Thursday, March 29, 2012
Playlist: March 28, 2012
Jerry McCain, Steady
Jerry McCain, My Next Door Neighbor
Jerry 'Boogie' McCain (1930-2012)
Tip of the Top, I Got To Go
Thu 3/29 @ 7 Mile House
Sat 3/31 @ Grand Deli Saloon
Kally Price, Confessin'
Fri 3/30 @ Bravado
Sun 4/01 @ Amnesia
Maria Muldaur, Steady Love
Thu 3/29 @ JCC San Francisco
Sat 3/31 @ Lark Theater
Extra Action Marching Band, Durge
Sat 3/31 @ Mezzanine
Vagabond Opera, Tough Mazel
Fri 3/30 @ Ashkenaz
Rebirth Brass Band, Feelin' Free
Fri 3/30 @ The Independent
Sat 3/31 @ Mezzanine
California Honeydrops, Cry for Me (live)
Thu 3/29 @ Armando's
Fri 3/30 @ The Independent
Sat 3/31 @ Mezzanine
Mark Growden, The Love of It All
Thu 3/29 @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Dennis Johnson, Down In New Orleans
Sat 3/31 @ Lagunitas Brewing Company
Howell Devine, Honey Bee
Fri 3/30 @ Speisekammer
Sun 4/01 @ Revolution Cafe
Gaucho, Sergei Stomp
Thu 3/29 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Blue Rodeo, Never Look Back
Monkeyjunk, The Marrinator
David Gogo, Please Find My Baby
Bill Johnson, Fishing with Your Boots On
Harrison Kennedy, Shame The Devil
Suzie Vinnick, I Can Tell
Sue Foley, Stupid Girl
Jeff Healey Band, Yer Blues
Eric Clapton, Little Queen of Spades
Robert Jr. Lockwood, Little Queen of Spades
Rufus Thomas, Reconsider Baby
Lowell Fulson, I'm Glad You Reconsidered
Sonny Boy Williamson, Early In The Morning
Big Maceo Merriweather, So Long Baby
Pete Johnson, How Long How Long
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Playlist: March 21, 2012
Tom Waits, You Can Never Hold Back Spring
Sonny Boy Williamson, Spring Time Blues
Special guest: Elvin Bishop
James Cotton & Elvin Bishop, So Glad You're Mine
James Cotton, Paul Butterfield & Elvin Bishop, Diggin' My Potatoes
James Cotton, Find Yourself Another Fool
Fri-Sun 3/23-25 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Herbie Hancock, Watermelon Man
Sun 3/25 @ Hilton Oakland Airport: West Coast Blues Hall of Fame
Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians, Canadian Capers
Tin Cup Serenade, Limbo Jazz
Tue 3/27 @ Revolution Cafe
Go Van Gogh, James Conn
Sat 3/24 @ Disco Volante
Quinn Deveaux, White House Lullaby
Thu 3/22 @ El Rio
Con Brio, Black Hole Blues
Fri 3/23 @ Boom Boom Room
Nice Guy Trio, Any Alleyway (Sidewalks And Alleys)
Thu 3/22 @ Yoshi's Oakland
George Cole Quintet, Melody of Love
Thu 3/22 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Bob Dylan, You're No Good
Pete Seeger, Forever Young
from the new album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan, Forever Young
Aretha Franklin, The Weight
Aretha Franklin, Mary Don't You Weep
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Precious Lord
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Up Above My Head I Hear Music in the Air
Son House, Levee Camp Moan
Otis Spann, Hotel Lorraine
Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, Ain't Got No Home
Mark Hummel, They Don't Want Me To Rock
Thu 3/22 @ Regency Ballroom: "Take Heart" Bread & Roses Benefit
Fri 3/23 @ Main St. Brewery
Rick Estrin, You're Gonna Need My Help
Fri 3/23 @ Palms Playhouse
Sat 3/24 @ Biscuits and Blues
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Playlist: March 14, 2012
