Eddy Owt's blog

Seattle’s all-female garage rock powerhouse The Darts join Eddy Owt in the KDRT studio on The Audio Ecotone prior to the organ flipping, drum smashing, guitar crunching kickoff to their U.S. tour at the Starlet Room in Sacramento on Friday, May 1. In preparation, Eddy has made sure that the studio console is bolted down and all breakables are covered with multiple layers of bubblewrap! Listen live Friday, May 1 at 3 p.m. Pacific on KDRT 95.7 FM and online at KDRT.org. 

The image shows The Darts in Montaigu, France. Photo: Angie's Eye

Jess Stoll and Connor Herdt from local favorites Boot Juice join Eddy Owt on the The Audio Ecotone to discuss the band's whitewater origins, the evolution of their sound, their new album Keeping Out of the Ground, and their upcoming tour, including shows at the Starlet Room in Sacramento on April 17 and the Davis Music Fest in June. Tune in Friday, 3-4 p.m. Pacific, to hear the show live on KDRT 95.7 FM and KDRT.org. Listen online anytime over the next two weeks!

The March 27 edition of the Audio Ecotone will get you ready for this weekend's rallies with musical inspiration from the Staples Singers, Nina Simone, CAKE, Michelle Gurevich, Nina Hagen, Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, and more! Listen live Friday, 3-4 p.m. Pacific, on 95.7FM / kdrt.org – or download the recording to your favorite podcast app and take it along with you! No Kings in the USA!

In case you missed it: The Darts' Nicole Laurenne, aka Black Viiolet, joined Eddy Owt on the Audio Ecotone for some Boxing Day fun, spinning tunes, chatting about music, and spreading some winter joy. Stream the show on demand now via kdrt.org!

Boxing Day. The Day After Christmas. Maybe you're exhausted from the raucousness of Christmas Day. Maybe you're still shell-shocked from the last-minute holiday shopping. Maybe you're bummed that you have to trudge back to work or that Santa failed once again to bring what you wished for. (Aw, socks again?!?)

Never fear, as The Audio Ecotone has the perfect elixir for those post-holiday doldrums with a LIVE in-studio visit from the incomparable Ms. Black Viiolet and Darts (U.S.) herself -- Nicole Laurenne! Nicole will join Eddy Owt in the DJ booth to spin a playlist of tunes specially curated by Nicole, chat about their influence on her musical development, about her recent tours and recording plans, and whatever other hijinks come up during the hour.

Tim Foster (pictured) is an icon of the Sacramento cultural scene. As the kinetic frontman of bands such as Th' Losin Streaks and the Troublemakers, he's brought high-energy, '60s-infused garage rock to small dive bars and big festival stages across the U.S., Europe and soon Japan. In addition, he is a fixture in the Sacramento journalistic scene as the executive director of Capitol Weekly, the Politico (but better) for California government. He was also the co-founder of the late Midtown Monthly, an important chronicle of the Sacramento art and music scene in the early 2000s. And he's a collector of obscure vintage vinyl, vintage guitars and vintage cars.

Listen in as Tim joins Eddy Owt to discuss those things, spin some records, and whatever else comes up during a LIVE in-studio interview on The Audio Ecotone, Friday from 3-4 p.m. on KDRT 95.7FM and kdrt.org.

This past Wednesday was National Radio Day, the annual celebration of radio broadcasting. The date commemorates the first daily broadcast by the station 8MK in Detroit. Set up in the Detroit News building and operating under an amateur radio license, 8MK's daily "Detroit News Radiophone" broadcast news interspersed with music from phonograph records. Early broadcasts also included updates of the Jack Dempsey/Billy Miske heavyweight boxing match and play-by-play updates of the 1920 World Series. 8MK eventually received a commerical license with the call letters WBL and then WWJ, under which it broadcasts to this day.

On this week's Audio Ecotone, we celebrate our favorite broadcast medium with selections from Joy Division, The Blasters, Steve Early, the Southern Mountain Boys, Raphael Saadiq and more! Tune in live Friday @ 3 p.m. Pacific on 95.7 FM in Davis or kdrt.org online. Replays on Saturdays 6-7 p.m. and Tuesdays 7-8 a.m.

On June 28, 1846, Belgian musician and inventor Adophe Sax was granted a patent for his new instrument called the saxophone. The horn was designed to project as well as a brass instrument, while retaining the harmonic feeling of a woodwind. While the horn gained some adoption in the military, ragtime and vaudville bands, it wasn't until the 1920s jazz boom that the foundation for the sax's place in popular music was established.

On the eve of the 179th anniversary of Sax's patent, The Audio Ecotone celebrates the saxophone with a wide-ranging selection of music from Charlie Parker, Albert Ayler, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Moon Hooch and a whole host of others. 

(Sorry, no Yakety Sax on the playlist.)

Listen live at 3 p.m. Friday on 95.7 FM in Davis or kdrt.org. The show repeats Saturday at 6 p.m. and Tuesday at 7 a.m. 

Photo shows bandleader Harry Gold playing a contrabass saxophone. (Photo: Dr. Neil Clifton / The biggest saxophone in the world )

The KDRT Spring FUNdraiser week continues on Friday with a special expanded edition of The Audio Ecotone. Special guest Tommy Dunbar, co-founder and guitarist of Bay Area power pop icons The Rubinoos, joins me LIVE in the studio to spin tunes and tell tales. Because one hour can't begin to hold this explosion of content, this week's show will expand to 90 minutes, starting at 2:30 p.m.!

If you appreciate this kind of unique programming that the volunteers at our little community radio station bring to you every week, we hope that you will support us during our Spring FUNdraiser by clicking on the Support tab at the top of the page and donating to the station. If you donate this week, we also have some wonderful thank-you gifts, including the KDRT 20th anniversary logo totes and t-shirts and our new KDRT logo hats. We thank you for your support!

At 2:01 a.m. Pacific Time on March 20, the sun crossed the plane of the equator, marking the vernal equinox and the start of spring! Across the centuries and cultures, the vernal equinox and coming of spring has not only had practical meaning (time to start sowing seeds, coming of hay fever season, etc.), but has also naturally been imbued with including meaning and symbolism -- Rebirth, Rejuvenation, Renewal, Love, Youth and the Passing of Darkness. Couldn't we all use a little bit of that right now?

On today's Audio Ecotone, we will celebrate those themes and the coming of spring with music old and new from Elvis Presley, The Flaming Lips, Blossom Dearie, Cibo Matto, Caroline Polarchek and a few other surprises. Listen live at 3 p.m. Pacific on KDRT 95.7 FM in Davis or online at kdrt.org. The show will replay Saturday 3/22 at 6 p.m. and Tuesday 3/25 at 7 a.m.

You can leave your thoughts on the show or follow me: @eddy-owt.bsky.social.

Photo, by N. Kapellas, shows silver bush lupine, Grassland Garden at Ninos Parkway, Natomas