THURSDAY MORNING MIX
July 30, 2009
Scott Foley

Ever had one of those bands? One of those bands who you kinda wanted to like more than you really did? Bottle Rockets are that band for me. Other than their excellent '01 Doug Sahm tribute, Songs of Sahm, I've always just found a couple "keeper" songs on their releases, but never felt wholly caught. "Get Down River," "Gravity Fails," even "Kit Kat Clock" for heaven's sake. Musically, they sounded like they were trying too hard to sound gritty. Lyrically, they weren't trying hard enough ~ I never thought saying you were a "working class band" was reason enough for making do with sometimes lazy lyrics.

Still, I liked the band.

Fortunately, their forthcoming '09er, Lean Forward, strikes me upon early listens as the most consistently rewarding B'Rox effort to date. The album's songs honestly rock, and they even seem to demonstrate a lyrical step forward.

* Crooked Jades, "Let It Show" Shining Darkness (self, 08)
* Magnolia Electric Co, "O! Grace" Josephine (Secretly Canadian, 09)
* Levon Helm, "Growin' Trade" Electric Dirt (Vanguard, 09)
* Guy Clark, "The Coat" Somedays the Song Writes You (Dualtone, 09)
* Salamander Crossing, "What Kind Of Person" Bottleneck Dreams (Signature Sounds, 98)
* Jayhawks, "Stone Cold Mess" Music From the North Country (Sony, 09)
* Avett Brothers, "Laundry Room" I and Love and You (American, 09)
* Boulder Acoustic Society, "Give It Away" Punchline (9 Mile, 09)
* Leslie and the Badgers, "Ballpark Lights" Roomful Of Smoke (self, 09)
* Devil Makes Three, "All Hail" Do Wrong Right (Milan, 09)
* Radney Foster, "Little Revival" Revival (Devil's River, 09)
* Hacienda Brothers, "Mental Revenge" Hacienda Brothers (Koch, 05)
* Joe Henry, "Bellwether" Blood From Stars (Anti, 09)
* Hot Club of Cowtown, "Long Way Home" Wishful Thinking (Gold Strike, 09)
* Joe Pug, "Thousand Men" In the Meantime EP (self, 09)
* Paul Thorn, "800 Pound Jesus" Hammer and Nail (A&M, 97)
* Monsters Of Folk, "Sandman the Brakeman and Me" Monsters Of Folk (Artist First, 09)
* Minus 5, "Smoke On, Jerry" Killingsworth (Yep Roc, 09)
* Sam Baker, "Cotton" Cotton (Music Road, 09)
* Amy Speace, "Dog Days" Killer In Me (Wildflower, 09)
* Stacy Earle, "Simple Gearle" Simple Gearle (Gearle, 98)
* Paul Burch, "Like a Train" Still Your Man (Ramseur, 09)
* Slaid Cleaves, "Tumbleweed Stew" Everything You Love ... (Music Road, 09)
* Sons Of Bill, "So Much For the Blues" One Town Away (Grey Fox, 09)
* Bottle Rockets, "Nothin' But a Driver" Lean Forward (Bloodshot, 09)
* Holly Williams, "He's Making a Fool Out of You" Here With Me (Mercury, 09)
* Tom Waits, "Shiny Things" Orphans (Anti, 06)

Scott

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
July 23, 2009
Scott Foley

Sam Baker's personal story is captivating, as is his music. In 1986, at 32 years old, Baker was on a train railing through Peru, when a terrorist bomb detonated, killing 7. Baker lives with the consequences of the blast: Tinnitus, a gnarled left hand, shrapnel-riddled legs, and brain damage. What was compromised was the part of Baker's brain that processed words and enabled speech. This is remarkable, given the poetry of the artist's recent trilogy of albums, Mercy (2004), Pretty World (2007) and the phenomenal new Cotton.