The Five Bells, My Cutie Pie
Willie Nelson, Outskirts Of Town
Fri 3/16 @ Fox Oakland
Howell Devine, Boat's Up The River
Fri 3/16 @ Amnesia
Sun 3/18 @ Revolution Cafe
Tip of the Top, Hard to Get
Fri 3/16 @ Viva
Sat 3/17 @ The Standby
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, Walk All Day
Fri 3/16 @ Mojo Lounge
Special in-studio guest: David Roche
Thu 3/22 @ Bimbo's 365 Club: Blue Bear 40th Anniversary Benefit
Jackie Greene, Seven Jealous Sisters
Jackie Greene, Till The Light Comes
Jackie Greene, Revolution Man
Bob Dylan, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (alt)
Lightnin' Hopkins, Automobile Blues
Lightnin' Hopkins, Up On Telegraph Avenue
Big Brother and the Holding Company, Summertime
from the new album Live At The Carousel Ballroom 1968
Fri 3/16 @ Amnesia
Sun 3/18 @ Revolution Cafe
Tip of the Top, Hard to Get
Fri 3/16 @ Viva
Sat 3/17 @ The Standby
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, Walk All Day
Fri 3/16 @ Mojo Lounge
Special in-studio guest: David Roche
Thu 3/22 @ Bimbo's 365 Club: Blue Bear 40th Anniversary Benefit
Jackie Greene, Seven Jealous Sisters
Jackie Greene, Till The Light Comes
Jackie Greene, Revolution Man
Bob Dylan, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (alt)
Lightnin' Hopkins, Automobile Blues
Lightnin' Hopkins, Up On Telegraph Avenue
Big Brother and the Holding Company, Summertime
from the new album Live At The Carousel Ballroom 1968
John Lennon, The Luck of the Irish
John Lee Hooker, Mr. Lucky
Chuck Berry, I'm Just A Lucky So And So
Ruth Brown, Lucky Lips
Roosevelt Sykes, You Can't Be Lucky All The Time
B.B. King, Bad Luck
Guitar Slim, Bad Luck Blues
Washboard Sam, Good Luck Blues
Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra, Happy Go Lucky Local
Bessie Smith, Lady Luck Blues
Frank Sinatra, Luck Be A Lady
Sammy Davis Jr, That Lucky Old Sun
Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra, Happy Go Lucky Local
Bessie Smith, Lady Luck Blues
Frank Sinatra, Luck Be A Lady
Sammy Davis Jr, That Lucky Old Sun
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Playlist: March 7, 2012
Meshugga Beach Party, Heavy Malaga
Flogging Molly, The Times They Are A-Changin'
Sat 3/10 @ Fox Oakland
Catherine Russell, Under The Spell Of The Blues
from the new album Strictly Romancin'
Fri 3/09 @ Yoshi's San Francisco: American Beauty Project
Sat 3/10 @ Yoshi's Oakland: American Beauty Project
Wendy DeWitt, Nervous
from the new album Industrial Strength
Thu 3/08 @ The Saloon
Howell Devine, Devil Got My Woman
Sat 3/10 @ Armando's
Sun 3/11 @ Revolution Cafe
Harvey Mandel, A Wade In The Water
Thu 3/08 @ Biscuits and Blues
Fri 3/09 @ George's Nightclub
John Németh, Heartbreak With A Hammer
Sun 3/11 @ Poor House Bistro
Rod Piazza and the All Mighty Flyers, Blue Shadows
Fri 3/09 @ Fulton 55
Sat 3/10 @ Biscuits and Blues
Tip of the Top, My Baby's Gone (And I Feel Good)
Fri 3/09 @ Poor House Bistro
Big Cat Tolefree, Jinky Woman
Thu 3/08 @ Dublin Sports Bar
Fri 3/09 @ Mojo Lounge
Omar Sharriff, Love Is Just A Fool
Lloyd Price, Oooh-Oooh-Oooh
J.B. Lenoir, Livin' In The White House
King Biscuit Boy, The Bum Is Mine
B.B. King, I Need You So (Live)
from the forthcoming album Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2011
Carolina Chocolate Drops, No Man's Mama
