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Gordon is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter based out of Oakland, California. Starting with the Scottish fiddle at the age of 4, his passion for music has grown to encompass a wide variety of styles. On the violin, this has included jazz, folk, celtic, bluegrass, r&b and reggae. As a vocalist, he has done everything from shape-note singing to opera to beatboxing. Among other credits, he was introduced to choral music by the legendary Chanticleer, briefly competed in a barbershop quartet, and directed a pop acappella group at UC Davis. In college, his tastes as a dance facilitator and budding producer lead him to house music, electroswing, and glitch hop. Gordon's current projects aim to bring together these diverse influences – his sounds have been described as "gospel folk" and "post apocalyptic railroad blues." As a musician, producer and performer, Gordon hopes to unite people of all backgrounds and make them dance. You can follow him online at soundcloud.com/buskproject

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 will stream 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.    Listening lyrics on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

AotW this week is Push the Sky Away (2013), Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' first new recorded material in five years’ time. Cave spent those five years on projects unrelated to the Bad Seeds, including soundtracks, screenplays, and his musical side project Grinderman. Sky is a fairly quiet album for Nick and the Seeds, featuring misty tableaus and twisted love stories. The arrangements are subtle, wonderfully orchestrated, and well-suited to the material. In the end, it’s Nick Cave’s vocals that carry the day--equally tender and forceful, quite and dark...always a bit threatening. 

The Blessing and the Curse is Lance Canales' sophmore solo LP, his first studio album since These Hands, which was released all the way back in 2008. Canales brings all the bluesy, down-to-earth Americana sound one could ask for on the album, armed mostly with a simple yet well-utilized acoustic guitar and a deep, rusty voice that makes other Americana singers sound angelic by comparison. The themes on the album are very remeniscent of southwestern pioneer life, most notably on songs like the uptempo lead track "California or Bust," "The Farmer," and "Deportee," a song about a Mexican immigrants in America. Thematically, the album gets very dark at times--especially on "Death Got No Mercy," which is as depressing and downtrodden as it sounds--but ends on an energetic high note with the electrifying "Stomp it Out." Overall, this album is very good if not particularly ubpeat--a solid Americana album that uses strong lyrical imagery to get its ideas across about the troubles of life in the American West.

Everything goes better with gravy. We at KDRT and Listening Lyrics are thrilled to get these 3 very talented musicians in the studio. "Gravy Nation is creating a stir in the Northern California underground rock scene. Local artist Christopher Hunt is the mastermind behind this rock trio along with Ryan Shickman on guitar and Billy Thompson on drums. The music is a delicious mix of sound that combines 90s guitar-driven rock with 60s pop sensibility. Gravy Nation is a product of Davis, California, a town that runs through their art and their blood." Visit and listen to GRAVY NATION here https://gravynation.bandcamp.com/releases. Getting into the GRAVY? Check out their music video here produced by Davis Media Access Kids Camp graduates Alec Lesnick and his brother Ed!

Adele's 25 is a bit of a phenomenon. You can't stream it in it's entirety and you may never be able to... we shall see. Released on November 20, Rolling Stone named the album #2 on its top 50 albums of 2015. It is the fastest selling record in the history of the world with 3.38 million copies sold in its first week. There are eleven tracks on this album and a mind-blowing ten different producers, including Danger Mouse and the Smeezingtons. Critics seem to like it, even though they also throw in great turns of phrase such as Pitchfork's Amanda Petrusich who gives the album an impressive 7.3/10 yet says "Still: the cumulative effect is sometimes as treacly as the heavily frosted sheet cake being slid onto the buffet table in the carpeted banquet hall where this song will be blasting, on a loop, for all of eternity. Even your most adorable aunt—the one who loves a Yankee Candle—will eventually drain her flute of sparkling wine, lean forward, and be like, 'Dog, this s**t is corny.'"

And I hate this album.

Featuring the music of Miss Peggy Lee tonight. Songs composed by her, performed by others, and some of her classic performances as well. The Mills Brothers * Ella Fitzgerald * Gerry Mulligan * Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass * Stan Getz * Diana Krall & Stanley Turrentine * Count Basie & Joe Williams * Dianne Reeves * Kim Hoorweg & The Houdinis * Peggy Lee * Keith Jarrett

A new band in town is not especially newsworthy, but then this is no ordinary band. QuidZin out of Woodland, CA, has created a unique sound, and that does make it newsworthy. Just for that reason I have the pleasure of hosting them on Listening Lyrics this Friday 1/22. Members are Jim Hillard (brass), Randy Berka (bass), and Naomi Rogers-Hefley (fiddle). Their genre is a mix of jazz, Irish folk, and rock. Listen in as we explore their sound.

Dug Deep hosts singer-songwriter Bob Woodruff for KDRT's Live in the Loam on Friday, January 22nd, at 2:30 pm PT. Originally a member of the country-rock band The Fields, Bob has since released four studio albums as a solo artist: 1994's Dreams & Saturday Nights, 1997's Desire Road, 2011's The Lost Kerosene Tapes 1999, and the upcoming The Year We Tried to Kill the Pain.  His songs are anachronistic yet accessible, melodic yet gritty, intimate yet universal.