For 19 years Mark Manning has served as Coordinator of the KCK Organic Teaching Gardens, an Initiative of The University of Kansas School of Medicine, Office of Cultural Enhancement and Diversity, Health Careers Pathways Program, K-12. Each year Mark works with 1000 to 2000 students, between K through 8th grades, with organic, "raised bed" gardens built directly on the school grounds of three Middle Schools and four Elementary Schools in the inner city of the Kansas City, Kansas school district. Mark conducts over 440 workshops annually in classrooms at these schools. He started the project under the guidance of Marcia Pomeroy, in 1999, after working in a literacy program. The KCK Organic Teaching Gardens has been financially supported through grants from The Kauffman Foundation, and The University of Kansas Medical Center. The project has been recognized locally and nationally by The National Gardening Association, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Community Gardens, The Green Bliss Festival, The Urban Farm & Garden Tour, and on the PBS television program America's Harvest. Mark learned about gardening from his grandmother Edna Jacobsen on the family's McCool Junction, Nebraska farm. His grandmother raised a huge garden, chickens, sheep and cattle. She preserved apples, wild berry jams, and beets and virtually everything she grew was canned for consumption in winter months. Edna raised seven children with no running water and as a child lived in a sod house. His passion for the school gardening program has been fueled by the fact that he doesn't see the lessons he learned from his grandmother passed down to kids today. Kids need to know where their food comes from, especially with the rise of diabetes, and over weight Americans. We can all learn from our gardens how to treat ourselves and the world better.
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Sondra Freeman of Apocalypse Meow 15 + The Black Creatures + Maria Vasquez Boyd
Mark plays New & MidCoastal Releases from: The Roseline, Eddie Moore, Nathan Corsi and My Atomic Daydream, GAV7D featuring Annie Ellicot & the V7 Crew, The Black Creatures, pure xtc, Birdie, MellowPhobia, The Electric Lungs, Blondie, Mariachi El Bronx, and Spoon.
At 10:30 we talk with Sondra Freeman of Midwest Music Foundation about Apocalypse Meow 15, Saturday, November 5, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd., KCMO, with Eddie Moore, MellowPhobia, The Electric Lungs, pure xtc, and Nathan Corsi & My Atomic Daydream, to raise funds to provide health care grants to music industry professionals. Apocalypse Meow started in 2008, when musician Abigail Henderson faced daunting financial hurdles after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Friends rallied to her side, holding the first Apocalypse Meow concert to cover her medical expenses. To pay this forward to her community, Abigail co-founded MMF. After she passed away in 2013, MMF established Abby’s Fund For Musicians’ Health Care, which has given out over $350,000 in health care assistance grants to musicians. MMF has provided needed preventative care services through their health clinic events & partnerships with local providers. The Rock Docs will be on site from 6 to 10 pm with free flu shots, screenings, health care & insurance info. This event also features an online auction from local vendors & artists. More info at http://www.midwestmusicfoundation.org
At 11:00 Mark talks with Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures who began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal their background in opera, and their honest lyrics are both personal and political. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, and engineer. The Black Creatures released their self-produced, debut album, SEE NO EVIL, on December 6, 2017. The Black Creatures released the single “Elements” on February 14, 2018. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, was self released by the band on September 30, 2019. WILD ECHOES was #2 on WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. WILD ECHOES was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut Records in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine for 2020. Charlotte Street Foundation announced the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures. The Black Creatures released their new album By Thy Hand on Center Cut Records on August 12, 2022. Jade and Xavier just completed performances with Owen/Cox Dance Group and Director & Choreographer Christian A. Warner for, WHAT CAME WITH SPRING at Union Station. Christian A. Walker created a new 90-minute piece with 5 dancers and 10 tracks from The Black Creature, and placed Jade and Xavier into the scene, while allowing their live voices to ring clear and true.
At 11:30 we talk with Maria Vasquez Boyd, writer, artist, published poet, teacher, radio show host & producer. Maria is a founding member of the Latino Writers Collective. She is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, where she has also taught in the Design/Illustration Department and for for the Nelson Atkins Museum. Maria has served as the gallery coordinator for the Guadalupe Center and The Writers Place. She is a contributing Artist at Mattie Rhodes. Maria is host and producer of ARTSPEAK Radio, heard every Wednesday at Noon, on 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio. ARTSPEAK Radio is celebrating 10 Years on the air! Maria Vasquez Boyd is the author of THE WEIGHT OF RECOGNITION her new book of poetry published by Spartan Press in September 2022. Maria joins us to discuss Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead, celebrated November 1 & 2. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art is presenting a Day of The Dead Altar Installation in Kirkwood Hall, on view through November 7, 2022. The altar installation features our Abuela (Grandmother) at home, created in collaboration with local artists, students, the Mattie Rhodes Center and the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City.
On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
The MidCoast Sound with The Lone Stranger + Liz Chidester + Marion Merritt + Nico Gray
“Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks” from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979 [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]
Plains – “Problem With It” from: I Walked With You A Ways / ANTI- Records / October 14, 2022 [Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson recorded this one-time collaboration country album. Plains began out of Crutchfield’s and Williamson’s mutual love for each other’s music and after trading albums (Saint Cloud and Sorceress, respectively) in early 2020. Feeling that it was time to have a separate project that could reflect a different side of her creative inspirations, Katie felt that Jess was the perfect fit for a collaboration, and they set off to create I Walked With You A Ways. Written between Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Marfa, the album was recorded in Durham, NC Produced by Brad Cook, with Katie Crutchfield on Lead and Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar; Jess Williamson on Lead and Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar; Brad Cook on Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Wurlitzer, Mellotron, Bass; Phil Cook on Piano, Wurlitzer, Organ, Dobro, Banjo, Electric Slide; Spencer Tweedy on Drums, Percussion; Andrew Marlin on Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar; Libby Rodenbough on Fiddle; Alex Farrar on Electric Guitar. Engineered by Jon Ashley with Additional Engineering by Alli Rogers and Brad Cook. Mixed by Alex Farrar and Mastered by Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood at The Lodge, NY.]
[Plains are on a US tour. They play The Regent Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. tonight Oct. 26, 2022. Their tour ends on Nov. 19, 2022 when Plains play Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, MO.]
Joni Mitchell – “You Turn Me On I’m A Radio” from: For The Roses / Asylum / November 1972 [Joni Mitchell originally wrote the song in response to her record label’s desire for her to write a hit song. Mitchell reveals her purpose on lines such as, “And I’m sending you out this signal here, I hope you can pick it up loud and clear”. She believed that including words in the song about radio themes would convince stations to play the recording. The song was recorded in preparation for Mitchell’s upcoming fifth studio album in Hollywood, California, United States at A&M Studios. Although Graham Nash, David Crosby, and Neil Young all contributed to the recording session for the song, only the harmonica piece performed by Graham Nash was included on the official release. “You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio” was released as a single in November 1972 via Asylum Records. The song became Mitchell’s first top-ten hit in Canada, reaching the tenth position on the RPM Top Singles chart. Additionally, the single became her first top-forty hit in the United States, reaching number twenty-five on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside North America, “You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio” peaked within the top-forty on the Australian Kent Music Report chart. The single was included on Mitchell’s fifth studio effort For the Roses, which was issued in November 1972. Released between her 2 biggest commercial and critical successes – “Blue” and “Court & Spark”. In 2007 it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. “For the Roses” was Mitchell’s farewell to the business; she took an extended break for a year after. The album was critically acclaimed with The New York Times saying “Each of Mitchell’s songs on For the Roses is a gem glistening with her elegant way with language, her pointed splashes of irony & her perfect shaping of images. Never does Mitchell voice a thought or feeling commonly. She’s a songwriter and singer of genius who can’t help but make us feel we are not alone.”]
Mark Manning: “I was in the front row, center, to see Joni Mitchell LIVE in concert, on October 25, 1998, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Being in the front row, it was almost as if Joni was singing directly to me. I could look right into her eyes. Joni performed next to a small waist high table with water, and an ash tray holding a lit cigarette with smoke trailing and curling upward from the stage, high into the giant vast arena of United Center, where I had watched the Chicago Bulls play 6 of the championship seasons on television. Now I found myself in the front row, with a broken leg from a theatre injury at The Midland Theatre. A broken leg was not going to prevent me from being present at this concert with my friend Cary. Joining Joni on-stage was, pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, famed trumpeter Chris Botti, and former husband, and producer, bassist Larry Klein “pushing melody lines through Mitchell’s odd, chiming chords on guitar, the music was both spacious and assertive.” (Chicago Sun Times review) Joni’s delivery was perfect, singing older songs in a different octave than she originally sang them, as her voice has deepened over the years. Her phrasing and quality of singing was still stellar, professional, true to the spirit of each song. Joni was on the bill with Dave Alvin who opened the night and Bob Dylan and his band closing the show. It was the best concert I’ve ever been to in my life. I cried through Joni’s entire set. This was the set list for Joni:
Big Yellow Taxi
Just Like This Train
Night Ride Home
The Crazy Cries of Love
Free Man in Paris
Harry’s House
Black Crow
Amelia
Hejira
Face Lift
Sex Kills
The Magdalene Laundries
Moon at the Window
Trouble Man
Comes Love
Woodstock
[Joni Mitchell is scheduled to join Brandi Carlile for a live concert called “Echoes Through the Canyon” shows at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State. Brandi Carlile will perform the first show in George, WA is on June 9, 2023 with Joni Mitchell headlining on June 10, 2023 with “the Joni Jam,” featuring a lineup to be announced. This news comes after the 78-year-old singer-songwriter delivered her first full live show since 2000 with a surprise set at Newport Folk Festival, where she played alongside Carlile, Marcus Mumford, Allison Russell, Jess Wolfe & Holly Laessig of Lucius, and more.]
