Category Archives: Mountain Music

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Folk and Tradition, Gospel, Mountain Music

The Dust-to-Digital Label

September 26, 2015 Dave

Our weekly KWTF show is about a label whose chief purpose is the resurrection of that curious mix of ephemera, folklore, ancestry, and musicianship that reveals itself as folk music: whether it be pre-Monroe bluegrass, gospel, blues, or early pop. The label I speak of is Dust-To-Digital and we’ll scratch the surface of some of the great work that they’ve issued since 1999, the year Lance Ledbetter and his wife April open shop in Atlanta, Georgia.Their mission is the same as it was then: to produce high quality cultural artifacts.

Pitchfork magazine put it this way: “Although the folklorists lugging around tape recorders (and the performers carrying on ancient traditions) are worthy of much heralding, it’s equally astounding how essential Lance Ledbetter’s work at Dust-to-Digital has been to the preservation of traditional American folksong. It’s easy to buy and appreciate these sets without realizing that the bulk of the material might have been lost — or, at the very least, tethered to archives, readily accessible only to curious faculty, paper-writing students, and bespectacled researchers — without Ledbetter’s interference.”

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	Jimmy Murphy	We Live A Long Time To Get Old	Desperate Man Blues
3	Tennesee Messarounds	Mandolin Blues	Desperate Man Blues
4	Lonnie Johnson	Death Valley is Just Half Way To My Home	Desperate Man Blues
5	Chubby Parker	Bib-a-lollie-boo	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
6	Ernest Thompson	In the Baggage Coach Ahead	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
7	Roy Smeck Trio	Reaching for the Moon	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
8	Lew Childre	It Don't Do Nothing but Rain	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
9	Sara Martin & Sylvester Weaver	I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind	…I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces
10	Sister O.M. Terrell	The Bible's Right	Goodbye, Babylon – Deliverance Will Come [Disc 2]
11	Mahalia Jackson	God's Gonna Separate The Wheat From The Tares	Goodbye, Babylon – Introduction [Disc 1]
12	The North Carolina Cooper Boys	Daniel In The Den Of Lions	Goodbye, Babylon – Deliverance Will Come [Disc 2]
13	Moses Williams	The Train	Drop On Down in Florida [Disc 1]
14	Emmett Murray	She's a Fool, She Ain't Got No Sense	Drop On Down in Florida [Disc 1]
15	Rev. Johnny L. Jones	Huff Construction Company (Radio Commercial)	The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta
16	Rev. Johnny L. Jones	I Love the Lord	The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta
17	Dorothy Lee	You Got to Give an Account (feat. Norma Jean, Shirley Marie Johnson & Robert nighthawk Johnson)	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
18	Babe Stovall	When the Circle Be Unbroken	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
19	Robert nighthawk Johnson	Cant No Grave Hold My Body Down	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
20	Henagar Union Sacred Harp Convention	Save, Lord, or We Perish 224	I Belong to This Band: Eight-Five Years of Sacred Harp Recordings
21	Denson's Sacred Harp Singers of Arley, Alabama	Ninety-Fifth 36B	I Belong to This Band: Eight-Five Years of Sacred Harp Recordings
22	Brother Claude Ely	Send Down The Rain	Satan Get Back
23	Uncle Eck Dunford and Ernest Stoneman	Barney McCoy	Lead Kindly Light
24	The Allen Brothers	Skipping and Flying	Lead Kindly Light
25	Georgia Yellow Hammers	Mary Don't You Weep	Lead Kindly Light
26	Charlie Parker and Mack Woolbright	Man Who Wrote the Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man	Lead Kindly Light
27	Loveless Twins Quartet	Lead Kindly Light	Lead Kindly Light
28	The Morrison Twin Brothers String Band	Ozark Waltz	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
29	Dr. Smith's Champion Hoss Hair Pullers	Just Give Me the Leavings	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
30	Wonder State Harmonists	Turnip Greens	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
31	Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers	Jaw Bone	Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers
32	Clarence Alexander	Disability Boogie Woogie	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
33	22 & Group	The Prettiest Train I Ever Saw	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
34	Henry Ratcliff	Look For Me In Louisiana	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
35	Willie Washington	My Jack Dont Drink No Water	Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings: 19471959
36	The David Thom Band	Windy City	That Old Familiar

