THURSDAY MORNING MIX

April 29, 2010

Scott Foley

Thanks to everyone who called in or logged on to support KRFC during our "Spring" Membership Drive. I place "Spring" in quotation marks owing to the fact that there were two inches of snow on the ground as the episode began this morning ... Remarkably, it proved to be the most productive drive I've had since I started riding the community radio donkey.

The morning found me paired with JoAnn of Friday Morning Mix fame, and was replete with witty banter aplenty. While it wasn't as chock-full of new stuff as your average episode, we were able to spend some quality time with Elizabeth Cook's excellent new release ("El Camino" features some truly fun lyrics). We also launched further into Yarn's superb Come On In. Some of the best alt.country being made today.

* Susan Cowsill, "Just Believe It" Just Believe It (Blue Rose, 04)
* April Smith & the Great Picture Show, "Movie Loves a Screen" Songs For a Sinking Ship (Self, 09)
* Jason & the Scorchers, "Beat On the Mountain" Coal Country Music (Heartwood, 09)
* Hayes Carll, "Long Way Home" Little Rock (Hwy 87, 04)
* Elizabeth Cook, "El Camino" Welder (31 Tigers, 10)
* Trampled By Turtles, "Victory" Palomino (Banjodad, 10)
* Steve Earle, "The Revolution Starts ..." Revolution Starts Now (ESquared, 04)
* Sweet Sunny South, "Mississippi" Carried Off By a Twister (2Dolla, 10)
^ Yarn, "Strikes & Gutters" Come On In (UFO, 10)
* Bill Kirchen, "I Don't Work That Cheap" Word To the Wise (Proper, 10)
* Darrell Scott, "This Time Round" Crooked Road (Full Light, 10)
* Subdudes, "If Wishing Made It So" Miracle Mule (Back Porch, 04)
* Cory Chisel, "Born Again" Death Won't Send a Letter (Black Seal, 09)
* Jim Lauderdale, "Winnona" Patchwork River (30 Tigers, 10)
* Steel Wheels, "Working On a Building" Red Wing (Self, 09)
* Dave Alvin, "Blind Love" West of the West (Yep Roc, 06)
* Court Yard Hounds, "The Coast" Court Yard Hounds (Sony, 10)
* Great American Taxi, "New Madrid" Reckless Habits (30 Tigers, 10)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX

April 22, 2010

Scott Foley

I love what I do at KRFC. I love being the first to set ears on new music, then sharing it with fellow programmers and listeners. My heart races when the phone lights up, a listener asking what was just played. A connection. As a music love/snob, I'm lucky to have been graced with my spots on KRVM and KRFC.

I love radio. I love spinning the dial, landing on some farm news station in Nebraska, hearing a poorly produced spot for tractor sales. Real people doing real stuff.

Radio is a dying sport. Sure, there's still a ton of money changing hands, but radio is just not the 'tastemaker' it once was. Radio reacts to trends, rather than setting them. Live radio is considered inefficient, and musical knowledge is typically undervalued.

Nowadays, the heart of true radio beats within community stations like KRFC, where programmers are often still at the forefront of new music from their respective genre. We've got blues, jazz, folk, world, and yes, americana djs who 'get it.' We share our passion with a dwindling listenership, increasingly distracted by instant gratification online. It's not that programmers like ours aren't doing their job; we're simply doing it with fewer listeners.

Which is why it's especially important that we 'real people doing real stuff' support community radio in a concrete way. We can no longer simply rely on the other guy to pick up and do our work for us; we are the other guy. KRFC's spring membership drive sets sail Friday. Please call (970)221-5075, or connect on line with krfcfm.org.

Hope to hear from you next Thursday morning!