[Heartland Song Network presents For the Roses: a Joni Mitchell Tribute on November 18, 2022, 6:00 Doors, 7:00 PM Show, at Westport Bowery, 817 Westport Rd., KCMO featuring: Leah Sproul, Julia Othmer, Erin Eades, Kate Whitefield, Havilah Bruders, Mikal Shapiro, Scotch Hollow (Carley Verbeck and Mark Verbeck), Kelly Dougherty & David Luther, Lindsey Lasswell & Julie Bennett Hume, Jill Westra & Mark Franzke. A Benefit for Heartland Song Network http://www.heartlandsongnetwork.org]
10:07 – Intro / Pledge Break #1
Thanks for tuning into WMM on 90.1 FM KKFI. I’m Mark Manning. Today WMM celebrates “The MidCoast Sound” spinning some of our favorite recent MidCoastal Releases from: Julia Haile, Eddie Moore, Plains, Flare Tha Rebel, Katy Guillen & The Drive, Kevin Morby, The Black Creatures, Arquesta Del SolSoul, Jerame Gray, Olivia Fox, Lone Stranger, and Liz Chidester. This is part-two of a 2-week series. We started with Plains and Joni Mitchell.
We take break to encourage YOU to support 90.1 FM KKFI. To help me, are my friends…
Marion Merritt is our most frequent contributor to WMM, She grew up in Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She went to college in Columbia, Missouri. She studied art and musical engineering, and is a avid lover of classic films and punk rock music. She saw Talking Heads on their first U.S. tour when they played One Block West in 1978. For 16 years she has been sharing her musical discoveries and information from her musically-encyclopedic brain on Wednesday MidDay Medley. With her partner Ann Stewart, Marion is the proprietor of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, that features new vinyl releases, in-store performances,, and was once the location for a wedding. More information at: http://www.recordwithmerritt.com
Marion Merritt, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Nico Gray, has been an Associate Programmer on our WMM team for over 10 years, helping us with shows about Glam Rock, David Bowie, and multiple Fund Drive shows, and serving as Guest Producer for 12 different shows. Nico has recently become a full fledged Programmer at 90.1 FM completing months of training, and a written test. Nico Gray is now the Host & Producer of “Radio Nicopisa” currently broadcast on Fridays 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM on 90.1 FM KKFI, until it can find a home in the daytime line-up. Radio Nicopisa is the second spin-off show from Wednesday MidDay Medley following in the footsteps of ARTSPEAK Radio with Maria Vasquez Boyd who also first started as a “Guest Producer” on WMM, and who we mentored over the years as she found her own show and time slot and is now celebrating 10 Years on the Airwaves of KKFI. Nico Gray is also a writer, performance artist, and has worked as an actor with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Gorilla Theatre, 8th St. Cafe Theatre, Actor’s Craft, and Big Bang Buffet. He appeared in HBO film “Truman” and in the Robert Altman film, “Kansas City.” Nico was also in an early short film of John McGrath that had a small role played by Emmy Award Winner Jason Sudeikis. Nico is currently a marketing & advertising consultant with Union Station and the Marketing Director for Fringe Festival KC.
Nico Gray, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio is Non-Commercial, and that means that three times a year, we interrupt our regular programming, to ask our listeners, to help us continue our unique, 24-7 programming. For 33 years 90.1 FM KKFI has been on the air. While the spirit of this station is kept alive by hundreds of volunteers who passionately donate their time and abilities to keep the transmission of our 100,000-watt-signal alive. We are a operated by a not-for-profit organization, incorporated over 40 years ago, called The MidCoast Radio Project. We’re non-profit, but we still have to pay the electric bill, the rent on our fully accessible production studios and offices, insurance, staff, royalties, production expenses. Even though we have hundreds of committed volunteers, who donate thousands of hours every year, producing radio shows, answering phones, creating websites, producing benefits, rewiring the board, setting up our computer system, we still need YOU, our listener, to take a moment and call 888-931-0901 and donate to keep us alive! Our volunteers are waiting to hear from YOU right now.
KKFI is “The Voice of the Community” Our Kansas City area Community Speaks Through our Airwaves.
So Far in 2022 on WMM we conducted over 103 interviews with 108 special guests: Kianna Alarid White, Cale Parks, Nico Gray, Betse Ellis, Marion Merritt, Rose Brown, Ivory Blue, Klaartje Van Lue, Ernest James Zydeco, Julia Othmer, Julie Bennett Hume, Mikal Shapiro, Leslie Pories, Matt & Melissa Weinman of Dimension Bill Edwards, Oliver Hall, Jeremiah James Gonzales and Brody Lowe of Redder Moon, Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, Nick Robertson, Travis McKenzie, Andrew Woody of The Creepy Jingles, Jennifer Owen of Owen Cox Dance, Nate Holt of Asterales, Isaac Flynn of Hembree, D Rashaan Gilmore, Luke M. Harbur aka Music By Skippy, Fritz Hutchison, Jenna Rae, Kristie Stremel, Sondra Freeman of Midwest Music Foundation, Meighan Peifer & Patricia Doherty, Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures, Jesse Kates of The Sexy Accident, Chad Brothers, Kristopher Bruders and Mark Smeltzer of Freight Train Rabbit Killer, Jnabe, Jessica Salley, Brodie Rush of Be/Non, Shaun Crowley, Nilko Andreas, Amy Farrand, Sam Platt, Stacy Busch & Kalli Siringas of No Divide KC, Taylor Avazpour, Jessica Ayala and Les Izmore of Arquesta Del Sol Soul, Luke Petet, Chris Haghirian, Stephonne, Dedric Moore, Scott Hrabko, Just Angel, Vi Tran. KKFI Board President Catina Taylor, KKFI Interns: Yassi Armer-Shabazz, Zoey Harris, and Kotah Kauffman, Lee Walter Redding, Chalis O’Neal, Tucker Slough, Major Matt Mason USA, Brook Worlledge, Stephanie Bankston, Mia Morrow of Boxknife, Cooper Scott of Jean Claude and The Eclairs, Kadesh Flow, Dr. Sonia Hall, Necia Gamby, Kelly Hunt, Aaron Shinn and Tell Pryor of Lazy Projector, Lacey Gronniger of Dreamgirl, Bill Sundahl, Nick Carswell of Carswell & Hope, Tillie Alexandra Hall of MellowPhobia, Nathan Reusch of The Record Machine, Diane Patterson. Kiley Sutter, Steve Tulipana, Miki P, Rachel Lovelace, Ryan Wise, AJ Knudson, and Jimmy Girod of LYXE, Trent Michael Munsinger of You Monster You, Judith G. Levey, Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, & Lisa McKenzie of Cher U.K., Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, Mia Huggins, of Fanny, Nita Norris, and Jackie Nugent, Brenton Cook of Outer Reaches Fest, Mark Ronning of Les Bons Bons Electriques, Lotta Williams, and Chris Hudson, The Lone Stranger aka Zachary Phillips, Liz Chidester.
10:15
Julia Haile – “Heavy Rotation” from: “Heavy Rotation” – Single / Julia Haile / September 30, 2022 [One of two new singles released by Jullia Haile and September 30, 2022. Julia Haile is a singer and songwriter based in Kansas City, MO. Her natural talent and musical education have fueled a career of exciting performances and beautiful music. From leading Neo-Soul band Hi-Lux and international collaborations to solo works, Julia’s goal is create meaningful musical experiences for all. Julia’s work with Hi-Lux included Tim Braun on guitar, Nick Howell on keys, Dan Loftus on bass, (and prior to that Pete Leibert on bass) and Kian Bryne on drums. Hi-Lux is a Modern-Soul band that blends and bends the boundaries between soul, rock n roll, reggae, and funk. This group aims to create music that pays tribute to their myriad of influences (Amy Winehouse, The Meters, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings). but also claims a spotlight of its own in the musical world. Hi-Lux released the singles, “Revolution” and “Get What You Give” on February 28, 2020, through The Record Machine. Hi-Lux released the single. “Don’t Blame Lee” (featuring Lee Scratch Perry) on April 20, 2018. Hi-Lux released the 7” vinyl single, “”Dance With My Baby” b/w “Don’t Blame Me” on January 5, 2018 through Sunflower Soul Records. Hi-Lux released their 6-track, self-titled EP, Hi-Lux on January 2, 2018. All 6 songs had previously been released as singles..]The band brings together elements of soul, reggae and funk for a unique and dance inspiring sound. More info at: http://www.hi-lux.bandcamp.com and http://www.juliaHaile.com]
[Julia Haile Quintet plays Second Edition of the @collectifmirr International Exchange! November 17 at A LA Dynamo n Paris France featuring Hermon Mehari and Alessandro Lanzoni -Arc Fiction.]