Country Swing, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Fifties Country, Mountain Music

Hillbilly Fever

September 19, 2015 Dave

The sound was simple, fun, and certainly influential. It evolved from ancestral celebrations…finding its groove by the mid 1930s and playing itself out as a popular voice well through the early days of what was termed the Golden Age of Country Music, the 1950s. The entertainment industry collectively shunned the hillbilly term by the mid-50s, choosing the more sedate “Country and Western” moniker and certainly the even more narcoleptic sound of Nashvile going into the coming decade and beyond. Hillbilly music lives today only as splinter and special edge-case Americana. Listen and find out.

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	The Delmore Brothers	Hillbilly Boogie	26 All-Time Country Classics
3	Sons of The Ozarks	Plantation Blues	Hillbilly Blues
4	The Lone Star Cowboys	Deep Elm Blues	Hillbilly Blues
5	Ernest Tubb & Red Foley	Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age	Hillbilly Fever [Disc 2]
6	Bill Carlisle	Bell Clappin' Mama	Hillbilly Blues
7	Al Dexter	Hi-De-Ho Boogie On A Saturday Night	Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers ([Disc 4] Saturday Night Rag)
8	Al Dexter	Pistol Packin' Mama	Pistol Packin' Mama
9	Curly Williams	Southern Belle	Country & Western, Vol.2 [Disc 5]
10	Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers	Bring It On Home To Grandma	Theme Time Radio Hour – Season 3 – [Disc 1]
11	Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers	I Was A Gambler In Texas	Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers ([Disc 4] Saturday Night Rag)
12	Faron Young	If You Aint Lovin' (You Aint Livin')	Hillbilly Fever – Vol. 3: Legends Of Nashville
13	W. Lee O'Daniel & His Hillbilly Boys	There'll Be Some Changes Made	Okeh Western Swing
14	Clyde Moody	08 – Nobody's Business	The Hillbilly Waltz King
15	Little Jimmy Dickens	Hillbilly Fever	Roughneck Blues 1949 – 1956
16	Grandpa Jones	It's Raining Here This Morning (Remake)	Hillbilly Bop 'n' Boogie: King/Federal Roots of Rockabilly 1944 – 56
17	Ocie Stockard & His Wanderers	Bass Man Jive	Western Swing: Hot Hillbilly Jazz & Blues – 1935-1947
18	Joe Maphis & Rose Lee	Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)	Hillbilly Fever: Vol. 4 – Heroes Of Country Music – Vol. 4: Legends Of The West Coast
19	Hank Penny	Hadacillin Boogie	King Of Hillbilly Bebop [Disc 2]
20	Hank Penny	Hillbilly Jump	King Of Hillbilly Bebop [Disc 2]
21	Billy Jack Wills & His Western Swing Band	Troubles (Those Lonesome Kind)	Hillbilly Fever! Vol. 1: Legends Of Western Swing
22	Redd Stewart	Brother Drop Dead (Boogie)	Hillbilly Bop 'n' Boogie: King/Federal Roots of Rockabilly 1944 – 56
23	Charlie Gore	I Put My Britches On Just Like Everybody Else	Hillbilly Bop 'n' Boogie: King/Federal Roots of Rockabilly 1944 – 56
24	Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant	Bryant's Bounce	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys
25	Red Foley	Choc'late Ice Cream Cone	Hillbilly Fever [Disc 2]
26	The Light Crust Doughboys	Little Hillbilly Heart Throb	Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers ([Disc 1] Hot Mama Stomp)
27	Skeets McDonald	Scoot Git And Begone	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys
28	Jimmy Bryant	Jelly Beans Daddy	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys: The West Coast Indies
29	Luke Wills	Four Or Five Times	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys: The West Coast Indies
30	Rose Maddox & Her Brothers	Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down	Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys: The West Coast Indies
31	Robbie Fulks	We Live A Long Time To Get Old	13 Hillbilly Giants
32	The Ranch Girls & Their Ragtime Wranglers	Hillbilly Jive With a Boogie Beat	Can You Hear It?
33	Larry Nolen & The Bandits	Hillbilly Love Affair	Bear Family "Perfect for Parties" Highlight Album
34	The Osborne Brothers	Hillbilly Fever	World's Hottest Bluegrass
35	Bill Kirchen	Hillbilly Truck Drivin' Man	Tied to the Wheel
36	Junior Brown	Hillbilly Hula Gal	12 Shades of Brown
37	BR5-49	Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)	BR5-49
38	BR5-49	Cherokee Boogie	BR5-49

