Hey Girl, Call Me Maybe

I'm (finally) getting tired of all these CMM parodies but here's one that pays homage to one of my favorite blogs. Plus there's lots of spanking. 

Day One in Nashville

At Piranha's

Kelsey Emma and Shane Dial play Haggard, Old Crow Medicine Show & pop country hits for tips at Rippy's.

Cousins from Tampa, Seattle, Sioux Falls & Cocoa Beach meet up in Nashville.

Nashville!

I've wanted to run away to Nashville ever since I saw this 1993 movie about the pursuit of professional songwriting, one of River Phoenix's last performances. 





I'll be in town for a mini-family reunion, with four of my five first cousins, all female. Naturally the girly thing to do is to check out the Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney show at LP Field with 68,798 of our closest new friends. 


Though good for family bonding, not so great for taking in quality music (like Audrey Auld for example). And though she's not playing while I'm in town, Audrey did give me a list of places to check out. Always open to more ideas & suggestions... 


I'd still kinda like to know the way to Trisha Yearwood's house, though.

Country Gold

I've been getting a little antsy planning my big move to DC & thinking about the transition back to impoverished student (as if impoverished full time worker isn't challenging enough). 

In need of some inspiration today, I looked up the following Mary Chapin Carpenter song

We got this far

Darlin' not by luck

But by never turning back

and then stumbled across her 2007 This I Believe essay on gratitude. Just what I needed.    

Talking Animals 2012

Ode to October II

Can't do this with a Kindle

 Neighborhood Girl (approximately 13 years of age) and I share a penchant for pumpkin carving.

We got together to create art, bake & eat seeds, and get a culture lesson (Tim McGraw okay; Josh Ritter better).

Happy Jack & Andy Rooney. (Guess which one is mine.)

These are Days

 

In 1999 I earned a $325 speeding ticket in the Nevada desert because of this song. Totally worth it. The video has aged pretty badly, but at least I haven't. (And of course, I'm a much wiser driver now, too.)

WMNF's Birthday Bash

Happy (early) 32nd birthday WMNF!

Celebrate with us (and Bob Schneider, the Ditchflowers & Monica da Silva) at Skipper's Smokehouse Friday, September 16th.

Check out this show and a week full of birthday events on WMNF's events page (because who the heck celebrates for just one day?!).

Why (Good) Media Makes Me a Better Person

Be honest: have you ever met or seen a person with some kind of disability and just stared? Or done the opposite - looked away so as not to be rude?

Five or so years ago while I was a shy (so not good for radio) co-host on the Saturday Asylum on WMNF, I briefly met a musician who brought up these insecure feelings in me.

Luckily I happened to have been recording the musician, Susie Ulrey, and her reunited 90's indie band Pogoh, with a video camera at the time of this occurrence.

That made it easy to look her right in the face without having to look her in the eyes. I admit I often hide behind media when real life is hard to handle.

Fast forward to this year, a few months ago, when Susie was playing a solo show at New World Brewery. No one could really tell me much about her story. 

I knew that she's around my age (thanks Facebook!) and that when I first met her she used a walker. Now she uses a scooter to get around.  

The place was not crowded and I hid behind a digital camera. I left that evening without even saying hello.

And felt crappy because of that. Although what would I have said? Hi, we met a long time ago and I want to know what it's like to be you?

Actually there is a career path that's a bit hard to come by these days but if you're lucky enough to snag it, you get paid to ask strangers these very questions.

So I pitched the story to the St. Petersburg Times, which I've been writing for every few months or so for the past year and a half, and my editor accepted (and polished) my idea. 

I spent a few hours with Susie and a microphone, from a coffee shop to her physical therapist's office to her home, asking the lamest questions. She was happy to have someone asking and was very open to all of it.

She used to hate the stares, now she hates the ladies who use handicapped stalls as their own personal dressing rooms. She had special business cards made up for the jerks who park in handicap-accessible parking spaces that thank them for making her day that much more difficult.

But the best story I found wasn't just hers, it was the story of her and her husband. A love story. You know, the good stuff.

The story is online today and, of course, in the paper. Go buy one. There's lots of other stories in there too, about this lively Tampa Bay community that you might be missing out on. It'll be the most valuable $.50 you've spent all week.

Hamell on Trial

The size of the crowd Sunday evening at Skipper's was modest, but the songs were the opposite. One-man band Hamell on Trial played three sets, rated G, R, and Triple X. 

