THURSDAY MORNING MIX
March 25, 2010
Scott Foley

A couple Best Things Ever this week: I was reminded of the three minutes and forty-one seconds of awesome that is Elliott BROOD's "The Valley Town" from last year's Mountain Meadows release. If I'm not mistaken, that's the mandolin (uke?) and a trombone we're hearing; not your typical americana pairing. Only a couple lines of lyric, but it stays with me for days ("there's a house by the hill / how I long for her still / my home sweet home ..."). Indeed.

Second Best Thing Ever this week is being able to hear an advanced copy of Nathaniel Rateliff's forthcoming In Memory of Loss. Formerly performing as The Wheel, Rateliff's new collection of uncompromising, bare-bones songs will be released on Rounder (of all things).

Almost made up for the fact that the disc of 12 new songs I had planned to use to create the Best Show Ever set the station's CD player to smoking, unable to play a single one of them ...

* Nathaniel Rateliff, "You Should've Seen the Other Guy" In Memory of Loss (Rounder, 10)
* Ken Will Morton, "True Grit" True Grit (Sojourn, 10)
* Slim Cessna's Auto Club, "Angel" Buried Behind the Barn (Alt Tentacles, 10)
* Will Quinlan & the Diviners, "Remember the Beatitudes" Navasota (Ironweed, 08)
* Black Prairie, "Crooked Little Heart" Feast of the Hunters' Moon (Sugar Hill, 10)
* Anais Mitchell, "Wedding Song" Hadestown (Righteous Babe, 09)
* John Hiatt, "Wonder of Love" The Open Road (New West, 10)
* Kimmie Rhodes, "Sex & Gasoline" Walls Fall Down (Sunbird, 08)
* Rocky Votolato, "Sun Devil" True Devotion (Barsuk, 10)
* Sean Hayes, "When We Fall In" Run Wolves Run (Self, 10)
* Carrie Rodriguez, "Wide River to Cross" Love & Circumstance (9th St Opus, 10)
* Jim White, "Borrowed Wings" Drill a Hole in That Substrate ... (Luaka Bop, 04)
* Slimfit, "Stumble Along" The Path (Don't You Hate Pants, 10)
* Deadstring Brothers, "Smile" Sao Paulo (Bloodshot, 10)
* Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem, "If You Want To Sing Out" Ranky Tanky (Mayhem, 10)
* AJ Downing, "River in the Rain" Way Back Home (Charkansas, 10)
* Holly Golightly, "I Can't Lose" Medicine County (Transdreamer, 10)
* Austin Collins & the Rainbirds, "Worn" Wrong Control (8 dollar, 09)
* Townes Van Zandt, "High Low and In Between" High Low and In Between (Tomato, 72)
* Steel Wheels, "Red Wing" Red Wing (Self, 09)
* Ravenna Colt, "South of Ohio" Slight Spell (Removador, 10)
* Elliott BROOD, "Valley Town" Mountain Meadows (6 Shooter, 09)
* Michael Perry & the Long Beds, "Somewhere South of Sunday" Tiny Pilot (Amble Down, 10)
* Gordie Tentrees, "No Integrity Man" Mercy or Sin (Self, 10)
* April Smith & the Great Picture Show, "Terrible Things" Songs For a Sinking Ship (Self, 09)
* Guy Clark, "Fool On the Roof" Guy Clark (American Beat, 78)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
March 18, 2010
Scott Foley

Carrie Rodriguez's Love & Circumstance makes a good argument for the role of a covers/tribute album in popular music. In jazz, artists like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald have released collections of tunes called, "The American Songbook." Matter of fact, in jazz and blues, many artists can build an entire career without ever writing a song. Not so in the majority of pop music. Rodriguez has established herself as a competent writer on Seven Angels and She Ain't Me (on which she cowrote the majority of the tracks). As a sheepishly enthusiastic fan of clever cover songs, I would argue for the presence of an unspoken "Americana Songbook" from which artists might draw, especially if their vigilance in "making the song their own" is as impressive as Rodriguez's.