from the new album Leaving Eden
Heritage Blues Orchestra, Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down
from the new album And Still I Rise
Otis Taylor, Yell Your Name
from the new album Otis Taylor's Contraband
Eric Bibb, Bayou Belle
from the forthcoming album Deeper in the Well
Ruthie Foster, You Don't Miss Your Water
from the new album Let It Burn
Joan Osborne, I Don't Need No Doctor
from the forthcoming album Bring It On Home
Janiva Magness, There It Is
from the forthcoming album Stronger for It
Nathan James & The Rhythm Scratchers, Black Snakin' Jiver
from the forthcoming album What You Make of It
Bob Margolin with Mike Sponza Band, Rollin' and Tumblin'
from the new album Blues Around the World
Big Bill Morganfield, Rising Son
Mud Morganfield, Short Dress Woman
from the forthcoming album Son Of The Seventh Son
Muddy Waters, Baby Please Don't Go (Live)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Playlist: February 29, 2012
Big Bill Broonzy, Leap Year Blues
The Leap Frogs, Dirty Britches
Count Basie's Kansas City Seven, Lester Leaps In
Roy Milton, Hop, Skip And Jump
Louis Prima, Jump, Jive, An' Wail
Walter Horton, Jumpin' Blues
Special in-studio guest: Joe Louis Walker
Thu-Fri 3/01-02 @ Biscuits and Blues
Sat 3/03 @ Palms Playhouse
Sun 3/04 @ Moe's Alley
Joe Louis Walker, Hellfire
Joe Louis Walker, Ride All Night
Joe Louis Walker, Too Drunk To Drive Drunk (in-studio)
Joe Louis Walker, Soldier For Jesus (in-studio)
Butterfield Blues Band, Mellow Down Easy
Joe Louis Walker, Black Girls
from the new album Hellfire
HaDag HaNahash, California
Thu 3/01 @ The New Parish
Michel Winograd & Khevre, Oyfn Sheydveg (At the Crossroads)
Sat 3/03 @ Freight & Salvage
Allen Toussaint, A Dear Old Southland
Thu-Fri 3/01-02 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Gaucho, Dark Eyes
Thu 3/01 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Howell Devine, When You Got A Good Friend
Sun 3/04 @ Revolution Cafe
Slim Jenkins, Little Lean Woman
Sat 3/03 @ Cafe du Nord
Beso Negro, Cobblestone Shore / Joseph, Joseph (in-studio)
Sat 3/03 @ Cafe du Nord
Sun 3/04 @ Lagunitas Taproom
Volker Strifler Band, Going To Brownsville
from the new album Let the Music Rise
Wed 3/07 @ Club Fox
George Thorogood and the Destroyers, 2120 South Michigan Ave
Thu 3/01 @ Uptown Theatre Napa
Fri 3/02 @ Fox Theatre Redwood City
Cassandra Wilson, Last Train To Clarksville
Davy Jones (1945-2012)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Playlist: February 22, 2012
Anders Osborne, Ash Wednesday Blues
The Budos Band, My Girl
Thu 2/23 @ The Independent
Con Brio, Sinner (live)
Fri 2/24 @ Poor House Bistro
Sun 2/26 @ Disco Volante
Joe Louis Walker, Don't Cry
from the new album Hellfire
Wed 2/29 on Fog City Blues
Allen Toussaint, Egyptian Fantasy
Wed-Thu 2/29-3/02 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Tip of the Top, I'm Lost
Sat 2/25 @ Grand Deli Saloon
Wed 2/29 @ The Saloon
Ron Hacker & The Hacksaws, Shotgun
Fri 2/24 @ Mojo Lounge
Dennis Johnson, She Looks Good
Fri 2/24 @ Marilyn's On K
Junior Watson, Strangest Woman
Thu 2/23 @ Biscuits and Blues
Mark Hummel, Rockin' at the Riverside
Fri 2/24 @ Armando's
Big Money in Dixieland, Clarinet Marmalade
Thu 2/23 @ Armando's
Mitch Woods, Shame Shame Shame
