TTBTGH longtime friend who’s been away for a while, JP Hoe! He just announced his annual Ho Ho Ho Holiday Show, so we’ll find out more about that holiday tradition. He has a longstanding tradition of debuting new songs on the show, but it’s been quite some time. Hopefully he’s got something in his pocket to pull out! http://www.jphoe.com/
And, flying in all the way from Toronto for the show, Jay Aymar! OK, so maybe he’s in town for other reasons, but he’s taking time out of his visit to stop by the studio and play us some songs from his upcoming new album! https://jayaymar.com/
And, we just got word that our good friend Gail has some family matters to tend to this weekend, so we’ll be manning the counter at The Comfort Cafe, and to do it, we’ve welcomed an old friend of Gail’s and mine, Oh Susanna to give us a call and let us know about her show next Saturday at Times Change(d)! https://www.ohsusanna.com/
That’s a lot of talent doing their part to help the station in our time of need, now it’s your turn! We sure love hearing from our listeners. No donation is too small (or too big!) and there’s a convenient payment plan and various options to help make things easy.
We’ll be rolling out our 15th annual Best Of compilation soon, and the only way to get in on the fun is to pledge your support! Please help us out today.
And don’t forget that I have a big box of exclusive prizes to give away on my show. The full list can be found at my website. Pledge and pick your prize soon! It’s truly first-come, first served! http://tellthebandtogohome.com/music-angels/
Gail has some pretty nifty prizes for us to enter to win as well. She’s got 2 tickets to see The Skydiggers on November 15 AND it comes with a $50 gift certificate for Sorrentos to enjoy dinner before the show – That’s a $110 prize package! She’s also got a pair of tickets for Steve Bell‘s Christmas show with the symphony on December 12. You can get in one of the draws with a $25 pledge.
Thanks for supporting great music! Your attendance at The Sunset Saloon and your support of UMFM & Tell the Band to Go Home are so very greatly appreciated!

In Memory of Paul MacLeod

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People often ask about the origin of the name of my radio show. “Tell the Band to Go Home” is the name of a great 6 song EP put out by a singer/songwriter from Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, named Paul Macleod. It’s a perfect example of the type of music that I play on the show, and a perfect reason for doing it.

The original Tell the Band to Go Home

The EP is a simple recording of Paul and a guitar playing amazing songs. It’s recorded live at The Sidetrack Cafe in Edmonton. As a clean, clear solo recording, there’s not much to focus on other than the singer and the song, exactly the way I like it. Paul’s voice and songs are unique and powerful and wonderful, yet widespread success eluded him. The CD was a limited indie release that never really found an audience among the masses (yet it’s regarded as a classic by many musicians and in-the-know fans like me.) It’s the kind of amazing music that somehow flies below the public radar. My show aims to provide an audience for amazing music like Paul’s.

For a couple of years, I enjoyed Paul’s CDs but didn’t have a personal connection to him. In 2002 though I found myself in the midst of a relationship breakup, and as happens in such situations, we found ourselves dividing possessions into the “Mine,” “Yours,” and “Ours” piles. Paul’s CD was one that landed in the latter. Sure, I wasn’t the one who brought it into the relationship, but I’d grown to love it and it was really hard to find a replacement copy which would have allowed us both to have one. I couldn’t find a place to buy a copy, so I went to the Skydiggers message board (Paul was with the band for a number of years after Peter Cash left) and posted a question asking if anyone knew where I could find a copy. Imagine my surprise when Paul responded and offered to send me a copy. We got to talking about how much I loved the CD and what a big fan I was.

Out of those email exchanges came my first opportunity to interview Paul. I spoke with him February 3, 2002 on a show that was notable because I also interviewed a then unknown singer/songwriter named John Mayer. I also had a local singer/songwriter named Steve Schellenberg booked to come in and chat and play, so the show was a busy one, but still I found myself wrapped up in a conversation with Paul that lasted over a half hour.

At the time, we were still making analog recordings of our shows, so this one was recorded on cassette. I recall being so nervous about the interviews on the show that I forgot to start the recording right away, so the first part of my chat with Paul is missing, but it can’t have been much. Here’s that chat:

Download this episode (right click and save)

Paul MacLeod and Jeff Robson at The Glen Gould Theatre in Toronto, October 25, 2009.

