The Latest in Gangsta Rap

This is pretty well done.



(Hat tip to fomer WKCR-FM American Music Director Blythe Sheldon.)

A Minnesota Morning Institution Says Farewell

Set your alarms early because tomorrow morning the long-running Morning Show says farewell with a special live broadcast at the Fitzgerald Theater from 5-9 am Central. For over 25 years, hosts Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole (aka Tom Keith, sound effects man for A Prairie Home Companion) have brought an eclectic mix of folk, musical theater and rock & roll seasoned with some odd skits and jokes to Minnesota Public Radio (first on their classical station and most recently on The Current). Tomorrow's show will include performances by artists who have frequented the MPR studios and the Morning Show playlists, including Greg Brown, Prudence Johnson, Peter Ostroushko, Dan Newton, The Steeles and The Brass Kings. The show is free and open to the public so if you're in the Twin Cities come on down for the party...or tune in online here.

Although Jim Ed is retiring as DJ (don't worry, you'll still get to hear him on Prairie Home, doing bird calls and such!), Dale Connelly will continue to do radio programming for a new online service called Radio Heartland. So stay tuned in!

Postcrypt Flashback

As I continue to do research on Tony Trischka, I came across this Postcrypt schedule from the spring of 1993:

Saturday, May 1

KIM FOREHAND -- She comes all the way from Kansas to play Postcrypt on her way to the Nameless Coffeehouse in Boston. She's recently had a lot of airplay on the World Cafe radio show. Her newest release is entitled "Cinderella's Song."

TONY TRISCHKA -- Postcrypt welcomes back Tony Trischka, an old friend of the Coffeehouse who also played at our 25th Anniversary Benefit Concert in 1989. His latest recording on Rounder Records features solo and joint works with his former student, Bela Fleck. In addition, he has also recorded over 15 other records, both solo and with the bands Skyline and Country Cooking. He is also a highly respected session musician, and has appeared on Mountain Stage, Prairie Home Companion, and TNN. Time Magazine calls Tony an "urban bluegrass whiz," and the Washington Post has written about his "scintillating picking."

THE METROTONES -- Columbia-grown women's a capella at its finest need we say more?

Somewhat of a strange pairing to have Tony Trischka back-to-back with an undergraduate a capella group, but also very cool to think of Tony playing away down in the basement of St. Paul's Chapel on the Postcrypt stage. (Current Postcrypt managers take note?)

Appearing Sunday in New York: Gene Yellin, Bill Christophersen and Mark Farrell

New York fiddler Bill Christophersen just sent out this announcement:

Dear Folks,

Gene Yellin (guitar), Mark Farrell (mandolin) and Bill Christophersen (fiddle), joined by Ethan Kende (bass), invite you to come hear a newly formed ensemble of old friends. The material is mostly old-style bluegrass with a focus on trio singing. The venue, new to the bluegrass and old-time scene, is a comfortable room in McKenna's Pub. There is no cover charge; light fare (hamburgers, chili, etc.) is available. We hope to see you there.

Date: Sunday, December 14
Time: 5pm to 7pm
Place: McKenna's Pub, at 250 W. 14th St, NYC (between 7th & 8th Aves., nearer 8th, south side of steet)
Phone: (212) 255-2889

This trio performed as party of my 10th Anniversary Party back in May, and they put on a great show. I can think of no better way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon than going to see these guys play and -- this is important, too -- supporting a new venue for bluegrass music in New York.

Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular Flashback

At WKCR, we're preparing for a big Tony Trischka tribute that will air early in 2009. As part of my research, I just watched this video from The Late Show with David Letterman from April 2007. Wow! Tony Trischka with Steve Martin and Bela Fleck and Brittany Haas on fiddle and Michael Daves on guitar. It's hot stuff all around!