Fri 2/24 @ George's Nightclub
Sun 2/26 @ Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
Jolie Holland, The Littlest Birds
Thu 2/23 @ New Parish
Fri 2/24 @ Swedish American Hall
Paul McCartney, Get Yourself Another Fool
from the new album Kisses On The Bottom
George Harrison, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
George Harrison, Hong Kong Blues
Bob Dylan & George Harrison, Yesterday
The Beatles, Three Cool Cats
Traveling Wilburys, Heading For The Light
Johnny Winter, Last Night
Corey Harris, Catfish Blues
Nina Simone, I Shall Be Released
Bobby Charles, Happy Birthday Fats Domino
B.B. King, Goin' Home
Herbie Hancock, I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday
Taj Mahal, My Girl Josephine
Fats Domino, When The Saints Go Marching In
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Playlist: February 15, 2012
The Falcons, I Found A Love
California Honeydrops, Hell Yes, I Cheated
Robert Nighthawk, Cheating And Lying Blues
Hazel Miller Band, Your Husband is Cheatin' On Us
Eric Bibb, Troubadour
Eric Bibb, With My Maker I Am One
Thu 2/16 @ Freight & Salvage
Fri 2/17 @ Sebastapol Community Cultural Center
Sat 2/18 @ Grass Valley Center for the Arts
Ruthie Foster, Lord Remember Me
from the new album Let It Burn
Catherine Russell, Romance In The Dark
from the new album Strictly Romancin'
Guy Davis, The Story of Fishy Waters
from the new album The Adventures of Fishy Waters
Grady Champion, Make That Monkey Jump
Thu-Fri 2/16-17 @ Biscuits and Blues
Sat 2/18 @ Po' Boyz
Howell Devine, Harmonica Wobble
Sat 2/18 @ Viracocha
Sun 2/19 @ Revolution Cafe
John Németh, Blues Hit Big Town
Fri 2/17 @ Poor House Bistro
Sat 2/18 @ Biscuits and Blues
Xandra Corpora, The Battle of San Francisco (in-studio)
Sun 2/19 @ Amnesia
Bhi Bhiman, Kimchee Line
from the new album Bhiman
Sat 2/18 @ Bottom of the Hill
Leonard Cohen, Darkness
from the new album Old Ideas
Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band, Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
Carolina Chocolate Drops, Political World
Raphael Saadiq, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Queens of the Stone Age, Outlaw Blues
Lenny Kravitz, Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
from the new album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan
Henry Clement & the Gumbo Band, When the Sox Come Running Home
Tue 2/21 @ Yoshi's Oakland
The Monophonics, Rotten Ribs
Tue 2/21 @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Irma Thomas, Break-A-Way
Magic Sam, That's All I Need
Otis Blackwell, Wake Up Fool
Kokomo Arnold, The Twelves (Dirty Dozen)
Lonnie Johnson & Eddie Lang, Two Tone Stomp
Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Amen
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Playlist: February 8, 2012
Gary Clark Jr, Like A Hound Dog
Wed 2/15 @ Great American Music Hall
Howell Devine, The Train
Sat 2/11 @ The Baltic
Sun 2/12 @ Revolution Cafe
Nathan James, Wayfaring Stranger
Sun 2/12 @ Biscuits and Blues
Special in-studio guests: Con Brio
Fri 2/10 @ Armando's
Sat 2/11 @ The Independent
Sun 2/12 @ Moe's Alley
Con Brio, Weigh On Me (live)
Con Brio, Glass Manifesto (in-studio)
Con Brio, The Battle of San Francisco (in-studio)
Con Brio, Jimi's Song
Brandy, Where Are You Now?
