Chris Brashear and Jim Watson put on an old-time country music clinic. In studio on Nine Volt Heart.

Two legendary figures in old-time acoustic music joined me last night for a clinic in the history of traditional music. Jim Watson has been a key figure in old-time and country music since the late 1960’s with a stint in the Hollow Rock Stringband from Durham County, NC. Jim is the co-founder of the hugely influential Red Clay Ramblers where he spent 14 years and ten album releases. He was a member of NC based Green Level Entertainers as well as the Piedmont Melody Makers. His encyclopediac knowledge of this music is evident in his discussion of his influences and his long career.

Chris Brashear, multi-instrumentalist and local legend, plays in the Deep River Ramblers with Paul Kochanski and Jim Henry. They are the long-time house band for the Signature Sounds Songwriter series (going on 16 tributes to date). They feature the music of Bob Dylan and The Band’s “Basement Tapes” material at the Academy of Music on August 22. They play an opening set the next day at Arcadia Folk Festival, Easthampton on August 23. Chris has an amazing knowledge of the old-time and country catalog as well. Between Jim and Chris, I was overwhelmed with the stories and legacy that these talented musicians have contributed to. Both Chris and Jim were in Robin and Linda Williams’ Fine Group and the Piedmont Melody Makers (also featuring Cliff Hale and Alice Gerrard!)

We start the segment off with a Chris Brashear original “Oregon Country” followed by Jim’s request to play Sandy’s Fancy version of “Sally Anne Johnson”. The duo followed with their take on “Hard Road To Travel”. We checked out two Chris originals “April Promenade” with the Deep River Ramblers and “Lost Canyons” from his duo album with Peter McLaughlin. Jim and Chris play “This River Will Want to Run” and a spirited vesion of “West Virginia Rag”. We finish with Chris’ “21 On the Border” and Jim’s “Prairie Lullaby”. In between, we get a master class in storytelling through song. Their incredible back catalog together over six decades is deep and soulful. Give the segment from these master instrumentalists and singers.

Jon Pousette Dart returns to the Iron Horse 7/18.

The Pousette Dart Band have played the Iron Horse many times from the early to mid eighties onward. Jon Pousette Dart returns for a duo show on 7/18. Alice Howe and Freebo open this evening of acoustic music.

Our conversation begins with Jon’s childhood in Suffern NY just 30 miles north of Manhattan. Jon’s father and grandfather were well known artists. Both generations prior were visual artists with grandfather Nathaniel an artist, editor, art advertising businessman while Jon’s father Richard was an abstract expressionist artist, a photographer and sculptor. This creative environment was immersive for Jon and his older sister; encouraging and open to experimentation. Neighborhood bands were formed at an early age. Except these bands included Burgess Meredith’s son and Soupy Sales’ kids, enabling this fledgling teen garage band, Tony & the Tigers, television exposure!

We chat about Jon Pousette Dart’s visit to his grandparents Nantucket summer home and “being dicovered” by Rock n Roll promoter Don Law who brought him to Boston. We discuss the vibrant musical community in Boston/Cambridge at the time (early and mid 70’s) and being booked for national rock tours with a wide variety of British and American stars including James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Billy Joel, and J Geils. The two biggest rock tours of that era; “Peter Frampton Comes Alive” and “Yes Fragile Tour”, both had the Pousette Dart Band included!

Our conversation includes the ups and downs of the industry for the band including Jon heading to Nashville to write jingles. We chat about how the music ‘business’ has changed as well over time. Discussions of songwriting challenges and what the current tour entails finish out our chat. Of course, there’s music along the way! We begin with “Women In My Dreams”, “County Line”, “Fall On Me” and finish with “Amnesia”. Jon Pousette Dart is joined by long time accompanist Jim Chapdelaine on this show.

Details at Pousette-Dart.com as well as IronHorse.org

The amazing Alice Howe and Freebo open the 7/18 Iron Horse show.

Karla Bonoff, master songwriter, to perform at Shea Theater, 6/27.

