December 13, 2010 - Another Year Over!

This was our last show of the year. I can't believe another year is over already. John used his part of the show to play a 16-track Scottish compilation cd that included a track of his. This was the first time he ever played his own music on the show. He played the first 8 songs before my segment and the final 8 (including his own) after I was done.


I decided to play the music from some of my friends. Lou Luca and Ron Cianciaruso of The BB's have been faithful listeners almost since day one! I played them on my very first show and I've played many of their songs since then. It was only fitting that I play them on the last show of the year.


John Irizarry is another friend who has a great new band called Small Town Sheiks. They just released their debut cd called Songs For Parker. In addition, Johnny B was kind enough to give away free cd's to the first five people who went to their site and mentioned our show. Great stuff, John!


Al Knight and Carl Gabel are good friends of mine and play in the classic rock cover band Frantic!, along with Bob Landry and soundgirl Mary Knight. They have recently begun recording their own songs under the name Yes Mistress and we've played a couple of them already. I asked Al for something to play on this show and he sent me a two-fer. An instrumental and a cover. Thanks guys!


I tried to pick music that would go well with these three artists, which included our new friends from North Carolina, Onward, Soldiers (Thank you Gavin Dorman for turning me on to this great band). I also threw in a request from a couple weeks ago, plus a few things that I just wanted to hear. Here is what I played:


Squeeze - Some Fantastic Place
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Nevermore
XTC - Pink Thing
Beat Farmers - Southern Cross
The BB's - Save Myself
The Good Rats - Tasty
Yes Mistress - The Good Shepherd
Yes Mistress - Nowhere Man
Robin Trower - Maybe I Can Be A Friend
Small Town Sheiks - Can You Feel It
The Sadies - Cut Corners
Onward, Soldiers - Relic
Frank Zappa - Harder Than Your Husband
The Doughboys - Tuesday Afternoon


I got to play all but two of the songs that I had planned, which isn't too bad. I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to play a song from the New Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 cd Northern Agression. I also missed out on the final track from the free download album from The Baseball Project, Broadside Ballads.


We now have a much needed time off to enjoy the holidays. John and I are supposed to be getting together after Christmas to have a few beers and maybe pre-record a segment. That could be interesting. We'll be back on the air with our first show of 2011 on January 10th. I hope everyone enjoys their Holidays and we'll see you in the new year.

December 6, 2010 - The Penultimate Show of the Year

It's December already. Where did the year go? With only two shows left in 2010, it's time to get ready for the holidays and to figure out how to finish the year off properly. In addition, I was having phone problems all day so it was a nice surprise that once the show started, I was able to be heard.


John's guests this week were Stuart Ferguson & The Fashionistas. In four separate interviews, John had Stuart and the entire band(Fred Abatelli, Lori Diamond, Lynn O'Conor-Ferguson & Phil Punch) on the show. John Played some of the interviews before the "Den" and the rest after I was finished. Maybe John did that to keep Stuart's fans listening for the entire show? I wonder if it worked.


As for me, I had no real theme for this week's show. Since it's December, I decided to play a couple Christmas songs. Then there were a couple others that are songs that I really like that wouldn't normally get played on this show. And the rest were just things that I wanted to hear, plus George Cunningham.


I was contemplating playing a song from George Cunningham's album Stumblingham. For those that don't know George, he is the brilliant guitarist in The Graveblankets and is also a member of The Faux Frenchmen. While I was deciding which song to use, John emailed me to tell me that George had agreed to come on the show in 2011. After hearing that news, I HAD to play something from Stumblingham. Anyway, here's what we played:


George Cunningham - Art Carne
Terry Reid - Rich Kid Blues
Triumph - Suitcase Blues
Black Country Communion - One Last Soul
The Good Rats - Reason To Kill
Stick Men - Hands Pt. 1
The Kinks - Father Christmas
XTC - Thanks For Christmas
Squeeze - Christmas Day
The Status Quo - Black Veils Of Melancholy
Joe Jackson Band - Bright Grey
Don Dixon - Lottery Of Lives
The Dead Weather - Gasoline


Next week is our last show of the year. with almost a month off until our next show, I'll have to make this last one count. I'll be playing some music from our longtime listeners as well as throwing in a surprise or two. It's your last chance in 2010 to tune in, so give us a listen!