Con Brio, Thank You (in-studio)
Con Brio, Not At All (live)
from the new album The Bay Is Burning
Eric Bibb, Wayfaring Stranger
Mon 2/13 @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Maria Muldaur, Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down
Fri 2/10 @ Biscuits and Blues
Sun 2/12 @ Throckmorton Theatre
Tue 2/14 @ Silo's
California Honeydrops, Cryin' Blues
Fri 2/10 @ Hopmonk Tavern
Sun 2/12 @ Boathouse Concerts
Tue 2/14 @ Cafe du Nord
Special in-studio guests: Phil Berkowitz & Ben Rice
Phil Berkowitz & Ben Rice, Midnight Rooster (in-studio)
Ben Rice & Phil Berkowtiz, Ida Mae (in-studio)
Elvin Bishop, That's My Thing (live)
Phil Berkowitz & Ben Rice, High Time (in-studio)
Junior Watson, If I Had A Genie (live)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Playlist: February 1, 2012
Honey Island Swamp Band, Play the Fool
Thu 2/02 @ Poor House Bistro
Fri-Sat 2/03-04 @ Boom Boom Room
Quinn Deveaux & The Blue Beat Review, Tiger In Your Tank
Fri 2/02 @ Club Deluxe
California Honeydrops, When It Was Wrong
Fri 2/03 @ Ashkenaz
Sat 2/04 @ The Palms
Seth Augustus, It'll Be Me
Fri 2/03 @ Revolution Cafe
Special in-studio guests: Joshua Howell and Pete Devine
Sun 2/05 @ Revolution Cafe
Wed 2/08 @ The Torch Club
Sat 2/11 @ The Baltic
Howell Devine, Mighty Long Time
Howell Devine, Write Me A Few Lines (in-studio)
Howell Devine, Come On In My Kitchen (in-studio)
Howell Devine, The Train (in-studio)
R.L. Burnside, Rollin' and Tumblin'
Howell Devine, Guitar Rag (in-studio)
Howell Devine, Poor Boy (in-studio)
Howell Devine, You Got Me Running (in-studio)
Howell Devine, Boat's Up The River
from the forthcoming album Delta Grooves
Otis Taylor, The Devil's Gonna Lie
from the forthcoming album Contraband
Ruthie Foster, If I Had A Hammer
from the new album Let It Burn
Mon 2/06 @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Tue 2/07 @ Humboldt State University
Wed 2/08 @ Napa Valley Opera House
Eric Bibb, Walkin' Blues Again
Sat 2/04 @ Montalvo Arts Center
Jimmy Reed, Take Out Some Insurance
Candye Kane, Sweet Nothin's
Fri 2/03 @ The Palms
Carolyn Wonderland, Meet Me In The Morning
Fri 2/02 @ The Palms
Sat 2/03 @ Last Day Saloon
Sun 2/04 @ Moe's Alley
Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues
Sat 2/04 @Yoshi's SF: "Love You Madly" Duke Ellington Tribute
Deep Blue Organ Trio, Jesus Children Of America
Sat 2/04 @ Yoshi's SF
Gospel Hummingbirds, Great Change
Thu 2/02 @ Yoshi's San Francisco
John Németh, You Know
Fri 2/03 @ George's Nightclub
Sat 2/04 @ Riverwood Inn
Mark Hummel, I Got To Find My Baby
from the new album Blue & Lonesome: Little Walter Tribute
Charlie Musselwhite, Good Times
Thu 2/02 @ Cascade Theatre (w/ Mark Hummel)
Con Brio, Glass Manifesto
from the forthcoming album The Bay Is Burning
Wed 2/08 on Fog City Blues
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Playlist: January 25, 2012
Eddie Boyd, Five Long Years
Elvin Bishop (w/ John Németh), Fooled Around And Fell In Love
Fri 1/27 @ Great American Music Hall
Jimmy McCracklin, Think
Elvin Bishop, Rock My Soul
Buxter Hoot'n, Thought I Heard You Say
Quinn Deveaux & The Blue Beat Review, Good News
Sat 1/28 @ The Uptown
Big Bones & Paul Pena, Put You Down Baby
Quinn Deveaux, Last Time I Fool Around With You (in-studio)
Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums, Some Like It Hot
Thu 1/26 @ Biscuits and Blues
Fri 1/27 @ Midtown Stomp
Sat 1/28 @ Point Arena Theatre
Steve Lucky, Smack Dab in the Middle
Mark Hummel, Humblebug
Fri-Sun 1/27-29 @ Yoshi's Oakland: Blues Harmonica Blowout
Mark Hummel, My Kind of Baby
from the new album Blue and Lonesome: Tribute to Little Walter
Little Walter, Off The Wall
Little Charlie & The Nightcats, Wall To Wall
Charlie Musselwhite, Juke
John Németh, Hoodoo Man Blues (in-studio)
George Cole Quintet, Minor Swing (in-studio)
Fri 1/27 @ Freight & Salvage
Panique, Swing 48 (in-studio)
Sun 1/29 @ Freight & Salvage
Hot Club of Cowtown, Dark Eyes (in-studio)
Sat 1/28 @ Freight & Salvage
Sun 1/29 @ Harlow's
Mon 1/30 @ Amnesia
Beso Negro, Mala Reputación (in-studio)
Thu 1/26 @ Yoshi's San Francisco
Etta James, Good Rockin' Daddy
