Threads and Tangents Music Hour

Threads and Tangents 6/13/23 - Father’s Day

This Sunday is Father’s Day and the musical thread is songs about fathers and about being a father. This also is your reminder to get that card in the mail, it might still make it there in time. 
We'll hear music from: Lonnie Brooks, Justin Townes Earle, Art Farmer Quintet, Steve Goodman, Hamell on Trial, Colin Hay, John Hiatt, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Charlie Parr, John Prine, Joe Pug, Michael P Smith, and Neil Young.

Threads and Tangents 6/6/23 - Berklee American Roots Music Program

This week, the musical thread is the American Roots Music Program at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. So many great acoustic musicians have been affiliated with Berklee that a show featuring alumni, faculty, and staff is a no brainer.  
We'll hear music from: Darol Anger, Liz Carroll, Bela Fleck, Victor Furtado, Courtney Hartman, Sierra Hull, Leo Kottke, John Mailander, Mile Twelve, Keb Mo, Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, Molly Tuttle, and Joe K. Walsh. 

Threads and Tangents 5/30 - Tom Waits covered

This week's episode is Tom Waits covered, so I'll play an hour of Tom Waits songs, just done by other musicians. 
We'll hear music from: Dave Alvin, Corinne Bailey Rae, Holly Cole, Shawn Colvin, Giant Sand, John Hammond, Long Tall Deb, Cida Moreira, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Widespread Panic, Astrid Seriese, and even a track from the master of postmodern hoodoo blues himself, Tom Waits.

Threads and Tangents 5/23/23 - Hair

This week's episode is about Hair – having lots of it, not enough of it, cutting it, or not cutting it.  This is gonna be fun.
We'll hear music from: Beck, Bryan Bowers, CSN&Y, Rev. Gary Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Hair (original Broadway cast), India.Arie (featuring Akon), Little Village, Scott McKenzie, Pavement, Carl Perkins, Nina Simone, Hound Dog Taylor, Roger Taylor, They Might Be Giants, and Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps.

Threads and Tangents 5/16/23 - Loose Threads #4

This week's episode will be a little different, 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 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 shows: MUSCLE SHOALS (Jimmy Hughes, Wilson Pickett, Otis Clay), BIRDS (Alice Coltrane & Elliot Bergman, Otis Taylor, Pat Burton), BREAK UP SONGS (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Otis Redding, Mary Flower, Leonard Cohen, COEN BROTHERS MOVIES (Big Bill Broonzy, Carter Burwell, Townes Van Zandt), and NIGHT (The Kinks, Magic Sam, and Amos Milburn).
 

Threads and Tangents 5/9/23 - Mom’s Day

This week, the 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: The Austin Lounge Lizards, The Beatles, Ruth Brown, Gary Clark, Jr (feat. Andra Day), Hamell on Trial, Billie Holiday, I Draw Slow, Iron And Wine, BB King, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Mothers of Invention, Old 97’s, Pink Floyd, St Louis Jimmy Oden, and Lucinda Williams.

Threads and Tangents 5/2/23 - May Day

This week, the musical thread is, May Day. The idea for an annual day celebrating workers in May goes back to the late 1800’s and originated in the US.  So why do we celebrate Labor Day in September? Well, it’s complicated … Let's just hear some songs about labor, and the lives of working folk.
We'll hear music from: The Clash, Elvis Costello, Della Mae, Ani DiFranco, Dry Branch Fire Squad w/Hazel Dickens, S.G. Goodman, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Woody Guthrie, John McCutcheon, Austin Moffa, Utah Phillips, Gil Scott-Heron, The Strawbs, and Jeff Tweedy.

Threads and Tangents 4/25/23 - Beer

This week, the musical thread is, Beer.  Why Beer?  Well, aside from the fact that beer makes us happy, we’re in the middle of Bellingham Beer Week. So grab a local brew and enjoy the show.
We'll hear music from: Alfi, the Asylum Street Spankers, Chicago Farmer, the Clancy Brothers, Julian Cope, Della Mae, The Jayhawks, Flaco Jiménez, Jorma Kaukonen, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, The Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Popa Chubby, Todd Snider, Koko Taylor, and Traffic.

Threads and Tangents 4/18/23 - Bugs

This week's thread is Bugs. Yep, bugs. There’s a connection between the sounds of bugs and music we listen to. Insect sounds have been the inspiration for a variety of musical forms, and it’s not just the sound of bugs, songwriters use the critters themselves as a metaphor or analogue to explain lots from the world around us.
We'll hear music from: James Brown, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Elvis Costello, Matt Flinner Trio, Robbie Fulks, Garcia & Grisman, JJ Grey & Mofro, John Hiatt, Long John Hunter, The Mills Brothers & Count Basie, Slim Harpo, Snakefinger, Eugene Chadbourne, They Might Be Giants, Laura Veirs, and Harry Waller. 

Threads and Tangents 4/11/23 - Sibling Bands

This week's thread is Sibling Bands. I didn’t choose this thread because April 10th was National Sibling Day, that was just a happy coincidence.  I picked it because there’s something really special when siblings make music together. We hear that special connection between brothers and sisters in lots of ways – composition, instrumentation, and probably most in the vocals  
We'll hear music from: The Bangles, The Barr Brothers, Devo, I Draw Slow, NRBQ, The Replacements, The Roches, Sly & Family Stone, The Stanley Brothers, Iggy & the Stooges, The Travelin’ McCourys, the T Sisters, and We Banjo 3.