I had so much fun with that conversation that I tried to get Paul on the show again a number of times, but we didn’t manage to connect for the better part of a decade. We had a lot of fun email and Facebook exchanges over the years. I’d also seen him live a couple of times, including a memorable reunion show in Toronto with the Skydiggers in 2009. (photos here) (I also have a fine recording of that show, which I’ll post eventually, but feel free to email me if you want to hear it in the meantime.) In 2011, I had a show scheduled for May 22, which is Paul’s birthday. I half-jokingly sent Paul a message and said that I would be doing a birthday tribute and he should tune in and perhaps give me a call to chat. Much to my surprise, he did both.

Once again, we had a great conversation. Here is that one:

Download this episode (right click and save)

Our communication would get more sparse after that, but I would from time to time drop him a line and ask him to chat again. Sadly, I’d never get the chance.

You’d never know it to chat with him or see him live, but Paul was deeply troubled. He had some severe mental health issues which I wasn’t truly aware of until recently. I knew he’d had some tough times, but I didn’t know just how tough until I got the horrible news that Paul had died this past weekend, on Saturday, June 18, 2016. I only wish that he’d known how many people love him and respect him.

Paul’s family has asked that people consider making a donation to his local chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association. It’s fast and easy and you’ll get a tax receipt for your donation. Most importantly, you could help someone like Paul get the help that they need. Please donate if you’re able: https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/4852

The tributes on social media have poured in (check out this tribute group on Facebook). Paul’s personality and music touched and inspired a lot of people. His loss is a huge one, even though he was so relatively unknown.

I’m proud and honoured to have corresponded with Paul over the years, to have met him a few times, and especially to have had these wonderful conversations. I’ll miss him terribly.

I’m also once again strengthened in my resolve to keep his music alive and heard for as long as I’m alive and have a platform on which to share it. His are songs that stand the test of time and should be enjoyed for a long time to come.

I’m also once again motivated to do something to honour and remember people like Paul and John Bottomley, who should still be here today. I’ve got ideas, I just need help getting it off the ground. If you’re able to help, I’d love to hear from you. You can also truly help someone and possibly save a life by checking up on someone who might be struggling and make sure that they know that you care about them and make sure that they get the help that they need. If you know someone is struggling, they might tell you that everything is fine, but they might be lying, so keep close and be vigilant, please.

This Sunday, June 26 on Tell the Band to Go Home, I’ll do an extended tribute to Paul with a lot of his music and hopefully some words from some of his friends and fans. Please tune in Sunday, 2-4 pm CDT on UMFM.

You can get a number of his albums through his longtime label Busted Flat Records:

You can also get a few albums through Google Play or iTunes, but I’d much rather have you support Busted Flat directly though the Bandcamp links above. (iTunes / Google Play)

Down On The Street – Paul MacLeod from Lindsay Stewart on Vimeo.

This video was shot down on the street in the literal sense, with the Canon XHA1 handheld on the Steadicam Merlin. Singer Paul MacLeod is joined by blues guitarist Shawn Kellerman and his backing hoodlums are jazz singer Derek Hines and singer/songwriter Ben Rollo. The traffic is real, the noise is of the environment and the birds seemed to enjoy it as well. The audio is all straight from the on-camera mics.

Paul's music is available through Busted Flats Records.

Catherine MacLellan!

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Chris Gauthier & Catherine MacLellan at Trout Forest Music Festival

Chris Gauthier & Catherine MacLellan at Trout Forest Music Festival

There’s a show coming up in Winnipeg that I really want to recommend. Wednesday at The Park Theatre, Catherine MacLellan comes to town along with her partner/ace guitarist Chris Gauthier. They are terrific. I highly recommend this show, and to prove it, I’ve got a couple of things I want to tell you about.

First, I’m putting on my dancing shoes and pretending to be Eugene for a bit, and I’ll dance my way to your doorstep to sell you a ticket. Tickets are $15, but if you buy them at the usual outlets around town, they tack on a fee for their services. I do not. $15 straight up, cash. Heck, I’ll even float you the ticket and you can pay me back later if that makes it easier for you. Plus, I’ll bring it to you! I really want you to join me at this show.

