Threads and Tangents Music Hour

Threads and Tangents 4/30/24 - Labor Day in May

Tomorrow is May Day, when most of the planet celebrates Workers’ Day, so it’s the perfect time to play songs about workers, working, and the labor movement.  We'll hear music from: Billy Bragg, Slaid Cleaves, Della Mae, S.G. Goodman, Woody Guthrie, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Kronos Quartet (feat. Lee Knight), Leyla McCalla, Utah Phillips & Ani DiFranco, Sleater-Kinney, Patti Smith, Strange Creek Singers, and Maya de Vitry. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 4/23/24 - Music for the Earth

With Earth Day this week, it’s a good time to hear songs about the environment and about some of the heroes of the environmental movement.  We'll hear music from: Greg Brown, Death Cab for Cutie, Deathrats, Emma's Revolution, Hawkwind, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Marvin Gaye, Steve Goodman, Joni Mitchell, Pixies, T.R. Ritchie, Spirit, Talking Heads, and Neil Young. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 4/16/24 - Beer

This week's thread is Beer. Bellingham Beer Week starts April 18th and runs through the 28th; breweries and taphouses all over town will be celebrating with events and beer releases. So grab a local brew and enjoy the show.  We'll hear music from: Alfi, Dave Bartholomew, The Brothers Comatose, Julian Cope, Della Mae, Billie Holiday, Dropkick Murphys featuring Nikki Lane, Tiny Grimes, the Indigo Girls, Flaco Jiménez, Steve Johnson, Rum Ragged, Todd Snider, Traffic, and the Watkins Family Hour. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 4/9/24 - Walkin'

This week's thread is walkin'. Now that the sun has returned to the NW corner and we start to get out, make this your walkin' around playlist.   We'll hear from: Johnny Cash, Donna the Buffalo, Dr. John, Robert Johnson, Candye Kane, Bill Morrissey, Charlie Parr, The Pretty Things, Lou Reed, Jimmy Rogers, Freddie Roulette, Rum Ragged, Johnny Smith, Rufus Thomas, and Mighty Joe Young.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 4/2/24 - It's All Relative

This week's thread is recordings by families – collaborations of parents and sons & daughters.  I’ve featured sibling bands in the past but this is the first time we’ll hear a whole show of bands and collaborations that include moms, dads, and kids … and sometimes even grandkids.   We'll hear from: Carey & Lurrie Bell, David & Sam Grisman, Ben Harper & Ellen Harper, La Famille Léger, Ellis & Branford Marsalis, Kate & Anna McGarrigle with Loudon & the kids, the Del McCoury Band, the Spanic Boys, the Staple Singers, Sly & the Family Stone, The Stonemans, Billy Strings & his dad, Jeff & Spencer & Sammy Tweedy, Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton, and Doc & Merle Watson.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/26/24 - Baseball

In celebration of the Mariners opener later this week, tonight’s musical thread is Baseball. We'll hear from: The Baseball Project, Dan Bern with Common Rotation, Craig Bickhardt, Chuck Brodsky, Greg Brown, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Dizzy Gillespie Sextet, Harvey Hindermeyer, Danielle Miraglia, Willy Porter, Mabel Scott, Todd Snider, Chris Thile, and Don White.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/19/24 - Songs from a Friend

This week's musical thread is Songs from a Friend.  I tried out this thread last year, with a friend that I’d known since we were teenagers, and it generated a great playlist. This time around the friend is someone that I didn’t meet until about 20 years ago. Over those years we’ve gone to many of the same shows, and we’ve discovered that prior to meeting, as far back as our late teens, we were at some of the same shows.   We'll hear music from: Big Boy Little Band, Eva Cassidy, Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, Dave Chappell, Donna the Buffalo, Family, John Hammond, Patty Larkin, Mothers of Invention, Chris Smither, and The Spellcasters.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/12/24 - 1974

This week's musical thread is 1974.  We’ll take a look at that year in musical history from as many angles as possible.   We'll hear music from: Pat Burton, Stanley Clarke, Vassar Clements, Brian Eno, Al Green, Jorma Kaukonen, Leo Kottke, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Bonnie Raitt, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Taj Mahal, Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, and Richard & Linda Thompson.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/5/24 - Music from Wes Anderson Movies

This week's musical thread is Wes Anderson movies. The upcoming Academy Awards got me thinking about movie soundtracks, and since Anderson includes so many great songs in his movies, this was an easy call.Anderson is a divisive director.  Many of us really connect with his idiosyncratic style, while others just don’t get it.  But wherever you land on that spectrum, you can’t deny how masterfully he uses music in his films.  In tonight’s show we’ll get a sense of his uncanny ability for finding just the right song for just the right moment.   We'll hear music from: The Beach Boys, David Bowie, The Faces, Françoise Hardy, Seu Jorge, The Kinks, Love, Yves Montand, Nico, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, Peter Sarstedt, Elliott Smith, The Stooges, and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 2/27/24 - John Fahey & American Primitive Guitar

This week's musical thread is John Fahey and American Primitive Guitar. It’s pretty rare to be able to pinpoint a genre’s founder and its beginning. In the case of American Primitive Guitar, it’s John Fahey and his 1959 Blind Joe Death album. The style draws inspiration from blues artists of the 20's, dissonant 20th century classical music, and the Indian raga tradition. If John was still alive, the 28th would have been his 85th birthday.  This week's show will be an introduction to American Primitive Guitar. We'll hear music from: John Fahey; John's early influences: Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys, Etta Baker, and Bukka White; John's Takoma Records peers: Leo Kottke, Peter Lang, and Rick Ruskin; and, American Primitive Guitar's next waves: Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Marisa Anderson, Daniel Bachman, Yasmin Williams, and Gwenifer Raymond.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org