We’re going to take a step away from vintage releases in our first episode of 2016 and look back at last year’s Americana releases, focusing on tributes and covers from some of the very best performers of the time. We’ll hear from Happy Traum, Jorma Kaukonen, Robert Earl Keen Jr., the Alvin Brothers, Bob Dylan, Jonathan Edwards and many others as the cover music from the past century. While most are those of tradition, we’ll also hear covers of Stephen Foster, Carter Family, and Woody Guthrie for good measure. Tribute albums include Bob Dylan’s Shadows in the Night and Asleep at the Wheel’s “Still The King” Bob Wills tribute. Lots of territory to cover so I hope you’ll join in!
Category Archives: Country
Folk Songs of North America
Folk Songs of North America was first published in 1960. Compiled by Alan Lomax (with melodies transcribed by Peggy Seeger), it featured traditional music organized by locale and topic. The anecdotes provided by Lomax and others were culled from both the oral and transcribed traditions of those who listened and performed. Deeper Roots goes deeper and features sets organized by topical pieces outlined in the book. Performers of the early century are featured including Dock Boggs, David McCarn, Gid Tanner, the Carolina Tar Heels, and The Bently Boys. We’ll also feature a handful of mid-to-late century performers to cap things off. Join Dave Stroud for another two hours of the last century of America’s music on Sonoma County’s newest member-supported radio voice, KWTF 88.1 FM, streaming to the world on kwtf.net.
Christmas Special 2015
We’ve got some holiday roots music featuring new and old. Join Dave Stroud for Deeper Roots Radio: A Century of America’s Music for music from the outskirts of R&B, rock, blues, country, and pop. We’ll hear holiday cheer in the form of blues with Leroy Carr, Blind Blake, and Lloyd Glenn; contemporary pieces from Nick Lowe, Raul Malo, and The Boxmasters; confectionary pop from The Andrews Sisters, Eileen Barton, and The Beach Boys; and some of the very best R&B from Ray Charles, Betty Carter, and Amos Milburn. There’s a large helping of country pop and blues including Groovey Joe Poovey & The Big ‘D’ Boys, The Living Sisters, and (of course) Elvis. Two hours of Christmas cheer on a hump day Wednesday evening on the voice of West Sonoma County! You can follow it here: http://www.kows.fm/listen
Free Form – December 2015
Every couple of months, Deeper Roots shares a free form playlist with host Dave Stroud. This week we’ll share ‘contemporary roots’ infused music including the sounds of Howell Devine, Jason Isbell, and Ian Tyson as well as a broad selection of R&B (from The Blenders), early blues (from Blind Lemon Jefferson), and ‘ding dong daddy’ country swing (featuring Bob Wills). We’ll also wrap it up with a festive foodie theme.
There She Goes – KOWS 12/16/15
West County has seen it’s first consistent (and consecutive) days of rain and boy did we need it. El Nino looks to be making some waves. We’ll be making some waves this week on our Wednesday night foray into the past century of America’s music. We’ll hear new music from the Oxford American Georgia music issue, as well as a good share of early country, some Stephen Foster (by the Hamilton County Ramblers), and some Jelly Roll Morton. There will be a few local performers to sweeten the mix: Kevin Russell, Carl Hendel & Eddie Meisse, and an alumni of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa…Dan Hicks. Tune in for music that keeps on giving.
Soothe Me – KOWS 12/9/15
In this episode, Deeper Roots will feature a wide range of sounds from a host of performers. There will be the topical sounds of courtroom drama featuring R&B from Johnny Otis, classic country Ernest Tubb, and country blues from Carl Martin. We’ll also feature a set that looks at “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It” from a cross-section of talents and genres…and we’ll be soothed with some deep gospel, folk, and soul. Dave will also share a new track from singer/songwriter Steve Forbert’s latest album “Compromised” as well as some contemporary tracks from Marty Stuart, Jorma Kaukonen, and Joe Ely.
Main Street – KOWS December 2, 2015
A bit of a celebration is in order. We will be broadcasting live from the new KOWS studios located in downtown Sebastopol with a playlist that scours the last century of America’s music for relevant sounds and themes that relate: songs of settling into home, saying goodbye, moving on, going west (or east, that is), and ‘getting gone’. We’ll feature The Cats & The Fiddle, local favorites Markus James and Doug Blumer & The Bohemian Highway, “Little” Jimmy Dickens, and a host of others who welcome us into our new home on Gravenstein Highway…or, as it is formally known hereabouts, Main Street.
Country Strings
Our show this week revisits the great country guitar innovators and talents who contributed both session time to classic hits as well as original performances of their own. Whether they were pedal steel, Fender or Gibson electric magicians, or country pickers, we won’t discriminate. Tune in for Leon McAuliffe, Joe Maphis, James Burton, Albert Lee, Doc Watson and others on another Friday night on KWTF 88.1, Bodega Bay, listener-supported community radio for Sonoma County.
Take Me Back – KOWS Nov 18, 2015
Our final show at the old KOWS studio will feature the lineup you might expect…with a couple of themes running through it. The ‘take me back’ theme works well as we bring in Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jimmy Rushing, and Peter Rowan to make the plea and we’ve got the gospel themed pleas of working on a building from The Highway QCs. In addition, we’ve got some doo-wop, some ladies whose theme was ‘blues is her business’, and a run of country swing and bluegrass…all packed into two hours of elementary roots. Tune in after dinner for dessert.
Songs of A.P. Carter
He grew up with music, learning to plan violin at a young age in Poor Valley, Virginia (now known as Maces Springs), sang in a church choir and helped his uncle, Flanders Bays, who ran a mobile music school in Scott County. He would go on to form one of the seminal country music groups of the day with his wife Sara and her cousin Maybelle. Their musicianship was remarkable but the song-writing was what set them apart, the compositions by A. P. Carter representing a treasury of classic folk, sentimental pop, cowboy songs, gospel favorites, and original love songs. While there may be little doubt as to whether all songs that carried his name were original, his treatment (and that of the Carter Family group) were without peer. Tune in this Friday night for music featuring performers covering A.P. Carter songs, including The Delmore Brothers, Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men, Charlie Louvin, Ashley Monroe, and a host of others.