Threads and Tangents Music Hour

Threads and Tangents 10/1/24 - Parenting

Songs about parenting - there may be a little useful advice, but mostly just good music telling stories about parenting’s joys and challenges.
We'll hear: Sweet Honey In The Rock, The Pretenders, Utah Phillips, Brandi Carlile, Loudon Wainwright III, Wainwright Sisters, Ben Folds, Hamell on Trial, The Replacements, The Ramones, Dar Williams, Harry Chapin, XTC, and Shel Silverstein.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

Threads and Tangents 9/24/24 - 1974

This week we’re going back fifty years to hear songs from albums released in 1974. I started this thread last March and there were so many great albums that year that I had to come back to it for another episode.
We'll hear: Ry Cooder, Big Star, The Seldom Scene, Bob Dylan, Parliament, Fenton Robinson, Roxy Music, Martin Bogan & Armstrong, Dolly Parton, David Bromberg, Doc & Merle Watson, and the Grateful Dead.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 9/17/24 - Leonard Cohen covered

In celebration of what would have been Leonard Cohen’s 90th birthday, we’ll hear an hour of his music, but sung by others. A singer, songwriter, novelist, and poet, Leonard Cohen, was an influential figure. Cohen built his name as a writer in the mid-50s and in the ’60s he decided to give up his life as an established novelist and poet in Canada for a shot at the burgeoning folk scene in New York.
We'll hear: Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos, Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, Richard Thompson, Madeleine Peyroux, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Lenny Kaye, Aimee Mann, Lloyd Cole, Amy Helm, and Shovels & Rope (featuring John Fullbright).
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 9/10/24 - Snakes

This week we'll hear songs about Snakes. With its enigmatic presence and symbolic complexity, the snake has slithered its way through centuries of folklore and into the heart of music. Across genres and eras, musicians have been charmed by the serpent’s metaphorical richness, writing songs that explore themes of temptation, danger, wisdom, and transformation.
We'll hear: Lone Justice, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Tom Brad & Alice, Townes Van Zandt, Harvey Mandel, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Balsam Range, Shel Silverstein, R.L. Burnside, Alex Lacquement, Maija Kauhanen, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, The Dreadful Snakes, She, Oscar Brown Jr., and John Lee Hooker.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 9/3/24 - Ambient Americana

This week we’ll hear tracks from a subgenre that bridges acoustic roots and ambient electronic music. It’s called Ambient Americana - a terrible name for a style of music with tons of cool music recorded over the past 50 years. It might just be another example of the lazy and cynical marketing of modern music. What makes it worse is the subgenre seems to be trying to represent and celebrate a national identity, but in the process it erases the history and diversity of its influences, taking appropriation to a whole new level. 
But there's great music and we'll hear: Bruce Langhorne, Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois, Ry Cooder, Yo La Tengo, Bruce Kaphan, Kaki King, Viktor Krauss, Marisa Anderson, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Michael Chapman, Field Works, and Mary Lattimore.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 8/27/24 - Jazz in Bellingham

This week's episode is my annual celebration of another year in Bellingham (#3 if you're counting) and the great live music in our little slice of paradise. This year's show is a little different because I'm featuring Jazz. The quality of the playing and the variety of venues that offer it was our biggest surprise.
We'll hear music from: the Mike Allen Quartet, Thomas Harris and Miles Black, Wayne Horvitz, Bilongo, Marina Albero, Skerik’s Bandalabra, and the Jerry Steinhilber Trio.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 8/20/24 - Collaborations Across Cultures

Music is a universal language that transcends borders and cultures. The synthesis of global music traditions offers a rich tapestry of sound, where artists collaborate, experiment, and generate new ideas that captivate audiences worldwide.  These collaborations bring together musicians who specialize in the styles and traditions of different cultures, each having their own types of instruments and cultural sound. Each musician brings a style of music to the group, and the blending of sound that they create wouldn’t be possible without each of the different perspectives that they contribute.We'll hear music from: Tulca, Abigail Washburn, Béla Fleck & Jie-Bing Chen & VM Bhatt, Rahim AlHaj, Nitin Sawhney, Maurice El Medioni, Zoe & Cloyd, Anoushka Shankar & Norah Jones, Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko, Jerry Douglas & VM Bhatt & Edgar Meyer, Silkroad Project w/Yo-Yo Ma, and Ry Cooder & Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. 
Anything on your mind? Contact Glen at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 8/6/24 - Days Between: celebrating the music of Jerry Garcia

This week is the annual Threads and Tangents Days Between show, where I look back at the music of Jerry Garcia. The Days Between are from August 1st (Jerry’s birthday) to August 9th (the day he died).  Each year I take a different approach to this episode and this time I’ve chosen covers of Garcia-Hunter songs. I’m not playing anything from the usual suspects or from any of the compilations of Dead covers. What we’ll hear are mostly one-offs and there are a couple of surprises.We'll hear music from: Cracker, Ty Segall, Sex Mob, Jesse McReynolds, Chris Smither, Molly Tuttle, Sublime, Watkins Family Hour, Laura Veirs, Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy, and John Oswald.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 7/30/24 - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

This week's musical thread is Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Jack, who Dylan called the King of the Folksingers, celebrates his 93rd birthday on August 1st. I'll play songs Jack wrote, original versions of songs that Jack covered and popularized, and a few written about him.
We'll hear music from: Tim Grimm, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Woody Guthrie, Odetta, Lonnie Johnson, the Grateful Dead, Guy Clark, David Bromberg, Christine Lavin, The John Herald Band, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 7/23/24 - Brothers and Sisters

This week's musical thread is Brothers and Sisters. My family has a few birthdays in the last week of July so the timing’s perfect for celebrating siblings. 
We'll hear: Lucinda Williams, Louis Armstrong, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marvin Gaye, Link Wray, War, Juliana Hatfield Three, The Isley Brothers, Niall McCabe, Suzanne Vega, 10,000 Maniacs, the Grateful Dead, The Kinks, and The Black Keys. 
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org