Blogs

Our Artist of the Week is Amanda Shires! We'll play three tracks from her newest vinyl, Down Fell The Doves (2013). Amanda is a singer-songwriter who grew up in Lubbock and Mineral Wells, Texas. She's a violinist and also plays the ukulele. Amanda first picked up the violin when she was 10 and got her start in music as a 15 year old playing fiddle for the Texas Playboys. Down Fell The Doves is her fourth solo album and displays her steady growth as a singer and songwriter. She has also collaborated on albums and toured with her husband, Jason Isbell, as well as Justin Townes Earle, Todd Snider, Hayes Carll, and Rod Picott. Among her influences she claims Leonard Cohen for his poetic songwriting. She even wrote a tribute song for him on Down Fell The Doves and discussed the song and his influence on her during a short interview with All Things Considered  (http://www.npr.org/2013/08/04/207951179/violinist-amanda-shires-picks-up-the-pieces).

An hour of great live jazz performances

KDRT is thrilled to have Dirk Hamilton share his talent and stories with us. This show will also be televised at a later date. Dirk Hamilton is such a prototypical singer-songwriter-guitar player, someone ought to make a movie about him — and in fact Dirk does appear front and center in the upcoming documentary Folk, which examines how three artists at dramatically different stages of their career work to reach an audience. Dirk is well cast as the seasoned vet. He’s just released his 17th album, solo mono, which recordnet.com describes as "raw and real," "inventive," and "delicately nuanced," with "a bluesy, contemplative feel." He’s bringing his guitar and harmonica to the Freight to play songs from the new album and from his thirty-five years in the music business.

The first time I heard her perform--actually the first few moments I heard her--I knew I wanted her on the show. That was a few months ago, now we all get to hear her perform live in the studio and get to know Lisa. Lisa was born and raised in South Carolina and lived a short time in Indiana.  She was classically trained on the piano and started writing songs at age 11.  When she is not playing music, she can be found conducting experiments on infants in the UD Davis Center for Mind and Brain or working on her psychology-story-telling podcast, An InExact Science. 

LIVE IN THE LOAM is not only proud but thrilled to have Jeni and Billy join us in the studio. Anyone who’s seen Appalachian duo Jeni & Billy live will have been holding their breath for this album. You will be delighted they have released this live collection of their “hits,” complete with Jeni Hankins’ riveting and delightful explanations behind each song. Each and every story will make you laugh or cry, whether it’s the tale of the grave of her moonshining great-grandpa or her Uncle Roy Lee’s beloved pink car. The way she describes cedar trees swaying in the breeze or a young child’s innocence in the face of adult alcoholism is almost as pleasing as listening to her bell-like vocals and Billy Kemp’s deft plucking. This is a lovely album for anyone who yearns for authenticity in their music. – Hazel Davis, Maverick Magazine, 2013

See JENI & BILLY's bio here http://jeniandbilly.com/bio/

The Dead Wax Artist of the Week is Mississippi John Hurt (1892-1966). We're going back to his final album, Today!, from 1966. We'll play three tracks from a vintage Vanguard pressing, including Spike Driver's Blues. John Smith Hurt grew up in Avalon, Mississippi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_John_Hurt). He was a share cropper and a farmer for most of his life, although he had a short, three record recording career in 1928. While these albums had little commercial success, they drew the attention of producer Tom Hoskins in 1966. Tom tracked John Hurt down using the lyrics in the song Avalon Blues, which references Avalon, Mississippi. Tom found John there and convinced him to move to Washington D.C. and record a few albums for the Library of Congress. These recordings were then produced by Vanguard and set John Hurt up with coffee house and small concert gigs, including a well received performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZLwd6ymZv8; John Hurt starts at 2:20 on the video).

Crossing jazz genres tonight: big band  --  hard bop  --  west coast cool  --  jazz funk  --  latin jazz  --  and wherever you want to categorize Oscar Peterson. And a ballad by Ella. It's all jazz! Duke Ellington And His Orchestra  *  Sonny Clark  *  Gerry Mulligan  *  Oscar Peterson Trio  *  George Benson  *  Ella Fitzgerald & Joe Pass  *  Tito Puente  *  Art Farmer  *  Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers  *  Charlie Byrd And The Washington Guitar Quintet

Celebrate KDRT's 10th anniversary UNDER THE COVERS--a night of cold craft beer and local cover bands Wealth of Nations (Grateful Dead), Sorta Like Heaven (Cure), and Cold Shot. The festivities take place at the Sudwerk's Dock Store on Thursday, October 23rd, starting at 5:30 pm. Come in costume or at least your PJs and receive an extra raffle ticket for the November 9th Sylvan Esso show presented by the Davis Music Collective. Supporting community radio really can be a blast! $5 cover, all ages.

We all know Parliament as George Clinton’s funky band that gave us “Up for the Down Stroke," “Chocolate City,” and “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker," but Osmium didn’t sound so much like those songs…nope. There’s rock, soul, gospel, country (with yodeling--no kidding!), and even a track with bagpipes on it--and screaming guitar from a guy named Eddie Hazel…yeah, things was real strange in 1970. And it was the last time that the P-Funkateers recorded as Parliament til 1974.  You gotta hear this one to believe it. 

Your host this week is Doug Deep.

Join in this Friday as Dr. Andy visits KDRT and Listening Lyrics. The topic is poetry in today's popular music culture. 

Education:   Ph.D., University of California, Davis (1996),  M.A., University of California, Davis (1992),  B.A., Boston University (1989)

Biography:

Andy Jones has taught for the English Department and the University Writing Program since 1990. Originally trained as a poet and interpreter of poetry, Andy has taught classes at UC Davis on TS Eliot, the Poetry of the Beat Generation, and Close Reading of Poetry, as well as the Advanced Poetry Writing Workshop. As a Lecturer in the University Writing Program, Andy enjoys teaching pre-professional writing classes, and counts among his favorites Writing in Fine Arts, Writing in the Professions: Elementary and Secondary Education, which he has taught once or twice a year since 1996, and UWP 104C: Journalism. Andy was named “Educator of the Year” by the Associated Students of UC Davis in 2006.