Eddie Moore – “A New Me, A New You” from: “ A New Me, A New You” – Single / Eddie Moore Music / September 10, 2022 [The first single from Eddie Moore’s new Solo album INTUITION to be released Friday, October 28, 2022. Eddie Moore released the single, “Love Song” (with Joel Castillo and Bree Cummings) on October 22, 2021. Eddie Moore released “We Chillin’” on April 9, 2021. Eddie Moore’s band We The People released their album MISUNDERSTOOD on September 25, 2020. Eddie Moore is the recipient of the 2016 Charlotte Street Generative Performance Award for his genre bending collaborations. Raised in Houston Texas, he began his musical journey at Texas Southern University where he later earned a Bachelors in Arts and immersed himself in the Houston music scene. Eddie relocated to Kansas City to study under Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he received a M.A in Jazz Studies. 2017’s Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art “Artist in Residence” in collaboration with Rashid Johnson. In 2018 his work with The Outer Circle was nominated for an Indie Music Award for “007”. His music has also been featured commercially for Sprint, Netflix’s “Queer Eye”, and Morgan Cooper’s short film “Room Tone”. Moore’ has shared the stage and record with distinctive artist such as Bobby Watson, Pam, Watson, Logan Richardson, Maurice Brown, Boys II Men, Brian Blade and the Fellowship, John Baptiste, Erykah Badu, Mosdef, Bilal, Ledisi, Chantae Cann, Krystal Warren, Matt Otto, Brandon Draper, Andre Hayward, Tivon Pennicott, Various Blonde, Dominique Sanders, 77 Jefferson, and the Marcus Lewis Big Band. We The People released the single, “Single Double” on June 10, 2021. Written & Produced By Eddie Moore with Eddie Moore on keyboards, key bass, & programming; Zach Morrow on drums; and Jason Emmond on bass. Recorded at Tribe Studios. Mixed by Rick Carson at Make Believe Studios. More info at: http://www.wethepeople777.bandcamp.com Eddie Moore joined us live on WMM on September 23, 2020. More info at http://www.eddiemooremusic.com]
[Eddie Moore plays Apocalypse Meow 15, Saturday, November 5, Doors at 6:00 PM, Show at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd., KCMO with MellowPhobia, The Electric Lungs, pure xtc, and Nathan Corsi and My Atomic Daydream in Kansas City, MO, to raise funds to provide health care grants to music industry professionals. Mark Manning will Emcee. // The history of Apocalypse Meow started in 2008, when local musician Abigail Henderson faced daunting financial hurdles after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Friends and fellow musicians rallied to her side, holding the first Apocalypse Meow concert to cover her medical expenses. To pay this forward to her local community, Abigail co-founded MMF. After she passed away in 2013, MMF established Abby’s Fund For Musicians’ Health Care, which has given out over $350,000 in health care assistance grants to musicians. We have also provided much needed preventative care services through our health clinic events and partnerships with local providers. // The Rock Docs will be on site from 6 to 10 pm with free flu shots, screenings, health care and insurance information. This live event will also feature an online auction from local vendors and artists, and lots of fun raising money to support the health of the music industry members of Kansas City. // More information at http://www.midwestmusicfoundation.org]
[Eddie Moore will be our guest on Wednesday MidDay Medley on Nov. 16 with Poet Glenn North,]
Jerame Gray – “When The Sun Comes Up” from: “When The Sun Comes Up”- Single / Full Tank Studios / May 13, 2022 [Earlier this year on April 30, 2022 Jerame released the single “Transcendental Medication.” On May 24, 2020 Jerame Gray released the single, “Let Morning Rise.” On January 12, 2020 Jerame Gray released the singles, “Before Long (feat. Kate Gray)” and “What Good Is The Rising Sun” and “Ashes Before Dust.” On Hanuary 12, 2012 Jerame Gray released the EP, KILL CREEK ROAD. Australian born singer-songwriter Jerame Gray’s work has. been described as “Music for the working man, the adventurer, the traveler, and for those with an unsettled spirit.” Jerame has an innate capacity for strong melody and musical arrangements, lyrical storytelling, alluring song development, and a soulfully dynamic vocal delivery. He has an energetic and deliberate approach when melding style, form, and balance into multilayered musical compositions. // Jerame is a proficient writer and performer and his work has been featured in film, numerous international travel documentaries, and in a United States web and television campaign for LMC Trucks. // He is represented by Union Entertainment in Nashville, TN and currently lives in Kansas City, MO with his wife, songwriter Kate Gray, and their two children. More info at: https://www.reverbnation.com/jeramegray%5D
10:25 – Pledge Break #2 – Champions & Challengers
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Nico Gray
KKFI’s Development Director – Kelly Dougherty is here for Champions & Challengers where you can DOUBLE your donation.
Our Champion is: Jim Svetlic & Daniel Pul
If we can match this challenge in these 7 minutes, we can double all of those donations up to $100.00!
Today on WMM we are celebrating The MidCoast Sound with 12 of our Favorite recent MidCoastal Releases. 90.1 FM KKFI’s non-profit organization and governing body is the MidCoast Radio Project. MidCoastal is where we are, on the coasts of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers with a music community that spans the Kansas City Metro region and west to Lawrence and Topeka and south to Olathe and east to Columbia and North to St Joseph. Not necessarily the reach of our 100,000 watt signal but definitely the reach of our community.
WMM and KKFI are committed to featuring artists under-represented in other media, and that includes the music community that lives within Kansas City and Lawrence and the area radiance of our 100 watt signal. The story of Kansas City’s Arts and Music Community is our primary objective on WMM, where for 18 years we have shined a light on this music and the artist who create it and that story also include the music labels who help get this music out into the community and beyond Kansas City. That story also includes the recording studios where this music is engineered and mastered.
Wednesday MidDay Medley 90.1 FM was the first to play the recordings of: Calvin Arsenia, and Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, and Krystle Warren, and The Black Creatures and KD Kuro, The Shy Boys, The Salvation Choir and Ivory Blue and so many others. We were the first to interview these artists live on the radio and bring their music to a wider audience.
WMM Plays New & MidCoastal Releases. Timothy Finn Kansas City area music writer named WMM “The Best Place to Hear Local Music on the Radio. and the Best Place to hear area musicians talk about their music.”
10:33 – Underwriting
Flare Tha Rebel – “Playground (feat. The Belief System and Leigh Adams)” from: Summer You, Summer Me. / Shafer / October 21, 2022 [“Rosé All Day” was the lead single from Flare Tha Rebel’s new EP. Playful, yet meaningful, the song is about an empowered woman of which a man is pursuing. Lines within the song such as “and if she’s a tease she can do that ya’ll / she don’t owe you nothing man, please back off”, attempt to change the at times degrading scenarios of this power dynamic. The narrative is done in the backdrop of fun and lighthearted warm weather days, cool summernights, and, of course, plenty of rosé. Continuing with Flare’s Art to Empower initiative, “Rosé All Day” aims to raise funds and awareness for a nonprofit, which this time is the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Abuse (MOCSA). Career and love brought hip-hop MC Flare Tha Rebel back to his hometown of Kansas City, MO, which created a second wind of new music. Noted by The Pitch, “As a member of hip-hop collective Anti-Crew, Flare Tha Rebel made quite an impact on the Kansas City hip-hop scene. After making the leap from KC to Chicago in the late ‘00s, he’s now back…” Known for a highly energetic live performance, Flare has shared the stage with artists such as Chance the Rapper, RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Mac Lethal, Nappy Roots, and CES Cru. Although hip-hop at the core, Flare Tha Rebel’s versatility remains as he balances music with socially progressive themes that are still enjoyable enough to raise a glass to at a party. There’s also a duality to Flare’s approach. Many of his songs are connected to his Art to Empower initiative, raising awareness and funds for a variety of social justice causes and nonprofits. Flare Tha Rebel & Bob Pullian were guests on WMM, Aug. 11, 2021. Flare The Rebel released the EP, The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged on July 9, 2021. The recording was #9 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2021. Info at: http://www.flaretharebel.com]
[Flare Tha Rebel with Woodland Ave play (birthday bash) at Nighthawk, 1228 Baltimore Ave. KCMO on Friday, November 11, at 7:00 PM with Lava Dreams and DJ Skeme.]
