Steel Belted Radio Playlist #149 (December 18, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Redberry
Jay Semko
Redberry

Freight Train
The Smokin’ 45’s
A Sound Experiment: Live Sessions from CJSW

Rockin’ Dog
Reverend Horton Heat
Liquor in the Front

The Way It Rolls
Kent McAlister and the Iron Choir
The Way It Rolls

What That Song Means Now
Corb Lund
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

If The Creeks Don’t Rise
The Sunparlour Players
Hymns for the Happy

Flowers on the Wall
The Statler Brothers
Columbia Country Classics Volume 3

Whisper in the Dark
The Pine Hill Haints
Ghost Dance

Have Blues Will Travel
Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics
Rhythm Rhyme and Truth

Love and Glory
Sonny Landreth
Levee Town

Red Light Blinking
Kane Kaplin Welch
S/T

Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.
Ryan Adams
Easy Tiger

Through the Morning, Through the Night
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Raising Sand

The Tough Get Going
Billy Joe Shaver
Everybody’s Brother

Big Bad John
Jimmy Dean
Columbia Country Classics Volume 3

Maple Syrup Time
Moxy Fruvous
If I Had a Song: The Songs of Pete Seeger

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #148 (December 11, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Smuggler’s Cove
The McDades
Bloom

Saskatoon Smile
Jay Semko
Redberry

Only Loneliness
Sherry Ryan
Bottom of a Heart

Gastonia
The Star Room Boys
Why Do Lonely Men and Women Try to Break Each Other's Hearts

Especially a Paint
Corb Lund
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

Cycles
Bonnie Prince Billy
Ask Forgiveness

Tennessee Porch Swing
Sir Richard Bishop
Polytheistic Fragments

Easier Said
David Ross Macdonald
Knuckled Brass and Bone

Rambling Blues
Michael Jerome Browne
Double

Swinging Doors
Merle Haggard
Vintage Collection

Tennessee Valley Authority
Chatham County Line
S/T

Return of the Grievous Angel
Lucinda Williams and David Crosby
Return of the Grievous Angel: Tribute to Gram Parsons

We’re All Stuck Out in the Desert
Jonathan Rice
Further North

Up in the Mountain Range
The Diableros
Aren’t Ready for the Country

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #147 (December 4, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Back to Me
Kathleen Edwards
Back to Me

Further North
Jonathan Rice
Further North

The Day John Henry Died
Drive-By Truckers
The Dirty South

2+1=Nothing
Jason and the Scorchers
Clear Impetuous Morning

Upside Down
Tommy Alverson
Country to the Bone

Lament for Lester Cousins
Corb Lund
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

I Don’t Know
Hank Williams III
Risin’ Outlaw

The Day We Met
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
Diamonds in the Dust

Country Breakdown
Michael Jerome Browne
Double

Wartime Blues
Michael Jerome Browne
Double

Two Wings
Ken Whiteley
One World Dance

Brown Bottle Blues
Girls Guns & Glory
Pretty Little Wrecking Ball

Jackson
Johnny Cash and June Carter
The Legend of Johnny Cash

Honky Tonk Song
Webb Pierce
Millennium Collection

Learnin’ to Love
Ween
La Cucaracha

Rocky Mountain High
John Denver
Essential John Denver

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #146 (November 27, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Start Your Own Goddam Band
Two-Minute Miracles
Vol. IV: The Lions of Love

Death Letter Blues
Ken Whiteley
One World Dance

Opera House Stomp
Harrison Newman
Decorated

Hard On Equipment (Tool for the Job)
Corb Lund
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

Brian Jones
Andy Swan’s Ottawa
S/T

Pensacola
Jolene
In the Gloaming

Wolf River
Slider Pines
Road Avenue Railroad

Sister Mercy
Katy Mae
The Sweetheart Deal

The Day We Met
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
Diamonds in the Dust

Sugar Baby
Michael Jerome Browne
Double

Say Something Say Anything
The Pine Hill Haints
Ghost Dance

St. Louis Blues
The Pine Hill Haints
Ghost Dance

Looking for a Good Place to Land
Jim Lauderdale
The Bluegrass Diaries

Long Walk Back to San Antone
Junior Brown
Long Walk Back

Blue Wing
Dave Alvin
Wounded Heart of America: The Songs of Tom Russell

Riverside 1
Orillia Opry
Lighthouse for Straggler’s Eyes

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #145 (November 20, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Companions on the Carpet
Stacy Lloyd Brown
Who is the Mother of the Sun

I Wanna Be in the Cavalry
Corb Lund
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

I Wanna Be in the Cavalry: Reprise
Corb Lund
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

If Daddy Could See Me Now
Andy Swan’s Ottawa
S/T

By the Touch of Her Hand
Robin and Linda Williams
Radio Songs

Rapture (Sweet Rapture)
A. A. Bondy
American Hearts

Around Nine
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
Diamonds in the Dust

