Blogs

Featuring the music of Porgy & Bess tonight! An encore presentation. George Gershwin’s great jazz/folk opera was a commercial failure at the time, but it lived on and became an American classic spawning several jazz standards, including I Got Plenty of Nothin’, It Ain’t Necessarily So, and Summertime. Tonight we feature those and more, by: Budd Johnson, Bill Pemberton, Oliver Jackson & Earl "Fatha" Hines * Aretha Franklin * Billie Holiday * Ray Charles * Mundell Lowe And His All Stars * Ella Fitzgerald & Russell Garcia * Richard Twardzik & Russ Freeman * Bernt Rosengren * Peggy Lee * Ahmad Jamal * Louis Armstrong & Russell Garcia * Rahsaan Roland Kirk * Jim Hall & Pat Metheny

That's correct: For our last show of 2015, it's all about bagpipes as local bagpipe celebrity Cameron Scott brings his talent to the studio. As a young lad, Cameron took up the bagpipes and even spent some time with a bagpipe band in Scotland. That band won third position in the world during the yearly championships. On top of that, Cameron is an awesome person with a great radio voice. I have been looking forward to this all year. Join us for another great hour!

All Listening Lyric shows are live on Fridays from 4:00PM to 5:00PM.(PST) on KDRT 95.7FM. For those outside the listening area, the show streams live online at KDRT.org . It will also be available for replays in the show archives or as an podcast on iTunes under LISTENING LYRICS.

Like Listening Lyrics on Facebook

With their 2004 beast, the aptly titled Leviathan, Mastodon finally find their niche as a thinking man's metal band. Blending Voivod's neuro-thrash, Therion's majestic gloom, Morbid Angel's spirit of restless and morphing liquid black melody, and EyeHateGod's Southern rock gone awry, Leviathan is nothing short of supernatural. Evincing a decade's worth of maturity gained in just two short years, Mastodon have authored a bombastic modern interpretation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, the classic metaphor for mortality's eternal (and unwinnable) struggle with divine injustice.

The Joy of Living is a new 2-CD tribute album celebrating the centenary of Ewan MacColl's birth.  MacColl – born Jimmy Miller in Salford, England – was an actor, playwright, social activist, musician, and controversial figure at the heart of the British folk revival in the 1950s and 60s. Joy of Living – produced by his sons Neill and Calum – celebrates MacColl the songwriter. Although best known for the love song “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as recorded by Roberta Flack, MacColl also wrote many songs about the less-heralded members of British society: fishermen, miners, and travelling people. There are excellent tracks contributed by U.K. folk stalwarts and MacColl contemporaries including Dick Gaughan, Martin Carthy, Paul Brady, and Norma Waterson. For those in the U.S., this album also serves as introduction to luminaries of the contemporary British folk scene – Eliza Carthy, Seth Lakeman, Karine Polwart, and The Unthanks. Tune in to KDRT as The Folk Brothers feature The Joy of Living on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 10 AM.

Pray for Rain is indie dream-pop group Pure Bathing Culture's second LP, following their 2013 debut album, Moon Tides. Pray for Rain is full of danceable beats and shimmering, rythymic guitars, which--combined with lead singer Sarah Versprille's dreamy and lofty vocals--creates a trancelike, even hypnotic sonic atmosphere. The album sounds consistently upbeat and rarely ventures far from its dream-pop structure, but its lyrics on tracks like "The Tower" and "Darling, Save Us" are thematically hefty, contemplating mortality and the fleeting nature of life. Other standout songs include title track "Pray for Rain," probably the most energetic track sung nearly entirely with rhetorical questions, and the thoughtful and laid back "In the Night, In the Peaceful Night," an excellent ending to a fine album. Pray for Rain is perfect for dream-pop fans--it's an enjoyable, relaxing, blissful album that will help you unwind from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Andrew Castro will perform at Armadillo Music on Friday, December 11th, at 6:30 p.m. The KDRT crew will be on hand to interview Andrew and broadcast his appearance. Andrew's new EP Red Hearts released on December 4th and broke the Top 100 in sales nationally on iTunes. A talented, passionate, and prolific performer, Andrew is sure to entertain both the in-house and radio audience. This performance is free and open to all ages in conjunction with the Downtown Davis 2nd Friday ArtAbout.