* Scott Biram, "Draggin' Down the Line" Something's Wrong/Lost Forever (Bloodshot, 09)
* Uncle Walt's Band, "Deeper Than Love" An American In Texas Revisited (Sugar Hill, 80)
* Calexico, "Frank's Tavern" Man Of Somebody's Dreams: Tribute To Chris Gaffney (Yep Roc, 09)
* Jill Sobule, "Palm Springs" California Years (Pinko, 09)
* Ryan Bingham, "Dylan's Hard Rain" Roadhouse Sun (Lost Highway, 09)
* Brian Ledford, "Truth and Love" Truth and Love (self, 09)
* Angela Easterling, "American I.D." Blacktop Road (de l'Est, 09)
* Waco Bros, "How Fast the Time" Freedom and Weep (Bloodshot, 05)
* Dexateens, "Hang On" Singlewide (Skybucket, 09)
* Or, the Whale, "Never Coming Out" Or, the Whale (Seany, 09)
* Bill Frisell, "That's Alright Mama" Disfarmer (Nonesuch, 09)
* Austin Lucas, "Mama Tried" Austin Lucas with the Takers (Suburuban Home, 09)
* Son Volt, "Jukebox Of Steel" American Central Dust (Rounder, 09)
* Nick Lowe, "12-Step Program (To Quit You Babe)" Impossible Bird (Upstart, 94)
* Rita Hosking, "Holier Than Thou" Come Sunrise (self, 09)
* Those Darlins, "Wild One" Those Darlins (Oh Wow Dang, 09)
* Kendel Carson, "Oh Baby Lie Down" Alright Dynamite (Trainwreck, 09)
* Sons Of Bill, "Joey's Arm" One Town Away (Grey Fox, 09)
* Bowerbirds, "Silver Clouds" Upper Air (Dead Oceans, 09)
* Peter Case, "Every 24 Hours" Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (Yep Roc, 07)
* Joe Henry, "Man I Keep Hid" Blood From Stars (Anti, 09)
* Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, "Born Again" Death Won't Send a Letter (RCA, 09)
* Patterson Hood, "I Understand Now" Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) (Ruth St, 09)
* Anne & Pete Sibley, "Coming Home" Coming Home (self, 09)
* Pine Hill Haints, "How Much Poison Does It Take" To Win Or To Lose (K, 09)
* Emmylou Harris, "One Big Love" Red Dirt Girl (Nonesuch, 00)
* Sam Baker, "Signs" Cotton (Music Road, 09)
* Bobby Bare Jr, "Visit Me In Music City" From the End Of Your Leash (Bloodshot, 04)
* Paper Bird, "I Discovered" A Sky Underground EP (self, 09)

Scott

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
July 16, 2009
Scott Foley

Debuting a couple of the year's best songs on this week's Episode. Joe Pug's "Lock the Door Christina" is (as I mentioned on-air) simultaneously sweet and creepy. And good. A very good tune recorded during the sessions for last year's Nation Of Heat EP. I fear Pug will explode in popularity, once he releases a real album (if indeed it's possible for a folksinger to explode ...).

Also gracing our airwaves is a band of brothers called Sons of Bill (see, because their dad's named Bill). In my eerily prescient wisdom I passed on their One Town Away album two weeks ago. Fortunately, I neglected to return it to the station that week. Because a second listen revealed a couple very strong songs, including "Broken Bottles". Like a mash of Drive By Truckers and Cross Canadian Ragweed. Cross Canadian Truckers? "Hank Williams might've been a lovesick drinker / But being a lovesick drunk don't make you Hank."