Let It Be So
Southeast Engine
A Wheel within a Wheel

Born Again
Macon Greyson
20th Century Accidents

Devil’s Bed
The Earps
Here Come the Earps

I Bought Some Books
Black Boot Trio
Eternal Return

Ray Charles
Old 97’s
Early Tracks

For Every Glass That’s Empty
The Pine Hill Haints
Ghost Dance

Wagon Wheel
Old Crow Medicine Show
S/T

Days Aren’t Long Enough
Steve Earle and Allison Moorer
Washington Square Serenade

Falling Slowly
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Once Soundtrack

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #144 (November 13, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Remember the Good Times
Cuff the Duke
Sidelines of the City

Spirit of 1812
The Pine Hill Haints
Ghost Dance

I Often Long for Home
The Lonesome Valley Singers
Corpse Circus Revue

The Way It Rolls
Kent McAlister and The Iron Choir
The Way It Rolls

Rusty Pail Blues
Bob Snider
Amaze in Greys

You Look Like the Devil
Deadstring Brothers
Silver Mountain

Blood River
Doop and The Inside Outlaws
Blood River

Classic Cars
Bright Eyes
Casadega

Happy Ending
Chuck Prophet
Soap and Water

20th Century Accidents
Macon Greyson
20th Century Accidents

Naïve Melody
Macon Greyson
20th Century Accidents

Careless Love
The Pines
Sparrows in the Bell

St. Olav’s Gate
Doug Sahm
Wounded Heart of America: Songs of Tom Russell

Get Me Gone
Walt Wilkins and The Mystiqueros
Diamonds in the Sun

Rolling Stone
Billy Joe Shaver
Everybody’s Brother

Home

Switching over to A.M.
Searching for a truer sound
Can't recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down.
-- Son Volt, "Windfall"

When I was in Alberta last weekend visiting my parents, my mom asked me to see if I could get CFCW to come in on her kitchen radio. I was surprised it wasn't coming in since it had always had a very strong signal that you could pick up all over the province, but, try as I might, I couldn't get it to come in either. We never did figure it out.

As we sat and had coffee on the mornings of that weekend, it always felt like there was something missing. No steel guitar. No stories about heartache and loss, about living through what life throws at you. No farm reports. No birthday greetings to people in the rural communities around where I grew up. No CFCW.

Even now, it's hard for me to imagine them getting up to have their breakfast, sitting down to toast and coffee without CFCW on in the background. Mom said she occasionally tried another station, but she didn't like the music or the hosts. For her, and for me as I grew up, CFCW was the truer sound.

I spent countless mornings listening to the legendary Bev Munro play singers like Faron Young, Ray Price, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Lefty Frizzell, and other country greats. Even though I didn't really appreciate it at the time, that music worked its way deep into my musical sensibilities. Even though I enjoy a vast spectrum of music, I always keep coming back to country, back to the music of my mother's kitchen.

When I was going to graduate school in Lincoln, Nebraska, some friends and I often met at Duffy's Tavern for conversation over a few drinks. For about a year around late 1995-early 1996, one of us would inevitably get up and put enough money in the juke box to play all of Son Volt's Trace, the album on which "Windfall" appears. No one ever said anything, just put the quarters in the machine. We always stayed until the last note faded, no one ever grabbing a coat until then. Sitting in that bar, talking about writing and books and grad school politics, we were all a long way from where we'd grown up -- rural Nebraska, rural Tennessee, rural Alberta -- but I think Jay Farrar's mournful voice made us all feel a little closer to home.

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #143 (November 6, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

What’s Left Behind
The Sadies
New Seasons

Gotta Move
The Mannish Boys
Big Plans

Eveybody Gets the Blues
Harrison Kennedy
High Country Blues

It’s All Good
Fruteland Jackson
Tell Me What You Say

No Rolling Back
Jay Farrar
Terroir Blues

FBD
The Wheat Pool
Township

Blue House
Blue Rodeo
Small Miracles

High Life
Whiskey & Co.
S/T

Doin’ My Time
Johnny Cash
Sun Recordings

Dixie Queen
Lost Immigrants
Waiting on Judgement Day

Step Back and Fade
Darrek Anderson
Places You Used to Go

Kick Me When I’m Down
Eleven Hundred Springs
Texas Unplugged Vol. 1

Boy with a Coin
Iron and Wine
The Shepherd’s Dog

California Stars
Wilco/Billy Bragg
Mermaid Avenue

The Fizzy and the Still
Mark Knopfler
Kill to Get Crimson

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #142 (October 30, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Night of Rain
Two-Minute Miracles
Vol. IV: The Lions of Love

River of Love
T-Bone Burnett
Twenty Twenty: The Essential T-Bone Burnett

Mystic River
Blue Rodeo
Small Miracles

Luke Doucet
Broken One
Broken (and other rogue states)