* Great American Taxi, "One Of These Days" Reckless Habits (Self, 10)
* Amy Cook, "Strange Birds" Let the Light In (Self, 10)
* Old Californio, "Harmony" Westerling Again (Self, 09)
* Ray Wylie Hubbard, "Whoop and Hollar" A Enlightenment ... (Bordello, 10)
* Carrie Rodriguez, "Big Love" Love & Circumstance (Ninth St Opus, 10)
* Uncle Tupelo, "Give Back the Key To My Heart" Anodyne (Sire, 93)
* Roky Erickson w/Okkervil River, "Goodbye Sweet Dreams" True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti, 10)
* Jason & the Scorchers, "Beat On the Mountain" Coal Country Music (Heartwood, 09)
* Drive-by Truckers, "You Got Another" Big To-Do (ATO, 10)
* Backyard Tire Fire, "Good To Be" Good To Be (Self, 09)
* Eric Brace & Last Train Home, "Soul Parking" Six Songs (Red Beet, 10)
* Anais Mitchell, et al., "Way Down Hadestown" Hadestown (Righteous Babe, 09)
* Steve Dawson, "Today She Found the Way (To Break My Heart)" I Will Miss the Trumpets and the Drums (Undertow, 10)
* Patty Griffin, "Wade in the Water" Downtown Church (Credential, 10)
* Randall Bramblett, "End of the Line" The Meantime (New West, 10)
* Ryan Adams, "The Hardest Part" Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Hwy, 05)
* Tiny Television, "Carolina" Mission Statement (Groove House, 10)
* Tim Barry, "With Ease I Leave" 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home, 10)
* Robinella, "Left Right Back Together" Fly Away Bird (Dualtone, 10)
* Jeff Black, "One Last Day To Live" Honey and Salt (LNM, 03)
* Will Kimbrough, "It Ain't Cool" Wings (Daphne, 10)
* Adam Carroll, "Hi-Fi Love (live)" Live At Flipnotics (Self, 09)
* Old Man Luedecke, "Mountain Plain" My Handsd Are On Fire and Other Love Songs (Black Hen, 10)
* The Drams, "Truth Lies Low" The Jubilee (New West, 06)
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band w/Steve Earle, "T'ain't Nobody's Business" Preservation (Preservation Hall, 10)
* Samantha Crain, "Rising Sun" Songs in the Night (Ramseur, 09)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
March 11, 2010
Scott Foley

Broke the radio station today ... About 4/5 of the way through today's Episode, right after Kasey Anderson's "Sooner/Later," (to the second) things just shut down. I kept on playing dj, just in case we were wrong about the dead air thing, and KRFC was back to life within half an hour.

Mentioned a new biography during today's Episode, Texas Tornado: The Times & Music of Doug Sahm, by Jan Reid, with help from Shawn Sahm. It is an engaging document on a couple levels: How talented Sahm was both as a musician and a songwriter, and just how prevalent drugs were throughout his life (haven't finished it yet, but I think I know how it ends ~ no spoilers, please). I gave some airtime to the unreleased Sahm track his son Shawn tacked onto the new Texas Tornados release.

On a separate note, this was a curious week, in which our kind of music made some headway into the mainstream. Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett were granted a couple seconds on the Academy Awards stage, looking just a bit more comfortable than Elliott Smith during his 5 minutes of fame. Also, Brandi Carlile's song "The Story" was performed by an American Idol contestant (my judgement: a little pitchy at times, and should've kicked out the jams rather than sticking with just the quiet bits ... Dog). Finally, on the same show, Crystal Bowersox is being branded this year's americana contestant. If you ask this broadcaster, this season's between Crystal and Big Mike. Oh wait, am I actually talking about American Idol ... ?

* Asylum St Spankers, "Last Mile of the Way" God's Favorite Band (Yellow Dog, 09)
* Calexico, "Panic Open String" Garden Ruin (Quarterstick, 06)
* Jeff Bridges, "Fallin' & Flyin'" Crazy Heart (Fox, 10)
* Blue Rodeo, "Sheba" Things We Left Behind (Red Eye, 10)
* Coal Porters, "Moonlight Midnight" Durango (Prima, 10)
* Barton Carroll, "Do You Want To Get Out of Here" Together You And I (Skybucket, 09)
* Carrie Rodriguez, "I Made a Lover's Prayer" Love & Circumstance (Ninth St Opus, 10)
* Paul Thorn, "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand" Mission Temple Fireworks Stand (Back Porch, 02)
* Justin Townes Earle, "Down in the Valley" Coal Country Music (Heartwood, 09)
* Deadstring Brothers, "Houston" Sao Paulo (Bloodshot, 10)
* Austin Collins & the Rainbirds, "Just the Same" Wrong Control (Eight Dollar, 09)
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band w/Brandi Carlile, "Old Rugged Cross" Preservation (Preservation Hall, 10)
* Texas Sapphires, "Teardrops or Rain" As He Wanders (Ike, 10)
* Pokey LaFarge, "Bag of Bones" Riverboat Soul (Free Dirt, 10)
* I See Hawks In LA, "Sexy Vacation" Shoulda Been Gold (America Beat, 09)
* Megafaun, "The Fade" Gather Form & Fly (Hometapes, 09)
* Shelby Lynne, "Old #7" Tears Lies & Alibis (Everso, 10)
* Nathaniel Rateliff, "Early Spring Till" In Memory of Loss (Rounder, 10)
* Texas Tornados, "Girl Going Nowhere" Esta Bueno (Bismeaux, 10)
* Kasey Anderson, "Sooner/Later" Nowhere Nights (Red River, 09)
* Shooter Jennings w/Hierophant, "God Bless Alabama" Black Ribbons (Rocket Sci, 10)
* Robinella, "Everlasting Peace of Mind" Fly Away Bird (Dualtone, 10)
* Robert Earl Keen, "Think It Over One Time" Gringo Honeymoon (Sugar Hill, 94)
* Steve Dawson, "Preaching To the Choir" I Will Miss the Trumpets and the Drums (Undertow, 10)
* Jon Dee Graham, "God's Gonna Give You What You Need" Not As Bad As It Looks (Freedom, 10)
* Devon Sproule, "Ain't That the Way" Don't Hurry For Heaven (Black Hen, 10)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
March 4, 2010
Scott Foley