Playlist: The Moonshine Show - 7 December 2008

This morning's show began with a birthday tribute to Bobby Osborne who turned 77 today. We played three songs from High Windy's new CD. From western North Carolina, they remind me a lot of the Lonesome River Band; all three songs were written by banjo-player Patrick McDougal. A listener named Paul (from Summit, New Jersey) called up to say that he had seen the Seldom Scene play last night -- they are at B.B. King's tonight -- and that he had gone out afterward with Dudley Connell, who talked John Duffy's final performance before he died of a heart attach: the song was "Walk Through This World with Me," so we played that. The listeners ate up Peter Rowan's reggaebilly song -- we got several calls about that one. The Kings County Strings are a new band from Brooklyn who are celebrating the release of their CD on Friday night at Jalopy. (It's also the name of mandolinist Brad Einhorn's instruments store.)

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The Moonshine Show - 89.9 WKCR-FM, NYC
Sunday 7 December 2008 - 10 a.m. to Noon
Host: Matt Winters

[Bobby Osborne b. 7 December 1931]
Bobby Osborne and Jesse McReynolds; "Night Runner"; _Masters of the Mandolin_ (Pinecastle)

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Bobby Osborne and Jesse McReynolds; "7th of December"; _Masters of the Mandolin_

Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; "West Virginia My Home"; _Try a Little Kindness_ (Rounder)

Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; "Color Me Lonely"; _Bluegrass Melodies_ (Rounder)

The Osborne Brothers; "Ruby"; _Hyden_ (Pinecastle)

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High Windy; "Stuck Out in the Rain," "The County Fool," "Dance Around the Daisies"; _A Greater Storm_ (Mountain Home)

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Parmley & McCoury; "I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky"; _Families of Tradition_ (BGC)

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; "Heart of a Little Mountain Girl"; _The Original Band_ (Sugar Hill)

Sammy Shelor; "North Carolina Breakdown"; _Leading Rolls_ (Sugar Hill)

Lonesome River Band; "I'm Coming Back (But I Don't Know When)"; _Carrying the Tradition_ (Rebel)

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John Duffy & The Seldom Scene; "Walk Through This World with Me"; _Always In Style: A Collection_ (Sugar Hill)

Seldom Scene; "Boots of Spanish Leather"; _Scene It All_ (Sugar Hill)

Crooked Still; "Flora"; _Hop High_ (Signature Sounds)

Peter Rowan; "Fetch Wood Carry Water"; _Reggaebilly_ (self-released)

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Hazel Dickens; "Hills of Home"; _It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song_ (Rounder LP)

Kenny & Amanda Smith Band; "Randall Collins"; _Live and Learn_ (Rebel)

Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs; "Pick Along"; _The Three Pickers_ (Rounder)

IIIrd Tyme Out; "Feed Me Jesus"; _Round III at the MAC_ (Chateau Music Group)

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Kings County Strings; "Jealous," "Angeline the Baker"; _Kings County Strings_ (self-released)

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Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass; "Don't Throw Mama's Flowers Away"; _The Room Over Mine_ (Rounder)

Dolly Parton; "Sugar Hill"; _Halos & Horns_ (Sugar Hill)

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Dirk Powell; "Breaking Up Christmas"; _Hand Me Down_ (Rounder)

Bruce Molsky; "John Brown's Dream"; _Soon Be Time_ (Compass)

Walt Koken; "Salt River"; _Finger Lakes Ramble_ (Mudthumper)

Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein; "Sweet Sunny South"; _2:10 Train_ (Rebel)

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Blue Highway; "Where Did the Morning Go?," "V-Bottom Boat"; _Through the Window of a Train_ (Rounder)

Remembering Odetta

Odetta died at the age of 77 yesterday.

From the New York Times obituary:

Bob Dylan, referring to [her first solo album, Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues], said in a 1978 interview, “The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta.” He said he heard something “vital and personal,” and added, “I learned all the songs on that record.” It was her first, and the songs were “Mule Skinner,” “Jack of Diamonds,” “Water Boy,” “ ’Buked and Scorned.”