​I guarantee that you’ll love the show!

Catherine is a really interesting, wonderful person, so I’ve asked to speak with her again this Sunday on Tell the Band to Go Home.

Catherine is a very honest, open person, and has shared a lot about her life over the years. Recently she shared a powerful post on the 20th anniversary of her father’s death.

​Her father, Gene MacLellan, as many of you know, was a renowned songwriter, penning ubiquitous hits Put Your Hand in the Hand, and Snowbird. He struggled with depression, and ended up taking his own life 20 years ago. Catherine has also been open about her own struggles with depression, and that just makes me like her even more.

Her latest album, The Raven’s Sun, which just the other day was nominated for 2 Juno awards, is a much happier album than some of her other albums. Being the dark, miserable individual that I am, it took me a while to warm up to, but I can tell you, it’s become one of my favourites.

The album that made me a huge fan was her second, and first for True North Records, Church Bell Blues. It dealt with a painful, difficult breakup, and uncertain time in her life. She bared it all in song, so beautifully. That is still one of my very favourites.

But you decide which one is your favourite. I love all of her records. Come pick one up on Wednesday! http://www.catherinemaclellan.com/music/​
Do let me know if I can bring you a ticket or hold on to one for you. ​And do tune in to the show this Sunday for lots of her powerful songs, and what is sure to be a really great conversation.

And hey, don’t forget to mark your calendar so you don’t miss out on the exciting Spring shows coming up at The Sunset Saloon!

Sunday, March 22 (matinee) – John Wort Hannam trio!

Friday, April 10 – Shannon Lyon!

Sunday, April 19 – Jory Nash!

Don’t forget, CKUW FunDrive is coming up soon. They’re good people doing great work. Show ’em some love!

Jon Dee Graham & Mike June in Winnipeg

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Something truly special happened this week in Winnipeg, and I sure hope you were lucky enough to be part of it. The mighty Stu Reid pulled off quite a feat when he lured the great Jon Dee Graham, Texas songwriting/guitar playing legend, to come to Winnipeg along with his touring partner Mike June, for 3 shows. The first was here at the TTBTGH home office, The Sunset Saloon, and it was incredible. It was a night filled with Jon Dee classics, a terrific introduction to Mike June, and it was topped off with some of Jaine’s finest ice cream to date!

IceCream

 

After that, things switched over to a jam-packed StuDome for another amazing show, entirely different from the first. The last night was held at The River City Social Club. The pouring rain chased some people (wimps) away, and those people missed out on one of the most amazing shows ever held in this city. The show featured an all-star Winnipeg band composed of Damon Mitchell, Tom “Twisty” Fodey, and Emmett “Corndog” Van Etten, affectionately dubbed “The Winnipeg Cocks” (Jon Dee’s regular band in Texas is “The Fighting Cocks.”) I’ve been to many, many shows, but it’s been years since I’ve seen anything even remotely close to being as powerful, memorable, and amazing as this one. It will live in my Top 10 shows of all time list for a long time to come, I’m sure.

Somewhere in there, Jon Dee and Mike were kind enough to head on down to UMFM to record an interview and some live performances, and those will air TODAY, June 22 on Tell the Band to Go Home, 2-4 pm CDT (the live bit is at 3:15, but there’s music from both right off the top as well.) Listen live: http://www.umfm.com/listenonline/

Here’s a brief preview of one of Jon Dee’s performances:

Here are some of Stu’s clips from River City Social Club. The night started off with an amazing solo section where Jon Dee played some of his most beautiful songs, and told some astonishingly hilarious stories (I hurt myself laughing so hard!)

And here are some photos from the visit:

Please, friends, check out:

Mike June

Jon Dee Graham and his amazing music

And make sure you do your best to attend shows at The Sunset Saloon (including Martyn Joseph July 29!), The StuDome (including Leeroy Stagger, June 26) and River-City Social Club (including Rodney Decroo in July.)

Listen to The Twang Trust, Wednesdays, 6-8 pm on CKUW: http://twangtrust.ca/

February 9, 2014 on TTBTGH

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It’s going to be a mighty busy day today on the show. I sure hope we can fit it all in.