Arquesta Del SolSoul – “Six Second Sunz (Radio edit)” from: Arquesta Del SolSoul / Arquesta Del SolSoul / August 16, 2022 [7-track, debut album. They call themselves, “African Futurist Genre Killerz from the Middle of the Map bringing an innovative multidimensional sound inspired by our founding musical ancestors to decolonize and time bend indigenous sounds of the Caribbean, Latin America, West, Central, and Southern Africa.” Members include Les Izmore, Jessica Ayala, Brad Williams, Chalis O’Neal, Jade Green, & Hadiza. Aa KC-based Cosmic music collective teleporting through Indigeneity, Decolonization and Freedom. Their sound brings a multidimensional portal of Rhythm and Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B, Afro-Latin percussion, and Spoken Word inspired by our founding musical ancestors to decolonize and spacetime bend indigenous sounds of the Caribbean, Latin America, West, Central, and Southern Africa. More information at: http://www.arquestadelsolsoul.bandcamp.comhttp://www.instagram.com/arquestadelsolsoul%5D
The Black Creatures – “Loud 4 Nothing” from: By Thy Hand / Center Cut Records / August 12, 2022 [This new album follows their last singles: “Criminal” on June 24, 2022, “Loud For Nothin” on May 27, 2022, and “True Friends” on September 17, 2021. After being signed to Center Cut Records the label remastered and reissued their album Wild Echoes and began releasing singles. “Wild Echoes” was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). The Black Creatures fuse dark-pop hip-hop, soul, jazz, and electronic music with elements from science fiction to tell inter-dimensional stories of love, community, life, culture, history. Xavier & Jade have made an impression in the KC music community with their live shows in clubs, galleries, record stores, and area music festivals. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. // Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal their background in opera, and their honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, that was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine. // From Center Cut Records Promo Materials: The Black Creatures make a point to blur the lines of genre while maintaining a recognizable cohesion; oftentimes blending contemporary styles of pop, hip-hop, dance, R&B, EDM and soul with cinematic and storytelling sci-fi/fantasy elements and themes. With the complex and creative approach The Black Creatures take to their art, a diverse audience regularly flocks to their gripping and intensely enchanting performances. // Representing the strange land of Kansas City, Missouri, Jade Green and Xavier began working together around the end of 2013 after meeting on-line talking about cosmetics. After Jade stumbled upon Xavier’s SoundCloud, they asked if they could put their vocals on it, and this led to future collaborations with no more than the intention to dabble. They couldn’t stop and eventually dubbed the project The Black Creatures. // Both Jade & Xavier write and perform vocals, with Xavier at the helm of production and composition. Jade Green has a vocal background in opera and a penchant for theatrics, and both are the foundation of their ever-evolving approach to writing and performing in The Black Creatures. While the instrumentals may set the tone for the show, Jade’s voice captivates the audience from beginning to end. Originally a violinist, Xavier unfurled into a producer and vocalist, maintaining the same air of intrigue and mystery throughout his compositions and performances in The Black Creatures. // After releasing Wild Echoes in the fall of 2020, the record received Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine, along with high praise from around the world for the four released singles and accompanying videos. “Wretched (It Goes)” was featured in the NPR Live Sessions “Songs For Change” when The Black Creatures were selected as one of 12 national artists, and included in 90.9 The Bridge’s Top 100 singles along with their song “D’ummm” which was in heavy rotation in the winter. Nuance Magazine wrote, “The Black Creatures take their musical talents and use them in such a way that forces listeners to not only tap their foot to a catchy tune, but pay attention and feel something about what is going on in the world around them. Tackling fascism, police brutality, and the deep-rooted effects of slavery in a rhythmic fashion is one thing. Simultaneously making it a good listen is another. However, The Black Creatures make it happen.” // Mark’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.”]
[Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott.]
[The Black Creatures will be our guests NEXT WEEK on November 2, at 11:00 AM]
10:46 – Pledge Break #3
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt, and Nico Gray
Our most played artists in 2022 are The Black Creatures. Wednesday MidDay Medley was the first radio show to play their music. They have been frequent guests on our show. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. The Black Creatures released their self-produced, debut album, See No Evil, on December 6, 2017. The Black Creatures released their single Elements on February 14, 2018. Our playlists show that we first played The Black Creatures on March 14, 2018. Since that date we have championed this band. We first saw them live at InterUrban ArtHouse on July 10, 2019 as part of a Celebration of Queer Identity where Mark was also a performer. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, was self released by the band on September 30, 2019. WILD ECHOES was #2 on WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. WILD ECHOES was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut Records in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine for 2020. // Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott. // The Black Creatures released their new album By Thy Hand on Center Cut Records on August 12, 2022. // Jade and Xavier just completed performances in the world premiere of Christian A. Walker’s “What Came With Spring” for the Owen/Cox Dance Group October 7, 8, and 9, 2022, at City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO. // Mark’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.”
10:53
Kevin Morby – “This is a Photograph” from: THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH / Dead Oceans / May 13, 2022 [A single release from Kevin Morby’s upcoming 7th album. From http://www.rollingstone.com: “In January 2020, songwriter Kevin Morby witnessed his father collapse from a medical event while visiting his childhood home in Kansas. In a state of shock, the singer spent the evening looking at old family photos and fixated on an image of his father as a young man, looking, as Morby states, ‘full of confidence.’ The experience forced Morby to confront both the idea of mortality and the passage of time — and, after an extended sojourn in Tennessee, these reflections came together in the form of his upcoming album, This Is a Photograph. To mark the announcement, the singer released the record’s eponymous single, accompanied by a music video directed by Chantal Anderson. Produced by frequent Morby collaborator Sam Cohen, This Is a Photograph was primarily written in Memphis’ historic Peabody Hotel, where the singer-songwriter holed up in search of inspiration and self-realization amongst the city’s dark past.” Morby will also embark on a 65 City tour of Europe and North America through the majority of 2022, which starts May 20 in Madrid, Spain and wraps Nov. 12 in Vancouver, BC. On October 16, 2020 Kevin Morby released SUNDOWNER, ranked #20 on WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2020 and was the 6th release from Kevin Robert Morby born April 2, 1988. SUNDOWNER was the follow up to his 2019 release OH MY GOD. Kevin Morby released CITY MUSIC in 2017. Kevin learned to play guitar when he was 10. In his teens he formed the band Creepy Aliens. 17-year-old Morby dropped out of Blue Valley Northwest High School, got his GED, and moved from his native Kansas City to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, supporting himself by working bike delivery and café jobs. He later joined the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project together called The Babies, who released albums in 2011 and 2012. He began a solo career in 2013 releasing his debut album HARLEM RIVER. His 2nd album STILL LIFE was released in 2014. His album SINGING SAW was in WMM’s The 116 Best Recordings of 2016. His album CITY MUSIC was in WMM’s The 118 Best Recordings of 2018.]
[Kevin Morby plays Knuckleheads, 2715 Rochester, KCMO, on Thursday, November 3 at 8:00 PM with Coco.]
10:56 – “Live in our 90.1 FM KKFI Studios here is The Lone Stranger”
The Lone Stranger – “Shotgun” (LIVE)
11:00 – Station ID
11:00 – Interview with The Lone Stranger
The Lone Stranger is the new musical project of Zachary S. Phillips known for his longtime work in the bands, Gadjits and Architects where he played bass guitar and toured all over the country with his brothers Brandon, and Adam. For the Lone Stranger Zach played 99% of all the music, and wrote, arranged, engineered, produced and performed every note of every song with the exception of one “cover” song. This record contains Ska, Reggae and a bit of Hip Hop. Zachary is in the process of finishing the mixing, mastering, and manufacturing of a limited run of his first solo effort with the help of Paul Malinowski at Massive Sound Recording studio.
Zachary Phillips thanks for being with us on WMM.
History: The Gadjits were a ska and rock and roll band from Kansas City, Missouri. Their sound was influenced by The Clash, The Who, AC/DC, Elvis Costello, The Stooges, and The Rolling Stones.
Brandon, Zach, and Adam Phillips come from an artistic family, their father was a jazz musician and their mother an art teacher. The brothers started by playing AC/DC covers, but moved on to original songs and a broader range of influences. The group was formed in 1991 when 14-year-old Brandon led his younger brothers Zach and Adam into a seedy bar in Kansas City to play their first gig to the small crowd of locals.
The band released the debut album, Da Gravy on Yo’ Grits, on their own JoCo Ska label. They went on to perform support slots for the Skatalites, Rancid (band) and Let’s Go Bowling. Heidi Blobaum joined on keyboards, replaced a year later by Hillary Allen.
At Ease was released in 1998 on Epitaph Records attracting attention from Tim Armstrong of Rancid (band). The Gadjits appeared on the Vans Warped Tour later that summer.
Wish We Never Met was released in 1999 on Hellcat Records.
Today Is My Day was released in 2002 on Thick Records. Featuring Brandon Phillips (vocals, guitar); Zach Phillips (vocals, bass); Mike Alexander (guitar); Hilary Allen (Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Adam Phillips (drums).
In June 2004 The Gadjits ceased to exist and a new band, The Architects, was formed.
Gadjits Discography
Full-length albums
Da Gravy On Yo Grits (JoCo Ska, 1997)
At Ease (Hellcat Records, 1999)
Wish We Never Met (Hellcat Records, 2001)
Today Is My Day (Thick Records, 2002)
Our Time To…” (RCA Records, 2003) (left unreleased after RCA dropped the band)
Singles, EPs and split releases Yes I Are (VMS Records, 2001) Someday Driver (Thick Records, 2001)
Compilation appearances ‘Gangster Girl’ & ‘Sassy’ on ‘Skank For Brains – Saturday Matinee’ comp (Beach Records) ‘Beautiful Girl’ on the ‘Give ‘Em The Boot’ compilation (Hellcat Records, 1997) ‘Bad Gadjit’ on the ‘Give ‘Em The Boot Vol. II’ compilation (Hellcat Records, 1999) ‘One Stones Throw (From A Riot)’ on ‘Give ‘Em The Boot Vol. III’ (Hellcat Records, 2002)
The Architects are an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. The band was formed by previous members of the punk and ska band The Gadjits, brothers Brandon, Adam, and Zach Phillips, and Mike Alexander.