Karla Bonoff’s career spans decades of an industry that has radically changed. Her music and talent has not. The songs from her ten albums showcase that a gorgeous melody and a lyric that rings true is timeless. Bonoff will bring that incredible catalog of songs to the Shea Theater on THIS FRIDAY 6/27.

Our conversation is wide-ranging; from her early training in Southern California to her open mic sets at LA’s Troubador, the center of a burgeoning singer songwriter scene. Karla tells stories of her friendships and collaborations with folks like Jackson Browme, James Taylor, Elton John and members of the soon-to-be Eagles. We talk about her collaboration in a band with Wendy Waldman, Kenny Edwards and Andrew Gold called Bryndle; a band ahead of their time. All these friendships led to folks like Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt recording her songs paving a way for her individual success.

Ou conversation touches on her popularity in Japan, her feelings about hearing her songs performed by others, her work in film and TV soundtracks. We also examine how much the “music industry” has changed and which era she prefers. We finish with a discussion of folks’ influence on her career and personal life such as JD Souther and Linda Ronstadt.

Our segment features THE SONGS! We open with “I Can’t Hold On” from her excellent live release. We include “Lose Again” a song that hooked Linda Ronstadt into a major collaboration over years with Karla. We include versions of Bonoff’s work by Bonnie Raitt and Wynona Judd as well as a JD Souther song in tribute to his passing. Karla’s “Goodbye My Friend” and Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville’s grammy award winning version of “All My Life”.

Karla Bonoff’s live shows feature her on guitar and piano while the amazing Nina Gerber accompanies her on electric guitar. Stunning virtuosity in an intimate setting of the Shea is an opportunity NOT TO BE MISSED! SheaTheater.com for ticket details.

Buffalo Rose entetains on Nine Volt Heart; Parlor Room show on 5/24.

Bryce Robideau from the Pittsburgh based Buffalo Rose joined me to talk about the band’s story and music on Nine Volt Heart. Buffalo Rose will play at Northampton’s Parlor Room on May 24.

Buffalo Rose could field a baseball team with a roster of six musicians including songwriters and vocalists Lucy Clabby and Margot Jazerc, Mac Inglis (dobro),Jason Rafalak (bass),Shane McLaughlin (guitar) and Bryce Robideau (mandolin). They are upbeat, charismatic, and talented. For nine years they’ve been releasing music and touring regularly with six releases to their name. We began the segment with their latest single,”Solid Ground”.

My conversation with Bryce Robideau covers the bands rapport and genuine friendship enabling the band to persevere these sometimes difficult industry shifts over the last decade. They’ve been able to open for some amazing folks over the years including Tyler Childers, Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, Wood Brothers and the Traveling McCouries! This exposure during these high profile opportunities has allowed the band to grow their fan base organically. Additionally, Buffalo Rose has showcase artists at Mountain Stage, SXSW, and Folk Alliance. Folk Alliance experience led to an amazing opportunity to collaborate with folk legend Tom Paxton. The band did ten weeks of online co-writing with Paxton resulting in a batch of songs leading to an EP “Rabbit”.

The segment ends with the collaboration on Paxton’s “I Give You the Morning” followed by the upbeat instrumental “Cabin Fever”.

Information on the band can be found at BuffaloRoseMusic.com and ticket information for Saturday’s 5/24 show is available at ParlorRoom.org

Literary Monsters visit the Town Crier! Shadow,Sound & Spectacle to perform at Drawing Board 5/10.

Jess Martin, Abby Hanna and Amy West joined me on the Town Crier to preview their multi-sensory show offering a fresh perspective to the works of Poe, Shelley, Irving, Dickinson and Ann Rice. Drawing Board Brewery in Florence will host the Incubator Performance and Fundraiser on May 10 at 7PM.

We began our segment with a live in-studio version of Martin’s “Bride of Frankenstein” and finish with “Every Quiet Night” dedicated to Emily Dickinson. In between these live performances we chat about Puppetry with Amy West; they have designed a “crankie” of puppet images to these songs. The trio transform these literary monsters into icons of resistance, complexity and queer power. We discuss “Monsters as Metaphor” with Martin and Hanna. Writers of horror allow readers to explore and understand their deepest fears and anxieties. They represent the unknown, the dangerous and “the other”.