We’ll chat with the amazing Mary Gauthier, who returns to town on Feb. 20 for a reunion performance with Scott Nolan & Joanna Miller, who spent a lot of time on the road operating as Mary’s opening act and backing band. They haven’t done that in quite some time, so it’ll be a great treat to see them team up once again. This show stopped in town last summer, and it was one of the most amazing shows of the year, and there’s no reason to believe that this one will be any different.

Coming up on Saturday, Feb. 15 is the sad, sixth anniversary of the death of my favourite songwriter of all, Willie P Bennett. We always try to commemorate the day and do our best to keep Willie’s songs and spirit alive. This year, we’ve got a little extra help. Former Winnipegger Jaxon Haldane is behind The Willie P Bennett Legacy Project, which has photos, stories, and great artists covering Willie’s songs, which you can download for FREE! I’m so pleased that this is happening. We’re going to chat with Jaxon today about Willie, the project, and what the heck he’s doing living in Oklahoma!

There are some dynamite shows to preview this week, inclduing the return of the great David Myles along with Matt Andersen, The Wilderness of Manitoba, and Andy Shauf!

Plus I just discovered a couple of albums that are really impressing me, one from Parker Millsap, and a dynamic duo called Sugar & The Hi-Lows!

Oh, if only we had more time…

Tune in and see what all we can fit!

Tonight on Steel Belted Radio – Del Barber’s Prairieography!

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delbarber_prairieography_72dpiTonight on Steel Belted Radio on 101.5 UMFM, Del Barber stops in between tour dates to discuss his upcoming album Prairieography, which will be released Feb. 4 on respected label True North Records! You can pre-order the album now for a great low price!

It’s an exciting time for this young troubadour, and we’re pleased as can be that he’s found the time to come and chat and debut new songs from the album!

I’m a big fan of this guy, it’s true, but I think this album should do HUGE things for Del, and I’m eager to show you why. Please make sure you catch this special event TONIGHT on UMFM at 6:30 pm central! Listen live online!

Check out the snazzy changes to his website!

 

TTBTGH/SBFRR Extended Editions!

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Is this thing working? Is this thing on?*

First, and perhaps foremost, from me and everyone at TTBTGH/SBFRR/Sunset Saloon, a very merry Christmas to you and yours! Now, I know that the politically correct nutjobs don’t want us to say that anymore, but screw them! We celebrate Christmas, so I wish you the joys that we’re hoping to feel and spread around this season. If Christmas ain’t your thang, well, feel free to wish me a whateveryoucelebratewheneveryoucelebrateit and I will understand the sentiment. In fact, I’ll appreciate knowing more about you and your celebrations. I know it’s hard to ignore this juggernaut mass marketing scheme this time of year, but that doesn’t mean that we look down on anyone who chooses not to take part in the whole shebang. Please don’t look down on any of us who get caught up in the ridiculous madness either. Let’s just all like each other. Or try. Sometimes it ain’t easy.
A public service announcement: STAY AWAY FROM THE STORES this weekend! Wait until Monday/Tuesday like me! Most of the other over-anxious mass consumers will be hurrying around trying to get it all done at the last minute this weekend. I’m here to tell you that it’s NOT the last minute yet! Wait! It’s the spiritual thing to do. See you out there on Tuesday afternoon! Stores are a little quieter then. Trust me.
In the meantime, whether you’re being run over by shopping carts or sleeping one off at home, sit back and enjoy some great music. I’ve got a lot of it coming.
You can listen at your leisure with some new, gettingclosertobeingcaughtup podcasts on the downloads page. Tonya guilted me in to it. It’s about time someone did! I’ve got more to come. iTunes will be restocked soon too.
And then of course there are the new episodes that surely won’t be podcasted for a few months! We’ve got super-sized episodes of TTBTGH and SBFRR coming at you this week!
Sunday, December 22 at 11 am, a TTBTGH Christmas miracle, featuring a chat with one of my all-time favourite guests and people, Mike Plume! He’s got a stellar new Christmas album for you, as well as a heaping helping of classic shows and albums from the vault. Remember that classic Mike Plume Band Holiday Bash at the WECC years ago? I sure do! Now you can download it as well as other shows and classic albums online. We’ll chat with Mike about that, his new TV show, his adorable daughter Ruby (check her out on the Christmas album!) and much more. We’ve been known to ramble on for looooooonnng periods of time on the phone. We’ll try to keep it reasonable so you don’t get bored. I know you do sometimes. But this time, I’ve got a LOT of time to kill! Everybody else at the station has the good sense to stay home during the holidays when the University is locked down and campus turns into a ghost town. Me, I love it. I get to play old stuff, weird stuff, long songs, vinyl, whatever I want. And I’ll do it, too. 11 am to 4pm central time. Study up on the great Mike Plume first:  http://mikeplume.bandcamp.com/
Thursday, December 26, 6:30-11pm, it’s a Steel Belted Boxing Day Blowout. Most of the madness will be over and done, so we’ll celebrate the good stuff and commiserate about the bad. It’ll be awesome. Join in! 6:35ish (those hockey boys do need watches for Christmas) to 11 ish!
Sunday, December 29, it’s this year/next year in music. 11-4 once again. It’ll be grand.
Tune in and enjoy. Or tune in and make fun of me. I don’t care, just tune in. If you don’t, it seems really stupid giving up 14.5 hours of my precious holiday time sitting around talking to myself. I’ll do it anyway, but it’ll seem stupid. (It is stupid, I do realize.)

