Threads and Tangents Music Hour

Today is Fat Tuesday, so this week's musical thread is Mardi Gras. The spirit of Mardi Gras is alive and well: the love of life, the enjoyment of music, food (even king cake), and a great drink. So, Laissez Les Bon Temp Rouler.
We'll hear songs from: Balfa Brothers, Marcia Ball/Irma Thomas/Tracy Nelson, Buckwheat Zydeco, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Dr John, Bo Dollis and The Wild Magnolias, Galactic, The Hawketts, Earl King & Professor Longhair, Neville Brothers, The Radiators, Rebirth Brass Band, and the subdudes.

I know it’s Valentine’s Day, but this week's musical thread is Break-Up Songs. The idea came up when my friend Laurie suggested the Richard Shindell song for last year's Halloween show. It’s a fine Halloween song, but it’s an even better break-up song. So, that got me thinking about how to best to celebrate this Hallmark Holiday, and playing break-up songs seemed like a brilliant idea … at least to me. Laurie claims no responsibility for this thread.We'll hear songs from: Beyoncé, Billy Bragg, The Deftones, Bob Dylan, John Eddie, Marvin Gaye, Joy Division, Carole King, Julie London, Roxy Music, Richard Shindell, Wilco, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

This week's musical thread is The Night. In literature, the Night is used as a metaphor for emptiness, or used to symbolize death, darkness of the soul, and loss of faith.  In song lyrics, the night is so much more and not nearly as grim.  Sure there’s some heartbreak, but also plenty of hope and fun as we’ll hear.We'll hear songs from: Michael Cleveland, Samantha Crain, Donna the Buffalo, The Doors, Electric Prunes, Holly Golightly, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Morphine, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, and Sammy Walker.

This week's musical thread is For the Birds.  One of the many cool things about living up here in the northwest corner is the variety of birds we see, and the birdsongs we hear. We can see eagles nesting and soaring overhead year-round.  We have snow geese and trumpeter swans wintering nearby.  And out at Fir Island reserve, we see the shape-shifting flock of thousands of dunlin.  It’s called a murmuration, when clouds of dunlin flash between brilliant white and darker colors as they swirl in the sky.
We'll hear songs about birds from: Laurie Anderson, Andrew Bird, Steve Goodman, Haden Triplets, Howlin’ Wolf, BB King, Lil Ed & Willie Kent, Bob Marley, Mr. Sun, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Charlie Parker Quartet, Stephen Wade, and Keller Williams (Grateful Grass).

This week's show will be a little different because I’ll be tying up some Loose Threads.  Each week I come across way more songs than I can fit in a one-hour program, so this is my chance to go back to a few of the episodes and play  songs that I wished I’d been able to play the first time around, and also to include songs suggested by listeners.
This week's loose threads are:TRAINS: Muddy Waters, Amanda Shires, and Utah Phillips.SPOOKY SONGS: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Rory Block, and Grateful Dead.DAYS OF THE WEEK: Greg Brown, Hayes McMullan, and Billy Bragg.WINTER: DeDe Wyland, The Head And The Heart, Winter Song, and Emmylou Harris.MUSICIANS THAT DIED IN 2022: Freddie Roulette, Terry Hall (The Specials), and Kim Simmonds.

This week's musical thread is session musicians and I’ll focus on music recorded at the Muscle Shoals studios. The Northwest corner of Alabama is an unlikely musical hotspot, a cluster of towns – Florence, Sheffield, and Muscle Shoals – where anonymous musicians backed up major artists.  Most of the biggest recordings from this area came from two studios: the FAME Studios and the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.
We'll hear songs from: Arthur Alexander, Black Keys, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Drive-by Truckers, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Rolling Stones, Leon Russell, Percy Sledge, Staple Singers, and The SteelDrivers.

This week's musical thread is musicians that died in 2022.  As I looked back on the year, and all the obituaries, I found so many musicians that had passed away that the best I can do in this hour is hit on some favorite musicians and bands. We’re lucky to have their songs and our memories associated with them. . We'll hear songs from: Ronnie Hawkins, Rosa Lee Hawkins (Dixie Cups), Syl Johnson, Sam Lay AND Jim Schwall (Siegel-Schwall Band), Keith Levene (PiL), Loretta Lynn, Ian McDonald (King Crimson), Christine McVie (Chicken Shack), Mimi Parker (Low), Jim Post, Pharoah Sanders, Herschel Sizemore, and Nik Turner (Hawkwind).  

This week's musical thread is School Days. Now that the holidays are over and everybody is back to school, it seems like a fine time to play some songs about being in school. We'll hear songs from: Dave Edmunds, Indigo Girls, Jethro Tull, The Kinks, MC5, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Mission of Burma, Mothers of Invention, Phish, Ramones, Jeannie C. Riley, Rockpile, Otis Rush, Pete Seeger, and Supertramp.

This week's musical thread is it's "sunny" out there. We’ve made it past the winter solstice, and in celebration of our days getting longer, and us seeing at least a little more of the sun, I’ll be playing songs about the sun.  We'll hear songs from: Allman Brothers Band, Beatles, Dead South, Doors, Foo Fighters, John Fahey, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Bobby Hebb, Kinks, Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, Bob Marley, Siegel-Schwall Band, and Bill Withers. 

This week's musical thread was especially fun to put together.  It's about the Festival of Lights, so I'll be playing Chanukah songs. Now, I know what your thinking, Hanukah songs suck. Yeah, that used to be true, but in the past 20+ years lots of musicians have recorded Hannukah music worth listening to (so that means no Adam Sandler, or Gefilte Joe & the Fish, on this show).We'll hear songs from: Dan Bern, Emma’s Revolution, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, Adam Green, Woody Guthrie, The Holophonics, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, The Klezmatics, The LeeVees, Tom Lehrer, Panorama Jazz Band, Sufjan Stevens, They Might Be Giants, Loudon Wainwright III, Watkins Family Hour, Ted Wulfers, Yo La Tengo, and the Masada String Trio.