Country Blues, Country Swing, Deeper Roots on KOWS, Fifties Country, Folk and Tradition, Gospel, Mountain Music

Dark Moon

August 22, 2015 Dave

We’re going to go pretty deep this coming Saturday morning here in Western Sonoma County. It’s a mix of old time and tradition with a few themed sets including social sciences, the labor blues, calypso rhythm, minstrelsy, and some special sounds from Ira and Charlie Louvin. Performers this week include Darby & Tarlton, Riley Puckett, Fern Jones, Arizona Dranes, and a pair each from Ry Cooder and Harry Belafonte. It’s a “Great Dream From Heaven” for KOWS listeners on an August morning in Occidental. Broadcast on KOWS 107.3 FM on August 22, 2015.

No.
1	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
2	Little Jimmy Dickens	May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose	Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 3: Americana
3	Ry Cooder	Great Dream From Heaven	Into The Purple Valley (Remaster 2013)
4	Del McCoury	Fireside Chat, Part 1 (feat. Franklin D. Roosevelt)	Moneyland
5	Bob Miller	The Rich Man And The Poor Man [Rematered 2003]	Poor Man's Heaven – Blues And Tales Of The Great Depression – When The Sun Goes Down Series
6	Frank Crumit	A Tale of the Ticker [Remastered 2003]	Poor Man's Heaven – Blues And Tales Of The Great Depression – When The Sun Goes Down Series
7	Uncle Dave Macon	All In Down And Out Blues [2003 Remastered]	Poor Man's Heaven – Blues And Tales Of The Great Depression – When The Sun Goes Down Series
8	Ry Cooder	Denomination Blues	Into The Purple Valley
9	Washington Phillips	Denomination Blues	Bob Dylan Presents: Radio Radio, Theme Time Radio Hour, Vol. 1
10	Arizona Dranes	God's Got A Crown	He Is My Story: The Sanctified Soul Of Arizona Dranes
11	Elvis Presley	Swing Down Sweet Chariot	His Hand In Mine
12	Fern Jones	By And By	The Glory Road
13	Dave Van Ronk	That'll Never Happen No More	Sunday Street
14	Ramblin' Jack Elliott	Dark As A Dungeon	Best Of The Vanguard Years
15	Emmett Miller	That's The Good Old Sunny South	Minstrel Man From Georgia
16	Emmett Miller & His Georgia Crackers	Lovesick Blues	Minstrel Man From Georgia
17	Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard	Coal Miner Blues	Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways
18	Riley Puckett And Ted Hawkins	Hawkins Rag	Serenade The Mountains: Early Old Time Music On Record, [Disc 3]
19	Darby & Tarlton	Lonesome Frisco Line	Lonesome Whistle – An Anthology Of American Railroad Song
20	Lead Belly	Black Betty	Lead Belly's Last Sessions
21	Odetta	Shame And Scandal	Sings Ballads And Blues
22	Harry Belafonte	Mama, Look at Boo Boo	Harry Belafonte: Greatest Hits
23	Harley Allen & Dierks Bentley	I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby	Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs Of The Louvin Brothers
24	The Louvin Brothers	Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar	Close Harmony [Disc 5]
25	The Louvin Brothers	Keep Watching The Sky	Close Harmony [Disc 8]
26	Bonnie Guitar	Dark Moon	Hard to Find 45s On CD: Pop & Country Classics
27	Skeeter Davis	The One You Slip Around With	The Essential Skeeter Davis
28	Wanda Jackson	Savin' My Love	Rockin' With Wanda [US Bonus Tracks]
29	Webb Pierce	I Ain't Never	20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Webb Pierce
30	The Allen Brothers	Skipping and Flying	Lead Kindly Light
31	Bascom Lamar Lunsford	Kidder Cole	The Cornshucker's Frolic Vol. 1: Downhome Music And Entertainment From The American Countryside
32	The Weavers	Bring Me Li'l Water Sylvia	Dust Bowl Blues: Essential American Folk [Disc 2]
33	Little Jimmy Dickens	I'm In Love Up To My Ears	Country Boy [Disc 1]
34	Rosie Flores & The Jordanaires	I Ain't Never	Caught in the Webb
35	Dale Watson & The Jordanaires	In The Jailhouse Now	Caught In the Webb
36	Los Indios Tabajaras	Maria Elena	Nipper's Greatest Hits: The 60's, Vol. 1