You Should Tell Me So
Orillia Opry
Lighthouse for Straggler’s Eyes

Resurrection Fern
Iron and Wine
The Shepherd’s Dog

No Earthly Good
Billy Joe Shaver
Everybody’s Brother

St. James Infirmary
Pete Seeger
American Favorite Ballads Vol. 5

Red-Eyed and Blue
Wilco
Being There

I’ve Got You (At the End of the Century)
Wilco
Being There

True Love Will Never Fade
Mark Knopfler
Kill to Get Crimson

Lover’s Waltz
A.A. Bondy
American Hearts

Broken Front Teeth
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
S/T

If I Live or If I Die
Cuff the Duke
Sidelines of the City

I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail
The Derailers
Under the Influence of Buck

Blue Rodeo and Friends

Last Sunday night, H and I headed north to Ferndale for the Blue Rodeo show. What better way to start the week than a couple of lovely pints and some dinner at the Woodward Avenue Brewery, followed by getting reacquainted with Jim and Greg and the boys.

Now, I have to admit, Blue Rodeo has never been my favourite band, but they put on a good live show (at least they did when I saw them 15 years ago) and their new cd, Small Miracles, has been getting some good reviews. And, as an added bonus, Oh Susanna, Luke Doucet, and Ron Sexsmith were going to be warming up. At least, that's what I assumed.

It turns out that something very different was happening at the Blue Rodeo and Friends shows. Instead of having an opening act, Blue Rodeo came out and launched right into their set, playing mostly material from the new cd (check out "C'Mon," "It Makes Me Wonder," and "This Town" here). After a few songs, they brought out Oh Susanna (Susie Ungerleider) who played a few of her songs. Some more Blue Rodeo and then out came Luke Doucet for a few of his songs. You get the picture.

Watching the show, I could see that all of the musicians were genuinely having fun with each other on stage and I could hear it in the music they made that night. There was an energy in that collaboration that was special to see and reminded me again of why I love live music so much, especially when the musicians aren't playing the same twenty songs for an entire tour (or career).

The highlight of the evening for me was Luke Doucet's "Broken One" with Blue Rodeo acting as an amazing backing band. As Doucet finished his three songs, I heard a couple of guys behind me say, "Well, there's someone else for us to check out." I couldn't help but smile.

That night I was impressed with Blue Rodeo as musicians, but I think I was more impressed with their generosity in helping to showcase a couple of younger artists like Oh Susanna and Luke Doucet for a new group of listeners. The music sounded great and people were taking notice. Turns out it was a great way to start my week.

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #141 (October 23, 2007): Pledge Drive Show

I didn't play a lot of songs this week, but for a very good reason. It's the annual CJAM Pledge Drive this week. We need the support of you, the listener. We only come to you once a year, but now is the time. Please help us continue to provide you with the music you can't get anywhere else and the programming you've come to count on during your week. Give us a call in Windsor at 519-971-3630 or in Detroit at 313-963-3112 ext. 3630. Or pledge online at www.cjam.ca. We have lots of great incentives and you'll be supporting campus/community radio in Windsor and Detroit.

Here's the abbreviated playlist:

Song
Artist
Album

I Still Want to Be Your Baby
Bettye LaVette
The Scene of the Crime

The Detroit River is Alive!
The Sunparlour Players
Hymns for the Happy

Oxycontin Blues
Steve Earle
Washington Square Serenade

Aeroplane
The Everybodyfields
Nothing is Okay

My Heart Skips a Beat
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Sings Buck

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #140 (October 16, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Laundry in London
Pender
Hey Man Don’t Bring Me Down

Nowhere with You
Joel Plaskett
CBC Radio 3 Sessions Vol. 3

Stand Alone
Bedouin Soundclash
CBC Radio 3 Sessions Vol. 3

Stick with Me Baby
Robert Palmer/Alison Krauss
Raising Sand

Getting Older
Katie Moore
Only Thing Worse

Circumstantial Dues
Kent McAlister and the Iron Choir
The Way It Rolls

Trains I Missed
Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros
Diamonds in the Sun

All Downhill
Lyle Lovett
It’s Not Big, It’s Large

Each Night I Try
Robbie Fulks
Georgia Hard

The Way You’ve Been Treating Me
Ed Burleson
Texas Unplugged Vol. 1

The Man in Love
Nick Lowe
At My Age

Long Way from Georgia
Ryan Bingham
Mescalito

Time’ll Get You Money
Bob Snider
Amaze in Greys

That’s What I’ve Got
Kane/Welch/Kaplin
S/T

Don’t Let Your Deal Down
Spencer Moore
S/T

Sweet Mr. Daniels
Rae Spoon/Rodney DeCroo
Trucker’s Memorial

Ron Leary Homecoming Show

A quick post to let everyone in the Windsor/Detroit area know about a great show on Friday, October 12, 2007. Ron Leary is back from his Canadian tour and he'll be playing Friday night at Phog Lounge with Dean Drouillard and Royal Wood.

