ROUTES & BRANCHES
May 12, 2012
Scott Foley

Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon and Great American Taxi joined us for a phone interview on this Episode, chatting about LoS's new Aquatic Hitchhiker and the band's free street party in downtown Denver on Sunday.  Pictures I've seen show the crowd stretching for blocks.  I'm certain that my 15 minute phoner was the catalyst for at least half of that group.  You're welcome, Leftover Salmon.  

Couple especially strong debuts this Episode.  From Okemah, Oklahoma, John Fullbright shows up as a fully formed songwriter on his first studio album.  Depending on where you set the laser, you might be reminded of James McMurtry, Hayes Carll or Mando Saenz.   Fullbright composes on both piano and guitar, smart songs able to captivate whether intimate ballads or full band arrangements.  Despite the fact that he claims it's simply a songwriting tool, spiritual and biblical imagery show up on several tunes, such as "Gawd Above":  So I’ll tip my hat to all of your creations / You can fly like birds, destroy entire nations / Go and curse my name with your last breath / ‘Cause all I brought to your life was death.  This Episode also marks the auspicious debut of Sara Watkins' second solo effort, which will likely land on my favorite albums list when this year is all spent.  Having cut her musical teeth as a young woman in Nickel Creek, her debut album proved a very introverted affair.  Watkins opens up big time on Sun Midnight Sun, sporting brash production and guest stars like Jackson Browne and Fiona Apple (?!) without losing the thread that has always made her worth following. 

Finally, one of the reasons to peek in at KRFC's website is the archived podcasts of our patented Live @ Lunch program.  Head over there today and you can track down hour-long sessions with Johnny Hickman, Oakhurst, Tony Furtado and more.  I grabbed a file recorded just last week, featuring a dream pairing of Nathaniel Rateliff, Joe Sampson and Brent Cowles of You Me & Apollo.  Hope to see it on KRFC's podcast site soon, since it's among the very best L@L I've heard. 


*  Jerry Douglas & Peter Rowan, "Wayside Tavern"  Yonder  (Sugar Hill, 96)
*  Wood Brothers, "Smoke Ring Halo (live)"  Live Vol One: Sky High  (Southern Ground, 12)  D
*  Lee Bains III & Glory Fires, "Centreville"  There Is a Bomb In Gilead  (Alive Natural Sound, 12)
*  Dead Fingers, "Lost In Mississippi"  Dead Fingers  (Big Legal Mess, 12)
*  Fiction Is Fun, "Whiskey 101"  You Die Every Time Always  (Self, 12)
*  Leftover Salmon, "Sing Up To the Moon"  Aquatic Hitchhiker  (Self, 12)
*  Leftover Salmon, "Keep Driving"  Aquatic Hitchhiker  (Self, 12)
*  Willie Nelson, "Come On Back Jesus"  Heroes  (Columbia, 12)
*  Wandering, "If I Had Possession"  Go On Now You Can't Stay Here  (Songs Of the South, 12)
*  Civil Wars, "From the Valley"  Mercyland: Hymns For the Rest Of Us  (Mercyland, 12)  D
*  New Ben Franklins, "Miserable"  peter gabriel  (Self, 12)
*  Turnpike Troubadors, "Gin Smoke & Lies"  Goodbye Normal Street  (Bossier City, 12)
*  Tift Merritt, "Diamond Shoes"  Bramble Rose  (Lost Hwy, 02)
*  Jon Dee Graham, "Orphan's Song"  Garage Sale  (Freedom, 12)  D
*  Cory Branan, "Bad Man"  Mutt  (Bloodshot, 12)  D
*  Alejandro Escovedo, "Party People"  Big Station  (Fantasy, 12)
*  Jonell Mosser, "Saint John the Gambler"  Around Townes  (Winter Harvest, 96)
^  John Fullbright, "Gawd Above"  From the Ground Up  (Blue Dirt, 12)  D
*  Mastersons, "Fool"  Birds Fly South  (New West, 12)
*  Kane Welch Kaplin, "To the Harvest Look Ahead (live)"  Live At the Bluebird  (Dead Reckoning, 12)
*  Mosey West, "In Tune"  Merica  (Self, 12)
*  Wood Brothers, "Pay Day (live)"  Live Vol One: Sky High  (Southern Ground, 12)
*  Sara Watkins, "You and Me"  Sun Midnight Sun  (Nonesuch, 12)  D
*  Marvin Etzioni w/Buddy Miller, "Living Like a Hobo"  Marvin Country  (Nine Mile, 12)