We started things off with one of my favourite features of the year, a look at what songs, albums, and artists were most played in the previous year. After that, it was in the other direction, as we pulled out some things we haven’t heard in a while, for a feature called “Where Are They Now,” where we listened to some folks who seemed bound for glory and then, for whatever reason, faded away. Whomever and wherever they are, we thank them for what they’ve given us and wish them well.
Last night’s fabulous show, featuring Nathan and the BeBop Cowboys provided lots of inspiration. The men in the BeBop Cowboys are all legends in their own right, and all have done time with some of Canada’s best, so we checked out some of their other accomplishments, as well as some classic Western Swing, which put us in the mood for some of the great sounds of yesterday, which inspired a trip down classic country memory lane.
We did leap into the present/future near the end of the show with some great new music, including a couple of releases that should have made our best of ’08 lists, but reached our ears just a little too late.
NO SHOW
2008 was a great year for music, and even in 4 1/2 hours, we couldn’t go over it all, although we did our best to look at many of this year’s highlights. Speaking of highlights, the show included a great chat with my favourite artist of the year, Nova Scotia’s Christina Martin, whose album “Two Hearts” topped just about every list for me. Too bad the station’s digital logger thingy was broken, so nobody will ever hear the interview again…
A very special celebration of great music and great friends, as we opened up the studio doors for listeners to drop by, say hello, and check out the best of 2008. Jaine was on hand with awesome holiday cookies, Jeremy was on hand for his first ever radio appearance, KK came by to help keep things running, and loyal listener Dean sat in. Many other great friends came and went, and through it all, we managed to get in some of the best music of ’08 as well as a few festive classics.
Also, an interview with one of my favourite discoveries of the year, Edmonton’s Chloe Albert, recent winner of Best New/Emerging Artist at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Before we really started diving in to the best of 2008, we paused to look back at the year in music for 2007, and especially some great ’07 releases that didn’t reach my ears until ’08. There was time for a few festive numbers and requests before starting through the mountain of great 2008 releases.
Proving you don’t always need a theme to have a pretty good show, today’s program was all about requests, dedications, and good stuff we just needed to hear. Sure, we paid tribute to Richard Thompson who’s coming to town, and Paul Kelly who’s just plain great, but the rest was pure goodness from the likes of Fred Eaglesmith, David Francey, Mary Gauthier, and many more!