Not only will it be a great show, but if you ask Ron nicely, I bet he'll tell you about his adventures driving some 18,000 kms across this great country of ours. If you're too shy to ask, listen to Ron's interview with CBC Radio 3. With any luck, on Friday night he might even be singing some new songs about his travels.

If you haven't done so yet, check out Ron Leary's The Road in Between. It's a fine, fine folk/roots album that has received a lot of much deserved airplay at CJAM. Or go on Friday and check out the tunes live.

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #139 (October 9, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

The Detroit River is Alive!
Sunparlour Players
Hymns for the Happy

Dark Black Irish Eyes
Houston Marchman
Texas Unplugged Vol. 1

Darkness Has Fallen
NQ Arbuckle
The Last Supper in a Cheap Town

Clark St.
Emily Weedon and Delta
All Out in the Open

No One Told Me
Kane/Welch/Kaplin
S/T

Late Night Telephone
Ian Shaul
Water Return

My Somewhere Just Got Here
Jim Lauderdale
The Bluegrass Diaries

The Trial
The Sadies
New Seasons

Gun Sale at the Church
The Beat Farmers
Van Go

Whisky, Bob Copper and Me
Linda Thompson
Versatile Heart

Levi Stubbs’ Tears
Billy Bragg
Talking with the Taxman about Poetry

The Path to Your Door
Walt Wilkins
Texas Unplugged Vol. 2

Chicago Promenade
Jason Isbell
Sirens of the Ditch

High Country Blues
Harrison Kennedy
High Country Blues

I Still Want to Be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am)
Bettye LaVette
The Scene of the Crime

Yellow November
Darrek Anderson
Places You Used to Go

Thanksgiving and Music

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I'm still full from last night's turkey. As I write, the house is quiet, the calm before everyone arises. The Avett Brothers' The Gleam playing softly in the background. I'm tired, but the music makes me smile, makes me relax and ease into the day. Actually, whatever mood I'm in, whatever my day has been, music always makes a space in the seeming chaos around me. I'm thankful for music.

I wish, of course, that I had more time for sustained listening, the kind of listening that I was able to do in high school and in university. It's the kind of listening nicely described in a recent blog post at Heidi's Cafe. She writes,

Last night I was sitting in my living room in the near dark listening intently to one of the 4 CDs in my fabulous new Motown Box set. I put it on repeat for a few times. It's been a long time since I listened to music this way. I remember losing whole afternoons and evenings listening to one side of a LP over and over again or putting a tape on my walkman on a repeat loop until the batteries wore out. Perhaps I listened to music this way because "repeat" was the path of least resistance. Or, perhaps, because I realized then that there is something incredible to be gained by listening carefully to every note, every tiny drop of sound, and every word of an album.

Like her, I don't often have that kind of time. Maybe that's why this morning feels like such a gift (I'm now on to Gomez's How We Operate). I usually have only snatches of time, moments when music can become that brief respite I need during the day. It's usually in my car, but sometimes in my office for five minutes, the door closed and the perfect song cued up. Just enough to get me through the rest of my day, a couple of minutes when I'm thinking about the music and not students and meetings and grading and the hundred other things I have to do.

And that's really why I host Steel Belted Radio. That time in the studio every week is a time when everything else just melts away. All the stress, all the concerns of the day are just gone. For that hour I'm only listening to music, but more than that, I'm programming music that I hope will give the listeners those little moments of respite from their own days, as they sit in their cars in traffic or close the doors to their offices or chop vegetables for supper.

So, as I sit here listening to Gomez doing "Charlie Patton Songs," I'm thinking about how thankful I am for music. The way I listen has, by necessity, changed, but I think music is now as important in my life as it ever was. I hope it is for you, too.

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #138 (October 2, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Drunk & 35
Deromantic
S/T

Feel Again
Nick Lowe
At My Age

Down by the Corner of Love
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Sings Buck

You’re Looking at the Man
The Derailers
Soldiers of Love

Step Back and Fade
Darrek Anderson
Places You Used to Go

This is the Last Time (I'm Gonna Hurt)
Jim Lauderdale
The Bluegrass Diaries

Red Light Blinking
Kane/Welch/Kaplin
S/T

Savior
The Everybodyfields
Nothing is Okay

Yours to Discover
The Sadies
New Seasons

Suitcase
Pender
Hey Man Don’t Bring Yourself Down

Soap and Water
Chuck Prophet
Soap and Water

Rollin’ Blues
Deadstring Brothers
Silver Mountain

Way Down in the Hole
Steve Earle
Washington Square Serenade

Old Spur Line
The Legendary Shack Shakers
Swampblood

Dreams Dissolve
Catherine MacLellan
Church Bell Blues

If I Had My Way
Mike Plume
Rock and Roll Recordings V. 1

The Contexts of Listening

If you listen to Americana music, chances are you've picked up No Depression magazine at some point (if you haven't, track it down at your local bookstore or music shop). Run by Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock, it's probably the best resource for finding out what's happening in the Americana and alt-country music scene.

