Our theme of ‘returning home’ explores not just the physical place but also a reflection of our identities, memories, and the tension between the past and the present. Returning to one’s roots is often fraught with challenges and our understanding of home is deeply intertwined with our personal growth and the changing world around us. This week we’ll be pouring through memories and nostalgia to try to find the meaning of home. Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” introduces characters who yearn for their pasts and the comforts of home, but the reality often falls short of their memories and would serve as a guidepost for our theme today. We’ll share gospel from the Gospel Hummingbirds, classic Americana from John Prine, country tradition from Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie, and the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Big Maybelle, and Bruce Springsteen. We’re heading down that road to home in today’s show.
Category Archives: Free Form
Jubilee Theme
It’s theme time on a Friday morning in Sonoma County on Deeper Roots and we’ll take you pretty deep today, exploring songs of jubilation and celebration. Our theme revolves around the term ‘jubilee’ and it’s meaning, at least over the past century. While its etymology is centuries deep, with roots in the Old Testament and the Hebrew word ‘yobhel’ which refers to the ram’s horn which was sounded on the Day of Atonement, there are also the jubilee references to the freeing of slaves well into the 19th century. it speaks to anniversaries, rejoicing, and freedom. We could go much deeper but what better way to celebrate than with music, and there are plenty of Americana examples that tell of jubilees. We’ll hear from country favorites like The Sons of the Pioneers, Tyler Childers, and Joe Maphis alongside early century rhythm jazz and rhythm greats like Dinah Washington, Ivie Anderson, and Benny Goodman in this week’s show. Join us
Making Believe
Fresh from a couple of weeks away, we’re going for the easy listening, classic pieces from the Great American Songbook. Join Dave Stroud on a dream-laden journey on the waters of the past century of America’s music as he pairs up some of the classic ballads and torch songs from the past. Mostly crooners but there’s plenty of jazz and pop standards to celebrate. We’ll hear pairings from The Mills Brothers and Les Paul & Mary Ford, Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan, Rosemary Clooney and Leon Redbone, Etta James, Billie Holiday, and Peggy Lee. That’s the short list. We’ll hear versions of “Fever”, “Dream”, “Smile”, “April in Paris” and “Autumn Leaves” in a show that reminds us that so many of these pop standards hold up well when put to the test of time. Drop by on a Friday morning where there’s whispering grasses among the autumn leaves here on Sonoma County Community Radio.
Silver Screen Country
From those blue shadows on the trail that were only imagined in black and white to the notion of good guys with tall white hats chasing down the bad guys across the expanse of the Alabama Hills where Hollywood carved out a little piece of the West…we’re going to go riding down some musical canyons with some of the great musical cowboys of the silver screen. Fewer of us are around that once followed the serial antics of Gene and Smiley or Roy and Dale on Saturday morning reruns of flickering cowboy ‘mysteries’ where music played a big part of the story. After all, a clean shaven singing cowboy with a scarf, white hat and a twinkle in his eye was much more appealing than what the reality was…I think that’s a safe assumption. Tune in for music from Gene Autry, The Sons of the Pioneers, Rex Allen, Tex Ritter and over a dozen others as Dave Stroud spins the shellacs from the 30s, 40s and 50s…and we might even track down later covers that tip the cap here on KOWS Community Radio.
Labor Day 2023
We’ve got a Labor Day collection of songs…songs celebrating working men and women and these are songs of both honor and protest, taking us back to the Great Depression when work was hard to find. We’ll also be celebrating the core fight for organizing…whether you’re fighting for the day-to-day pressure of producing faster and better in front of a computer or you’re steaming lattes for the hurried throngs, you have a right to organize and much of the music we’ll share today reinforces the concept. While unions are demonized with threats of offshoring…you know it will be done either way. Music today will include Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples, Paul Robeson, Bruce Springsteen and a whole host of others. Tune in on kowsfm.com/listen or download our app.
Two Glasses Joe
We’re heading on over to the Alibi Room, or Red’s Recovery Room, or whatever your local watering hole might be named and we’ll be doing so with the idea that the hair of the dog is what’s in order this Friday morning, recalling if we can the previous night’s bar hop celebrating country music’s favorite songs of cigareets, whiskey and wild wild women. Songs about whiskey and the glasses on the bar where stories and faces go from long to bright as the jukebox fires up. We’ll hear some classic songs from Webb Pierce, George Jones, Roger Miller and Merle Haggard alongside some contemporary sounds from the late Bill Staines, Chris Stapleton, and Dale Watson, all celebrating Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam, and Maker’s Mark…alongside a little bit of scotch and rye…neat or on the rocks. The honky tonk joints we’ll visit will likely have sawdust on the floor and a well-worn bar. Tune for the very best from the past century with your host, Dave Stroud, on KOWS Community Radio.
Hair’s On Fire
It’s summer and what better time to roll out the scorchers; vocals with an emphasis on big beats, screamin’ guitars and performances that sweat quite profusely in the noonday sun. This week on Deeper Roots we’ll be digging through the archives of early rock, rhythm & blues and rockabilly for some tumultuous and head-splitting numbers from the past. Songs that woke up the neighbors if only played at a moderate level and woe be the terrified fifties’ parents when they heard the hi-fi blaring these songs from the youngster’s room. We’ve put together a collection of wildcat tamers, killer dillers, and not a bit of filler in the show today that will leave you breathless. Among those sparking the fuel that could set the hair on fire are Tarheel Slim, Jimmy Breedlove, Chan Romero, Big Mama Thornton, and the one and only Richard Penniman. Tune in for another Friday morning collection of the very best from the past century with your host, Dave Stroud, on KOWS Community Radio.
Saved!
We go back to the church for a rousing celebration for the converted and soon-to-be-faithful. That’s right, we’re in the pews and joining in the hymnal, at least for this two hours, as Sunday morning forgiveness will always follow Saturday night’s sinner’s baptismal. We’re going to hear the echoes of the past century’s gospel songs with a general theme of being saved and born again…and there is certainly plenty to go around whether that’s southern Baptist, Appalachian harmonies or classic African American celebratory gospel. We’ve got it this morning including The Dixie Hummingbirds, Hank Williams, Carl Story, Lonnie Farris, and some contemporary selections from Shannon McNally, Bob Dylan and Solomon Burke. Let’s join in, you the faithful congregation of Deeper Roots from the past century of America’s music, for two hours celebrating that incredible wellspring of gospel sounds.
Flying Home
A fine blend of vintage sounds on the show today, all driving down a free form track. The blend mixes gospel from Mavis Staples, some classic mid-century rock from Little Feat and Rick Nelson, all dressed up alongside to lounge and cool jazz sounds of Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Pearl Bailey, and a some classic and contemporary tunes featuring the late, great Tony Bennett. We’ve got Zydeco, classic and contemporary country, some alternative sounds from E and the Eels to share as well. We enjoy sharing a mix of the very best in a free form show every month or so and today will not disappoint. There will also be some recent tracks from Sarah Jarosz, Charley Crockett and The Brother Brothers to measure up against the throwback sounds. We’d be glad to have you once again; just dial-up your internet browser to kowsfm.com/listen or, if you’re on the run, take us with you on your mobile device by installing the KOWS app from the Google Play store or Apple App Store.