* Jakob Dylan, "They've Trapped Us Boys" Women + Country (Columbia, 10)
* Horse Feathers, "Vernonia Blues" Thistled Spring (Kill Rock Stars, 10)
* Reckless Kelly, "Bird On a Wire" Somewhere In Time (Yep Roc, 10)
* David Lindley & Jackson Browne, "El Rayo X (live)" Love Is Strange (Inside, 10)
* Allison Moorer, "Just Another Fool" Crows (Ryko, 10)
* Jay Farrar, "Voodoo Candle (live)" Stone Steel and Bright Lights (Artemis, 04)
* Drunk On Crutches, "Caroline (Go Back to Bed)" People Places Things (Self, 10)
* Cadillac Sky, "Ballad of Restored Confidence" Letters in the Deep (Dualtone, 10)
* Yarn, "New York City Found" Come On In (UFO, 10)
* Lyle Lovett, "Empty Blue Shoes" Natural Forces (Curb, 09)
* Otis Gibbs, "Cross Country" Joe Hill's Ashes (Wanamaker, 10)
* Jim Lauderdale, "El Dorado" Patchwork River (30 Tigers, 10)
* Mary Gauthier, "Blood Is Blood" The Foundling (Razor & Tie, 10)
* Billy Bragg & Wilco, "California Stars" Mermaid Ave (Elektra, 98)
* Mary Chapin Carpenter, "I Put My Ring Back On" Age of Miracles (Zoe, 10)
* Trampled by Turtles, "Wait So Long" Palomino (Banjodad, 10)
* Legendary Shack Shakers, "Hoboes Are My Heroes" Agri-Dustrial (30 Tigers, 10)
* Drive-by Truckers, "Get Downtown" Big To-Do (ATO, 10)
* Tim Barry, "Bozeman" 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home, 10)
* Elizabeth Cook, "I'm Beginning To Forget" Welder (31 Tigers)
* Mando Saenz, "Pocket of Red" Bucket (Carnival, 08)
* Radney Foster, "Little Revival" Revival (Devil's River, 09)
* Pieta Brown, "Shake" One and All (Red House, 10)
* Court Yard Hounds, "The Coast" Court Yard Hounds (Sony, 10)
* Black Prairie, "Atrocity at Celilo Falls" Feast of the Hunters' Moon (Sugar Hill, 10)
* Crosby Tyler, "Tears of Blood" Lectric Prayer (Bohemia, 10)
* Willie Nelson, "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" Country Music (Rounder, 10)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX

April 15, 2010

Scott Foley

* Steel Wheels, "Red Wing" Red Wing (Self, 09)
* Tallest Man on Earth, "King of Spain" Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans, 10)
* Steeldrivers, "Midnight Train to Memphis" Steeldrivers (Rounder, 08)
* Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs, "Two Left Feet" Medicine County (Transdreamer, 10)
^ Trampled By Turtles, "Gasoline" Palomino (Banjodad, 10)
* Mumford & Sons, "Sigh No More" Sigh No More (Self, 10)
* Willie Nelson, "Nobody's Fault But Mine" Country Music (Rounder, 10)
* Jason & the Scorchers, "Days of Wine & Roses" Halcyon Times (Courageous Chicken, 10)
* Tift Merritt, "All the Reasons We Don't Have to Fight" See You On the Moon (Fantasy, 10)
* Gordie Tentrees, "No Integrity Man" Mercy or Sin (Self, 10)
* Golden Smog, "Until You Came Along" Weird Tales (Ryko, 98)
* Jakob Dylan, "Yonder Come the Blues" Women + Country (Columbia, 10)
* Drunk on Crutches, "Tupelo" People Places & Things (Self, 10)
* Romano Paoletti, "Ragtime Blues" Story of a Lifetime (Self, 09)
* Holmes Brothers, "Feed My Soul" Feed My Soul (Alligator, 10)
* Cadillac Sky, "Hangman" Letters in the Deep (Dualtone, 10)
* Nathaniel Rateliff, "Whimper and Wail" In Memory of Loss (Rounder, 10)
* Mary Gauthier, "Goodbye" The Foundling (Razor & Tie, 10)
* Rocky Votolato, "Lucky Clover Coin" True Devotion (Barsuk, 10)
* Roky Erickson & Okkervil River, "Be and Bring Me Home" True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti, 10)
* Tiny Television, "Hallelujah" Mission Statement (Groove House, 10)
* Jalan Crossland, "High & Lonesome" Driftwood Souls (Self, 10)
* Peter Wolf w/Merle Haggard, "It's Too Late For Me" Midnight Souvenirs (Verve, 10)
* Lucinda Williams, "Learning How to Live" West (Lost Hwy, 07)
* Jerry Jeff Walker, "I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight" Live at Gruene Hall (Tried & True, 89)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
April 8, 2010
Scott Foley

