February 5, 2010

Tim Weed in the studio, playlist from 2/4/2010

Local musician, Tim Weed with Debbie Daly, came into the studio for some live music.  Tim’s recent music is more acoustic – banjo and mandolin, but last night he plugged in his Strat and got down to some fun guitar pickin’.  Tim grew up in SoCal and played every chance he could and in many styles.  The story of how a SoCal surfer/musician came to know the Point Reyes area was neat.  On a family vacation many years ago (1976?), he and his family stopped at the Inverness Store where he bought a book on the banjo and the rest, as one might say, is history.  Thanks again for hanging out with Amanda and I for and spell and playing music, Tim.

Check out more info about Tim on his myspace page and on this youtube clip:

After Tim and Debbie left, we got into some Wynn Stewart with his “It’s Such a Pretty World Today,” which was one of the top songs played on the jukebox at the old Silver Dollar Saloon in Point Reyes Station.  The Silver Dollar is now the Station House, which no longer has a jukebox, but has great live music throughout the year.

Artist Cut Album Label
Tim Hus Bakersfield Music Bushpilot Buckaroo Stony Plain Records
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash Streets of Bakersfield bastard sons of johnny cash Texacali Records
Wynn Stewart It’s such a pretty world today Swing West Vol. 1 Bakersfield Razor & Tie
Buck Owens My Heart Skips a Beat 21 # Hits Rhino Records
Dwight Yoakam Sin City Just Looking for a Hit Reprise
The Flying Burrito Brothers Christine’s Song The Definitive Collection A&M Records
Waybacks Tired of Being Right Loaded Compass Records
Bob Wills Stay a Little Longer The Essential Bob Wills Capitol
Jeremiah James Honky Tonk Heroes Are Gone Sounds Like Home Jeremiah James
Lucinda Williams Little Rock Star Little Honey UMG Recordings
The Byrds Truckstop Girl The Byrds Sony BMG
Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers Just One Day North of Bakersfield Dionysus
Dr. BLT Sky We Salute You Dr. BLT Self Produced Self Produced
Steve Brack Drunk Dialing Self Self Produced

February 3, 2010

Tim Weed in studio!

Hope you can tune in this Thursday, February 4th. Tim Weed will join Mike and Amanda in Studio A at KWMR. Tim moved to West Marin from Tucson in 2008 and has been strumming his way into local and Bay Area hearts. Mike and I discovered that this bluegrass phenomenon has a Honky Tonk background and we hope to bring it out of him in studio this week. Tim is a man of many talents and we know that his connection to the Bakersfield Sound will be a topic of discussion. We’ll be playing some fun new tunes and honoring some requests – so if you have a request, just send it in – new button at the top of the blog for requests!

January 22, 2010

Blue Diamond Fillups, live in the studio

Fun time last night in Studio A at KWMR. Amanda told the story, so I’ll post the playlist along with some youtube clips. The biggest surprise of the evening was Flash’s voice. He’s got a great voice that can belt out great renditions of vintage Cash and Orbison. His voice was so big we had to move him far off the mic to keep the level down. Check out the following clip and you’ll hear what I mean.

A big influence on Blue Diamond Fillups and Jonnie, guitar and founder of the band, is Ronnie Dawson. We didn’t know much about Ronnie Dawson, but played a cut and then did some research. As is the case with too many popular artists of the 50’s and 60’s who suffered at American radio’s pop culture, Ronnie Dawson found an audience embracing his music in Britain in the 80’s that began a comeback of sorts. Now, with Rockabilly having wide-ranging popularity, from folks who listened to it when Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins were recording for Sun, to the 20/30-somethings with lead sleds, tattoos, and Betty Page pin-up girls, Ronnie Dawson might have a wider audience than he did when he was alive. Check out these Ronnie Dawson clips.

For the astute, you’ll notice one of Dave Alvin’s Guilty Women, Lisa Pankratz, on drums in the clip below.

Artist Cut Album Label
Tim Hus Bakersfield Music Bushpilot Buckaroo Stony Plain Records
Ronnie Dawson Hot Hot Water Rockinitis Crystal Clear Sound
Blue Diamond Fillups Wildest Dreams Blue Diamond Fillups Self Produced
Blue Diamond Fillups Drive Like Lighting Blue Diamond Fillups Self Produced
Paladins Going Down to Big Mary’s Years Since Yesterday Alligator
Wanda Jackson Cryin’ Time Heart Trouble CMH Records
Johnny Cash The Man Comes Around American IV: The Man Comes Around American Recordings
Roy Orbison Ooby Dooby
Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers So Lonely Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers Donysus Records
Dave Howe A Face For Radio A Face For Radio Dave Howe Music
Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes Million Sellers, Sun’s Gold Hits Sun Record Co

January 22, 2010

How did we miss the Galaxy?

Mike and I were hanging at the Station House Cafe for a quick bite pre-show and discussing our game plan for the evening. At the end of our meal we chatted with Cheryl, the owner, who asked us where we were headed. “Oh, you must be interviewing the guys who were just here eating, they were Rockabilly.” Another person we knew stated, “Yes, they just drove off in a red Galaxy!”

Ok, so we were in a small town, in a not large restaurant and we missed the “guys from the band” and their cool wheels. Well, it WAS dark and raining…. Anyway, we headed to the station and hooked up with Flash and Jonnie from Blue Diamond Fillups for a really fun show of live music and lively chat about Rockabilly. Minus base and drums these two were able to shake out some great tunes. Flash has a voice made for singing and Jonnie accompanied him nicely on acoustic guitar.

