The Folk Brothers for Dec. 8, 2021: Remembering Bill Staines

Bill Staines wrote choruses that people wanted to sing. Many of us remember his annual visits to a certain old barn in South Davis, where we sat and sang along to his songs like "Roseville Fair," "River," "Crossing The Water" and "A Place In The Choir." After 22 albums and a half-century of touring across this country from his native New Hampshire home, Bill Staines passed away on Dec. 5 at the age of 74.

Also on today's show: tracks from Jackie Oates, Dave Curley, Seth Lakeman, Foghorn Stringband, I See Hawks In LA. And lots of Bill Staines!

'Creativity Runs in our Roots' is KDRT's on-air fundraising theme Dec. 5- 11

Our volunteer programmers are looking forward to a special week of programming Dec. 5 to 11 during our annual fall on-air fundraising.

This year's theme, "Creativity Runs in our Roots," is particularly appropriate because we've worked hard to discover new ways to support the vibrancy of our community radio station. Whether producing shows from home, or adjusting to new safety protocols and schedules while using the KDRT studio, our intrepid group of more than 30 DJs have kept the grassroots spirit alive this year! We invite you to support these efforts today.

The Folk Brothers for Dec. 1, 2021: Get Back!

Well we didn't actually play any Beatles tunes, but we did spend a lot of time (both on- and off-mic) chatting about Peter Jackson's amazing new documentary, The Beatles: Get Back. And we did "get back" to the business of bringing you great tracks from Reg Meuross, Chatham Rabbits, Greensky Bluegrass, Kristi Flagg, Martin Hayes/Dennis Cahill, and ISHILA. And Brother Bill went down the proverbial rabbit hole while he explored young banjo phenom Nora Brown's musical touchstones.

Jazz After Dark November 30 2021

Tonight on Jazz After Dark: Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra with Harry James, all from 1938-9. Then Phineas Newborn Jr. and the All Stars, some soul jazz from The Jimmy Giuffre 3. Horace Silver, Art Pepper & George Cables, Dave Turner with Guido Basso, Stanley Jordan, Buddy DeFranco with Terry Gibbs, and The Duke Robillard Jazz Trio.

Grassroots gratitude for KDRT on Giving Tuesday

Today we join with organizations in more than 75 countries to "unleash generosity" via Giving Tuesday donations for the nonprofit community.

It's taken a special kind of dedication from our KDRT volunteer programmers this past year to continue to create new shows to share, often from their homes, instead of from the inspiring, fun atmosphere of the KDRT studio. We've all felt that it's been especially important to keep the feeling of community connection going through the 24/7 programming at KDRT. 

We look forward to a time when the studio is filled again with live music and conversation from visiting musicians and local guests. 

Please consider a donation today to help support these efforts into the future.

Davisville, Nov. 29, 2021: California is redrawing its legislative districts; here's how it looked last time around

Today's program re-broadcasts a March 2011 Davisville interview with Stan Forbes, a former Davis City Council member who was one of 14 members of the first California Citizens Redistricting Commission a decade ago. Every 10 years, following the U.S. Census, the commission redraws the boundaries of the state's congressional, state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts to reflect the state's changing population and "create districts of relatively equal population that will provide fair representation for all Californians."

This fall, the 2021 version of the commission is presenting its draft maps for the 2020s, and is collecting comments for about another month. This interview from 2011 presents the roots of this effort to reduce gerrymandering and put more power in the hands of California's voters.