It’s the end of 2012 as we know it, and I feel fine. Our last show of the year is a perfect time to look back at the year that was – highlights and letdowns, and look forward to things to come in the new year. Today’s show is full of all of that, as well as a little New Year celebration (and one leftover Christmas classic.)

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Hank Snow – Nestor, The Long Eared Christmas Donkey – Christmas with Hank Snow – CDN
Early Winters – 4th of July – single
Cedar Park – What She Tells Me (Featuring NQ Arbuckle) – Way Back Home – CDN
Cuff the Duke – Side by Side – Union – CDN
Matthew Barber – Father and Son – Songs For The Haunted Hillbilly – CDN
Matthew Barber – The Clap – Songs For The Haunted Hillbilly – CDN
Justin Rutledge – Don’t Be So Mean Jellybean – In the Fall – CDN

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Steve Poltz – Some Things About Me You Should Know – Noineen Noiny Noin – CDN
Todd Snider – Digger Dave’s Crazy Woman Blues – Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables
Farmer Jason – The Moose Lives Where? (with Todd Snider and Jo Nesbo) – Nature Jams
Jonathan Byrd and Chris Kokesh – Do You Smell Something Burning? – The Barn Birds
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Flat Nail Joe – Wreck & Ruin
Rodney Crowell & Mary Karr – I’m a Mess – Kin
Rayland Baxter – Willy’s Song – Feathers & Fishhooks
Andrew Combs – Runnin’ You Out of my Mind – Worried Man

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Jon Dee Graham – The Orphan Song – Garage Sale
The Hobart Brothers & L’il Sis Hobart – Ballad of Sis (Didn’t I Love You) – At Least We Have Each Other
Sons of Bill – Santa Ana Winds – Sirens
The Do Good Assassins – Public Transit – Rome – CDN
Turnpike Troubadours – Gin, Smoke, Lies – Goodbye Normal Street
Dustin Bentall & The Smokes – Emmy-Lou – Orion – CDN
First Aid Kit – Emmylou – The Lion’s Roar

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Dennis Ellsworth – Electric Stars – Dusk Dreams – CDN
Scarlett Jane – Wild Fire – Stranger – CDN
Van Morrison – Brand New Day – Moondance
Jim Bryson – Mary New Year’s Eve – Instant Holiday Album – CDN
Reid Jamieson – Last Day of the Year – Songs for a Winter’s Night – CDN
Hey Rosetta! – New Year Song – A Cup of Kindness Yet – CDN

‘twas the show before Christmas and on today’s show, we’re playing some great Christmas music; it exists, you know.
Yeah, we’re playing songs with that festive feeling, as well as some non holiday requests, favourites, and looking at some upcoming shows.

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Skydiggers – Good King Wenceslas – The Truth About Us – CDN
Doug Paisley – Winter Days – Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada 4 – CDN
The Wilderness of Manitoba – River – Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada 4 – CDN
Jim Cuddy – Winter Wonderland – Holiday Songs – CDN
Oliver Schroer – Beneath the Ice, They Heard Bells – Stuck on a Cold Steel Pole – CDN
Matthew Perryman Jones and Hannah Miller – Baby It’s Cold Outside – single

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Reid Jamieson – Song For A Winter’s Night – Songs For A Winter’s Night – CDN
Matthew Ryan – Little Drummer Boy – Hopeless to Hopeful
Matthew Ryan – It’s Christmas Time – single
Some Scandinavian Dude – I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas – Christmas Through the Years
Buck Owens & Susan Raye – Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy – A Truer Christmas
John Prine – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – A John Prine Christmas
The Arrogant Worms – Santa’s Gonna Kick Your Ass – Hindsight 20/20 – CDN
Adam’s House Cat – Santa’s Out of Rehab by Christmas – A Truer Christmas
Swank! – Santa Claus Is Out on Bail – Christmas Is Fun – CDN

3:00 – 3:30 pm

The Crackling – Keep Me Drunk – Ashen EP – CDN
The Crackling – I Love You Tonight – Ashen EP – CDN
The Honeysliders – Danko and Manuel – Demos – CDN
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit – Danko / Manuel – Live from Alabama
The Band – Acadian Driftwood – A Musical History – CDN

3:30 – 4:00 pm

D. Rangers – Trois Rivieres – The Paw-Paw Patch – CDN
Whitehorse – Cold July – The Fate of the World Depends on this Kiss – CDN
Ken Whiteley – The Last Month of the Year – The Light of Christmas – CDN
Ken Whiteley – Christmasy Kind of Day – The Light of Christmas – CDN

We’re busy crunching numbers and triple checking scientific data trying to make up those Best of 2012 lists, so today’s show is a final tryout for some of the contenders for the list. We’ve also got some new and notable, some requests, and even a token holiday song.