Country, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Fifties Country, Folk and Tradition, Mountain Music

Home on the Range

May 9, 2015 Dave

Generations of youth over the last century grew up with the images of cowpokes, rustlers, bad guys, and ranching through dime novels, radio, television and, of course, the music. In this episode of Deeper Roots, we focus on the legacy of the ‘cowboy crooners’ and country balladeers who sang about life on the trail alongside the grub wagon on the lone prairie where the imagination could take you anywhere it pleased…and often did. We’ll hear the earliest ‘cowboy songs’ by Vernon Dalhart and Carl Sprague; and we’ll also find ourselves being serenaded (quite gently) by Tex Ritter and Gene Autry who reached out for the generic, mass appeal. The music was full of tradition as well and we’ll hear some contemporary reflections from David Wilkie And Cowboy Celtic, Jim Lauderdale, and (of course) Waylon, Willie, Merle, and Johnny.

Deeper Roots on KOWS, Folk and Tradition, Mountain Music

The Appalachian-Celtic Connection

March 17, 2015 Dave

In this special edition of Deeper Roots, we’ll spend some time with selections of Celtic origin that traveled with the memories of home from over the seas and into the mountains of Appalachia. These mountains were not only home to immigrants beginning in the 17th century, but also a haven for slaves who escaped the South during the Civil war and 19th century Civil War deserters. Out of all of this, some kind of musical serendipity seems to have happened. We’re excited to have three guests who will be talking about two upcoming events in the Bay Area this month. Joining us by phone will be musician, Celtic music evangelist, folklorist, and professor of music and Irish studies Mick Moloney and traditional Irish musician Athena Tergis who will share some of their insights into the migration of the Irish into Appalachia as well as sorting out the jig, the reel, and the hornpipe. Also joining us to discuss the upcoming event A Celtic Appalachian Celebration: Traditional Irish & American Old Time Music will be Margaret McPeake, one of the producers of the Festival whose credentials are overwhelming. She’ll share details about Irish-American Crossroads, an organization that has been producing the event for the past twelve years.