In June 2004 the Gadjits ceased to exist as a band and a new band, Architects, was formed. The brothers added Gadjits guitarist Mike Alexander, and this lineup recorded the band’s debut album, Keys to the Building, released on the Anodyne label in 2004. Revenge followed in 2006, described by Allmusic as ” a solid rock offering with enough soul and punk urgency to keep things interesting from start to finish”, and Vice in 2008. Keenan Nichols had replaced Alexander in Oct. 2007. They signed to Frank Iero’s Skeleton Crew.
In 2013 they started releasing the Border Wars graphic novel/EP series, on which they worked with illustrator Mallory Dorn.
Musical style and influences: The Tucson Weekly described the band’s music as “a dynamic, explosive combination of traditional punk, maximum R&B, Midwestern alternative rock, blues-based metal and pop melodies”. They were described as “dirty rock & roll tinged with Southern heart and gritty, passionate attitude” by Allmusic. Their influences include AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, and Meat Loaf.
Band Members Brandon Phillips – lead vocals/rhythm guitar (2004–present) Adam Phillips – drums (2004–present) Zach Phillips – bass guitar/backing vocals (2004–present) Mike Alexander – guitar (2004–2007) Keenan Nichols – lead guitar/backing vocals (2007-2014)[11] Adrianne Verhoven – keyboards (2004,2009-2010)
The Architects Discography
Albums Keys to the Building (October 2004), Anodyne Revenge (March 2006), Anodyne Vice (May 2008), Anodyne The Hard Way (June 2009), Skeleton Crew Live in Los Angeles (October 2012), Skeleton Crew Border Wars Episodes I & II (2017), Gran Cala Vera/Wolffang Funk
EPs Border Wars Ep 1 (April 25, 2014) Border Wars Ep 2 (September 9, 2013
Compilation appearances “Promises” included on First Blood (2007), OxBlood
“There was a certain style of songwriting and performance that I had always wanted to do but had never taken the plunge.” Says Brandon Phillips, central figure in Kansas City, Missouri’s brand new pop-soul group, Brandon Phillips and The Condition. In response to that unscratched artistic itch, Phillips began writing and recording in 2015 with the help of his brothers Zach Phillips (The Architects, The Gadjits) and Adam Phillips (The Gadjits, The Architects, Radar State) and enlisting the help of various KC area musicians to flesh out a sound that was equal parts Get Happy-era Elvis Costello and early Motown.
In 2016, the first, official lineup of BP+C came together and started rehearsing for their first batch of shows. The pedigree of the lineup then, now and always – including members of bands like The Architects, Rachel Mallin and The Wild Type, The Roseline, The Gadjits, Hi Lux and Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear.
Zachary’s bother Brandon Phillips also creates music through his project Mensa Deathsquad and Other Americans
10:03 – “Live in our 90.1 FM KKFI Studios here is The Lone Stranger”
The Lone Stranger – “It’s Nice To Meet You” (LIVE)
11:07 – More Interview with the Lone Stranger
The Lone Stranger is the new musical project of Zachary S. Phillips known for his longtime work in the bands, Gadjits and Architects where he played bass guitar and toured all over the country with his brothers Brandon, and Adam.
For the Lone Stranger Zach played 99% of all the music, and wrote, arranged, engineered, produced and performed every note of every song with the exception of one “cover” song. This record contains Ska, Reggae and a bit of Hip Hop.
Zachary is in the process of finishing the mixing, mastering, and manufacturing of a limited run of his first solo effort with the help of Paul Malinowski at Massive Sound Recording studio.
Zachary Phillips thanks for being with us on WMM.
10:10 – “Live in our 90.1 FM KKFI Studios here is The Lone Stranger”
The Lone Stranger – “Coming To Get You” (LIVE)
11:14 – Pledge Break #4
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Nico Gray
What 90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio means to YOU. Where can I find out about what is happening in my community?
LGBTQIA, Urban, Labor Rights, The Environment, The Kansas City Visual & Literary Arts , The Performing Arts, Women’s Issues, Native American Issues, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Classical, Hip Hop, Folk, Women’s Music, Indie Rock, Pop, Electronica, Punk…the answer is KKFI 90.1 FM Kansas City Community Radio. The Voice of The Community
Along with our National Public Affairs shows like Democracy Now and Alternative Radio we offer more locally produced public affairs programs than anywhere else on the dial.
We offer programs specifically produced for the LGBTQIA Community, Women’s Issues, Native American News and Culture, Middle Eastern Music and Information, Latino Programming, African American Public Affairs and Community News, Labor and Worker’s Unions, our prison population and justice system, environmental programming, Visual and Literary Arts, and Performing Arts.
Just remember what you don’t have to hear when you are tuned to 90.1 FM KKFI!
No commercials, we do have brief underwriting announcements, recognizing those who financially contribute to support non-profit community radio.
At KKFI there is no automated robot playing the same 40 songs in a “rotation,” based on a formula, created by a singular programmer of the robot. KKFI is the opposite of a robot.
There is always human being on the end of the phone line anytime you call 816-931-0901.
90.1 offers 100 different radio programs. 82 of these programs are locally, produced, hosted, engineered and written by over 100 different people, who create content, and personally handcraft each show, each week. There are 61 local music shows and 21 locally produce News, Public Affairs, Arts & Talk shows.
There are 140 hours each week of locally produced handcrafted programs.
You will not find this kind of representative diversity anywhere else on your radio dial. Or from any singular source on your computer. It is very special. It needs to be nourished and kept alive in a world of corporate, nationally owned, commercial or religious broadcasting.
Not only do we bring the most diverse and unfiltered news and information, but our musical playlists are deep, and comprehensive. In one week you can hear over 2000 different songs played, in Blues, Jazz, Folk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Classical, World, Americana, Southern Soul, Fusion, Soul, Rock, New Wave, Electronic, Native, Local, Old Timey, Rockabilly, Women’s, Children’s, Gospel, and Experimental.
With all of this, you hear the voices from the hundreds of KKFI volunteers, and thousands of guests from the community, who share their stories, broadcast live from our non-commercial, midtown studios, at 39th & Main, in the center of our metro, across two states, a collective of communities, and thousands of listeners.
11:21
Katy Guillen & The Drive – “Discoloration” from: ANOTHER ONE GAINED / Katy Guillen / August 19, 2022 [This is the first single from ANOTHER ONE GAINED produced by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Heartless Bastards, Ray LaMontagne) at Invisible Creature Studio in Los Angeles. This is brimming with vibrant textures, fuzzy electric guitars, and warm vocals. “Set In Stone” marked the beginning of a major life transition for Katy Guillen (pronounced Ghee-En). Written shortly after her longtime band announced their final show, she was struggling to find the next step in her career and personal life, while longing for a past sense of stability. “The song’s vigorous structure and deliberate rhythms convey that feeling of defeat and darkness, but with a sense of resolution and surrender through the guitar solo – a favorite moment on the record for me,” explains Katy. “While it started on shaky ground, coming out on the other side meant starting over and building something new.” ANOTHER ONE GAINED is a memoir of growth and reawakening by way of heart-wrenching transition and change – loss of her long-time band, end of a romantic relationship and finding herself amidst it all. “Set In Stone” premiered earlier on Guitar Girl Magazine. Katy Guillen & The Drive – Katy Gillen (drums) and Stephanie William (drums) – dropped their first EP, Dream Girl, right before the 2020 lockdown, leaving them without opportunities to perform live. In their basement rehearsal space, they spent the year learning home recording and pre-production techniques, gradually crafting a collection of songs from the ground up. The following April, they took the demos to producer/engineer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Heartless Bastards, Ray LaMontagne) at Invisible Creature Studio in Los Angeles. From their work with Ratterman emerged a batch of 15 songs. At the end of 2021, the band released the four-track Battles EP, offering listeners a darker, more simmering edge to their impelling indie-rock sound. Ten more would comprise Another One Gained, the full-length debut due August 19, 2022. Previously Katy Guillen & The Drive released BATTLES EP on December 17, 2021, Recorded at Invisible Creature Studio in Los Angeles, CA. Engineered and mixed by Kevin Ratterman. Produced by Kevin Ratterman, Katy Guillen, and Stephanie Williams. Mastered by Shelley Anderson at Black Lab Mastering in Louisville, KY. All songs written by Katy Guillen and Stephanie Williams. Katy Guillen on vocals, guitar, bass, & keyboarda. Stephanie Williams on drums & percussion. Additional keys and programming by Kevin Ratterman. Album design and photography by Morgan Jones. This is a follow up to Katy Guillen & The Drive’s 7-song EP, DREAM GIRL, released March 20, 2020. Katy Guillen & The Drive, is a project dedicated to Guillen’s songwriting that is founded on the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen & Stephanie Williams. With Guillen on guitar & vocals and Williams on drums, the two sculpt a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls. In 2012, Guillen & Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums: Katy Guillen & the Girls, Heavy Days, and Remember What You Knew Before. Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards. In these 6 years playing together, Guillen & Williams created a dynamic, sound informed by Guillen’s mesmerizing, emotive guitar style and poignant arrangements, and an equally captivating live show that showcased Williams’ technical, melodic style, resulting in a powerful on-stage chemistry. In addition to the compelling synergy formed by years of playing together, the two developed a method of working together on Guillen’s songs that only deepened their artistic connection, propelling them to forge a path to a new plateau in their music. KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of the artist’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots. Katy Guillen joined us on WMM on March 18, 2020. http://www.katyguillenmusic.com]
[Katy Guillen & The Drive are getting set to go back out on the road in November and December. Katy Guillen & The Drive play Knuckleheads on November 23 in support of Danielle Nicole.]