This one, Halfway, was a part of the latter. (Thanks to my new YouTube pal Gordo73 for sharing this video, recorded in 2007 at the Etcetera Theatre in London.)

RIP Amy Winehouse

Not-So Bumpy Ride

Ronny & I hosted the rockabilly/roots show The Bumpy Ride this Saturday. It's available in the archives for the next few days.


Artist Track Album/CD
Graham Parker/Back To School Days Howlin' Wind 
Billy "the Kid" Emerson/Red Hot Blue Flames
Jo-Ann Campbell Mama (Can I Go Out Tonight?)/That Real Gone Gal
set break
James "Sugarboy" Crawford She Gotta Wobble/30 New Orleans Classics 
Brinsley Schwarz/Country Girl  
Old Crow Medicine Show/Caroline/Tennessee Pusher 
The Pitter Pats/Bury Me Dead 
set break
The Pogues/If I Should Fall From Grace With God  
Amos Garrett, Doug Sahm and the Gene Taylor Band/Drunk Return Of The Formerly Brothers 
set break
Johnny Fuller/Haunted House/The Specialty Story 
set break
Ben Vaughn/7 Days Without Love/Rambler 65
Andre Williams/That's All I Need That's All I Need 
set break
Big Connie/Mumbles Blues 
Billy Love/Juiced 
Benny Joy/I Never Want To See You Again Love Zone 
Big Joe Turner/I Need A Girl 
set break
Elvis Perkins In Dearland/Hey Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Betty Wright/Shoorah! Shoorah!/Very Best Of 
Chick Willis/Stoop Down Baby 
set break
Ernie K-Doe/A Certain Girl/Burn K-Doe Burn 
Bo Diddley/Cadillac 
Chuck Willis/Hang Up My Rock 'n' Roll Shoes/I Remember Chuck Willis
set break
Lavern Baker/Hey Memphis  
Dave Alvin/Haley's Comet/Blue Blvd 
David Lindley/Bye Bye Love/El Rayo-X
set break
The Falcons/Take This Love I Got  
Ramsay Midwood/Loopers/Larry Buys A Lighter 
Doug Sahm/Goodbye San Francisco, Hello Amsterdam/Get A Life
set break
Nick Lowe/7 Nights To Rock/Basher
Faron Young/Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young/Hillbilly Music, Thank God
Iguanas/If You Should Ever Fall On Hard Times If You Should Ever...
set break
Piano Red/Sober/The Doctor Is In
Fats Domino/If I Get Rich 
Joe Ely/I'll Be Your Fool/Honky Tonk Masquerade 
set break
Sonny Knight/But Officer  
Jack Scott/Goodbye Baby 

Music @ the Museum

More Heatwave 2011

Carolina Chocolate Drops 

Sassy would have sounded their Cute Band Alert for the Ryan Montbleau Band

Devon Stuart played the New World Brewery with Mike Claytor, Lauris Vidal and Ricky Kendall (the latter two pictured below).

Holy Ghost Tent Revival's Ross Montsinger

WMNF Station Manager Jim Bennett with Cheryl Mogul

 David Audet of the Artists & Writers Group plugs his latest production, The Cuban Sandwich Show. The multimedia art show runs June 1st -30th.  


Always something to look forward to in Ybor. 

Heatwave 2011

with a Tampa favorite, singer songwriter Geri X

I volunteered the first few hours of Heatwave, checking in other volunteers and directing foot traffic.  

MIFU ready for the street parade

It was a great job to have, close to the action. I greeted hundreds of Heatwave-goers, WMNF lovers and musicians. 

Beloved staffer Linda Lu and her 60's show cohort Laurie Lu

Community spirit like this doesn't happen as often as it should, but Heatwave was rampant with it. 

This was music fan Jeff Froeschle's 10th Heatwave, and his friend Kate Gorman's first time. Jeff hobbled in at the beginning of the afternoon in the rain, and here they are at El Pasaje Plaza at 7 p.m. still going strong. 

I  recognized Katie Gertz hanging out in the Cuban Club Cantina. The 17-year-old has played alto saxophone in the Patel Conservatory's Jazz Ensemble for the last two years. I saw her perform in the Jazz Jam last week, the only female on a stage full of guys.  

Half the fun of venue hopping was the friends I ran into on the street. I passed WMNF Monday Morning Show programmer Glen Hatchell with Cody Smith of Columbus, Ohio's Two Cow Garage. 