As an added bonus, the website contains blogs by both Alden and Blackstock. I've come to especially appreciate Grant Alden's blog because of the questions it has recently been making me ask about music, the history of music, and how we evaluate both as critics and/or listeners.

A couple of weeks ago, he wrote an entry about a question that had been posed to him:

If the Rolling Stones released Exile On Main Street today, as greybeards, and, say, Voodoo Lounge, back when they were rising lions, would Exile still be judged a great and landmark album. Would they still be judged one of the greatest bands of all time? "Take any '60s or '70s icon who is still making records (Dylan, Young, McCartney)," he asked, "and instead of judging their recent work against the greatest thing they've done (i.e., their most influential LP), just flip them. Take some time and really think about your answer; it's not as easy as you think, that is, if you are totally honest about it."

As he says, it's not an easy question and it's one I've been puzzling over since I read it. For Alden, it becomes a question of whether it is possible to make vital rock after 40. For me, however, it becomes a question about how we make judgments about music and about how much context matters in making those judgments. And context here is complex -- our own changing contexts as listeners, the contexts (both musical and social) in which the music was originally made, and the contexts (both musical and social) in which the listening is done. Change one or more of these contexts (as is implied in the original question) and the regard we have for that music, the very way we listen to it, changes drastically.

Of course, it's always hypothetical, a "mental gymnastics" as Alden calls it. The reason it's useful, I think, is that it makes us think about our contexts and about how we come to decisions about music. Context matters and we can't get around that. The problem lies when we pretend that we listen in a vacuum and make judgments on some kind of objective criteria. We can't and we don't.

Think about your reactions to any recent (or classic) album. What shapes the way you listen, your reactions, the way you talk about it with your friends? Why, for example, do I now have an appreciation for Bettye LaVette's new album, The Scene of the Crime, that I would not have had at twenty or if I had listened to it in the context of the kind of music that was coming out in the mid-1980s? Or, to go back to Alden's question, what if LaVette had not toiled for all those years, but had instead had immediate success? If this album were coming out at the beginning of her career, would it have the same resonance? What if Amy Winehouse's Back to Black came not at the beginning of her career, but at the end? My point is, change any of the musicians' contexts, any of my contexts, or any of the larger musical and/or social contexts, and the listening experience and the judgments to which we come also change.

Mental gymnastics? Yes, of course, but useful, I think, for people who care about music and consider themselves more than just casual listeners. Think about it the next time you listen.

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #137 (September 25, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

In My Hands
Square Root of Margaret
Teragram Photeur

Nice to Fit In
Josh Rouse
Country Mouse City House

Coward’s Serenade
Deromantic
S/T

Sunset to Dawn
The Sadies
New Seasons

Walk On
The Pack
Tintype

Long Ride Home
Ten Year Drought
Memoranda

Trapeze
Patty Griffin
Children Running Through

When the Deal Goes Down
Bob Dylan
Modern Times

Words
Lucinda Williams
West

Salina
The Avett Brothers
Emotionalism

Anna’s Smoke
The Locusts Have No King
S/T

The Rodeo’s Over
Corb Lund
Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer

Try Like You Mean It
The Canaries
Beauty Collides

Bitter-endless
Mark Davis
Don’t You Think We Should Be Closer

Don’t Ask Why
Shuyler Jansen
Today’s Remains

Years
Ron Leary
The Road in Between

2007 Americana Music Association Awards

In case you missed it, the Americana Music Association Awards nominees were announced at the end of June and will be handed out on November 1 at the 2007 Americana Music Festival and Conference in Nashville. As expected there are some great nominees, but I want to focus your attention on the Album of the Year candidates. All of them received significant play on Steel Belted Radio and all of them are fine albums. Here they are:
Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers (Ramseur)
West - Lucinda Williams (Lost Highway)
Children Running Through - Patty Griffin (ATO)
Modern Times - Bob Dylan (Columbia)

Those of you who regularly listen to the program will know that I'm a big fan of the Avett Brothers and so I'm thrilled that they've been nominated for this award (along with their nominations for New and Emerging Artist and Duo/Group of the Year). The boys deserve it -- Emotionalism is a complex album that nicely follows their wonderful release, Four Thieves Gone. What I like about their music are the textures, layers of voices and instruments that make me pay attention to every note and every word. I saw them in Ann Arbor about a month ago and their live show is something to behold. If you don't know the Avett Brothers, check them out.

Although I saw some mediocre reviews for West, I think it's Lucinda Williams' strongest record since Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. It's a record about loss and healing that is both heartbreaking and redemptive. She's in fine voice here and shows what a fine songwriter she really is. Check out "Are You Alright?" and "Learning How to Live."