Etta James, Welcome To The Jungle
Etta James (1938-2012)
Howell Devine, Poor Boy
Wed 2/01 on Fog City Blues
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Five Years of Fog City Blues
Fog City Blues first went on the air on Monday, January 29, 2007 (oy, at 11 pm!). Its mandate from KALW was to provide a local forum for blues in the Bay Area. For me it was a sort of homecoming, if not part of a dream come true. I'd been working for almost a year on another KALW program, Philosophy Talk (of which I am currently Producer). I came to that show after finishing a doctorate in Linguistics at Cornell but with little formal radio experience beyond a blues show I'd had in college (at WOBC in Oberlin OH), Rags, Stomps & Blues. Fortunately the Senior Producer of Philosophy Talk was also the Producer of the House of Blues Radio Hour (with Dan Aykroyd), so the arrival of an unemployed PhD with a blues background felt like an aligning of the stars. About a year later, KALW came asking if we were interested in filling a recently-opened hole in their blues schedule, and Fog City Blues was born.
I'm told that 'radio' was my first word in life (pronounced 'beydjo'), so I never saw the jump from academia to radio as anything but fate; in fact it's kind of a miracle it didn't happen without the dissertation being finished. And it certainly helped to find an egghead program to ease the transition, keep my finger in the academic pie, and begin my life's work integrating music and language scholarship on the radio. But while Philosophy Talk is a full-team multi-pronged day-job, as it were, Fog City Blues is my full-time one-man sideshow. Of course that's a bit disingenuous: most of the great moments on the show have been brought to you by people other than me, particularly the artists and musicians who've generously stopped by the studio to talk and/or play on the air. And those moments have been anything but sideshows.
I've been privileged to spend time on the air with a few national and out-of-town acts who've passed through these parts (including a pair of Canadian bands of some renown that I followed back in the day). But it's the local Bay Area artists who give the show its real flavour, several of whom have stopped by more than once. The quality and diversity of blues-ish music in the Bay Area is staggering, and for this week's anniversary show, we'll check in with a suite of past guests who capture some of the breadth that the program aspires to: Elvin Bishop, Quinn Deveaux, Mark Hummel, and Miss Carmen Getit (of Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums). We'll also hear some past in-studio performances to help fill out the picture of what's gone down in five years of Fog City Blues.
And it certainly doesn't stop with the anniversary. Next week it's Howell Devine live in the studio, and Con Brio the following week. We are just getting started.
For now I leave you with a little blurb I wrote for a KALW event that serves as a kind of extended mission statement for Fog City Blues:
A radio program, at least the kind I'd like to host, needs to tell a story. Even when the show is made up of a set of self-contained stories -- the songs on a playlist, say -- I need there to be a story arc with a sort of narrative progression through the at least some portion of that playlist. But does a sequence of songs from blues artists with upcoming Bay Area shows create a compelling enough story? How can that sequence be punctuated with other music that both flows and keeps listeners (pleasantly) surprised? Fortunately, it's often made easier with the help of talented musicians from near and far who join me on the program. They tell the story and make the connections in real time, either through their own music or through a guest-deejay set of inspired tracks. But in either case the goal remains: to craft a sequence of music that's greater than the sum of its parts, while making sure each of those parts is illuminating and inspired. In another setting, each show would be a mix-tape designed to woo. And I do hope that Fog City Blues woos -- and surprises -- someone new each week.