Back at the Cuban Club I ran into the worn out Heatwave coordinator Dawn Dickens and husband Thomas.

BAAMO!

The Bay Area Arts & Music Organization, or BAAMO as the cool kids call it, is celebrating the very active (if not slightly secretive) Tampa Bay music scene with the release of its sixth compilation entitled Tales of Highways & Low Roads.




Yep, it's a concept album about traveling, with 20 original songs by local (but hardly amateur) bands and musicians. 

Cover photo by famed photographer Burk Uzzle (Car on a Pole)

Laura "BAAMO" Keene is one of the leading forces behind the organization. When asked about the future of BAAMO as CD's and radio stations are being phased out, Laura told me: "There's still plenty of college and community stations. If they're going to keep playing music, I'll do everything I can to get Tampa Bay music into the hands of their listeners."  


And indeed she has put it out there. After a very quick web search I found tracks from the new album on playlists in the Netherlands, Canada, the Virgin Islands, and all over the U.S. 


If you'd like to get in on the fun before too many people know about Tampa  - and it's overrun with hipsters and Republicans -  come out to the CD release party this Saturday at New World Brewery. The music starts at 6 p.m. 

Saturday, April 30, 2011

New World Brewery

1313 E 8th Ave in Ybor City

(813) 248-4969

Door @ 5:00 pm, Music starts promptly at 6:00 pm

$10.00 donation (includes copy of the CD or a download card)

21+

If you don't get out as often as you'd like, or don't know enough fine folks, this is the night to put your roots down.  


Genres range from Americana, Pop, and Indie to Rock 'n' Roll and Reggae and more, so there's some sound for everyone. 

The Hideaway Cafe

Across the bay in St. Pete, good music happens at lots of places, including the Hideaway Cafe, a production studio/listening room whose patrons will shush the heck out of loud mouths if they chat during a performance. For music appreciators only. 


Here's a couple of videos I took at the beginning of the month during the Grant Peeples/Ronny Elliott show April 1st.

WMNF Volunteer Banquet 2011

Dev. Dir/DJ Lounge Laura Taylor & Barry Shalinsky

Volunteers are to WMNF what the sun is to a day at the beach - essential, amazing and priceless. There would be no radio station without its community. 


Sunday afternoon WMNF staffers, volunteers and board members got together to celebrate the radio station and each other down by the river at the Heights. 

Ronny Elliott & the Rebel 

Michele & Bob Soptei

Lisa Harris (wife of BOD Jeff), Linda Lu, Lifetime Achievement Award winner Marcie Finkelstein

New Vol of the Year "J" Griffiths & Jay Alexander

2 of the nicest guy on the planet: Mean Gene Moore & Volunteer of the Year Scott Elliott

Mark & Barb Perfetti. First date: WMNF's Tropical Heatwave

Funny how the volunteers you bond the most with are the ones who precede or follow your time slot. In the last photo I'm posing with Psycho Realms' Rev. Patrick Jones, aka Eldersign and DJ Arth Mawr. 


Back in 2006 I used to host the Pre-Dawn Alternative Monday's at 4 a.m., right after Psycho Realms and before the Monday Morning show with Glen Hatchell. I got to know these swell guys pretty well and they're still some of my favorites. 

Welcome to the Working Week

This morning Ronny and I sat in for regular Monday Morning Show host Glen Hatchell on 88.5 WMNF. Music of this sort doesn't usually win industry awards or find its way onto corporate radio play lists, but you don't need a mass comm degree to know that this is the soulful stuff with the power to change the world for the better. 

Thanks to my partner (in justice & life) Ronny for putting this set together on short notice. Our show will be available in the online archives for the next week.