[Katy Guillen & The Drive opened for FANNY for their one-night-only reunion concert from Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.]
11:25 – Underwriting
Liz and The Lovelies – “The Great American Chestnut Tree” from: “The Great American Chestnut Tree” – Single / Liz Chedester / October 2, 2020 [Liz Chidester and classical guitarist and actor Nilko Andreas. Liz Chidester released her debut record, PEOPLE PUMPING PEDALS in 2014, and the EP, OTTER HILL in 2015. She was awarded as NPR’s Newsong Songwriting Competition 2014 Mid-west Finalist, and Chicago Music Awards Best Female Vocalist 2015. With friends she created the band Liz & The Lovelies and released the EP, PROGRESS INTO SIMPLICITY in 2017. It was nominated for Best Roots EP in the 2018 Independent Music Awards in NYC. Their single “My Way/Your Way” was a finalist in the Folk/Americana category in the Great American Song Competition 2018. During the pandemic, Liz continued to perform solo releasing her EP, OTHERSIDE OF THE DARKNESS TIMELINE in late 2021, when she began collaborating with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas. ]
[Liz Chidester plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Westside on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Doors at 5:30 PM, show at 6:00 PM with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas.]
11:30 – Interview with Liz Chidester
LIZ CHIDESTER is an Americana singer/songwriter originally from the mountains of Virginia. Moving to Chicago in the winter of 2013 by train with 4 bags and 2 guitar Liz Chidester released her debut record, PEOPLE PUMPING PEDALS in 2014, and the EP, OTTER HILL in 2015. She was awarded as NPR’s Newsong Songwriting Competition 2014 Mid-west Finalist, and Chicago Music Awards Best Female Vocalist 2015. With friends she created the band Liz & The Lovelies and released the EP, PROGRESS INTO SIMPLICITY in 2017. It was nominated for Best Roots EP in the 2018 Independent Music Awards in NYC. Their single “My Way/Your Way” was a finalist in the Folk/Americana category in the Great American Song Competition 2018. During the pandemic, Liz continued to perform solo releasing her EP, OTHERSIDE OF THE DARKNESS TIMELINE in late 2021, when she began collaborating with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas.
Liz is a member of the Recording Academy and the Folk Alliance International. She is a proud graduate of James Madison University‘s School of Music.
Liz Chidester, Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
We first met Nilko Andreas in May when he was in KC for the Folk Alliance International Conference and the Kansas City Folk Fest on Sunday, May 22, at 5:00 PM. While he was here in KC Liz Chidester was acting in “The Old Man and The Old Moon” features music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. and is directed by Stuart Carden. May 3 – 22, 2022, at the Spencer Theatre.at The Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Andreas recenty returned to Kansas City starring in the Music Theater Heritage Man Of La Mancha, a collaboration with Ensemble Ibérica, that ran October 6 through October 23. Colombian/American Classical Guitarist and Composer Nilko Andreas Guarin has been praised as an “electrifying performer for his powerful stage presence and spontaneity that grows irresistible” Backstage New York. Since his Carnegie hall debut in 2009 Nilko Andreas has been captivating audiences in over fifteen countries and three continents as a soloist, Composer and chamber musician
Liz Chidester plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Westside on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Doors at 5:30 PM, show at 6:00 PM with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas.
LIZ CHIDESTER is an Americana singer/songwriter originally from the mountains of Virginia. Moving to Chicago in the winter of 2013 by train with 4 bags and 2 guitars, Liz immersed herself into the Chicago music scene, releasing her debut record ‘People Pumping Pedals ‘in 2014 under CAU Dog Records. In 2015, she released the EP ‘Otter Hill’, an intimate recording of 5 songs about her family and home life in Virginia. She was awarded as NPR’s Newsong Songwriting Competition 2014 Mid-west Finalist, Chicago Music Awards Best Female Vocalist 2015, and a New-Song Songwriter Competition Finalist in 2016.
Her music inspired the talent of close friends and family to create the Americana band LIZ AND THE LOVELIES. The Lovelies included Mike Fletcher (bass), Zach Finch (drums), Alex Chidester (vocals, mandolin), and Kevin Schwarzwald (violin), Lewis Rawlinson (vocals, cello), and Lauren Vogel (violin, vocals)
They released their first EP ‘Progress into Simplicity’ in 2017. It was nominated for Best Roots EP in the 2018 Independent Music Awards in NYC, and they competed as one of the final four bands in Brooklyn’s 9th Annual Silver Sound Showdown in 2018. Their single “My Way/Your Way” was a finalist in the Folk/Americana category in the Great American Song Competition 2018.
During the pandemic, Liz and the Lovelies lovingly took a pause as Liz continued to perform solo with her cellist Lewis Rawlinson, releasing “the great american chestnut tree” in fall 2020 after it was featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered.
Created during the pandemic with Chicago producers Matt Griffo and Liam Davis, her 2021 singles include “Gift That Moved You”, “Whiney Whiteboy Punk Song” and “Sun Sup feat. Frances Luke Accord”.
Her latest solo EP ‘otherside of the darkest timeline’ released in late 2021. She began collaborating with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas in the fall of 2021 and continues to perform in NYC, Chicago, and across the US.
Liz is also a critically acclaimed and award winning actor, a Company Member of the feminist equity musical theatre company Firebrand Theatre and an Artistic Affiliate of American Blues Theatre. She is also a teaching artist at the historic Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, IL.
Nilko Andreas: Colombian/American Classical Guitarist and Composer Nilko Andreas Guarin has been praised as an “electrifying performer for his powerful stage presence and spontaneity that grows irresistible” Backstage New York. Since his Carnegie hall debut in 2009 Nilko Andreas has been captivating audiences in over fifteen countries and three continents as a soloist, Composer and chamber musician performing on such prestigious stages as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Wildthurn Castle in Germany, The Strathmore Hall In Bethesda, Jay Priztker Pavilion in Chicago, Adolfo Mejia Theater in Cartagena, Museum of fine arts in Houston TX, Gandhi Hall in Geneve, Switzerland Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Palacio Foz in Portugal, Unesco Concert Hall in Paris, Surabaya concert Hall In Indonesia, Shenzhen Symphony Hall in China , Museo Belber Gimenez in Oaxaca, Mexico, among others. Recipient of many international awards including the “Recognition award” by the city of New York for his contributions to the Arts. Mr.Guarin has appeared as soloist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Shenzhen Symphonic orchestra of China, Surabaya Symphony orchestra in Indonesia, the “Mariuccia Iacovino” orchestra and Barra Mansa orchestra from Brazil, The Baja California Orchestra in Mexico, The Azlo Orchestra, Tactus contemporary ensemble, The New York Chamber Ensemble The rebow ensemble of NY, The metro Orchestra in NY, the WHCO among others.
He has participated in renowned international festivals as Cooperstown Music festival, Vale do Café and Festival do Inverno do Petropolis in Brazil, The Mannes Guitar seminar and Long Island Guitar Festival in NY, “Wildthurn” in Munich, Germany, “Moment Musicaux” in Normandie, France, Festival EAFIT in Medellin, Colombia. He has worked with prominent composers including Alba Potes, “Prix de Rome” winner Juan Pablo Carreno, Kevin Purcell, Juan Pablo Contreras, Ricardo Calderoni, Reinaldo Moya, Francisco Zumaque, Juan Calderon and Ricardo Llorca, Francisco Zumaque. and with conductors such as Bartholomeus Van de Velde, Solomon Tong, David Gilbert, Vince Lee, Michel Adelson, Laurine Fox, Alondra de la Parra, Chris Whittaker and Eduardo Garcia Barrios, Nilko Andreas has appeared with Time Warner TV, RCN TV, Univision 41, Fox News, Cuny TV, HJUT, “W” Radio in Colombia and WQXR in New York. He has recorded with Multiplatinum Artists.
Born in Colombia Nilko Andreas has great interest for the composers of Latin America, constantly commissioning and premiering new works. He premiered at Carnegie Hall “Tukanos” Concerto for guitar and orchestra by Alba Potes and Ricardo Calderoni’s “Concerto Chamaleon” as part as the “Amazonas Series” a concert series that promotes Music from Latin-America.
He began playing Cello at the age of five at the National Conservatory of Music in Bogota, he holds a BM and a Master of Music degree from The Manhattan school of Music in NY where he graduated on Classical Guitar, Composition and orchestral conducting.
An accomplished educator, Nilko Andreas has given master classes and conferences on Classical Music at distinguished universities such as Columbia University, the Mannes College of Music in New York, NYU, The Berkley School of Music, the French Alliance in Cartagena Universidad del Norte and Bellas Artes in Barranquilla, the Eafit University In Colombia. Campos dos Goytacases in Brazil, And Redes 2025 in Tijuana, Mexico. Among others.
