Listening Lyrics

NOTE: Some technical hic ups at the start of this exceptional show but the awesomeness starts at about the 8 minute mark.

Not only was it a pure pleasure meeting these guys that make up What Rough Beast, my ears where in heaven listening to pure talent perform. What Rough Beast is a group of local Sacramento musicians featuring A wide variety of Rhythmic vibrations is about to hit the airways. If you enjoy a little jamming, this up and coming group will fit your earbuds. Keith - Guitar/Vocals, Bryant - Bass, Jon - Keys/Vocals, Bob - Drums.

Bob Wertzberger is well known in and around Davis, CA - The two main reasons are his music and his landscaping business. Bob has performed with several bands throughout his career, such as Fun Attic, Anywhere But Iowa, Polyester Jones, Chickee Bob and B and K roadshow. He also performs solo. Bob will be appearing at the prestigious DAVIS MUSIC FEST (link is external) this year in June. Join us for an hour with Bob.

All Listening Lyrics shows are live on Fridays from 4-5PM (PT) on KDRT 95.7FM. For those outside the listening area, the show will stream live online at KDRT.org . It will also be available for replays in the show archives or as an podcast on iTunes under LISTENING LYRICS.

This week, Listening Lyrics takes a look back at the musical contributions of Merle Haggard, one of country music's most gifted and prolific songwriters. During the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Haggard had an amazing streak of 26 number-one country singles. Haggard's early hits – including "The Fugitive," "Mama Tried," and "Okie From Muskogee" – comprise what Rolling Stone executive editor Jason Fine, in a 2009 profile of Haggard, called "the backbone of one of the greatest repertoires in all of American music, plain-spoken songs populated by the kinds of working people Haggard grew up with: farmers, hobos, convicts, widows, musicians and drunks." Quoting Bob Dylan, "Merle Haggard has always been as deep as it gets...totally himself. Herculean. He definitely transcends the country genre." 

For a songwriter confronting some of the more unsettling facets of life in contemporary America, Silas Lowe

(link is external)’s songs are highly listenable, witty, and fun. Each its own dark comedy, he fashions musical portraits of lives squandered in barrooms, spent struggling amidst failed economic policies, or lost in tragedies both natural and preventable. Audiences subject to Lowe’s distinct brand of comedic banter will find themselves asked to vote between hearing a song about “the intersection between humanity and modern industrial capitalism” and a song about “the illusionary upward mobility of the middle class” -- sometimes, those are one and the same.