Check out this trio’s immersive genre-defying performance throughout the year but certainly catch their May 10th incubator/fundraiser at Florence’s Drawing Board Brewery.

Details at Jess Martin-Music.com

Splendid Torch prepare to release “ICON” with a CD release show at the Drake, 5/9.

Lily Sexton and Josh Ballard join me on Nine Volt Heart to discuss their latest batch of songs, “Icon”, along with the release party planned at Amherst’s Drake with High Tea on 5/9. We begin with Lily and the beginnings of Mamma’s Marmalade more than a decade ago in the dorms of UMass. We chat about those humble beginnings and the string of five albums that followed. Lily and Josh talk candidly about the new lineup, the new name of Splendid Torch, and their experience recording “Icon” with Dan Cardinal at Dimension Sound studio in Jamaica Plain.

In some ways, the recording of “Icon” created the new band with producer Karl Helander joining on drums in addition to Sexton, Ballard and Sean Davis on guitars. The duo talked about the roles of recording engineer and producer in creating a new identity for Splendid Torch. While Mitch Bordage is playing mandolin on the record, he stepped away from the band playing his last gig at Arcadia Folk Festival last summer.

The segment includes four songs; two live in-studio and two from the upcoming release. We heard a live version of “Gold” with Lily taking the lead vocals. A studio version of “You Can’t Hate Me For That” and “Icon” and a brand new song “Double Back Flip” live in-studio. We end with an older Mamma’s instrumental “Rabbit Analog”.

While we heard these tunes as a duo, the full band versions will be debuted on May 9 at Amherst’s Drake with High Tea opening the CD release party.

The Lightfoot Band celebrates the songs of Gordon Lightfoot on NineVoltHeart. Iron Horse show on 4/24.

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Barry Keane is the long-time drummer from Gordon Lightfoot’s band. I mean 50 plus years long time! Barry joined Gordon as the only touring drummer ever in the band in 1972. Bassist Rick Haynes joined in 1968! Keyboard player Mike Heffernan was a latecomer in 1981 as was guitarist Carter Lancaster (recruited after the death of Terry Clements). This is the band who recorded and performed all those hits of Gordon Lightfoot, Canada’s revered singer-songwriter. They will be at the Iron Horse on 4/24 for their only New England appearance. Of course, Gordon passed on 5/1/2023 and the band convened to consider how to continue to showcase these amazing songs. They chose long-time friend of the band Andy Mauck to sing and play rythm guitars (Same guitars as Gord! Gibson B45 and Martin D-18)

The result is a triumphant return to these amazing songs like “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Early Morning Rain”, “Carefree Highway”, “Sundown” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. Many more hits and deep cuts will be in the setlist at the Iron Horse on Thursday 4/24. My chat with Barry Keane was a joy for a Lightfoot fan like myself and anyone curious about the legacy of these songs. I began with “Rainy Day People” and began a discussion about Keane’s carreer which includes over 400 sessions for albums, an Oscar for the film “Last of the Mohicans”, appearing in a Budweiser commercial!, as well as having a record label named after him! All this even before Gordon’s studio engineer asked him to sit in on “Old Dan’s Records” in 1972. Keane told some amazing stories about recording sessions and world-wide tours as well as some insights about the man himself. We finish this amazing segment in musical history with the story about the recording (almost not) of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.

Details at LightfootBand.com and IronHorse.org for details.

Harry Remer debuts cuts from “Clean Break” on NIne Volt Heart with Luthiers party on 4/11

Harry Remer took some time to make thise debut release, “Clean Break”, but it was worth the wait. We heard four songs from the about to be released album on this segment. Along the way we hear Harry sing “Clean Break” and “Place in the Sun” live in-studio as well as premieres of “Farmer’s Hands” and “Late August City Day”. Harry, like most songwriters, is a perceptive guy. We talk about his creative process, his participation in a songwriters group, and “growing sharper with age”! We begin by talking about the personnel on the new disc and how the project came to fruition. Adam Rothberg recorded and co-produced the release as well as recruiting the studio musicians to his Skunk Hollow Recording studio studio in Hadley, Mass.

