Rainbow City Park, in the studio on Listening Lyrics, March 14, 2025

Well, that was a first! In 13 years of hosting Listening Lyrics, I have never—never—forgotten that I had a guest band scheduled. My plan was set, a themed show ready to roll… until I played my first scheduled set. And just like that, everything changed.

Enter Rainbow City Park.

This insanely talented indie-rock/dream pop band from Northern California took the studio by storm. Their sound is a beautiful collision of '90s alt-rock nostalgia and modern indie influences like Phoebe Bridgers, Diiv, and Pinegrove. Hailing from Sacramento, Davis, and San Francisco, they bring a raw, emotional depth to their music that’s impossible to ignore.

Jazz After Dark, March 11, 2025

On tonight's show:

  • Louis Armstrong, What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue
  • Gene Krupa and His Orchestra with Anita O’Day and Roy Eldridge, Let Me Off Uptown
  • Frank Sinatra, Stormy Weather
  • Art Pepper with Sonny Redd, These Foolish Things
  • Ahmad Jamal, Music! Music! Music!
  • James Clay, Pavanne
  • Stuff Smith, They Can't Take That Away from Me
  • Ella Fitzgerald, The Man I Love
  • Ella Fitzgerald, Over the Rainbow
  • Eubie Blake, Spanish Venus
  • Charlie Byrd, Saudade de Bahía
  • Gerry Mulligan, Walking Shoes
  • Cassandra Wilson, O Sole Mio Funk
  • New Orleans' Own the Dukes of Dixieland, Petite Fleur

Divine Intervention – March 7, 2025

On this week's edition of Divine Intervention, hear the latest releases from Califone, Delivery, FACS, The Murder Capital, Prison, Black Viiolet, The Velveteers... two tunes from our Goddess of the Month, Dana Gillespie... a Vinyl Vespers track... Friday at 6 p.m. Pacific on KDRT 95.7 fm | KDRT.org... always streaming via your favorite podcast apps.

Mardi Gras (plus 3)! The Audio Ecotone for March 7, 2025

Laissez les bon temps rouler ... un peu tard! New Orleans's biggest holiday Mardi Gras happened this past Tuesday. And although we are supposed to be in the devotional abstinence of Lent, we're not observant and besides, our Mardi Gras celebration was pre-empted by our interview with Nicole Laurenne (which you should check out if you haven't already). Therefore on this week's Audio Ecotone, we're going to have a "Vendredi Gras" celebration of the music of NOLA, with selections from the Rebirth Brass Band, Irma Thomas, James Booker, Amanda Shaw, Better Than Ezra and a whole, whole lot more. So grab some boudin and beignets and tune in live on Friday at 3:00 pm Pacific Time on KDRT 95.7 in Davis or kdrt.org online. The show replays on Saturday at 6:00 pm and Tuesday at 7:00 am and will be available online for two weeks after broadcast on The Audio Ecotone program page.

The Russ Tolman Goodtime Hour – March 6, 2025

Tonight on The Russ Tolman Goodtime Hour, we're spinning some Gill Landry tunes and chatting with the man himself direct from his rustic abode in the hills near Three Rivers, Calif. Gill is a two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist who got his start busking on the streets of New Orleans and the Pacific Northwest. After immersing himself in American folk music, Gill worked with Nashville's Old Crow Medicine Show from their van-and-trailer days to Grammy wins and induction into the Grand Ole Opry. These day, he's dedicated to his own writing and solo creative pursuits. He'll join Russ Tolman as well as Jon Langford on stage tomorrow in Indio, Calif. Don't miss the fun at 9 p.m. Pacific here on KDRT 95.7 fm | KDRT.org – also available on your favorite podcast apps!

Jazz After Dark, March 4, 2025

On tonight's show:

  • Louis Armstrong Orchestra, Star Dust
  • The Bud Freeman Trio, Three Little Words
  • Louis Armstrong and His All Stars, Long Gone (From the Bowlin' Green)
  • Artie Shaw And His Gramercy, Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
  • Terry Pollard, Emaline
  • Nat King Cole, When I Fall in Love
  • Billy Taylor, Poinciana
  • Hank Mobley, If I Should Lose You
  • John Coltrane, Naima
  • Arnett Cobb, Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise
  • Oscar Peterson, C-Jam Blues
  • Frank Sinatra with Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra Ella Fitzgerald the Lady is a Tramp
  • Joe Henderson, Miles Ahead
  • Wolfgang Haffner, Children of Sanchez

Davisville, March 3, 2025: Yolo nonprofits feel first wallop of Trump spending freeze

The Trump administration is hammering away at the federal government by eliminating jobs, cancelling programs, freezing spending and generally creating confusion. Today on Davisville we look at one part of the fallout in Yolo County -- the effect of the spending freeze on local nonprofits -- by talking with Jessica Hubbard, executive director of the Yolo Community Foundation.

Yolo has about 200 nonprofits, not counting hundreds of small ones like school PTAs or neighborhood associations.

“The biggest thing right now … is uncertainty," she said. Some local nonprofits have been hit by the spending freeze, particularly ones working in the areas of food and the environment, and “a huge number of nonprofits [worry] about the impact of the freeze, or anticipate that those freezes or potential cuts will impact them down the road.”

We talk about reactions, Hubbard's advice for nonprofits and donors, the effect on nonprofit workers and volunteers, giving across the political spectrum, similarities to the turmoil caused by the pandemic, and where all this might be headed. The foundation releases its latest State of the Yolo Nonprofit Sector Report in mid-March.

(Photo shows a storm over Yolo County in winter 2018)