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Tuesday, Oct 4 2022, 7AM
Good morning, friends. Thanks for being here early!
New release from Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Russell, featuring Brandi Carlile, her friend and tour mate.
"You’re Not Alone," is a folk tune that drives home the message that there is community out there for everyone, whether that be ancestral ties or chosen family.
"We are not what we have lost. We are more than the sum of our scars. We are the dust of the stars, the bones of the Earth, the breath of the void, the expanse of our imagination, the arc of art, the love in our hearts," said Russell.
The new song, along with Russell’s entire collection of songs, reflects her positive outlook on life. As she told The New York Times in a profile, her music focuses on her strengths and power, not instances of victimization. bit.ly
It was on this day in 1971 when Dolly Parton released Coat of Many Colors featuring the song of the same name.
Parton was born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee and was the fourth of 12 children. Growing up poor, Dolly's mother really did make her such a coat. While her classmates teased her, Parton was proud of the coat and tried to make them understand that even though her family didn't have much money, they were rich in other, more important ways.
Parton kept the famous coat, which later became a popular attraction at her Dollywood Museum, where it is kept in an exhibit along with her handwritten lyrics to the song.
Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams with their version of "Live Forever," the title track of a forthcoming Billy Joe Shaver tribute album.
"Live Forever" first appeared on 1993's Tramp on Your Street, an album by Shaver (the duo of Billy Joe and his son Eddie). It's since gotten larger platforms with assists from Big & Rich and the film Crazy Heart. Variety premiered Nelson and Williams' version in conjunction with the announcement of Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver.
In a press release, Nelson described the elder Shaver, whose way with words elevated the outlaw image of Waylon Jennings and other peers, as a songwriter who "was just real; there wasn't one phony drop of blood in him."
A wide range of Shaver's songwriting students contribute covers to the Charlie Sexton and Freddy Fletcher-produced project, from outlaw contemporaries (Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle) to mainstream country stars (George Strait, Miranda Lambert) and Americana notables (Amanda Shires, Allison Russell). bit.ly
Wilco released Ode To Joy on this day in 2019!
The album was recorded by taking simple song sketches from singer Jeff Tweedy, recording them in their Chicago studio with drummer Glenn Kotche, and then introducing the rest of the band to flesh out the musical ideas.
According to Jeff Tweedy, the album is "really big, big folk songs." The album overall is defiantly joyful in the face of global political and cultural upheaval. "The record is, in a weird way, an ode," he says in a statement announcing the album. "And one thing that is worth feeling, that is worth fighting for, is your freedom to still have joy even though things are going to s***." n.pr
First Aid Kit's upcoming fifth album will be out in November this year.
Sister duo Klara and Johanna said of the single, it's "a sweet love song. When recording this we wanted to achieve that old school ‘country soul’ sound."
While discussing their new album in a statement, the duo added: “This is the first record we’ve recorded in Sweden since we made our debut album ‘The Big Black & The Blue’ 12 years ago! We worked with Swedish producer Daniel Bengtson at his lovely studio Studio Rymden in Stockholm. It was such a fun experience. We really let the recording take time, we didn’t want to rush it.”
bit.ly
Thanks for the Indigo Girls. 27 years ago (and change) while I was in college I asked a girl out and she said yes. Then she ditched me to go see an Indigo Girls concert. Still love this song though. And the girl, too - ended up marrying her...Shana
Great set to start the morning. Thanks as always. Andy (on my way to Redmond)
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“Closer To Fine,” was written by Emily Saliers on a porch in Vermont while vacationing with her family. Saliers had just graduated from college and was reminiscing on the world of academia and her future.
bit.ly
Wild Pink will be playing Barboza December 5th!
Later this month they will be releasing a new album called ILYSM.
“See You Better Now,” features some guitar playing from J Mascis.
wildpink.bandcamp.com
“Here Comes My Girl” began as one of two songs written in the same week by guitarist Mike Campbell.
"I made some demos and Tom liked those two," said Campbell. "Here Comes My Girl" was interesting because we had the chorus and Tom wasn't sure how to do the verse, he kept trying to sing it different ways and he finally came across sort of half-talking it, and that's when the song seemed to come to life."
bit.ly
"Ocean of Darkness" is a previously unreleased single that's featured on The War of Drugs' deluxe edition of "I Don't Live Here Anymore."
www.thewarondrugs.net
Grace Rowland describes the inspiration behind the song:
“This song is meant to mirror the plunging, reeling feeling of falling in love. Love is a series, a pattern that’s cyclical and develops upon itself like a fractal.”