A CD release party will be held on Friday 4/11 at Easthampton’s Luthiers Co-Op at 7:00PM. Details at Luthiers-Coop.com and HarryRemerMusic.com

JJ Slater gives listeners the “Silver Key”, a new song cycle album release.

JJ Slater spent ten weeks in Taos NM creating this new batch of songs. He took the opportunity of a Residency at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation where the artists live in an adobe casita working on their craft. The foundation has welcomed visual artists, literary artists and musical composers to Taos since 1954. The results of this stay are a compelling argument for “getting away” from your comfort zone and your day to day routines.

JJ starts the segment off with an in-studio version of “One More Ride” which happens to be the first song composed for this collection. The album is a new approach by Slater to create a narrative song cycle rather than distinct songs. The songs are playful and catchy yet a soft and smoky vibe dominates throughout. That vibe is established in the first album cut which we hear in the segment called “In the Cool Salida Breeze”. The song chronicles the themes that the song cycle ties together. The fictional character leaves home and heads to a Colorado motel and undergoes a creative awakening. As the narrative progresses, the musical mood changes over the nine tracks. JJ Slater has chosen the “motel metaphor” partly because of his experience as a touring musician. The motel has different occupants with different story lines every night. His characters throughout use the hotel as a recurring vacation destination or a place of refuge or even a short term living space.

The resulting songs from the Taos retreat were recorded in part through a Mass Cultural Council grant in 2023. The album was recorded in Northampton at SideTrack Studios with JJ Slater on vocals and guitar. He is joined by Dan Bisson on bass and Kevin Mason on drums with additional contributions from Tobey Sol La Roche and Lexi Weege.

We finish the segment with “The Time is Finally Right” which coincidentally concludes ‘The Silver Key’.

JJ Slater is also a member of Signature Dish with his partner Lexi Weege. They tour widely throughout the US and are releasing new songs under that duo. JJ is currently writing a new song cycle album, some of which may be heard at live gigs. JJ Slater and Lexi Weege as Signature Dish will be playing on May 9 at Easthampton’s New City Brewery. The event will be a fundraiser for touring transportation!

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Dear Ella preview their upcoming IMA show on 3/29 with an In-Studio NineVoltHeart visit.

The harmony-driven trio, Dear Ella, joined me on NineVoltHeart to showcase their distinctive sound and to help promote their upcoming show at The Institute for Musical Arts on 3/29 in Goshen,MA. We begin our segment with Mary Witt’s song dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald (“Dear Ella”) that became the project’s namesake. Mary Witt and Annie Patterson have long and varied musical careers which we explored in the segment. Annie Patterson co-created the world renowned song book, “Rise Up Singing” and has led communal singing for decades. She sings with the swingband “Girls From Mars” and sits in with “Big Yellow Taxi” as well. Mary Witt is the longtime bass player, songwriter and singer for The O-Tones. Ann Percival, third member of Dear Ella, could not make the show but has been active in the dance community as a member of “Wild Asparagus”.

I was also fortunate to have Ann Hackler, co-creator of the Institute for Musical Arts along with June Millington, in studio as well. The duo version of Dear Ella sang “Lonesome Valley” followed up by “Swing, Brother, Swing” from Patterson’s ‘Girls From Mars’ project. The conversation covered a lot of topics including Ann Hackler’s story of the IMA’s beginning and their mission of training women and girls in the musical industry! We talk about the women visionaries that Dear Ella are inspired by and the social justice messaging in their repetoire. We hear “Song For Peace” a Witt original and a duet with Jim Henry from the O-Tones’ ‘Groove Duets’ called “The Walk”.

The idea of multi-generational influences in both music and social justice work is explored with Mary’s parents stressing the importance of giving to their community. We also discuss the role of other art forms such as visual art to all the musicians. The segment concludes with The O-Tones’ “No Soap No Hope Blues”, Ella Fitzgerald’s take on “Begin the Beguine”, Dear Ella’s version of “C C Rider”.

IMA.org for information on the 3/29 show in Goshen and the OTones.com for info on Dear Ella.