African American Gospel, Bluegrass, Country Gospel, Deeper Roots on KOWS, Early Pop, Early Rock, Mountain Music, Rhythm and Blues

Deeper Roots on KOWS – January 10, 2015

January 10, 2015 Dave

Deeper Roots on KOWS - January 2015 — Deeper Roots on KOWS – January 2015

Another beautiful winter Saturday morning in West Sonoma County and it’s time for a collection of hot blues, country gospel, early rock, early century pop, and swinging country on Deeper Roots… everything from Eddie Cantor’s 1922 song about a trapeze and Blind Willie McTell covering Jimmie Rodgers around mid-century, to a track from 2014 from a new band out of New Orleans called Hurray For The Riff Raff…another reason our tag line reads “A Century of America’s Music”. Join Dave Stroud on a brisk Saturday morning from the KOWS studios in downtown Occidental, California.

Bluegrass, Country, Folk and Tradition, Mountain Music

Deep In Tradition

January 3, 2015 Dave

In this episode of Deeper Roots, produced especially for Sonoma County’s newest member-supported community radio station, KWTF, we go Deep In Tradition. The playlist today features just over a dozen songs whose their roots go back beyond the 20^th century. Songs in the show include Ida Red, Cotton Eyed Joe, Back Up And Push, River of Jordan, and Arkansas Traveler. Performers include Doc Watson, The Carter Family, Ricky Skaggs, and Jimmie Driftwood. You’ll hear the songs and their stories in this first broadcast of 2015. Please join us for more than just the past century of America’s music from Sonoma County, California.

Country Blues, Early Jazz, Folk and Tradition, Gospel, Mountain Music

The Paramount Label

November 19, 2014 Dave

Paramount Records was born in 1917 and in the mere fifteen years of their existence they would introduce some of the greatest names in the blues. Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Skip James, and Papa Charlie Jackson are but a few. In 2013, Jack White’s Third Man Records teamed up with Revenant Records to release the first of what would become one of the most ambitious attempts at documenting the story of a record company born from a furniture company that was driven to create product for the record cabinets they sold. Based on the book “The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records”, part two of the omnibus will be released later this year (or in early 2015).

This week on Deeper Roots, we share some of the story…and a lot of the music which was not necessarily limited to the blues but also some incredible gospel, mountain, and jazz recordings. When listening through what Dean Blackwell of Revenant Records calls the “gauze of static”, you’ll hear the music of the last century come alive. Tune in Friday night at 9 o’clock for a rare listen.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/arts/music/jack-white-explores-history-of-paramount-records.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&

Country Blues, Folk and Tradition, Mountain Music

Mountain Roots Covers

November 18, 2014 Dave

Our show explores traditional pieces and versions that have been covered by contemporary artists. “Mama Don’t Allow”, “Soldier’s Joy”, “That Nasty Swing”, “Worried Mind”, and “Mary of the Wild Moor” are just a handful of the selections we’ll share in our show tonight. Some of the performers included in our set include Ivory Joe Hunter, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, The Dixon Brothers, and Byrd Moore. Join Dave Stroud tonight at 9 on KWTF as he shares the stories of the music, song stories, and performers from the last American century…it’s roots music that does matter.

Bluegrass, Country Blues, Country Gospel, Folk and Tradition, Mountain Music

The Bristol Sessions

November 18, 2014 Dave

Deeper Roots: A Century of America’s Music goes deeper…back 87 years to the summer of 1927 when Ralph Peer, a producer for the Victor Talking Machine Company visited the town of Bristol, Tennessee scouting for talent. He brought with him the equipment necessary to capture those first-take performances which would come to be known as The Bristol Sessions. From late July through early August artists such as The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and the Stoneman Family made recordings in a makeshift studio inside downtown Bristol’s Taylor-Christian Hat Company. Johnny Cash once said that “These recordings…are the single most important event in the history of country music.”

Join Dave Stroud as Deeper Roots goes beyond the more notable names from these recordings and, with a certain leaning to the country sounds, he will also reveal the gospel and folk tradition that came out of these and the later Johnson City Sessions. We’ll hear from The Johnson Brothers, The Stamps Quartet, Alfred Karnes, Uncle Eck Dunford, and a host of others.

A Century of America's Music