Category Archives: Free Form

Blues, Country, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Theme Time

Musical Vices

November 18, 2014 Dave

This episode has us belly up to the bar, exploring music that’s all about bad habits and those elements that are not very good for health and harmony…and the performers make that very clear. We’ll hear “It Ain’t Far To the Bar”, “Caffeine and Nicotine”, “Wacky Dust”, and a host of other songs that tell the story of misbehavior, anti-sobriety, barrooms, and dens of iniquity. We’ll hear happy, we’ll hear sad, and we’ll hear all those emotions in between…all from performers like Merle Haggard, Victoria Spivey, Johnny Tyler & His Riders of the Rio Grande…and so many others.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Folk and Tradition, Mountain Music, Theme Time

Deeper Tennessee Strings

November 18, 2014 Dave

The story and tradition of the music of the Appalachians can be traced back to Scottish and English ancestral roots. The book “Tennessee Strings” by Charles Wolfe does a good job of finding the path from traditional ballads such as Barbara Allen and those of Lorena during the Civil War into the present day. It also traces a clear path from the early 20th century performers like Fiddlin’ John Carson to the sounds of Uncle Dave Macon and the early years of the Grand Ole Opry.

In this episode of Deeper Roots, we acknowledge the contributions of Tennessee to the country Americana art form, that drew both from sources in the white rural music of East and Middle Tennessee as well as from the church music of the singing congregations and the blues and jazz emanating from urban Memphis. With the commercialization of this musical fusion through radio and recordings, Tennessee soon became a national center for country music.

Featured performers include G. B. Grayson, Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters, Uncle Dave Macon, and a couple of sets that feature the songs about Tennessee. We’ll hear about Nashville before it became the center of commercialism that it is today, the 1927 Bristol Sessions, and the Grand Ole Opry when it only resembled a dance hall social with WSM radio microphones held in an insurance building’s gathering hall. We’ll also hear a number of pieces celebrating the state of Tennessee.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Folk and Tradition, Theme Time

Deeper Woody Guthrie

November 18, 2014 Dave

We’ll be remembering Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967). Deeper Roots: A Century Of America’s Music host Dave Stroud visits the many different songs performed by Woody, his contemporaries, and some of the artists he influenced. In addition, we’ll hear excerpts from the Library of Congress interview where Alan Lomax asks Woody to share some of his personal stories and Woody makes the best of it.

From the Oklahoma Hills where he was born to the Great Northwest where he composed songs for the Columbia River project and into the heart of New York City, Woody spoke for those who would not be heard and railed against injustices that would not be spoken of out of fear. We’ll hear from Bruce Springsteen, The Byrds, Arlo Guthrie, and Billy Bragg (to name a few).

American Songwriters

November 18, 2014 Dave

Our theme in this week’s episode of Deeper Roots…American Songwriters. Deeper Roots explores selections from some of the great American songwriters and a variety of interpretations by a host of performers. We’ll hear the music of Stephen Foster, Willie Nelson, Thomas Dorsey, and Johnny Cash from the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimmy Lunceford, and Sweet Honey In the Rock. Of course, two hours will only scratch the surface…

Deeper Roots on KOWS, Deeper Roots on KWTF, Theme Time

Another Self Portrait

November 18, 2014 Dave

Released in 1970, Bob Dylan’s double album “Self Portrait” was lambasted by the critics and by most of his fans. Although it was a seemingly natural progression between “Nashville Skyline” and “New Morning”, it lacked original material and seemed to be propping itself against traditional and popular country covers sung in the affected crooning voice that Dylan had introduced in Nashville Skyline. It has been re-released this past year by Columbia in a package called “Another Self Portrait” and features studio tracks not heard before offering unembellished productions that help to uncover what might have been a wholly different album…in the hands of another producer. Even Greil Marcus, the critic who originally wrote in his review of the album “What is this s***?” entertains another look.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Theme Time

Labor Day Special

November 18, 2014 Dave

It’s a three day Labor Day weekend and Deeper Roots celebrates with music that explores the burdens and rewards of work. It’s our “Labor Day Special”. Join Dave Stroud for more from a century of America’s music. In a slightly retooled show from earlier in the year we’ll hear from Nina Simone, Zeke Clements, Hazel Dickens, and many others including a set celebrating the music of Pete Seeger and the longstanding fight for labor rights in America.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Theme Time

California Theme

November 18, 2014 Dave

We’ve got our home state as our guide in an episode whose theme is that of California. We’ll hear performances by Ry Cooder, Howlin’ Wolf, Dwight Yoakum, and Dave Alvin to name just a few. In addition to the more popular ‘go west’ themes, we’ll hear about the pastures of plenty and the nostalgic tunes of the Golden State: our sunsets, the orange groves, the high desert, and the deep valleys. Join Dave Stroud as he shares an eclectic blend of sounds on listener-supported community radio for Bodega Bay.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Free Form

Bob Dylan Special

November 18, 2014 Dave

We wished Bob Dylan a happy 72nd birthday in 2013 by spending our two hour set celebrating his work by sharing songs he’s written, performed by both his contemporaries and Dylan himself. We’ll also hear some anecdotes relayed by Bob from a couple of different sources.

Since he arrived on the music scene in 1961 up until his latest release “Tempest”, Bob Dylan has proven that he is a Renaissance Man, a musical entrepreneur, an actor, a radio personality, a sage spokesman for roots music, and a philosophical icon. To ignore Dylan’s body of work in the context of roots music is to ignore a over a half century of the inspiration, influences, and relationships he’s had with the many genres (and often the legends) of folk, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel.

Join Dave Stroud as he shares a set of all songs written by Dylan including performances from Warren Zevon, Flatt and Scruggs, The White Stripes, and Eric Clapton.

This episode will be posted to Mixcloud in the near future.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Theme Time

Dreams Of Home

November 18, 2014 Dave

Every Friday night at 9 on KWTF, we visit another slice of roots music, curated with backstories about the performances, the performers, and the arch of story-telling. Dave Stroud brings us a selection of roots inspired themes of home as muse and metaphor in artists’ performances from the past century of America’s music. The theme of home is covered by almost 90 years of recordings, starting with the Carter Family and Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters from the Gennett archives of the late twenties into music of the late 2000’s featuring John Prine, Bruce Springsteen, and Steve Earle. We’ll also hear from Robert Johnson, George Edgin’s Corn Dodgers and gospel from the likes of Dorothy Love Coates and Frank Sinatra…Frank Sinatra???! Join us.

Deeper Roots on KWTF, Theme Time

Down The Road

November 18, 2014 Dave

Roots music so often plays on the theme of ‘going home’ and uses metaphor to illustrate the journey. In past episodes of Deeper Roots, A Century of America’s Music, we’ve explored the music of the railroad and waterways as themes in American roots music. This episode has us focusing on the muse of routes, roads, and highways. We’ll hear from Mose Allison, Chuck Berry, Lowell Fulson, and Hank Williams in a set that follows road trips, functions at the junctions, highway signs, rocky roads, dusty roads, big roads, gospel highways, and bi-ways of the heart. Don’t miss it! And don’t forget that you can hear past episodes by subscribing to our podcasts here: http://deeperroots.podomatic.com/

This episode will be posted to Mixcloud in the near future.

A Century of America's Music