Hey, here’s a Christmas present for you! New and FREE music from Del Barber! Sure, you could/should tip the kid – he deserves it, but you’ll buy the album anyway in February, right?! Get your tickets to see him in March! It’ll sell out! I guaran-damn-tee! http://noisetrade.com/delbarber
Stay warm and have some fun. And don’t get stressed out about gifts or your crazy family, and don’t spend too much on gifts for your crazy family. They’ll love you just the same if you don’t.
Merry Christmas to all of you good music lovers/supporters. I appreciate and admire you!
Jeff
host of:

Tell the Band to Go Home
Sundays, 2-4 pm central
www.tellthebandtogohome.com

Steel Belted Radio
Thursdays, 6:30 – 8 pm central
www.steelbeltedradio.com

CJUM 101.5 UMFM
Winnipeg, Manitoba
www.umfm.com

* bonus points if you spotted the Todd Snider reference.

TTBTGH/Sunset Saloon November Update

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It’s November! Already! How did that happen? Time sure flies…

That means:
I’ve been rather slow on putting a wrap on Pledge-O-Rama 2013. What a shocker it was. We were bracing ourselves for a bit of a drop this year. Advance pledges were down. Excitement wasn’t there like it was for last year, our first. I/we brought in donations in a way that we didn’t quite expect, and certainly didn’t think would come in again. There’s always the novelty of the first of these kinds of events, and I wonder whether that’ll keep people from getting excited again.
And yes, we did lose some pledgers. That could be for a lot of reasons, and I certainly don’t intend to judge anyone who made the choice to sit this one out. But lots of others came through. In a BIG way.
UMFM‘s goal was to raise $24,000. Once again, we were able to meet that goal and go over, ending up with $31,336.33 thanks to your generous donations.
And my humble goals were slightly lower as well. Last year you helped my little shows bring in over $3000. I had no expectation that we’d do it again. Honestly, I was hoping to be half the man I was last year, and hoped to bring in around $1500. Well, you really came through. Near the end of Steel Belted Radio‘s Pledge-O-Rama edition, I had no idea where we stood on my shows, and we weren’t sure exactly how close we were to meeting the station goal. Afterward, we sat down and crunched the numbers. Once, twice, three times, all with differing results. We were tired and a little confused.
In the end, we came so close to the station goal, that I only had to make a small donation to push the station total over $24,000. Thanks to you for that. And after a few false totals, it was later revealed that Tell the Band to Go Home brought in a whopping $2,399.47, and Steel Belted Radio added on another $612.50, making our grand total an unbelievable $3,011.97!  I once again humbly ascend the throne as one of the fortunate few Three Thousand Dollar Men!
And again I say THANK YOU for helping this organization which does so much good, has made so many dreams come true for me, and which I love dearly. We’re going to have a great year full of great programming and improvements behind the scenes, and that’s thanks to YOU!
As our thanks, we have plenty of great station incentives. I’ve delivered some, and still have a bunch here to get out to you. If we haven’t talked already, please let me know how/when to get those to you, because I want you to get what you’ve earned.
I’ve also got a copy of the Best of 2012 compilations for all of our kind and wonderful donators. You should have received a download link already, but if you haven’t received your hard copy (if you want one), I want to get that to you as well. Initial feedback on the compilations has been positive, so I really hope you are enjoying or will soon be enjoying the collections.
You’ll get tired of it if you aren’t already, but from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
And if you missed out on the love, it’s never too late to donate! You can still go online or contact me to make your donation, and can still get in on station incentives and my prizes!
If donating just wasn’t in the cards for you, I totally understand. Contact me if you want a copy of the compilations.