My Morning Jacket released their 4th album, "Z" on this day in 2005!
In loving memory of country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn, who passed away today at the age of 90.
“I would have given anything in the world if (my father) would have been here when I recorded 'Coal Miner’s Daughter,' but I think he hears me,” said Loretta Lynn said in 2018. “And one day I will sing it for him.” nbcnews.to
Loretta Lynn had written the music and lyrics to "Portland Oregon" years prior to its recording date. After writing the song, Lynn did not record it for many years until meeting rock artist Jack White.
While having dinner at Lynn's house, White came across a pile of handwritten songs, "Portland, Oregon" among them. It was decided that she would record the tune as a duet for her 2004 album Van Lear Rose, which Jack White also produced.
Rick Redmond, RIP. From his son, our friend, Scott: "...His reach was far and wide and peoples love for him - and his for them - was genuine and deep. He lived a full and great life and our opportunity is to continue his legacy of leading boldly, living compassionately, and always serving others. He set such good examples for all of us. If you have time, could you play Amen, Omen by Ben Harper for him? Music Heals."
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Amen Omen.
Here is Ben Harper live in the KEXP studio back in 2016: www.youtube.com
Ya like jazz?
Watch New Orleans band Hot 8 Brass Band perform this Joy Division cover live in the KEXP studio in 2019: www.youtube.com
Ted Hawkins (October 28, 1936 – January 1, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter from Biloxi, Mississippi. He also spent a lot of time in Venice Beach, California, where he was a mostly anonymous street performer, and Europe and Australia, where he and his songs were better known and well received in clubs and small concert halls.
As a teenager, Hawkins traveled and drifted across the country for several years. Along the way, he picked up a love of music and a talent for the guitar. "I was sent to a school for bad boys called Oakley Training School in 1949," he wrote in a brief piece of autobiography. "There I developed my voice by singing with a group that the superintendent's wife had got together."
Good morning John, Crew, and My KEXP Family,
Today, my wife and I celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary! Believe it or not, I knew after about two weeks of dating that I’d marry this lovely young woman. Please play the Beatles “In My life.”
It’s been an incredible and beautiful journey and I can’t imagine living this life with anyone other than her. Dawn is simply the best wife than any person could hope to have – full stop. Period!
Thanks for doing what you do each day! All the best,
Walt from Jersey
"The Pill" is a comic-tinged song about birth control. The song's discussion led to a number of country radio stations refusing to play it in the 70s.
Loretta Lynn passed away today at the age of 90.
The Smashing Pumpkins released "Pisces Iscariot" on this day in 1994!
Death Cab for Cutie will be live at the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, October 26th & Thursday, October 27th!
The band's new record Asphalt Meadows is out now!
deathcabforcutie.bandcamp.com
Here is Temper Trap Live on KEXP many years ago (2009)!
youtu.be
After Dark is a compilation off label Italians Do It Better, owned by Johnny Jewel formerly of Chromatics. In a statement, Megan Louise and Johnny Jewel shared:
"It is with immense pleasure & excitement that we share After Dark 4 with you. 30 artists from 11 countries deliver 27 tracks for the endless summer of your dreams. Clocking in at just under two hours, the melodies have been soundtracking our weekly night drives between our studio in the desert & our offices in Los Angeles. The rhythms have been working their magic as secret weapons on the dancefloor in our DJ sets.
Recorded around the globe…our roster of artists explores Italo Disco, Electro, AOR, Film Score, Minimal Wave, Punk, Dream Pop, Spoken Word, Outrun & more.
It’s real…It’s intimate…It’s Everything you ever needed…
Thank you for listening.
xo
Megan Louise & Johnny Jewel”
The inspiration for the music video was the 1962 sci-fi featurette La Jetée. Watch it here:
www.youtube.com
The debut EP "Am Ta" is out now.
In late 2020, Mathieu Seynaeve and WaiFung Tsang, musicians as well as clinicians and researchers of psychedelic therapy, met up with music producer and yoga instructor Robbie Redway for a sound journey at a remote barn on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. The result was a set of tracks and practices that shaped the blueprint of what United Freedom Collective is now.
IG: @unitedfreedomcollective
Culture Club release Kissing to Be Clever featuring "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" on this day in 1982!