I'm also a big fan of Patty Griffin and have been since 1000 Kisses, one of my favourite albums from the 2000's. Seriously. If you don't know this record, order it online right now or run out tomorrow to your nearest record retailer. It features some of the best songs I have ever heard, especially the haunting "Long Ride Home" (a song that Ten Year Drought covers beautifully on their most recent album, Memoranda). Children Running Through doesn't approach the majesty of 1000 Kisses, but it has some amazing individual tracks, including "Heavenly Day" (which is currently playing on my cd player) which was nominated for the 2007 AMA Song of the Year Award. It's a beautiful, soaring song that makes me happy to be alive. Patty Griffin has, without a doubt, one of the best voices in all of Americana music.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not a big fan of Bob Dylan and never really have been (though I am considering grabbing tickets for Dylan and Elvis Costello at Eastern Michigan University). That said, I enjoyed Modern Times as much as I have any Dylan album and I appreciate the way he looks to the tradition he both created and to which he owes a debt of gratitude for his inspiration.

Four very deserving albums. Take a good listen to all of them over the next few weeks and make a decision for yourself as to which you think deserves to win the AMA Album of the Year. On the right hand side of this site, you will find a poll that will run until the winner is announced on November 1. So vote. Let's see what y'all think. And if you think an album (released between June 1, 2006 and May 31, 2007) should have been considered, leave a comment. Let's talk about what we think are the albums deserving consideration for Americana Album of the Year.

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #136 (September 18, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Walk On By
Leroy Van Dyke
Classic Country Gold

Swimming Like a Needle in the Haystack of the Sea
Nathan Lawr
A Sea of Tiny Lights

Whatever It Takes
Darrel Anderson
Places You Used to Go

The Last Time Again
The Bible All-Stars
S/T

Love Don’t Add Up
Alistair Christl
Unmarked Grave

Blue Wing
Dave Alvin
Wounded Heart of America (Songs of Tom Russell)

John Henry
John Dee Holeman and the Waifs Band
S/T

Snake Mountain Blues
Townes Van Zandt
A Far Cry from Dead

Jealousy
Bettye LaVette
The Scene of the Crime

Civil Twilight
The Weakerthans
Reunion Tour

Tournament of Hearts
The Weakerthans
Reunion Tour

Jericho Road
Steve Earle
Washington Square Blues

Versatile Heart
Linda Thompson
Versatile Heart

Itchy Feet
Hogwash
Dance

In the Gravel Yard
Dollar Store
Money Music

Ripe
Ben Lee
Ripe

Harvesting the FAM, CJAM, and the Windsor Music Scene

On Friday, September 14 the second, highly successful Harvesting the FAM festival took place. Congratulations to Murad Erzinclioglu and all of the volunteers for an incredibly well organized day of film, art, and music, all from Windsor and Essex County and all free. The events were very well attended and showed off the tremendous amount of talent that exists in our area. It made me stop and think about how vibrant Windsor really is.

As you can guess, what most interested me about the festival was the music -- 32 acts on 3 stages over 12 hours, with much of it broadcast live on CJAM. By any reckoning, that's a massive logistical undertaking, both for the festival organizers and for the station. The sound was crystal clear and helped to showcase the diversity of music for the listeners who couldn't make it down in person. If you missed the programming on Friday or want to relive some of the musical highlights, go to the CJAM archives and have a listen.

As a campus-based community radio station, our mandate at CJAM is to provide music and information programming not offered by the mainstream media in the Windsor/Detroit area. That's why we broadcast live events such as this one and play local bands like Academy, The Locusts Have No King, and Citywide Vacuum, who all appeared at the FAM festival, as well as Square Root of Margaret, who are currently touring Western Canada. Excellent local music across diverse genres. All they need are the listeners and a way to get their music heard. That's where grassroots and volunteer efforts like Harvesting the FAM and CJAM (where all four of these bands are currently charting) come in.

To me, it's that ability and desire to search beyond what's offered on commercial radio that makes campus/community radio important and relevant. And that's what I hope makes Steel Belted Radio relevant to the listeners -- a place to listen to the kind of country and roots music that doesn't get played on commercial radio. There's so much good music out there and if I can guide you towards some of it, maybe introduce you to a new artist, then it's a program that's worth doing. Let me know what you think.

Migrating the Steel Belted Radio Blog

Since June I have been maintaining a blog, or more accutately a tumblelog, at tumblr.com. In many ways, the tumblr site has been excellent for the kinds of posts I most often make -- weekly playlists, links to the Americana Music Association Radio charts, and links to video and audio files by bands I've been playing on the show. However, the site has definite limitations and I, like many others, have become frustrated by the lack of any site development or improvement in the last 4 months or so. In other words, it's time to move on and embrace Blogger. Welcome to the new Steel Belted Radio show blog.

The weekly playlists will still form the core of the blog, but I also hope to take this opportunity to explore the music that makes Steel Belted Radio what it is. So, stay tuned for an exploration of Americana, roots rock, classic country, folk, and a little bit of blues.