Artist/Track/Album
Dave Bartholomew The Monkey Speaks His Mind Highlight Crescent City
Josh Rouse Bienvenido El Turista
Johnny cash Memories Are Made Of This  Unchained
Josh Rouse It's The Nighttime Nashville
June Carter Cash I Used To Be Somebody Press On
King Pins  It Won't Be This Way  Always
Keely Smith I Wish You Love Spotlight On
Ramsay Midwood Light Foot Larry Buys A Lighter
The Band  w/ Van Morrison  4%  Pantomime
Delta Rhythm Boys Dry Bones I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem
Bonnie Raitt & Was (Not Was) Baby Mine
Dennis Wilson He's A Bum Bamboo
Dick Holler & The Holidays Double Shot Of My Baby's Love
Mae West A Guy What Takes His Time  Come Up And See Me
Mavis Staples We Shall Not Be Moved  We'll Never Turn Back
Ray Charles I Got A Woman Birth Of Soul 2
Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry Down By The Riverside
Steppin' In It The Ghost Of Richard Manuel Simple Tunes for Troubled Times
Ike & Tina Turner You Can't Miss Nothing That You Never Had The Kent Years
M. Ward Rave On Hold Time
M. G. Greaves  Fight Of The Century Fight Of The Century
Raul Malo San Antonio Baby Sinners & Saints
Charlie Louvin  Great Atomic Power  Hillbilly Music, Thank God
Buck Owens Maid In Japan
Marty Fouts Working poor Labor & Love
Oliver Morgan Who Shot The Lala
Prince Lala Things Have Changed
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy Swing Along Chillun Trail Of The Lonesome Pines
Ray Smith Ray Smith Travelin' With Ray
The Movers Birmingham
Kevin So Tonight Life Solo Akoustic
Steve Earle Steve's Hammer (For Pete) Washington Square
Robbie Fulks I Push Right Over South Mouth
Donovan Universal Soldier
Nick Lowe Where's My Everything
The Youngbloods Grizzly Bear Get Together
Johnny Cash Last night I had the strangest dream At Madison Square Garden
The Viscounts  Harlem Nocturne
Lula Reed Watch Dog Blue & Moody
Ken Nordine Chartreuse    Colors
Chip Taylor I Want The Real Thing Chip Taylor's Last Chance
Vienna Teng Grandmother Song Inland Territory
Warren Zevon  Heartache Spoken Here  Mr. Bad Example
Cliff Edwards When I See An Elephant Fly Disney Collection
Chuck Berry Dear Dad  In London
Clarence Henry I Don't Know Why Ain't Got No Home
Ronny Elliott Letter From A Birmingham Jail Poisonville

The Other Side of the Ocean

I've had a busy week doing the usual do-goodery, work and dodging tornadoes. I've also been entertaining a couple of friends from Ireland who are visiting the U.S. for the first time.

George & Manda 

Ronny met Manda and George several years ago when he played the Belladrum Festival in Scotland. The working class couple (social worker and union organizer) had won a pair of tickets to the festival, and when Ronny later toured Ireland he stayed with them at their home in Coleraine. 

The like-minded couple told me this week about Ireland's (great) ban on plastic bags, (sad) intolerance of pit bulls and their Wal-Mart-owned Asda chains stores.

I shared with them books by Native American author Sherman Alexie, pancakes with maple syrup and walking tours of Davis Islands and Ybor City.

We laughed (and cried) about corrupt humans/politicians in both our countries and around the world.  

As a high school U2 fangirl, I became obsessed with Irish culture. I read (okay, watched) In the Name of the Father and My Left Foot. My obsession gave way to my eventual obsessions with other war-torn cultures like Viet Nam, Kosovo, Sudan and Iraq. 




Manda told great stories about living their lives in Northern Ireland despite "the troubles." She had gone on a bus trip to Southern Ireland and as often happened on long trips, she got motion sickness. When the bus was stopped by British soldiers, Manda ran to the front of the bus and opened a window in just enough time to stick her head out before she threw up. It splattered at the feet of one young soldier. Her friend yelled from the back of the bus: "That's no way to show your politics, Manda!"


Another time there was a wedding in Belfast. Because of barricades around town, Manda was late bringing the flowers. The bride's 8-and-a-half month pregnant sister went into labor. When the wedding was over, the happy couple had to plow through a field in their small car to get to the airport on time for their honeymoon flight, but once they were back on the road the car broke down, so George walked to the next town for a cab. They just barely made their flight. 


Meeting Manda and George has reminded me that we humans certainly have more in common than not. With our love of food, humanity, and Ronny Elliott, I particularly have a lot in common with Manda and George. 


After meeting them, Ronny wrote the song "When the Showbands Played Coleraine." 

Mandy's got her hair up and her best Eartha Kitt look and she's okay 'til two a.m. George has got what's left of a paycheck in his billfold and a wink that says, "I don't give a damn!" We may as well stay for a few more songs. We've already missed the half past train. Mandy and George were dancing on clouds when the showbands played Coleraine.