Threads and Tangents Music Hour

WTF. Even Baseball isn't safe from the current regime. In the Huffington Post (3/19/25):A web page dedicated to Black baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson was removed and quickly restored on the Department of Defense’s website.The move comes as the [current] administration works to eliminate anything it considers “diversity, equity and inclusion” from the U.S. government, with [the inhabitant of the WH] referring to DEI initiatives as "immoral discrimination programs."   
These days we all need an occasional break, the start of baseball season is that for me, maybe you too. 
We'll hear: Dan Bern & Common Rotation, Greg Brown, Peter Cooper, Watermelon Slim & the Workers, Count Basie & his Orchestra, Nikki Giovanni, Chuck Berry, Ry Cooder, Mabel Scott, The Treniers, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, The Baseball Project, Chuck Brodsky, and The Tallest Man On Earth.Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

This week I’ll be tying up some Loose Threads. With every show, I come across more songs than I can fit in a one-hour program and this is my chance to go back to a few of the episodes to play songs that I wished I’d been able to play the first time around, and to include some songs listeners thought I missed.We'll hear:Ambient Roots - Susan Alcorn/Leila Bordreuil/Ingrid Laubrock, Explosions In The Sky, Bill Frisell, Luke Schneider, William Tyler.Parenting - Sally Fingerett, John Cadley, The National, Loudon Wainwright, The Wainwright Sisters.Free-Form Radio - Jimi Hendrix Experience.Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

This week's musical thread is the Your Roots Are Showing Music Conference. Held in Ireland, the conference celebrates the rich tapestry of folk music and traditions from around the world. Your Roots Are Showing brings together artists, musicians, scholars, and fans to explore and share the diverse cultural expressions that make up folk music.We'll hear: Atlanders, The Good Behaviours, The 19th Street Band, Allison Lupton, Al Qahwa, Pipo Romero, Rhiannon Giddens, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Lotus Wight (Sam Allison), Buíoch, Aine Tyrrell, and Campbell / Jensen.Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Murder Ballads, an oral tradition with roots in Europe, proved so popular it migrated across continents.  Songs like, England's "Hanged I Shall Be" morphed into "The Wexford Girl" in Ireland, and that turned into "The Knoxville Girl" in the US. I'll play songs that stick close to the tradition, a couple that have fun with the idea, a few that switch roles, and finally an exploration into how problematic the tradition can be.We'll hear: Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Bonnie Dobson, Peggy Seeger, Pearl Bailey, Patrick Sky, Tom Lehrer, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Willie Watson, The Chicks, Elvis Costello, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Dirk Powell. Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

This Thread started as a follow up to a 2023 show featuring the Bass when I covered multiple styles of electric and acoustic bass. As I was working on this playlist I found myself really enjoying the tracks that featured Upright Bass. So  I ended up with an hour of incredible music that features the Upright Bass.  We'll hear: Slim & Slam, Ray Brown, Nina Simone, Black Sheep, Nate Sabat, Eberhard Weber, Lee Rocker, Danny Thompson, Brokeback, GoGo Penguin, Tom Waits, and Miles Davis.Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

With Valentine’s Day coming up later this week, and as an alternative to all of the saccharine sweet songs that get played around this Hallmark Holiday, I’ll be playing Break-Up and Anti-Love Songs.We'll hear: Judy Garland, Richard Shindell, Chris Isaak, Otis Redding, Wanda Jackson, Buzzcocks, John Prine, Billy Bragg, Julie London, Jerron Paxton, Jane Monheit, John Eddie, Betty Davis, and Marvin Gaye.Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

This week in memory of Gita (plus there's the upcoming Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show) I'll be playing songs about dogs – both the 4-legged and 2-legged varieties.We'll hear: Dan Bern, Tom Dundee, John Cadley, John Hiatt, Dr. John, Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Chris Stuart & Backcountry, Chris Smither, Duke Robillard, Rufus Thomas, Shovels & Rope, Richard Chase, Charlie Parr, and Neil Young.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

I'll be back on February 4th with a brand new episode of Threads and Tangents

I'm playing more music from some of the artists that passed away in 2024. This week we’ll hear from musicians that bit the dust during the second half of the year.We'll hear: Ralph Stanley, Kinky Friedman, Martin Mull, Happy Traum, Toumani Diabaté, John Mayall, The Chambers Brothers (Joe Chambers), Bobby Hicks, Nick Gravenites, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers (Benny Golson), Ella Jenkins, It’s a Beautiful Day (Linda LaFlamme), Roy Haynes, Shakti (Zakir Hussain), and Sugar Pie DeSanto. 
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 
Just a heads up that I'm taking a couple weeks off and should be back for the January 28th episode. 

Over the next two weeks I’ll play music from some of the artists that passed away in 2024. This week we’ll hear from musicians that bit the dust during the first half of the year.We'll hear: Amon Düül II (Chris Karrer), Jo-El Sonnier, MC5 (Wayne Kramer, John Sinclair, & Dennis Thompson), Kinsey Report (Ralph & Donald Kinsey), Seiji Ozawa, Mojo Nixon, Roni Stoneman, Maurice El Medioni, Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry, The Seldom Scene (Ben Eldridge), Frank Wakefield, ”Spider" John Koerner, Phil Wiggins, Francoise Hardy, and James Chance.  
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org