She performed at Miller Theatre my freshman year of college in a tribute to Paul Robeson that also featured Pete Seeger. As the Artist's Assistant that day, I had the duty and honor of escorting her from the green room to the dressing room at one point. Walking with her through the dank and dim rear corridor, I distinctly noticed that there was something about her presence and stature that brought class and shine to that humble hallway.

One Turntable, Skip the Microphone

There's an article in the New York Times today about records and turntables.

“Dave brought it home, and we dimmed the lights and sat on the couch with a glass of wine, and I felt like we were in a jazz club,” Ms. Walker said. “I could hear the musicians breathing. It felt like I could hear them smoking.”

Now she holds listening parties in her Brooklyn apartment, introducing friends to the rich sound of vinyl. “There is something I like about the process of listening that way,” she said. “Having to listen to it in the order the musicians intended, and turning it over. There is something social about it.”

As is frequently heard in the hallways of WKCR-FM: "Analog wins!"

Playlist: Womenfolk (November 30, 2008)

Yesterday I presented my annual Thanksgiving "Home & Hearth" special, celebrating food, family and the home place. Norah Rendell & Brian Miller also joined us in the studio to play some Irish music and give us a sneak peek of our next Womenfolk concert on December 7th at Gethsemane Church. If you missed the show yesterday or my interview with Jonatha Brooke last week, you can hear either archived show here.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday! -efs.

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WOMENFOLK: Home & Hearth (November 30, 2008)
Hosted by Ellen Stanley.
Fresh Air Community Radio, KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis/106.7 FM St. Paul
Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
*New Releases
**Womenfolk Theme Song


**Kris Delmhorst / Everything Is Music / Strange Conversation / Signature Sounds


*Heidi Talbot / If You Stay / In Love + Light / Compass
Antje Duvekot / Long Way / Little Peppermints / Self
*Catherine MacLellan / The Long Way Home / Church Bell Blues / True North


*Carrie Newcomer / Biscuits and Butter / The Geography of Light / Philo
Beth Amsel / Inman’s Lament / The Reverie / Good Egg Music


[Womenfolk Find - Featured Artist of the Month]
*Emily Kurn / Way Back Home / I’m Just Like You / Self
*Ellis / Words You Said / Break the Spell / Rubberneck Records
*Meg Hutchinson / Home / Red House 25: A Silver Anniversary Retrospective / Red House


*Lucy Kaplansky / Somebody’s Home / Red House 25: A Silver Anniversary Retrospective / Red House
*Red Molly / Wichita / Love and Other Tragedies / Self
*The Sacred Shakers / Ready to Go Home / The Sacred Shakers / Signature Sounds


Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum / Wintergrace / Winter’s Grace / Signature Sounds


[Behind Twin Cities Women’s Calendar]
Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum / Cold Frosty Morning / Winter’s Grace / Signature Sounds


*Crooked Still / Tell Her to Come Back Home / Still Crooked / Signature Sounds


[Live in the Studio: Norah Rendell & Brian Miller]
Norah Rendell & Brian Miller / Light in the Window
Norah Rendell & Brian Miller / Letty Lee
Norah Rendell & Brian Miller / Rainy Day/The Group of Perches/London Lasses


Judith Edelman / Blood Reunion / Drama Queen / Compass
Karen Mueller / Shortening Bread / Clarity / Self

Another Night in the Round at the Postcrypt

The e-mail reached my inbox on a Friday, so when the phone rang at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, and it was my parents’ phone number, I knew why my father was calling. I said, “Yes, Dad, I’m going to the Postcrypt to see Jack tonight.” My father said, “All right,” and he rolled into town that evening, meeting me at Havana Central (formerly the West End Gate) for a pre-Postcrypt beverage.

Over at the Postcrypt, Jack Hardy and Tim Robinson were tuning up backstage. (See the setlist here from Tim Robinson’s appearance with Suzanne Vega and Richard Julian at the Postcrypt back in the spring.) The third performer for the night was Chris Fuller, another attendee of the Songwriter’s Circle, which is held in Jack's apartment on Monday nights. I was not familiar with his work, and by the end of the show, one of my companions assessed him in the following terms: “He has so many neuroses that he makes me feel normal.” His songs borrowed a little bit of Jack’s lyrical style but added in a touch of hallucinogenic drugs and some bubbling id -- they were intriguing, if not always completely comprehensible, concoctions.