As a composer, Nilko Andreas has written music for independent films, theatre, Dance and solo artists. His score for silent film “Pancho Villa’s Revenge” was celebrated at the world-renowned Flaherty Film Seminar. His collaboration with award-winning theatre group Artificio, in Federico García Lorca’s “The Butterfly’s Evil Spell”, won him several honors, awards and rave reviews. Recently he was comissioned by Mordance to write a piece for chamber ensemble that was premiered in NY at the Sheen Center to great reviews.
Upcoming engagements include soloist with in Jakarta, Indonesia with the Surabaya Symphony Orchestra under Mto. Solomon Tong, and Concerto de Aranjuez by J. Rodrigo with the Varsaw Philharmonic in Poland on Feb 2019. Artistic residency, , European tour with German Violist David Inbal during the 2019 season. and concerts with Cellist Serafim Smigelskiy and Violinists Blanca Gonzalez , Concerts in NY with Pianist Hyemin Kim, solo concerts in Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Austria, as well as a Concert at Carnegie Hall with the Azlo Orchestra on Nov 2020. Soloist with the Villa-lobos Guitar concerto and the WHCO in New York under Chris Whittaker. He is the Founder and Artistic director of the Latin American Chamber Music society of New York and Artistic Director at AZLO productions.
“Nilko Andreas is a gifted Musician, and a great performer”.- Rafael Puyana, Paris 2009. Info at: http://www.nilkoandreas.com
Lis Chidester thank you for being with us on WMM.
Liz Chidester plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Westside on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Doors at 5:30 PM, show at 6:00 PM with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas.
11:40
Liz Chidester – “All It Would Take” from: “Otherside of the Darkest Timeline” – Single / Murmuration Records / October 29, 2021 [Liz Chidester released her debut record, PEOPLE PUMPING PEDALS in 2014, and the EP, OTTER HILL in 2015. She was awarded as NPR’s Newsong Songwriting Competition 2014 Mid-west Finalist, and Chicago Music Awards Best Female Vocalist 2015. With friends she created the band Liz & The Lovelies and released the EP, PROGRESS INTO SIMPLICITY in 2017. It was nominated for Best Roots EP in the 2018 Independent Music Awards in NYC. Their single “My Way/Your Way” was a finalist in the Folk/Americana category in the Great American Song Competition 2018. During the pandemic, Liz continued to perform solo releasing her EP, OTHERSIDE OF THE DARKNESS TIMELINE in late 2021, when she began collaborating with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas. ]
[Liz Chidester plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Westside on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Doors at 5:30 PM, show at 6:00 PM with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas.]
11:43 – Pledge Break #5 – Champions & Challengers
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Nico Gray
Our Champion is: Chad Brothers
If we can match this challenge in these 7 minutes, we can double all of those donations up to $100.00!
We offer loads and loads of information about what is going on in the community. Not only does this show interview 150 guest each year, not only do we play nearly 900 different songs with more than half of those being locally produced, but we also shine a light on area not-for-profit theatre companies, art museums & galleries, area festivals, service organizations, area record labels and record stores, the area music scene, arts scene, theatre scene, literary arts scene, political action scene.
In just this past year, we’ve featured segments shining a light on: The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts, UMKC Conservatory of Music, Owen Cox Dance Group, KC Bass Workshop, The Record Machine, Mills Record Company, Records With Merritt, High Dive Records, Center Cut Records, Manor Records, The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven, Lost Cowgirl Records, KC Irish Fest, The Crossroads Music Fest, MixMaster Music Conference, Too Much Rock, Midwest Music Foundation, Apocalypse Meow, filmmaker Morgan Cooper, Charlotte Street Foundation, Inter Urban ArtHouse, Lemonade Park, Weights and Measure Sound Lab, Innovation Festival, Bio Kansas, Les Bons Bons Electriques, Outer Reaches Fest, The Greater Philipino Association of Kamsas City, Queer Narratives Fest, No Devide KC, Boulevardia, Gay Pride, Folk Alliance International, The Band That Fell To Earth, Studios Inc., Charlotte Street.
11:50
Olivia Fox – “Let Me Down Slow” from: “Let Me Down Slow” – Single / Olivia Fox Music / September 23, 2022 [Let Me Down Slow is produced by Tyler Banks, their longtime producer, drummer and now add co-writer to the list. “Tyler has always been a crucial part to our overall sound and production. We’ve worked together a certain way for so long, that it is so nice to create these new batches of songs from the ground up with him. That’s really made the songwriting process so enjoyable to have everyone now involved. And you can feel that in the music,” says lead singer Flynn.The Kansas City based band, OLIVIA FOX is Lauren Flynn, Aubrey Callahan and Tiffany Smith. The trio released their full length album “Carbon” on August 23, 2019. The band has previously released multiple singles and two EPs. OLIVIA FOX create music that is a unique marriage between classic folk instrumentation, vocals, and harmonies to modern programmed beats and synth pads. OLIVIA FOX were all brought together through their manager David “DJ” Lee. In 2019 year Lauren had a baby boy, Aubrey got married, and Tiffany adopted a new doggie. // Their album CARBON was Produced by Tyler Banks. Co-Produced by David “DJ” Lee. All Songs written by Lauren Flynn, BMI, Except “Blame” written by Lauren Flynn and David “DJ” Lee. All Vocals by OVFX. Additional vocals on “Not Going Down” by: Kianna Alarid, Jessica Paige, Jo Mackenzie, Kat King, Nicki White, Natalie Norman, and Crystal Rose. All drums, synths and programming by Tyler Banks. All Violin by Tiffany Smith. Acoustic guitars by Lauren Flynn. Acoustic guitars on “Across the Water” and “Carbon” by Katy Guillen. Acoustic guitars on “Easy” and “Utah” by Josh Johnson. Piano on “Little Bird” and “Elevator Doors” by Jess Hughes. Album artwork: Chet Flynn. OLIVIA FOX were last on WMM on April 4, 2018 and Nov. 13, 2019. Info at http://www.weareoliviafox.com]
[Olivia Fox played the 18th Annual Crossroads Music Fest, Saturday, August 27, 2022, on the Community Lending of America Stage at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming, in the Historic West Bottoms with over 25 Bands. More info at http://www.cmfkc.com]
11:52 – Pledge Break #6
This is WMM’s Fall Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt and Nico Gray
KKFI’s Mission Statement: KKFI is the Kansas City area’s independent, noncommercial community radio station. We seek to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media.
KKFI’s Philosophy Statement: KKFI is committed to diversity in programming and discourse and seeks to create a climate of mutual respect and collaboration among volunteers and staff.
Marion Merritt and Nico Gray, Thank You!
Thank you to ALL who donated to Wednesday MidDay Medley during of KKFI 90.1 FM Fall Fund Drive! Between our two on-air shows, and our Facebook Fundraiser, we have raised a grand total of $3041.00 from 50 individual donors!!! THANK YOU!
For Wednesday MidDay Medley I’m Mark Manning. Thanks for listening!
Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now” from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
Next week on Wednesday, November 2 – we welcome Sondra Freeman of Midwest Music Foundation sharing the details about Apocalypse Meow 15, Saturday, November 5, Doors at 6:00 PM, Show at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd., KCMO, with Eddie Moore,MellowPhobia, The Electric Lungs, pure xtc, and Nathan Corsi and My Atomic Daydream in Kansas City, MO, to raise funds to provide health care grants to music industry professionals. We also welcome The Black Creatures, and writer, artist, radio show host & Producer Maria Vasquez Boyd.
Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information. Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
The MidCoast Sound w/ Lone Stranger + Liz Chidester & Nilko Andreas + Marion Merritt + Nico Gray
The MidCoast Sound
WMM celebrates The MidCoast Sound spinning some of our favorite recent MidCoastal Releases. We’ll play tracks from: Julia Haile, Eddie Moore, Plains, Flare Tha Rebel, Katy Guillen & The Drive, Kevin Morby, The Black Creatures, Arquesta Del SolSoul, Jerame Gray, Olivia Fox, Lone Stranger, and Liz Chidester.
The Lone Stranger
At 11:00 The Lone Stranger plays LIVE in our 90.1 FM Studios. The Lone Stranger is the new musical project of Zachary S. Phillips known for his longtime work in the bands, Gadjits and Architects. For Lone Stranger Zach played 99% of all the music, and with the exception of one “cover” song he wrote, arranged, engineered, produced and performed every note of every song. This record contains Ska, Reggae and a bit of Hip Hop. Zachary is in the process of finishing the mixing, mastering, and manufacturing of a limited run of his first solo effort with the help of Paul Malinowski at Massive Sound recording studio. Mark will talk with The Lone Stranger, who will play three songs live during the broadcast.
Liz Chidester
At 11:30 Mark talks with NYC based singer, songwriter and actress, Liz Chidester and classical guitarist and actor Nilko Andreas. Liz Chidester released her debut record, PEOPLE PUMPING PEDALS in 2014, and the EP, OTTER HILL in 2015. She was awarded as NPR’s Newsong Songwriting Competition 2014 Mid-west Finalist, and Chicago Music Awards Best Female Vocalist 2015. With friends she created the band Liz & The Lovelies and released the EP, PROGRESS INTO SIMPLICITY in 2017. It was nominated for Best Roots EP in the 2018 Independent Music Awards in NYC. Their single “My Way/Your Way” was a finalist in the Folk/Americana category in the Great American Song Competition 2018. During the pandemic, Liz continued to perform solo releasing her EP, OTHERSIDE OF THE DARKNESS TIMELINE in late 2021, when she began collaborating with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas. Liz Chidester plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Westside on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Doors at 5:30 PM, show at 6:00 PM with classical guitarist Nilko Andreas.