********************************************
November also means the return of Brock Zeman, Blair Hogan, and Dylan Roberts! These three are insanely talented, and really great, decent guys. If you have seen them at The Sunset Saloon, Trout Forest Music Festival, or one of their various gigs around town over the years, you’ll know how wonderful the show is. If you haven’t, prepare to be blown away. I got to see the boys on their way out West, and I can tell you that they’re sounding even better than in August, and even better than ever. They also have a great new album and some really awesome new shirts (I can’t wait to try one on.)There’s still room left on the guest list, but it’s disappearing quickly. These guys get more popular each and every tour, and for good reason, so we’ll squeeze in as many folks as we can, but I’d bet that we won’t be able to accomodate everyone. So if you haven’t already, CONFIRM YOUR SEAT! Don’t assume that I know you’re coming, because sometimes you can’t, so I wait to hear it from you. If you wait too long, we might have to have an awkward conversation, and I really hate those! Join us!
Brock Zeman
Monday, November 11
7:30
BYOB
All are welcome.
Snacks galore on hand, but bring something if you wish.
********************************************
Looking (way) down the road, I just lined up a show for next year that I am absolutely bouncing off the walls over. It’s a long wait, so I won’t talk about it much, but needless to say, this multiple award winner (CFMA, Juno, and many more) is one you won’t want to miss. Stay on the mailing list… it’ll be worth it. I can’t wait to tell John Prentice and Gail Comfort about this one!
********************************************
Coming up this week:
Tell the Band to Go Home features tributes to yet more amazing musicians who have gone to the great jam session in the sky (seriously, these guys are dropping like flies… if you’re a musician, make sure you have life insurance…). We’ve also got some amazing new and exclusive tunes, and a look ahead to some great upcoming shows.
On Steel Belted Radio, we’ll have an in-studio visit from Charlie Mars, who’s in town opening for The Dixie Chicks this week. He’s an interesting guy, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again, even though our last visit didn’t go so well… But eventually, you gotta get back on the horse and try again!
I hope to see you out at The StuDome tonight for the return of one of this year’s great Sunset Saloon performers, Animal Parts (aka Joshua Cockerill.) Word is that he’ll have some beer cheese and BBQ sauce on hand, so you’d better get there early before I buy it all. Seriously, I LOVE that stuff! Oh, and there’s music, too.
Stay warm,
Jeff
host of:

Tell the Band to Go Home
Sundays, 2-4 pm central
www.tellthebandtogohome.com

Steel Belted Radio
Thursdays, 6:30 – 8 pm central
www.steelbeltedradio.com

CJUM 101.5 UMFM
Winnipeg, Manitoba
www.umfm.com

TTBTGH Pledge-O-Rama is TODAY!

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Today’s the day! Tell the Band to Go Home‘s Pledge-O-Rama spectacular takes to the airwaves TODAY at 2pm CDT on 101.5 UMFM,www.umfm.com! We really need and appreciate your support.

The Sunset Saloon Sweatshop is up and running and assembling this year’s exclusive CD compilation, The Best of 2012! It’s a glorious affair, and it looks and sounds pretty great, if I do say so myself. The only way to get a copy is to support UMFM during Pledge-O-Rama. Of course, I encourage you to support Tell the Band to Go Home and/or Steel Belted Free Range Radio, but we’ll hook you up if you choose to support Comfort Cafe, Planet Mainstage, or any of the other great programs on UMFM.

If you do support TTBTGH and/or Steel Belted Radio, you have access to the impressive prize list this year, which has grown to include:
A year subscription to Canada’s Folk & Roots Magazine: Penguin Eggs! It’s one of precious few great magazines left, and I know you’ll really enjoy it.
A copy of the new James Keelaghan CD/DVD retrospective : History – The First 25 Years.
And more!