* Joe Ely, "Boxcars" Honky Tonk Masquerade (MCA, 78)
* Neko Case, "Don't Forget Me" Middle Cyclone (Anti, 09)
* Sarah Jarosz, "Edge Of a Dream" Song Up In Her Head (Sugar Hill, 09)
* Owen Temple, "Dollars and Dimes" Dollars and Dimes (El Paisano, 09)
* John T Van Zandt, "My Proud Mountains" Poet: Tribute To Townes Van Zandt (TVZ, 09)
* Minus 5, "Big Beat Up Moon" Killingsworth (Yep Roc, 09)
* Boulder Acoustic Society, "Until Then" Punchline (NMR, 09)
* Kasey Chambers, "Jackson Hole" Rattlin' Bones (Sugar Hill, 08)
* A A Bondy, "When the Devil's Loose" When the Devil's Loose (Fat Possum, 09)
* Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "All I Have To Do Is Dream" Symphonion Dream (Capitol, 75)
* Joe Pug, "Lock the Door Christina" In the Meantime EP (self, 09)
* Amanda Shires, "Upon Hearing Violins" West Cross Timbers (self, 09)
* Leeroy Stagger, "Hell Of a Life" Everything Is Real (Rebel Tone, 09)
* Holly Williams, "Three Days In Bed" Here With Me (Mercury, 09)
* Jayhawks, "Two Angels" Music From the North Country (American, 09)
* Dave Gleason, "Rusty Ol' Halo" Just Fall To Pieces (Well Worn, 07)
* Kieran Kane, "Way Down Below" Somewhere Beyond the Roses (Compass, 09)
* Rosanne Cash, "Change Partners" The Wheel (Columbia, 93)
* Sons Of Bill, "Broken Bottles" One Town Away (Grey Fox, 09)
* Phosphorescent, "Reasons To Quit" To Willie (Dead Oceans, 09)
* Magnolia Electric Co, "Song For Willie" Josephine (Secretly Canadian, 09)
* Lucero, "Nights Like These" Tennessee (Mad Jack, 02)
* Linemen, "Through Side One" Through Side One (self, 06)
* Duke & the King, "Still Remember Love" Nothing Gold Can Stay (Ramseur, 09)
* Katy Moffatt, "What Lack Of Love Has Done" Fewer Things (Zeppelin, 08)
* Ha Ha Tonka, "Walking On the Devil's Backbone" Novel Sounds Of the Nouveau South (Bloodshot, 09)
* Noah Earle, "Lighting Fireworks" Postcards From Home (May Apple, 07)
* Blind Boys Of Alabama, "Just Wanna See His Face" I-10 Chronicles: Vol 2 (Back Porch, 01)

~ Scott

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
July 9, 2009
Scott Foley

* Flying Burrito Bros, "Sing Me Back Home" Close Up the Honkytonks (A&M, 74)
* Kelly Joe Phelps, "Footprints" Roll Away the Stone (Ryko, 97)
* King Wilkie, "Goodbye Rose" Wilkie Family Singers (Casa Nueva, 09)
* North Twin, "Fool" Stronger At the Broken Places (self, 09)
* Jason Isbell, "Chicago Promenade" Sirens Of the Ditch (New West, 07)
* Mindy Smith, "Highs & Lows" Stupid Love (Vanguard, 09)
* Minus 5, "Tonight You're Buying Me a Drink Bub" Killingsworth (Yep Roc, 09)
* Sonny Landreth, "Levee Town" Levee Town (Landfall, 09)
* Ryan Bingham, "Bluebird" Roadhouse Sun (Lost Highway, 09)
* Terry Allen, "Amarillo Highway" Lubbock on everything (Sugar Hill, 79)
* Paper Bird, "Lost Boys" Sky Underground EP (self, 09)
* Thunderado, "40 Days" Thunderado (self, 09)
* BettySoo, "Get Clean" Heat Sin Water Skin (self, 09)
* Andy Fairweather Low, "Hymn 4 My Soul" Sweet Soulful Music (Proper, 07)
* Katy Moffatt & Dave Alvin, "Settin' the Woods On Fire" Child Bride (Philo, 90)
* Son Volt, "Strength and Doubt" American Central Dust (Rounder, 09)
* Kieran Kane, "Don't Try To Fight It" Somewhere Beyond the Roses (Compass, 09)
* Freakwater, "When I Stop Dreaming" Slaughter Rule (Bloodshot, 02)
* Avett Bros, "Kick Drum Heart" I and Love and You (Sony, 09)
* Charlie Robison, "Yellow Blues" Beautiful Day (Dualtone, 09)
* Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, "Tie Me At the Crossroads" BARK (True North, 03)
* Brian Ledford, "Borderline" Truth & Love (self, 09)
* Angela Easterling, "AP Carter's Blues" Blacktop Road (self, 09)
* Lance Mills, "If I Fall" Wore Out Shoes (self, 09)
* Jayhawks, "Break My Mind" Music From the North Country (Sony, 09)
* Ana Egge, "Storm Comin'" Road To My Love (Parkinsongs, 09)
* Jim Lauderdale, "Do You Like It" Persimmons (Upstart, 96)
* Langhorne Slim, "Rebel Side Of Heaven" War Eagles (Kemado, 08)

~ Scott

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
July 2, 2009
Scott Foley

I'm beginning to feel that itch again. That itch that only a theme show can sufficiently scratch. Which is odd, since I tend to be unequivocally opposed to them. My only allowance is Christmas themed shows, which thrill me to put together. And year-end favorites, too.