"I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" is the debut single by American country music artist Loretta Lynn, released in March 1960. The song was among the first to not only be recorded by Lynn, but also to be penned by her. She composed the song while living in the state of Washington, maintaining her role as a housewife and occasional member of a local country music band.
At the age of 15, she married Oliver Vanetta “Doolittle” Lynn, an Army veteran and moonshiner and a year later, the pair moved to the logging community of Custer, Washington so that he could find work. In the 1950s, she was discovered at a Tacoma, Washington talent competition, leading to her first record deal.
The composition was later recorded in California after Lynn was given money by a local businessman, who was impressed by her singing. "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" was then issued as a single under the newly founded and independent Zero Records label in March 1960.
"I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" was self-promoted by Lynn and her husband, driving from one radio station to another. The effort paid off by that summer when it peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard country songs chart. The story behind the song's promotion became one of the trademarks of Lynn's career. Its story was profiled in the 1980 film about her life Coal Miner's Daughter and has been covered by other artists. "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" has since received positive praise from music critics and writers alike, who have credited the song as being one of her signature tunes.
From the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs record, 'Cool It Down'.
In a press release, Karen O stated: "Don't have to tell you how much we've been going through in the last nine years since our last record, because you've been going through it too. So yes we've taken our time, happy to report when it's ready it really does just flow out." bit.ly
yeahyeahyeahs.com
Wolf Alice will be playing a 21+ show in Seattle at Showbox Sodo on Thursday, October 13th!
"Smile" was inspired by lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s desire to fight back against those who try to define her. “It’s about people that make assumptions about you." “This is one of the songs we wrote thinking that we would play it live,” Rowsell added in a press release. “I miss that feeling of singing on stage. It’s like screaming into a pillow or something — you can get away with being more nasty. There’s a whole other part of me missing.”
Speaking of the process of writing the new album, Billy Nomates – aka Tor Maries – said: “Writing ‘CACTI’ took just over a year. I wrote very intensely and then none at all. (This seems to be the way I work best).
“I picked up old drum machines, mapped out things in my kitchen with the same small micro keyboard I always use and then raided the cupboards and rooms at Invada Studios, to play and experiment with old synths, an upright piano, this weird organ thing. I hope everyone finds their own narrative in ‘CACTI’. I think it’s about surviving it all.”
bit.ly
Thank you for playing Loretta. So sad we lost her and so bummed I missed you playing Portland, OR while I was on a bike ride.
As a kid from the Michigan suburbs Jack White was obviously my gateway to her amazing catalogue. Any chance we could hear the White Stripes doing Rated X in her honor? Or Neko Case’s cover?
Thanks!
Spencer
No, don't come home a-drinkin'
With lovin' on your mind
Honoring Loretta Lynn today, who passed away at the age of 90.
Japanese Breakfast has shared her cover of Brandi Carlile’s “The Story.”
Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner says “I think the song captures the depths of human tenacity and the spirit of the journey so well."
Brandi Carlile covering "Black Hole Sun" with members of Soundgarden.
Brandi first performed this with the group at the Chris Cornell tribute "I Am the Highway" in January 2019.
Thanks John! Sick transitions to arrive to SG!!! I’m actually getting “One more time around” tattooed on my arm this weekend! Very excited. Fun fact, it’s also the inscription on my tile there at the station! Hope to see it in person one day.
Nadia
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"It's about trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive, which I've always had a problem with. It's about attempting to be normal and just go out and be around other people and hang out.
"The Day I Tried to Live" means more like the day I actually tried to open up myself and experience everything that's going on around me as opposed to blowing it all off and hiding in a cave."
Last month, the late Taylor Hawkins' son Shane joined the Foo Fighters on drums to perform My Hero at The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert.
Watch the performance here:
www.youtube.com
From Nirvana's MTV concert in 1993.
Watch the performance here:
www.youtube.com
There are multiple versions of this song that long predates Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. Lead Belly made it his own in the 1940's.
"In the Pines", also known as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" and "My Girl", is a traditional American folk song originating from two songs, "In the Pines" and "The Longest Train", both of whose authorship is unknown and date back to at least the 1870s.
Read more about the social history and haunting power of “In The Pines” - bit.ly
In the pines, in the pines /
Where the sun don't ever shine /
I would shiver the whole night through.
We'll miss you Loretta Lynn. <3
Thank you for tuning in everyone. Hope you have a great day - you are not alone!