We expect that Smiley’s in Bolinas will be rockin’ when they plug in Friday (January 22nd) for four-hour show just down the road.

We were also able to connect with Dr. BLT for some catching up as he called in (as he has for every single one of our shows) from Bakersfield for an update. We had him request a Dave Howe song from Dave’s CD, A Face For Radio (BLT suggested the title track). Dave is another musician with a great voice who has recently been collaborating with Dr. BLT on some projects.

The play list is short, but sweet. Thanks for listening and let us know if you have any requests!

January 13, 2010

Vote for Amanda and Mike by January 15th

Our pal and fellow programmer Mr. Charlie Morgan of KWMR’s Tuesday evening music program Musical Variete has thrown out to listeners and fans of KWMR to vote for Bakersfield and Beyond hosts Amanda and Mike – Bakersfield and Beyond on KWMR in the North Bay Bohemian “Best Of” category for Best Media Personality: TV, Radio, Print for 2009. We would be honored to hold this spot after Charlie himself was voted Best Of for 2008. If you would like to cast your vote in support of Bakersfield and Beyond you must do so by Thursday, January 15. Here is the link. You must vote for at least 1/3 of the categories. Here is the link to the voting page for this years  Bohemian Best Of. Here’s my plug for some shameless promotion of Mike and me (and our show). We’ll see what happens, you never know unless you ask! If you are up for it, please tell your friends.

January 8, 2010

Top 10 x 2 songs played in 2009

We hope you who listened enjoyed the show as much as we had airing it. The concept was for each of us to compile our favorite 10 songs we played on Bakersfield & Beyond in 2009 and present the combined list of 20. We saw each other’s list only about an hour before the show. We both thought we would have picked some of the same songs, but there wasn’t one song that overlapped – several artists, but no songs. That meant we had a full 20 songs to play. There was one song that did make our lists initially, but didn’t make the final cut – the Joe Maphis penned “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud, Loud Music,” written after a night in the dim, smoky, loud Blackboard, the landmark Bakersfield bar where all the greats played. Since we did have time after our 20 songs, we slipped a version of Dim Lights by The Maddox Brothers and Rose in and the show was almost complete. Then we finished up the night with a tune by The Jones Family Fortune and Buckaroo by Buck Owens and Don Rich.

We also talked to Dr. BLT who’s joined us on every show and has helped spread the word (sound) of Bakersfield & Beyond from his home base in Bakersfield – thanks Bruce!

Tim Hus Bakersfield Music Bushpilot Buckaroo Stony Plain Records
Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers Make It Last North of Bakersfield Dionysus
John Doe & The Sadies Stop the World and Let Me Off Country Club Yep Roc
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women California’s Burning Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women Yep Roc
Wynn Stewart Money Talks The Songs of Wynn Stewart Capitol
Merle Haggard Leonard 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection MCA Nashville
Merle Haggard Silver Wings Okee From Muskogee Capitol
Buck Owens Act Naturally 21 #1 Hits Rhino Records
Buck Owens Johnny B. Goode Streets of Bakersfield Greatest Hits Blaricum
Wanda Jackson Funnel of Love Wanda Rocks Bear Family Records
Gary Stewart She’s Acting Single, I’m Drinking Double The Essential Gary Stewart BMG Entertainment
Red Meat Deep Water 13 Ranchero Records
Red Meat Pretty Little Lights of Town We Never Close Ranchero Records
Homer Joy John Law Someday It’ll Be Country First Stone Productions
Dwight Yoakam Streets of Bakersfield Live From Austin Texas New West
Beat Farmers Powderfinger Tales of the New West Rhino Entertainment
Councilmen Box Car Self self
The Knitters Long Chain On Poor Little Critter on the Road Slash Records
Gary S. Paxton Bakersfield Bakersfield Rebels ace
Dr. BLT Next Buck Owens Dr. BLT Self Produced Self Produced
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men Highway 99 Out In California HIGHTONE
The Maddox Brothers and Rose Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud Loud Music Live – On the Radio Arhoolie Records
Jones Family Fortune Help Me Make it Through the Night Help Me Make it Through the Night Thin Silver Records
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos Buckaroo 21 # Hits Rhino Entertainment

January 5, 2010

Top songs of 2009 – Thursday the 7th on BB

So Mike and I have made our lists. We have not shared them. We have each chosen ten tunes that represent the best that Bakersfield and Beyond had to offer for 2009 and will be spinning these and discussing our choices on the show this Thursday. Do you have a Bakersfield and Beyond favorite from 2009? Let us know!

December 30, 2009

A few photos from the December 24 show

We had a good time on December 24th and our friend Wyro joined us in the studio with his cameras. He got a few shots of us in action. I guess it must have been cool in there since Mike had his hat on and I put on my down jacket. It was a clear and cold Christmas Eve in Point Reyes. Thanks for checking out the blog – do you have a request for us to play? Let us know!

December 29, 2009

Download for a cause

On our December 24 show we played the song Some Day by Jones Family Fortune. Wanted to let folks know if they enjoyed that song that they can download it from CD Baby or iTunes for .99 cents and continue to enjoy it while helping to raise funds to assist the families of the four slain police officers from Tacoma, WA. There are two versions for download. One is the full band electric version of the song and the second is an acoustic version of the same song. Ian Jones was a long time friend of Ron Owens, one of the four officers slain on November 29th, 2009. It was great to also be able to play Dr. BLT’s Homeless Christmas medley, which was recorded to raise funds for a homeless shelter in Bakersfield and is available through Dr. BLT’s blog.

December 28, 2009

Rosie Flores interview

For your listening pleasure.  Enjoy!

Rose Flores