The three had established themselves on the stage, and with no one taking the lead in introductions, my father suggested that I do it. So inspired by the concoctions available at Havana Central, I did, which was a rather fun flashback to the late 1990s.

During the first set, Jack played new material, starting the entire show off with a song about a cowboy friend of his named Rainer: “How could you not be a cowboy with a name like that?” Lamenting the upcoming departure of his greatest muse of late -- George W. Bush -- the source of one Jack Hardy song after another for the past eight years, he sang an inspirational (and serious) song for the incoming Obama administration: “If There Ever Was a Time.” Still he couldn’t help himself from ending the first set with “Worst President Ever.” In between, he played a cool song about memories with the repeated line “Brother, can you spare a dime for the crime of the century?” and a song called “Kansas.”

My first introduction to Chris Fuller was his response to Jack’s cowboy song opening: “This is a country song, too, but with no cowboys in it, and no Western themes, in fact. … When I’m hard up for a song, I consult the Encyclopedia of Mythology. This is a song about the centaur. … It’s about the roots of Western civilization!." “Another Fine Mess” sounded the most like a Jack Hardy song of Chris’s repertoire, which was amusing since he noted, “The Mr. Hardy in the song is not the same Mr. Hardy as on stage, although there are some grounds for comparison.” His most memorable song of the night was "Red," a phantasmagoric song with the repeated lyric “In the bloody mess of childbirth, / Your life gets painted red.” The song opens

Down at the corner
Of Psycho Path and Rue De Wakening
Johnny’s fryin‘ eggs on the sidewalk,
Scramblin’ all over the street.

Tim Robinson delivered a number of good tunes in the opening set. He started with his great “Orelia's Kiss,” followed it with “Tommy and Claire,” a song about two hippies in 1972, gave us a nice one called “No Place Wild But the Heart” and wrapped up with the terrific “Between the Moon and the Sun.” In the second set, he would play "Black Car," "Out on the Edge" and a brand new one called “Girl on a Train.”

Chris Fuller started the second set with a scary “song about Halloween that takes place on Christmas” called “Magic Lantern.” And Tim followed it with “Boho,” about Beatniks gone awry. Jack had been handed a number of requests during the setbreak, and he pulled out “Johnny’s Gone for a Soldier in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Wars,” inspired by his opening on a tour for Mitch Ryder, doing 29 gigs in 31 days, playing in front of “leather-jacketed types who wished they lived in Detroit” and becoming terribly sick at the mere mention of “Devil with the Blue Dress On.”

When Chris started the next round with “Colfax Avenue,” Jack gave us the history lesson that Colfax was President Ulysses S. Grant’s vice-president, but Chris said that the song was about the street in Denver, not the one in South Bend, Indiana, and that somehow settled that.

“This being a well-read, educated crowd, I’m going to guess that most of you are fans of Mexican wrestling!” That was Chris’s introduction to “Red Nomad of the Highlands.” “I’d like to introduce my pregnant wife. … I have CD’s for sale!” That was his conclusion.

Jack had the next zinger of an introduction: “I wrote this 10 years ago; I didn’t know that I was writing a campaign song for Sarah Palin,” he said before launching into the classic “I Oughta Know.” Jack also played “The Zephyr,” one of my all-time favorites, and one that I have entreated him to play at the Postcrypt in the past.

From Chris, someone requested “Get a Room,” a tune filled with lists of couples who should do so: “Church and state – get a room!”

As the show wound to a close, we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Jack -- the party was at his apartment after his show, although my father and I bowed out. (“You guys used to know how to party,” he chided us.) On the verge of turning another year, Jack closed the Postcrypt portion of the festivities with a new song: “Climb Up the Hill to the Capitol.”