Just over a quarter of the way through the musical year, and that alarm means it's time for me to make a list. No doubt there are loads of quality releases still to come, but just for fun, in no particular order, and because I can, following are a handful of my favorite 2010 albums to date. There's 10 of them, so let's call this TEN PRETTY FINE CDs from 2010:

Chris Pureka, How I Learned To See In the Dark
Joe Pug, Messenger
Nathaniel Rateliff, In Memory of Loss
Amy Cook, Let the Light In
Kasey Anderson, Nowhere Nights
Ken Will Morton, True Grit
Ray Wylie Hubbard, A Enlightenment ...
^ Tim Barry, 28th & Stonewall
Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
Elliot Randall, Caffeine & Gasoline

Now on to this week's distractions:

* Joe Pug, "Not So Sure" Messenger (Lightning Rod, 10)
* Shelby Lynne, "Rains Came" Tears Lies & Alibis (Everso, 10)
* Lynn Miles, "Eight Hour Drive" Black Flowers (True North, 09)
* Bap Kennedy, "America" Howl On (Lonely St, 09)
* Trampled By Turtles, "Wait So Long" Palomino (Banjodad, 10)
* Avett Brothers, "Salvation Song" Mignonette (Ramseur, 04)
* Chris Pureka, "Shipwreck" How I Learned To See In the Dark (Bad Rabbit, 10)
* Backyard Tire Fire, "Roadsong #39" Good To Be (Self, 10)
* Willie Nelson, "You Done Me Wrong" Country Music (Rounder, 10)
* Mary Gauthier, "Sweet Words" The Foundling (Razor & Tie, 10)
* Pieta Brown, "Calling All Angels" One and All (Red House, 10)
* Otis Gibbs, "Kansas City" Joe Hill's Ashes (Wanamaker, 10)
* Chapin Sisters, "Hey" Lake Bottom (Plain, 08)
* Hacienda Brothers, "A Lot of Days Are Gone" Arizona Motel (Proper, 08)
* Elliot Randall, "Chasing My Tail" Caffeine & Gasoline (Self, 09)
* Haunted Windchimes, "Don't Take My Baby Away" Honey Moonshine (Blank Tape, 10)
* Roky Erickson, "Bring Back the Past" True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti, 10)
* Steve Dawson, "Worry Worry Worry" I Will Miss the Trumpets and the Drums (Undertow, 10)
* Nathaniel Rateliff, "Brakeman" In Memory of Loss (Rounder, 10)
* Drive-by Truckers, "Daddy Learned To Fly" Big To-Do (ATO, 10)
* Jason & the Scorchers, "Golden Days" Halcyon Times (Courageous Chicken, 10)
* Alejandro Escovedo, "As I Fall" Man Under the Influence (Bloodshot, 01)
* Tallest Man on Earth, "Wild Hunt" Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans, 10)
* Tift Merritt, "Engine To Turn" See You On the Moon (Fantasy, 10)
* Steve Poltz, "License Plate Eyes" Dreamhouse (98 Pounder, 10)
* Barton Carroll, "Monday Night" Together You and I (Skybucket, 09)
* Amy Cook, "Let's Go Down To the River" Let the Light In (Self, 10)
* Chip Robinson, "Wishin' On the Cars" Mylow (Red River, 10)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX

April 1, 2010

Scott Foley

Sorta two of a kind: one virtually at the height of her popular acclaim, the other just releasing her third album, but making possible strides towards a similar notoriety. The former, Mary Gauthier, has issued The Foundling, a very personal story of her childhood as an orphan, an adopted girl, and a young woman seeking the story of her birth. The second, Chris Pureka, whose How I Learned To See In the Dark is one of the strongest releases of the year.