Weekly Playlists June 19, 2007 to September 11, 2007

Steel Belted Radio Playlist #135 (September 11, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Never Got Her Number
Alistair Christl
Unmarked Grave

Rivals
Shuyler Jansen
Today’s Remains

Aeroplane
The Everybodyfields
Nothing is Okay

In a Razor Town
Jason Isbell
Sirens of the Ditch

12:59 Lullaby
Bedouin Soundclash
Street Gospels

My Heart Skips a Beat
The Derailers
Under the Influence of Buck

Act Naturally
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Sings Buck

You’re For Me
Buck Owens
Country Superstars Volume 3

Oh Lonesome Me
Southern Culture on the Skids
Countrypolitan Favorites

They Won’t Last Long
The Deep Dark Woods
Hang Me Oh Hang Me

Lay Me Down
Doug Andrew and The Circus in Flames
A Little Bit of Gasoline

Cupid’s Arrow
Greg Hobbs
Thunder and Dust

I am a Pilgrim
The Byrds
Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Somebody Pick Up My Pieces
Bettye LaVette
The Scene of the Crime

That’s How I Got to Memphis
Solomon Burke
Nashville

Please Tell My Brother
Golden Smog
Weird Tales


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #134 (August 28, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Sunshine and Roses
Greg Hobbs
Thunder and Dust

Cotton Candy
Grainne Ryan
All the Money

Nobody Wants to Go to the Moon Anymore
Kelly Willis
Translated from Love

Not a Love Like This
Kim Richey
Chinese Boxes

Marilyn Monroe
Dala
S/T

Dress Blues
Jason Isbell
Sirens of the Ditch

Wasted Time
The Everybodyfields
Nothing is Okay

Four Strong Winds
Blue Rodeo
The Gift: A Tribute to Ian Tyson

Lifeline
Ben Harper
Lifeline

Excuse Me
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Sings Buck

You Can Call Me Baby
Olav Larsen and the Alabama Rodeo Stars
Love Comes to Town

Let’s Think about Living
Teddy Thompson
Upfront and Down Low

Oxycontin Blues
Steve Earle
Washington Square Serenade

Goodnight Rose
Ryan Adams
Easy Tiger

Frankie Lee
Mulehead
Putamayo Presents Americana

Little Margaret
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #133 (August 21, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Two Soldiers
The Cowboy Junkies
Early 21st Century Blues

Still Beating
Josh Ritter
The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

The Gift
Lucy Kaplansky
Over the Hills

World of Trouble
Norah Jones
The Hottest State Soundtrack

Give Me a Sad Song
Linda Thompson
Versatile Heart

In the Dark
Greg Hobbs
Thunder and Dust

Old Cheyenne
Tom Russell
The Gift: Tribute to Ian Tyson

Angeline
King Wilkie
Low Country Suite

John Paul’s Deliveries
Nathan
Key Principles

London Bridges
Josh Rouse
Country Mouse City House

Don’t Know Why
Kelly Willis
Translated from Love

Underneath the Stars
Peter Case
Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John

Try Like You Mean It
The Canaries
Beauty Collides

Distraction #74
The Avett Brothers
Four Thieves Gone


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #132 (August 14, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Ho-Down
The Lady Racers
Here and Now

Scarecrow
Nathan
Key Principles

Sis Draper
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
Brand New Strings

Shady Grove
Crooked Still
Hop High

Cluck Old Hen
Nobody’s Darlin’
This World is Not My Home

Four Strong Winds
Blue Rodeo
The Gift: Tribute to Ian Tyson

MC Horses
Corb Lund
The Gift: Tribute to Ian Tyson

Wagon Wheel
Old Crow Medicine Show
Putumayo Presents Americana

Pearls on a String
Ryan Adams
Easy Tiger

Beauty Way
Eliza Gilkyson
Your Town Tonight

Bare Necessities
Eliza Gilkyson
Your Town Tonight

May the Sun Always Shine
Olav Larsen and the Alabama Rodeo Stars
Love’s Come to Town

Like Diamonds
The Canaries
Beauty Collides

Hole in My Pocket
Ruthie Foster
Putumayo Presents Americana


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #131 (July 31, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Translated from Love
Kelly Willis
Translated from Love

Hoquiam
Damien Jurado
Now That I’m in Your Shadow

Catching a Slow Train on a Dead Man's Holiday
Dave Dubois
Live In Studio

Trench Song
Dave Dubois
Live In Studio

Last Ride
The Locusts Have No King
S/T

Fool Like Me
Porter Wagoner
Wagonmaster

I Would Be Sad
The Avett Brothers
Emotionalism

Pass You By
Gillian Welch
Revival

Walking the Floor Over You
Teddy Thompson
Upfront and Down Low

Learnin’ the Blues
Del McCoury Band
Del and the Boys

Milk Cow Blues
George Strait
Live at Texas Stadium

Get Along
Carolyn Mark
Nothing is Free

The Heart Bionic
Bobby Bare Jr.
The Longest Meow

Aftermath USA
Drive-By Truckers
A Blessing and a Curse

Halloween Head
Ryan Adams
Easy Tiger

Brand New World
Cowboy Junkies
At the End of Paths Taken


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #130 (July 17, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Take Me With You
The Reckless Sweethearts
S/T