Best Thing Ever this week comes from Ken Will Morton, and his new True Grit album. After schlepping guitar for several almost-there rock bands, Morton has turned his attention to the solo life. To be honest, I believe True Grit is the first album of his I've had the pleasure of hearing. First time through, the phrase "heartland rock" came to mind. Unfortunately, that also brought to mind John(ny) (Cougar) Mellencamp. While JCM has my respect as a very successful mainstream artist, Ken Will Morton isn't going "Little Pink Houses" on us anytime soon. On the other hand, Morton has a wonderful ear for a good americana hook, and a ragged but right voice.

I'm increasingly hooked on Tim Barry's 28th and Stonewall release as well, with at least two or three tunes that I will be giving some radio love for months to come. My first dip into Shelby Lynne's first original release in more than five years has been quite satisfying as well, especially given the hard time I sometimes have balancing out the boys' club that our kind of music has become.

And what's up with the increasingly impressive lineup on Black Hen Records these days?

* Molina & Johnson, "Twenty Cycles To the Ground" Molina & Johnson (Secretly Canadian, 09)
* Old Man Luedecke, "Lass Vicious" My Hands Are On Fire and Other Love Songs (Black Hen, 10)
* Joe Ely, "Hard Luck Saint" Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch (Rack 'Em, 07)
* Ken Will Morton, ,"Don't Feel Bad For Crying" True Grit (Sojourn, 10)
* Texas Sapphires, "Riddled Days" As He Wanders (Ike, 10)
* Austin Collins & the Rainbirds, "Conventional Lust" Wrong Control (Eight Dollar, 09)
* Gram Parsons, "In My Hour Of Darkness" Grievous Angel (Reprise, 74)
* Devon Sproule, "Don't Hurry For Heaven" Don't Hurry For Heaven (Black Hen, 10)
* Elliot Randall, "Caffeine & Gasoline" Caffeine & Gasoline (Self, 09)
* Matt the Electrician, "College" Animal Boy (Self, 09)
* Overmountain Men, "All I Ever Knew" Glorious Day (Ramseur, 09)
* Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore, "Something Somewhere Sometime" Dear Companion (Sub Pop, 10)
* Freakwater, "Twisted Wire" Springtime (Thrill Jockey, 97)
* Tim Barry, "Will Travel" 28th in Stonewall (Suburban Home, 10)
* Pokey LaFarge, "La La Blues" Riverboat Soul (Free Dirt, 10)
* Allison Moorer, "Easy In the Summertime" Crows (Ryko, 10)
* Shelby Lynne, "Rains Came" Tears Lies & Alibis (Everso, 10)
* Backyard Tire Fire, "Hell and Back" Good To Be (Self, 09)
* Dave Alvin, "East Virginia Blues" Public Domain (Hightone, 00)
* Mumford & Sons, "White Blank Page" Sigh No More (Self, 10)
* Holmes Brothers, "I Believe You I Think" Feed My Soul (Alligator, 10)
* John Hiatt, "Like a Freight Train" The Open Road (New West, 10)
* Have Gun Will Travel, "Sons & Daughters of the Guilded Age" Postcards From the Friendly City (Self, 10)
* Michael Perry & the Long Beds, "Alice Mayhew Jackson" Tiny Pilot (Amble Down, 10)
* Leslie and the Badgers, "Winter Fugue" Roomfull of Smoke (Lyricland, 09)
* Minus 5, "Big Beat Up Moon" Killingsworth (Yep Roc, 09)
* Eleven Hundred Springs, "OG Blues" This Crazy Life (Smith,, 10)