Davisville, Dec. 5, 2022: Yiyun Li, a writer of growing acclaim, once taught at UC Davis (first aired in 2015)

Yiyun Li’s reputation as a writer continues to rise. Her books have earned her several major awards and have taken her to Princeton, where she teaches and serves as director of its creative writing program. In spring 2015, when she was teaching writing at UC Davis, she appeared on Davisville to talk about her work and the short story “A Sheltered Woman” that had won her what was then her latest award. Today we replay that interview from May 18, 2015.

Bapu Vaitla guest hosts show about community and radio, on Listening Lyrics, Dec. 2, 2022

Davis City Councilmember-elect Bapu Vaitla hosts this special edition of Listening Lyrics. Community radio has an important role in providing the music and comments that are the fabric of what makes a community thrive. He discusses this topic with guest Pieter Pastoor, the show's usual host, in between music that reflects their thoughts.

Music, discussions and the love of community make this hour a special treat. Listen over the air, via streaming on kdrt.org, or on most podcast apps under the name Listening Lyrics.

The Folk Brothers for Nov. 30, 2022: Folk fun(d) raising

It's that time of year again, and The Folk Brothers were happy to pitch in with the KDRT Fall Fundraiser. Brother Bill discoursed on Grail Marcus' theory regarding Bob Dylan's "Ain't Talkin'," which involves early Fairport Convention and Blind Willie Johnson. And we managed to play some good music between our pleas to support community radio. It's not too late to pitch in. Go to KDRT.org/donate. Thanks!

Jazz After Dark, Nov. 29, 2022

We have some signature songs by great jazz performers tonight:

  • Original Jelly Roll Blues/Jelly Roll Morton
  • Potato Head Blues/Louis Armstrong and His Hot 7
  • Begin the Beguine/Artie Shaw and His Orchestra
  • Stompin' At the Savoy/Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
  • One O'Clock Jump/Count Basie
  • Round Midnight/Thelonious Monk Quintet
  • Body And Soul/Coleman Hawkins
  • Duke's Place/Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington
  • Take The ''A'' Train/Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
  • Take Five/Dave Brubeck
  • My Favorite Things (Single Version)/John Coltrane
  • One for my baby/Frank Sinatra
  • Steppin' Out With My Baby/Tony Bennett
  • So What/Miles Davis

Music from Celtic lands, as fall turns to winter

With the seasonal transition underway from autumn to winter, this week's session reflects the change. We'll listen in with the band Danú, Scotland's Dougie Maclean, mandolinist Marla Fibish, the folk arrangments of Salt House, our own local Golden Bough, fiddler Manus Maquire from the Copperplate Sessions, Kris Colt & the Black Rose band, Turlough, Ireland's Shane Hennessy, and Capid Draconis.

KDRT presents its first CD project, 'Holidays at the Hall'

KDRT is producing this limited edition CD/digital download as part of a  a thank you gift with donations of $75 or more.   

Always a crowd favorite, the Davis Odd Fellows' annual Holiday Show for Thursday Live! each December typically features several diverse local bands, each preparing an imaginative short set of seasonal songs. KDRT's Jim Buchanan often features his live recordings of these shows in his December "Live Tracks" episodes.

This year, KDRT has selected a sampling of these well-loved performances for our first live music CD project as part of our Fall Fundraiser week. Sound Harvest Volume 1 -- Holidays at the Hall contains eight songs ranging from Celtic to Klezmer, jazz to folk.

The bands include Me & Him and The Muddy Waders as well as Misner & Smith, Calvin Handy and The Jazz Patrol, and the Davis Klezmer Orchestra. These were recorded 2011-2015, and recently mastered by Foxtail Sound. 

 We'll email you after your donation asking what format you'd prefer to receive. Don't delay, donate here today.

The Golden Road, Nov. 23, 2022: 50 years ago at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston

On Nov. 18, 1972, the Grateful Dead rolled in to Houston for a show at Hofheinz Pavilion. By all accounts it was a dynamic show, but only a good chunk of the second set was clearly captured by Owsley. It’s good stuff! Since this show included a superb "Dark Star," we’ll be dropping a classic "Dark Star" from 1969 to complete the program. This primo fall ‘72 performance will give you something to be thankful for.

The Folk Brothers for Nov. 23, 2022: Making connections

Rab Noakes (pictured here), the Scottish singer-songwriter who passed last week at 75, knew his way around Bob Dylan's canon. So does Brother Bill, who has been studiously reading Dylan's latest tome, as well as Grail Marcus' new book about The Bob. English fiddler Sam Sweeney -- who probably also knows a few Dylan songs -- has a new album, as do his proteges Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell. Confused? Stream the show.