Karen Leyse's blog

It's no secret that for many years KDRT's own Bill Wagman invited musicians from both sides of the Atlantic to give intimate concerts in his living room. They were special evenings. Today on In the Key of Folk at 2 p.m. we are playing a selection of the artists that filled Bill's home with music. You'll hearJamie Laval, Jez Lowe, Dana and Susan Robinson, Jim and Susie Malcolm, Ernest Troost, Anya Hinkle, and others. Find a comfortable chair, sit back, and join us at KDRT 95.7 fm | KDRT.org.

Your In the Key of Folk hostess, Karen Leyse, has spent the last week travelling to Idaho and back, so this week I bring you selections from my laptop files.

The hour will include a new release by The Rheingans Sisters, and music by Robert Earl Keen, Eliza Gilkyson, the Tim O'Brien Band, Scottish singer Emily Smith, the Berkeley-based band, Erica and Friends; and more, including the recent Väsen & Hawktail release. It's mostly relaxing music today, so get a cuppa and enjoy. Join us at 95.7 FM or online at KDRT.org

Today on In the Key of Folk we be playing a couple of new releases: by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and also by James Kelaghan, not to mention a set of pieces featuring the Hardanger d'amore from Scandinavia and the US, two of which are recent albums. We'll also enjoy an old flashback to Way Out West, along with songs by Robert Earl Keen Jr., Karine Polwart, and Patty Griffin; something from the Trio II album by Harris, Ronstadt & Parton; and  an instrumental by Galen Fraser. Spend the 2 o'clock hour this afternoon with us and check it out at KDRT.org.

This afternoon on In the Key of Folk, we'll be covering singers from the British folk scene of the 1960s and beyond, and then finishing the hour with a few selections from more recent years.

Selections run from Anne Briggs , Dick Gaughan, Fairport Convention, Silly Sisters and June Tabor through Jim Moray and Eliza Carthy. Tune in from 2 to 3 p.m. today (Sept. 18) on KDRT.org. See you then!

Tune in at 2 p.m. today to listen to In the Key of Folk. We'll start off with a topical song by Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart, followed by music featuring Sarah Jarosz, Rita Hosking, Richard Thompson, Tom Rozum, Steve Tilston and Maggie Boyle, Wild Asparagus, Patty Griffin and more. We'll also play a set by the dynamic Spanish-Celtic-American group, Atlantic Folk Trio, with Galen Fraser, Maria San Miguel, and Jésus Enrique Cuaddrado, so join us on your FM radio at 95.7 if you are local, and if you are farther from Davis, listen now or later at KDRT.org. Hope to see you then!

This afternoon at 2 p.m., In the Key of Folk will be featuring fiddlers from Celtic, Spanish, and Scandinavian genres in conjunction with performances here in Sacramento this week.  We'll feature a couple of pieces from the recent first album, Dots of Light, by San Miguel Fraser, a duo from Valladolid, Spain, comprised of Galen Fraser and his wife, Maria San Miguel, who will be performing in Sacramento this Friday. They'll be followed by a series of pieces featuring sisters Natalie and Brittany Haas, and Swedish fiddler Lena Jonsson, who gave a great show at the Sofia on Labor Day. Your hostess Karen will also be featuring pieces by the members of The Figments, a band that is a subset of the unique and marvellous contra dance band, Elixir.

This afternoon at 2PM, on In the Key of Folk, we have a variety of songs related to the upcoming holiday, Labor Day. The songs variously touch on the subjects of migration, jobs, settlement of the country, and the workers' sacrifices. Selections are by musicians including Tim O'Brian, Dick Gaughan, Woody Guthrie, Lady Maisery, Nanci Griffith, Los Cenzontles, Jez Lowe, Gordon Lightfoot, and the Harris-Parton-Ronstadt trio.  Again, tune in at 2PM Wednesday on KDRT.org I hope that you'll join us.

This afternoon on In the Key of Folk, we'll start off with a set of pieces by contra dance musicians past and present. Then we'll move into more contemporary singer songwriters for a bit, and end with a variety of music from the Galicia and Asturias, the Celtic areas of Spain. 

Planned music includes Jamie Laval and Ashley Broder (Hoyer), Nightingale, Stringrays, San Miguel Fraser, Chatham County Line, John Gorka, Roseanne Cash, Faltriqueira, Riobó, Felpeyu, and Scotland's Tannahill Weavers. Come join us for an hour this afternoon,  2 p.m. Wednesday on KDRT.org.

This afternoon the 2 p.m. program, In the Key of Folk, includes music by Aoife O'Donovan and Hawktail, Anna Tivel, One for the Foxes, The Crannua Collective, Karan Casey, Amber Cross, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, Shawn Hess, I See Hawks in La, and former and current contra dance musicians Jamie Lavall, and The Figments. Come join in for a melodic afternoon of traditional and "new traditional" folk, some waltzes, and contemporary singer-songwriter offerings.