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Blitzen Trapper – Christmas Is Coming Soon – Blitzen Trapper
Matthew Ryan – The Events at Dusk – In the Dusk of Everything
Kathleen Edwards – House Full of Empty Rooms – Voyageur – CDN
Rose Cousins – Go First – We Have Made a Spark – CDN
Shannon Lyon – I’m Letting You Go – Broken Things – CDN
The Rebecca West – Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – Lost and Found

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Jory Nash – Sally – Little Pilgrim – CDN
Jimmy Lafave – Red Dirt Night – Depending on the Distance
Teague Alexy – Old Souls and Scarecrows – This Dance
The Felice Brothers – Wonderful Life – The Felice Brothers
Forest Sun – Just Begun – Just Begun
Cedar Park – What She Tells Me (Featuring NQ Arbuckle) – Way Back Home – CDN
Skydiggers – Fire Engine (Red Explosion) – Northern Shore – CDN
Skydiggers – Hear It in your Voice – Northern Shore deluxe edition – CDN

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Skydiggers – Tillsonburg – Northern Shore deluxe edition – CDN
Lee Harvey Osmond – Deep Water – The Folk Sinner – CDN
John Antoniuk – Chicago – Always with You – CDN
Ken Kansas and The Roaring River Rangers – But I Love Ya – Hard Liquor – CDN – WPG
Tif Ginn – Wings – Tif Ginn
Dale Watson – White Line Fever – Even More Songs of Route 66
Jamey Johnson – I Fall to Pieces (with Merle Haggard) – Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochrane

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Andrew Combs – Take It from Me – Worried Man
Tannis Slimmon – Song of Sadness – In and Out of Harmony – CDN
Serena Ryder – Heavy Love – Harmony – CDN
John Bottomley – The Healing Dream – The Healing Dream – CDN

Today we’re all about the new music and exciting upcoming shows including Romi Mayes’ Pre-Xmas Songwriters’ Extravaganza and the upcoming reunion of one of our city’s finest live bands, The D. Rangers!

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Jim Bryson – Sleeping in Toronto – The North Side Benches – CDN
David Wiffen – Skybound Station – Coast to Coast Fever – CDN
Ryland Baxter – Olivia – Feathers & Fish hooks
Skydiggers – When You’re Down – Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985-1995 – CDN
Jamey Johnson with Hank Cochrane, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard – Living for a Song – Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochrane
The Heavy Horses – Copper & Gold – Murder Ballads & Other Love Songs – CDN
Mo Kenney – Sucker – Mo Kenney – CDN

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Ken Kansas and The Roaring River Rangers – Summer Nights in the Country – Hard Liquor – CDN – WPG
Ken Kansas and The Roaring River Rangers – Gail, Jerome and the Mailman – Hard Liquor – CDN – WPG
D. Rangers – Love, Lust and Loneliness – The Paw-Paw Patch – CDN – WPG
D. Rangers – Nothin’ to Show – We Stay High and Lonesome – CDN – WPG
Scott Nolan – Bad Liver/Broken Heart – Receiver/Reflector – CDN – WPG
Jonathan Byrd and Chris Kokesh – One Night at a Time – The Barn Birds
Jonathan Byrd and Chris Kokesh – Lakota Sioux – Live at 4th & Main, Wray, Colorado

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Romi Mayes – Ball and Chain – Lucky Tonight – CDN – WPG
Keri Latimer – Persuader – Crowsfeet and Greyskull – CDN – WPG
The JD Edwards Band – Going Down to Mexico – Roads and Roads – CDN – WPG
Ridley Bent – All the Heat Is in the Whiskey – Rabbit on my Wheel – CDN – WPG
Andrew Neville and The Poor Choices – Farmin’ Life – Let’r Buck – CDN – WPG
Annie Lou – Don’t You Know Boy – Grandma’s Rules for Drinking – CDN

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Iris DeMent – The Night I Learned How Not to Pray – Sing the Delta
Lucy Kaplansky – The Beauty Way – Reunion
Amelia Curran – The Modern Man – Spectators – CDN
Stan Rogers – Northwest Passage – Northwest Passage – CDN
Stan Rogers – Half of a Heart – From Fresh Water – CDN
Tom Russell – If I Were a Child – Trouble in the Fields: An Artists’ Tribute to Nanci Griffith
Hayes Carll – (I’m Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills Me – Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe

Today an interview with Dave Bidini, author, sports enthusiast, and musical leader of Bidiniband and Rheostatics, perhaps the most significant musical force in my life. Nervous? Yup. Once things settle down, soe local show previews, more great new music and some more considerations for that year-end “best of” list.