Which isn't to say I haven't fallen prey to the call of the theme show. Years past have seen me assembling an alphabet-themed show: An artist for each letter from A to Z. I was very proud of my Townes Van Zandt tribute, with about three-quarters of the songs covered by others and the remainder TVZ originals. I remember as well a program where every song featured an americana artist performing an unexpected pop cover: Two Tons Of Steel applying a baritone Texas twang to "I Wanna Be Sedated," or Clem Snide's curious take on Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful."

I've typically run a theme show during a time when new releases are scarce, when I wouldn't need to delay the debut of something worthy of immediate airplay. Late Fall into Winter, maybe. I've been toying with the urge to put together another covers show (see this Episode, and Robbie Fulks' wonderful take on Beyonce's "Irreplaceable"). I could also see a return to Townes, or maybe a tribute show to the songs of Johnny Cash. For a time, I was flirting with "your grampa's americana," playing solely songs from pre-1990 (I've got some great LPs from the likes of John Stewart and Mike Nesmith).

For today, I'm content to hang with the new stuff; digging further into offerings from the Avetts, Deer Tick, Magnolia Electric Co, and more. Don't be surprised, though, if one morning I scratch that itch to do "Patron Saints Of Americana, Alt.Country and Roots Music: the 'Roots' of Routes and Branches" ...

* Avett Bros, "I and Love and You" I and Love and You (American, 09)
* Patterson Hood, "Granddaddy" Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs) (Ruth St, 09)
* Hoots & Hellmouth, "What Good Are Plowshares ..." Holy Open Secret (Ryko, 09)
* Two Cow Garage, "Swingset Assassin" Speaking In Cursive (Suburban Home, 08)
* Among the Oak & Ash, "Hiram Hubbard" Among the Oak & Ash (Verve, 09)
* Patty Griffin, "One Big Love" Flaming Red (A&M, 98)
* Dexateens, "Spark" Singlewide (Skybucket, 09)
* Chris Gaffney, "Six Nights a Week" Mi Vida Loca (Hightone, 92)
* Felice Bros, "Run Chicken Run" Yonder Is the Clock (Team Love, 09)
* Devil Makes Three, "Cheap Reward" Do Wrong Right (Milan, 09)
* Tish Hinojosa, "What You Don't Know" Our Little Planet (Varese, 09)
* Robbie Fulks, "Irreplaceable" 50-vc. Doberman (Boondoggle, 09)
* Lyle Lovett, "Flyin' Shoes" Step Inside This House (Curb, 98)
* Levon Helm, "Move Along Train" Electric Dirt (Vanguard, 09)
* Elvis Costello, "My All Time Doll" Secret Profane & Sugarcane (Hear, 09)
* Southern Culture On the Skids, "Just How Lonely (live)" Doublewide and Live (Yep Roc, 06)
* Those Darlins, "Whole Damn Thing" Those Darlins (Oh Wow Dang, 09)
* Deer Tick, "Little White Lies" Born On Flag Day (Partisan, 09)
* Tift Merritt, "Another Country (live)" Buckingham Solo (Fantasy, 09)
* Daddy, "I Went To Heaven In a Dream Last Night" For a Second Time (Cedar Creek, 09)
* Bottle Rockets, "Gravity Fails (live)" Live In Heilbronn Germany (self, 06)
* Graham Parker, "I Discovered America" Don't Tell Columbus (Bloodshot, 07)
* Gregory Alan Isakov, "Evelyn" This Empty Northern Hemisphere (self, 09)
* Low Anthem, "Horizon Is a Beltway" Oh My God Charlie Darwin (Nonesuch, 09)
* Jennie DeVoe, "Butterfly" Strange Sunshine (self, 09)
* Magnolia Electric Co, "O! Grace" Josephine (Secretly Canadian, 09)
* Eva Cassidy, "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" Somewhere (Blix St, 08)

Scott