And the station incentives are pretty great, I must admit. You’ll want to get your hands on some of this exclusive merchandise!

To spice things up today, we’ve got some AMAZING, exclusive music from John K Samson and Del Barber! If you’re a fan of either of those men, you won’t want to miss this show! Seriously!

You can make your pledge to any show right now by calling 204-474-6610 or visiting https://www.umfm.com/info/donate/ (which works best on Firefox browser at the moment). I’ll even be glad to come to you or meet you so that you can fill out a pledge!

Please join us today and support us if you can!
I hope to hear from you today,
Jeffhost of:

Tell the Band to Go Home
Sundays, 2-4 pm central
www.tellthebandtogohome.com

Steel Belted Radio
Thursdays, 6:30 – 8 pm central
www.steelbeltedradio.com

CJUM 101.5 UMFM
Winnipeg, Manitoba
www.umfm.com

TTBTGH/SBFRR/Sunset Saloon News & Reminders!

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Greetings friends!

I just came back from a fabulous vacation in Southern Ontario (more on that later), but I’m excited to be back, because there are some exciting things on the horizon:

This Thursday on Steel Belted Radio, we’ll be joined live in-studio by a hot new band called Pistol George Warren. They’re a crazy mashup of R & B, Motown, and old skool Rock n’ Roll (there’s definitely a real Stones swagger). It’s been called a party on the stage, and they’ll bring the party to the perfect home for such things, Times Change(d) that night, but they’ll bring all 8 band members (!) by UMFM for a free preview first! You won’t want to miss that.
Check ’em out: http://pistolgeorgewarren.bandcamp.com
Here’s fun video for one of their latest: http://youtu.be/w7_ahJubeC8

While I was in Ontario, I got to spend a few days at the home of our next performers at The Sunset Saloon. Tannis Slimmon andLewis Melville are not only extra-talented musically, they are also two of the most down to earth, kind, generous, wonderful people on the planet. They exude joy and peace and love and all kinds of wonderful things. If you’re a fan of great music or great people, they’ve got you covered. I’d be really pleased to introduce you to these two on August 14, when they play The Sunset Saloon.

And don’t worry; if you were following the news, you know that some really terrible stuff went down in our neighbourhood last week. Unspeakable tragedy and sadness. I’m glad to say that the saga is over, the police tape is gone, and things are starting to brighten up around here. It does make me want to tell you all how much I genuinely appreciate your support of the radio shows and the house concerts, and for just being out there and willing to pay attention to these ramblings.

That horror also has me more convinced that we all need to pay attention to each other, and help out where we can. If someone around you seems extra sad or edgy or not quite right, we need to support and encourage those around us to find out what might be wrong, and get the help we need. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life, and while it’s not ever easy for me to talk about it or reach out for help, I have benefitted greatly from other people asking me if I’m ok, or encouraging me to see a doctor. It’s nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be ashamed of, and if treated properly, nothing to worry about. It takes time and care, but even those most troubled can live good lives with the right support and treatment. So many of my musical friends and idols have struggled with these issues, and some great music and art has come out of it. Unfortunately though, some of those people have been lost to their troubles, like the late, great John Bottomley (here were my thoughts at the time: http://tellthebandtogohome.com/2011/04/12/lets-bring-depression-out-of-the-shadows/) I know there’s never an easy answer, but if we watch out for each other and show the right support and encouragement, lives can be saved.

Holy! I thought this was a music newsletter, promoting happy things! Check out the Upcoming Events page for lots of shows that will make you happy: http://tellthebandtogohome.com/upcoming-events/. I’m really looking forward to the Gimli Alternative Folk Festivalthis weekend, and The Trout Forest Music Festival the weekend after that! We’ll have more news soon on upcoming Sunset Saloon shows, so tune in to the radio shows or watch your email inbox for more passionate ramblings! (although, if you’re interested in hosting a house concert with Animal Parts, Chris Trapper, or Liam Titcomb, let me know! I can set you up!)

Enjoy the rest of your summer (as cold as it might currently be…), be good to each other, and get out and enjoy yourself!

Jeff