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Robert Earl Keen – Merry Christmas from the Family – A Truer Christmas
Rheostatics – Higher and Higher – Greatest Hits – CDN
Bidiniband – I Wanna Go To Yemen – In the Rock Hall – CDN

Dave Bidini interview

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Bidiniband – In the Rock Hall – In the Rock Hall – CDN
Rheostatics – Legal Age Life at Variety Store – Whale Music – CDN
Band of Horses – No One’s Gonna Love You – Cease to Begin
Band of Horses – Marry Song – Cease to Begin
Jason Collett – Bitter Beauty – Motor Motel Love Songs – CDN

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Corin Raymond – Ol’ Fort Mac – recorded live on UMFM – CDN
Raghu Lokanathan – Sugar Candy Mountain – Petal Press – CDN
Corb Lund – My Saddle Horse Has Died – Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! – CDN
Corb Lund – Time to Switch to Whiskey – Five Dollar Bill – CDN
Turnpike Troubadours – 7 and 7 – Diamonds And Gasoline
Barney Bentall – The Ballad of Johnny Hooke – Flesh & Bone – CDN

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Dustin Bentall & The Smokes – Oxford Street – Orion – CDN
Lindi Ortega – Murder of Crows – Cigarettes & Truckstops – CDN
Colin Linden – Between the Darkness and the Light of Day – Still Live – CDN
Lee Harvey Osmond – Oh, Linda – The Folk Sinner – CDN
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Outfit – Live from Alabama
American Aquarium – Abe Lincoln – Burn. Flicker. Die.
Drew Nelson – Dust – Tilt a Whirl

A few tunes today to kick off THE BIG GAME (once we figure out what that game is), before veering off into holiday territory. The holidays get us thinking about those year-end “best of” lists, so we’ve got some new and notable contenders for those considerations. And, of course, some exciting shows to preview, this time Willy Porter and the return of The Wooden Sky.

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Dave Gunning – A Game Goin’ On (with David Francey) – No More Pennies – CDN
David Francey – Skating Rink – Skating Rink – CDN
Kathleen Edwards – Hockey Skates – Failer – CDN
Luke Doucet & The White Falcon – Sundown – Steel City Trawler – CDN
Romi Mayes – Hand Me Down World – Guess Who’s Home – CDN – WPG
Buck Owens & Susan Raye – Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy – A Truer Christmas

2:30 – 3:00 pm

JP Hoe – The Shopping Mall Santa – The Hoe Hoe Hoe Holiday EP – CDN – WPG
Don Amero – All I Need This Christmas – Christmastime – CDN – WPG
Reid Jamieson – This Could Be The Year – Songs For a Winter’s Night – CDN
Dave Gunning – We Can’t Win – No More Pennies – CDN
Scarlett Jane – Beautiful – Stranger – CDN
Trent Severn – Snowy Soul – Trent Severn – CDN
Belle Starr – This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) – The Burning of Atlanta – CDN
Sera Cahoone – Every Little Word – Deer Creek Canyon

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale – South in New Orleans – Buddy and Jim
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors – Love is Magic – Passenger Seat
Andrew Combs – Heavy – Worried Man
Rayland Baxter – The Mtn. Song – Feathers & Fishhooks
Hayes Carll – Love Don’t Let Me Down (feat. Caitlin Rose) – single
Caitlin Rose – Piledriver Waltz – Piledriver Waltz / Love Is A Laserquest

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Willy Porter – Angry Words – High Wire Live
Willy Porter – Unconditional – High Wire Live
The Wooden Sky – The Wooden Sky – When Lost at Sea – CDN
The Wooden Sky – Oh My God (It Still Means a Lot to Me) – If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone – CDN
The Wooden Sky – Malibu Rum – Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun – CDN
The Wooden Sky – Bloodshot to Blue – Bedrooms & Backstreets – CDN

Blackie’s back! Whenever Blackie & the Rodeo Kings roll through town, it’s cause for celebration, so much of today’s show is dedicated to that glorious occasion, including a chat with our old friend Stephen Fearing. That’s not the end of the special celebrations, as another old friend, James Murdoch, returns to town with Jay Sparrow, when Murdoch & Sparrow play Sunset Saloon this week. We chat with James and hear some of their great songs. And, as if that weren’t enough, we’ve got some exciting new releases.

Artist – Song title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – WPG=Winnipeg artist

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Blackie & The Rodeo Kings – The Lucky Ones – Kings of Love – CDN
Mike Plume – Five Crow Silver – Five Crow Silver – CDN
Barney Bentall – The Outskirts of Buffalo – Flesh and Bone – CDN
Dustin Bentall & The Smokes – You Are an Island – Orion – CDN
The Do Good Assassins – Public Transit – Rome – CDN
James Murdoch Band – Simple Lullaby – Wondering Where the Rush Has Gone – CDN

2:30 – 3:00 pm

James Murdoch interview

Murdoch & Sparrow – Share the Burden – Dominion Day – CDN
Jay Sparrow – Stronger – White – CDN
Blackie and The Rodeo Kings – Black Sheep (with Serena Ryder) – Kings and Queens – CDN

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Stephen Fearing interview

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – Shelter Me – Kings and Queens – CDN

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – Better Off Alive – Let’s Frolic Again – CDN
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – That’s What I Like – Let’s Frolic – CDN
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – If I Catch You Cryin’ – BARK – CDN
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – Nickels and Dimes – Kings of Love – CDN
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – Has Anyone Seen My Baby Here Tonight? – High or Hurtin’ – CDN
Willie P Bennett – John Henry the Gambler – Live 1978 – CDN