Manhattan Moon
Lucy Kaplansky
Over the Hills

Wrecking Ball
King Wilkie
Low Country Suite

Nothing Stays the Same
Jason Haywood
Nothing Stays the Same

Everybody Knows
Ryan Adams
Easy Tiger

Drift
Kim Richey
Chinese Boxes

Chinese Boxes
Kim Richey
Chinese Boxes

Darling Corey
Crooked Still
Hop High

Tracie Dean
United Steelworkers of Montreal
Kerosene and Coal

Land of My Deceased
The Great Outdoors
Food, Booze, and Entertainment

Sweet Little One
Kelly Willis
Translated from Love

Acuff-Rose
Uncle Tupelo
Anodyne

Dallas
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
S/T

Stop Crying
Bobby Bare Jr.
The Longest Meow

Heavy Metal Drummer
Jeff Tweedy
Sunken Treasure

Old Dan Tucker
Bruce Springsteen
Live in Dublin


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #129 (July 10, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Past in Present
Feist
The Reminder

Nothing is Written in Stone
André Ethier
On Blue Fog

The Raising of the Patriarchs
King Wilkie
Low Country Suite

Virginia Firm
Donovan Woods
The Hold Up

The Last Parade on Ann Street
Chris Bathgate
A Cork Tale Wake

These Blues
Jimmy LaFave
Cimarron Manifesto

The Bus Stop Walk
The Undesirables
Doghouse Dreams

Die Die Die
The Avett Brothers
Emotionalism

Without a Kiss
The Pines
Sparrows in the Bell

You Never Get What You Want
Patty Griffin
Living with Ghosts

Steeple Full of Swallows
The Gourds
Noble Creatures

Pictures at 5
Carolyn Mark
Nothing is Free

Your Darkest Eyes
Rocky Votolato
The Brag and Cuss

Orphan Girl
Crooked Still
Hop High

6 String Belief
Son Volt
Okemah and the Melody of Riot

Starry Crown
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #128 (July 3, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Sixteen Tons
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Classic Country Gold

Walk On
The Pack
Tintype

The Business End
Carolyn Mark
Nothing is Free

Till You’re Gone
The Reckless Sweethearts
S/T

The World Unseen
Rosanne Cash
Black Cadillac

Every Wall You Own
Chris Bathgate
A Cork Tale Wake

Your Story
Limbeck
S/T

Drivin’ Lonely
The Plain Dealers
S/T

Who’s Gonna Pour My Whiskey?
Axton Kincaid
Songs from the Pine Room

Committed to Parkview
Porter Wagoner
Wagonmaster

Whiskey Straight
Rocky Votolato
The Brag and Cuss

Ring of Fire
Elvis Costello
Anchored in Love

Goin’ Home
The Pines
Sparrows in the Bell

Three Easy Pieces
Buffalo Tom
Three Easy Pieces

I Feel It All
Feist
The Reminder


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #124 (Encore Presentation -- Originally Broadcast May 8, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Blood on the Bluegrass
The Legendary Shack Shakers
Cockadoodledon’t

The Buck Stops Here
Robbie Fulks
Revenge

Rock Bottom, Pop. 1
Robbie Fulks
Revenge

While You Were Gone
BR549
This is BR549

Walk Alone
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Walk Alone

Saved by Radio
Mark Davis
Don't You Think We Should Be Closer

Just Begun
Old Reliable
Gone are the Days

Off My Mind
The Western States
S/T

Mary
Reels
Autumn Country

Beauty Queen
Oh Susanna
Short Stories

Four Strong Winds
Johnny Cash
A Hundred Highways

Four Winds
Bright Eyes
Cassadega

Nobody Knows My Name
Rickie Lee Jones
Sermon on Exposition Boulevard

Kathleen
Josh Ritter
Hello Starling

The Search
Son Volt
The Search


Steel Belted Radio Playlist #127 (June 19, 2007)

Song
Artist
Album

Blue River
A Night in the Box
The Hustle, The Prayer, The Thief

One Thing
Carolyn Mark
Nothing is Free

Steel Tooth River
Petunia and the Loons
S/T

Red House Blue
The Plain Dealers
S/T

I Don’t Care Anymore
Wayne Hancock
Tulsa

Fool Like Me
Porter Wagoner
Wagonmaster

Red Lights
Axton Kincaid
Songs from the Pine Room

Before You Were Born
Rocky Votolato
The Brag and Cuss

Car Outside
Jimmy LaFave
Cimmaron Manifesto

Jackson
Carlene Carter/Ronnie Dunn
Anchored in Love

Blossom
Nick Drake
Family Tree

Song of a Cloud
Kevin House
World of Beauty

Brand New World
Cowboy Junkies
At the End of Paths Taken

Eight Years
Mark Davis
Don’t You Think We Should Be Closer

364
Juliana Hatfield/Frank Smith
Sittin’ in a Tree