I'm told that 'radio' was my first word in life (pronounced 'beydjo'), so I never saw the jump from academia to radio as anything but fate; in fact it's kind of a miracle it didn't happen without the dissertation being finished. And it certainly helped to find an egghead program to ease the transition, keep my finger in the academic pie, and begin my life's work integrating music and language scholarship on the radio. But while Philosophy Talk is a full-team multi-pronged day-job, as it were, Fog City Blues is my full-time one-man sideshow. Of course that's a bit disingenuous: most of the great moments on the show have been brought to you by people other than me, particularly the artists and musicians who've generously stopped by the studio to talk and/or play on the air. And those moments have been anything but sideshows.
I've been privileged to spend time on the air with a few national and out-of-town acts who've passed through these parts (including a pair of Canadian bands of some renown that I followed back in the day). But it's the local Bay Area artists who give the show its real flavour, several of whom have stopped by more than once. The quality and diversity of blues-ish music in the Bay Area is staggering, and for this week's anniversary show, we'll check in with a suite of past guests who capture some of the breadth that the program aspires to: Elvin Bishop, Quinn Deveaux, Mark Hummel, and Miss Carmen Getit (of Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums). We'll also hear some past in-studio performances to help fill out the picture of what's gone down in five years of Fog City Blues.
And it certainly doesn't stop with the anniversary. Next week it's Howell Devine live in the studio, and Con Brio the following week. We are just getting started.
For now I leave you with a little blurb I wrote for a KALW event that serves as a kind of extended mission statement for Fog City Blues:
A radio program, at least the kind I'd like to host, needs to tell a story. Even when the show is made up of a set of self-contained stories -- the songs on a playlist, say -- I need there to be a story arc with a sort of narrative progression through the at least some portion of that playlist. But does a sequence of songs from blues artists with upcoming Bay Area shows create a compelling enough story? How can that sequence be punctuated with other music that both flows and keeps listeners (pleasantly) surprised? Fortunately, it's often made easier with the help of talented musicians from near and far who join me on the program. They tell the story and make the connections in real time, either through their own music or through a guest-deejay set of inspired tracks. But in either case the goal remains: to craft a sequence of music that's greater than the sum of its parts, while making sure each of those parts is illuminating and inspired. In another setting, each show would be a mix-tape designed to woo. And I do hope that Fog City Blues woos -- and surprises -- someone new each week.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Playlist: January 18, 2012
The Johnny Otis Show, Signature Tune
Lula Reed, Bump On A Log
The Johnny Otis Show, Goin' Back To L.A. (live)
Johnny Otis (1922-2012)
Howell Devine, Come On In My Kitchen
Sat 1/21 @ Speisekammer
Con Brio, Not At All (live)
Thu 1/19 @ University of the Pacific
Shawn Colvin, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Thu 1/19 @ Yoshi's SF
Lucinda Williams, Motherless Children
Fri 1/20 @ Uptown Theatre
Sat 1/22 @ Center for the Arts
Ramon and Jessica, Waltz #3: in which Coffee Becomes Wine
from the forthcoming album Fly South
Fri 1/20 @ Community Music Center
Mari Mack, Birthday Suit
Fri 1/20 @ The Saloon
Bill Sims, Jr. & Mark Lavoie, Blues for Breakfast
Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band, EZ Rider
Joe Louis Walker, I'm On To You
from the forthcoming album Hellfire
Veretski Pass, Tango Under the Influence
Sun 1/22 @ The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life
The Andrews Sisters, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Merle Kessler & J. Raoul Brody, King Little King
Sun 1/22 @ The Marsh Berkeley: Philosophy Talk Live
Elvin Bishop, Callin' All Cows (live)
Elvin Bishop, Stealin' Watermelons (live)
Wed 1/25 on Fog City Blues
Quinn Deveaux @ The Blue Beat Review, Tiger In Your Tank
Wed 1/25 on Fog City Blues
Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums, Let Me In
Wed 1/25 on Fog City Blues (Miss Carmen Getit)
Mark Hummel, One More Time
Wed 1/25 on Fog City Blues
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Hoodoo Man Blues (live)
Muddy Waters, Trouble No More (live)
Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, You'd Better Slow Down
Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing Ensemble, Romani tune (in-studio)
Reinier Voet & Pigalle44, Minor Swing (in-studio)
Les Doigts de l'Homme, Ol' Man River (in-studio)
Django Reinhardt, Night And Day
Richie Havens, San Francisco Bay Blues
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