Threads and Tangents Music Hour

Threads and Tangents 7/16/24 - Subdued Stringband Jamboree & More

This week's musical thread is the Subdued Stringband Jamboree & More. I'll play music not just from artists scheduled to play at this year’s August festival, but also music that the SSJ folks have brought to Bellingham over the past couple of years. That includes: Robert Sarazin Blake, The Sons of Rainer, Brian Bowers, Del Rey, Steve James, Kian Dye, Tony Furtado & Luke Pierce, Fog Holler, Kitty and The Rooster, Peter Rowan, Hamell on Trial, Gallowglass, Jacob Jolliff, Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms, and Nick Shoulders.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 7/9/24 - In The Jailhouse Now

This week's musical thread is he’s in the jailhouse now. The New York sentencing was scheduled for the 11th, until the SCOTUS ruling changed all that, but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it in the meantime.  
We'll hear music from: The Soggy Bottom Boys, The Allman Brothers Band, Wanda Jackson, The Clash, Morphine, The Byrds, Loretta Lynn, The Kinks, Mose Allison, Tom Waits, John Mellencamp, Dinah Washington, Hamell on Trial, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, and Steve Earle and the V-Roys.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 7/2/24 - John Fahey and American Primitive Guitar - Part Two

This week we’ll hear more American Primitive Guitar. Last February's American Primitive episode was so much fun to put together, and left so much music unplayed that I knew I’d come back to it again. This time I’ll play American Primitive sets highlighting its Roots, International Artists, Guitarists That Plug In, and Musicians Playing Something Other Than Guitar.  All that, and a piece by John Fahey to close out the show.
We'll hear music from: Sylvester Weaver, Lena Hughes, Bayless Rose, Davy Graham, Tinh, Bert Jansch & John Renbourn, Nels Cline & Devin Sarno, Michael Chapman, Cul de Sac, George Winston, Mike Auldridge, Nathan Bowles, and John Fahey.  
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 6/25/24 - African-American String Bands

This week's thread is African-American String Bands - music spanning nearly 100 years. The idea for tonight’s show came from Mary, the Threads and Tangents in-house bluegrass maven, after hearing Black performers of traditional acoustic music at last year’s IBMA's World of Bluegrass in North Carolina.    We'll hear music from: The Mississippi Sheiks, New Dangerfield, Nathan Frazier & Frank Patterson, Jerron Paxton, Gribble Lusk & York, Jake Blount, Henry ‘Son’ Sims, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor's Kentucky Boys, Dom Flemons, Martin Bogan & Armstrong, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Johnny Young, Butch Cage & Willie Thomas, and Our Native Daughters.It’s important to note that I approached this musical thread, like I do every episode of Threads and Tangents, as a fan. I spend a lot of time trying to get everything right, but I’m not a scholar. To learn more about string bands, check out these web pages from two of the scholar-musicians heard in this episode:Rhiannon Giddens – https://rhiannongiddens.com/all-resourcesJake Blount – https://jakeblount.com/black-stringband-resourcesFor a broad and creative exploration of string band music, check out scholar, musician, and author Stephen Wade. If you’re the kind of person who likes to dive right in (as opposed to just dipping a toe) find his book, The Beautiful Music All Around Us: Field Recordings and the American Experience ( https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p080913). Stephen’s widely-acclaimed book presents performances captured on Library of Congress field recordings between 1934 and 1942, and demonstrates that the stories behind them can be as absorbing as the songs themselves.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 6/18/24 - Festival Time (Grey Fox)

This week's musical thread is Festival Time. Summer’s here, and there are great music festivals taking place every week. To capture the wonderfulness of a summer festival, I’ll feature the musicians that are playing this year at one of my favorites, Grey Fox in New York.  
We'll hear music from: The Del McCoury Band, Della Mae, Country Gongbang, Yonder Mountain String Band, the Sam Grisman Project, Missy Raines & Allegheny, Niamh Parsons, I Draw Slow, Tony Trischka, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, The Faux Paws, Le Vent du Nord, Charlie Parr, and Zoe & Cloyd.
Grey Fox photo by Steve Ide. 
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 6/11/24 - Remembering Steve Allbini

This week I’m I’m taking a look back on the musical life of Steve Albini. He was a legendary musician and audio engineer of iconic indie, punk and alternative records. Between 1982 and 2024, he worked with hundreds of bands and he’s credited in some capacity on over 1400 recordings. Yeah, you read that right, 1400.We'll hear from: The Pixies, The Breeders, The Wedding Present, PJ Harvey, Big Black, Shellac, Palace Music, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Low, Joanna Newsom, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and MONO.
The photo of Albini is by John Semley.  Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 6/4/24 - Loose Threads #7

This week's show will be a little different because I’m 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 some songs that I wished I’d been able to play the first time around, and also to include some songs listeners thought I missed. We'll hear music from these past episodes:EYES - Niamh Regan, The Soft Boys, Koko Taylor, and Robert Pollard,DOWN HOME MUSIC from ARHOOLIE RECORDS - K.C. Douglas, Los Cenzontles, Magnolia Sisters, Big Joe Williams, and the Pine Leaf Boys,WES ANDERSON MOVIES - Hank Williams, Jarvis Cocker, and Sigur Rós,WALKIN’ - Patty Larkin, Johnny B. Moore, and Bill Morrissey. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 5/28/24 - National Recording Registry

This week we’ll hear music that was added to the National Recording Registry in 2023 and 2024. The Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress.  These recording aren’t selected as the "best” recordings of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture and in need of permanent preservation.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

Threads and Tangents 5/14/24 - Goin' to the Dogs

This week we’ll hear songs about dogs. I planned for this episode months ago because the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is this week. But after the news about Republican governor Kristi Noem being a puppy killer, it seemed more timely than I could have imagined. Who shoots their own puppy - for acting like a puppy?! Try to clear your heads of that bit of crazy, sit back, and enjoy these songs about dogs – both the 4-legged and 2-legged varieties.We'll hear from: Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager, Chris Smither, Duke Robillard, Marcia Ball, Tom Dundee, Damn Tall Buildings, Uncle Tupelo, Transatlantic Sessions, Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Norah Jones, David Bromberg, Charlie Parr, and Neil Young. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 5/7/24 - Mother's Day

This week's musical thread is Mother's Day and all the songs we’ll hear will have something to do with mothers. To moms everywhere, Happy Mother's Day!We'll hear music from: Gillian Welch, Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends, Low, Brandi Carlile, the Grateful Dead, Mariachi Los Gavilanes de Oakland, The Temptations, Van Morrison, The Intruders, Amanda Palmer, John Lennon, Madness, Sara Hickman, Clifton Chenier, and the Mothers of Invention.  Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org