Gauthier's Foundling is receiving its debut airing over the tinny speakers of my laptop as I type. Seems a departure of sorts: new label, new producer in Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies), a more "open" sound. Pureka's album has already gotten its share of speaker time since it fell into my hands last week at this time. Like Gauthier, Pureka's songs are sparse and dark, while at the same time carefully, gradually luring listeners into the depths of lyric and arrangement. Both bring to mind one of my favorite albums, Ferron's tremendous Driver.

Also this week, the debut of a very good full-length Pieta Brown album, as well as something new from Otis Gibbs.


* Kelly Willis, "When My Baby's Beside Me" Big Star Small World (Koch, 06)
* Gordie Tentrees, "Mercy or Sin" Mercy or Sin (Self, 10)
* Steel Wheels, "HYMN for the Unsung" Red Wing (Self, 09)
* Coal Porters, "Permanent Twilight" Durango (Prima, 10)
* Pieta Brown, "Prayer of Roses" One and All (Red House, 10)
* Jayhawks, "What Led Me to This Town (live)" Live From the Women's Club Vol 2 (Self, 05)
* Jakob Dylan, "Everybody's Hurting" Women & Country EP (Sony, 10)
* AJ Downing & Buick 6, "Way Back Home" Way Back Home (Charkansas, 10)
* Slim Cessna's Auto Club, "Port Authority Band" Buried Behind the Barn (Alt Tentacles, 10)
* Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs, "When He Comes" Medicine County (Transdreamer, 10)
* Eleven Hundred Springs, "Show Me the Money" This Crazy Life (Smith, 10)
* Otis Gibbs, "Joe Hill's Ashes" Joe Hill's Ashes (Wanamaker, 10)
* Asylum St Spankers, "Jesus Walking On the Water" (God's Favorite Band, 09)
* Micah Schnabel, "American Static" When the Stage Lights Go Dim (Suburban Home, 10)
* Sean Hayes, "One Day the River" Run Wolves Run (Self, 10)
* Walter Hyatt, "Deeper Than Love" Some Unfinished Business Vol 1 (King Tears, 08)
* Black Prairie, "Red Rocking Chair" Feast of the Hunters' Moon (Sugar Hill, 10)
* Drive-by Truckers, "Santa Fe" Big To-Do (ATO, 10)
* Jon Langford & His Sadies, "Looking Good For Radio" Mayors of the Moon (Bloodshot, 02)
* David Hidalgo and Louie Perez, "Till the Hands Fall Off the Clock" Long Goodbye (Gonzolandia, 10)
* She & Him, "Ridin' in My Car" Volume Two (Merge, 10)
* Rev Petyon's Big Damn Band, "WalMart Killed the Country Store" Whole Fam Damily (Side One, 08)
* Clem Snide, "WalMart Parking Lot" Meat of Life (429, 10)
* Chris Pureka, "Wrecking Ball" How I Learned to See in the Dark (Bad Rabbit, 10)
* Texas Sapphires, "Nashville Moon" As He Wanders (Ike, 10)
* Subdudes, "(You'll Be) Satisfied" Annunciation (Windham Hill, 94)
* Peter Wolf w/Neko Case, "Green Fields of Summer" Midnight Souvenirs (Verve, 10)
* Julie Miller, "Broken Things" Broken Things (Hightone, 99)
* Kasey Anderson, "Nowhere Nights" Nowhere Nights (Red River, 09)