Nilko AndreasMarion Merritt and Nico Gray
AND… all through the show Mark welcomes WMM’s longtime contributors, Marion Merritt of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business in KCMO, and Nico Gray Host & Producer of “Radio Nicopisa” broadcast Fridays 2:00 to 4:00 AM on 90.1 FM KKFI, as special guest co-hosts. Marion and Nico will encourage our wonderful listeners to call 888-931-0901, or visit http://www.kkfi.org to donate in support 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio during our Fall Fund Drive Show.
On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
The MidCoast Sound w/ Amy Farrand + Lotta Williams + Chris Hudson + Sam Wright + Marion Merritt + Betse Ellis
WMM celebrates The MidCoast Sound spinning some of our favorite recent MidCoastal Releases. We’ll play tracks from: Stephonne, Making Movies, LYXE, The Grisly Hand, Boxknife, The Creepy Jingles, Blackstarkids, Carswell & Hope with Katlyn Conroy, The Moose, Ivory Blue, Mensa Deathsquad, Monta At Odds, Dimension Bill Edwards, Amy Farrand & The Like, and Gullywasher. This is part-one of a two-week series.
10:00 – Station ID
“Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks” from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979 [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]
LYXE
LYXE – “Wave” from: ”Wave” – Single / LYXE / September 8, 2022 [Debut single from LYXE, a new band from Lawrence, Kansas. LYXE formed in 2019 and played locally until covid forced the band into a two year hiatus. Recently reformed, the band has had a successful string of shows in 2022 and is poised to release their first EP, Everything You Could Ever Want on September 15, 2022. Lead by frontman Ryan Wise of The Sluts, the debut single “Wave” showcases the band’s fun pop rock sensibility. We experience a different side of Wise’s songwriting with crooning vocals and vintage guitar sounds. Accompanied by drummer Jimmy Girod and bassist AJ Knudson, LYXE creates hip shaking rhythms reminiscent of classic 80’s and 90’s sounds.“Wave” is the ideal first taste of what this band can accomplish. LYXE is Ryan Wise on lead vocals & guitar, and AJ Knudson on bass & vocals.]
[LYXE play Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St. Lawrence, KS on Saturday October 29, at 6:00 PM, with Olivia Markey, for the Liney Blu (formerly known as Caroline Blu) Album Release Party]
[LYXE play Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St.. Lawrence, KS on Friday, November 4, 1t 10:00 PM, with Kiss Or Kill for the OxyToxin Album Release Show.]
[LYXE play miniBar, 3810 Broadway, KCMO on Saturday, November 12, at 8:00 PM with Deco Auto and 10 Watt Robot.]
The Moose
The Moose – “Tr 10 0 10” from: Renaissance / Desert Animal Records / September 22, 2022 [new 11-track album from The Moose. On August 21, 2022 The Moose released the single “Macrowave”. On April 22, 2021 The Moose released SPATURE their 26-track double album. One of WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2021. The album contained music and lyrics all composed by The Moose. The album was engineered, mixed, and mastered by members Emma Klein and Jake Hilger. SPATURE is a sonic amalgamation of sunny peaks and dark chasms. Join The Moose as they experiment with the fantastical worlds of space and nature. From ‘Lava’ to ‘Mother Tree’, there is a song on this double LP for everyone.The Moose is a psychedelic rock/pop alternative band from Lee’s Summit / Kansas City, formed in 2016 by Jake Hilger, Alex Huffman, and Tyler Frey with Emma Klein and Parker Tozier joining in 2016. The Moose released their debut full length album, The First Real Encounter, on Dec. 21, 2018. The Moose joined us LIVE on WMM on July 10, 2019. The Moose also recently released SONGS OF SPATURE – LIVE FROM MYCO PLANET MUSHROOM FARM April 2022. More info at: http://www.musicofthemoose.com]
[The Moose played Outer Reaches Festival on Sat, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Cheer-Accident, Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelman, The Black Mariah Theater, She Speaks in Tongues; Jacob E.chord and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
10:07 – Intro / Pledge Break #1
WMM celebrates “The MidCoast Sound” spinning some of our favorite recent MidCoastal Releases from: Stephonne, Making Movies, The Grisly Hand, Boxknife, The Creepy Jingles, Blackstarkids, Carswell & Hope with Katlyn Conroy, Ivory Blue, Mensa Deathsquad, Monta At Odds, Dimension Bill Edwards, Amy Farrand & The Like, and Gullywasher. This is part-one of a 2-week series. We started with LYXE and The Moose.
We take break to encourage YOU to support 90.1 FM KKFI. To help me, is my friend…
Betse Ellis. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Betse received her Bachelors of Arts in Music and a Bachelors of Arts in English, from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. She has been playing the Violin for over 40 years, with over 20 years playing fiddle and also working as a teacher of music. Betse was a founding member of the acclaimed internationally known band, The Wilders. Betse has released two solo records, and records and performs with her husband, multi-instrumentalist Clarke Wyatt, as Betse & Clarke.
Betse Ellis, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Marion Merritt is our most frequent contributor to WMM, She grew up in Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She went to college in Columbia, Missouri. She studied art and musical engineering, and is a avid lover of classic films and punk rock music. She saw Talking Heads on their first U.S. tour when they played One Block West in 1978. For 16 years she has been sharing her musical discoveries and information from her musically-encyclopedic brain on Wednesday MidDay Medley. With her partner Ann Stewart, Marion is the proprietor of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, that features new vinyl releases, in-store performances,, and was once the location for a wedding. More information at: http://www.recordwithmerritt.com
Marion Merritt, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
90.1 FM KKFI is “The Voice of the Community” Our Kansas City area Community Speaks Through our Airwaves and this Program
So Far in 2022 on Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI 90.1 FM we have conducted over 100 interviews with 106 special guests: Kianna Alarid White & Cale Parks of Ezmerelda, Nico Gray, Betse Ellis, Marion Merritt, Rose Brown, Ivory Blue, Klaartje Van Lue, Ernest James Zydeco, Julia Othmer, Julie Bennett Hume & Mikal Shapiro for The Innocence Project, Leslie Pories, Matt & Melissa Weinman of Dimension Bill Edwards, Oliver Hall, Jeremiah James Gonzales and Brody Lowe of Redder Moon, Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, Nick Robertson, Travis McKenzie, Andrew Woody of The Creepy Jingles, Jennifer Owen of Owen Cox Dance Group, Nate Holt of Asterales, Isaac Flynn of Hembree, D Rashaan Gilmore, Luke M. Harbur aka Music By Skippy, Fritz Hutchison of Lost Cowgirl Records, Jenna Rae, Kristie Stremel, Sondra Freeman of Midwest Music Foundation, Meighan Peifer & Patricia Doherty, Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures, Jesse Kates of The Sexy Accident, Chad Brothers, Kristopher Bruders & Mark Smeltzer of Freight Train Rabbit Killer, Jnabe, Jessica Salley pf Cowtown Country Club, Brodie Rush of Be/Non, Shaun Crowley of Manor Records, Nilko Andreas, Amy Farrand, Sam Platt, Stacy Busch & Kalli Siringas of No Divide KC, Taylor Avazpour aka Zava, Jessica Ayala and Les Izmore of Arquesta Del Sol Soul, Luke Petet, Chris Haghirian, Stephonne, Dedric Moore of Monta At Odds, Scott Hrabko, Just Angel, Vi Tran, KKFI Board President Catina Taylor, KKFI Interns: Yassi Armer-Shabazz, Zoey Harris, & Kotah Kauffman, Lee Walter Redding, Chalis O’Neal, Tucker Slough, Major Matt Mason USA, Brook Worlledge, Stephanie Bankston, Mia Morrow of Boxknife, Cooper Scott of Jean Claude and The Eclairs, Kadesh Flow, Dr. Sonia Hall of Bio Kansas, Necia Gamby, Kelly Hunt, Aaron Shinn & Tell Pryor of Lazy Projector, Lacey Gronniger of Dreamgirl, Bill Sundahl, Nick Carswell of Carswell & Hope, Tillie Alexandra Hall of MellowPhobia, Nathan Reusch of The Record Machine, Diane Patterson. Kiley Sutter, Steve Tulipana, Miki P, Rachel Lovelace, Ryan Wise, AJ Knudson, and Jimmy Girod of LYXE, Trent Michael Munsinger of You Monster You, Judith G. Levy, Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, & Lisa McKenzie of Cher U.K., Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, Mia Huggins, of Fanny, Nita Norris & Jackie Nugent of Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City, Brenton Cook of Outer Reaches, Mark Ronning of Les Bons Bons Electriques, Lotta Williams, Chris Hudson and Sam Wright.
10:15
Ivory Blue
Ivory Blue – “Starlit Love Child” from: “Starlit Love Child’ – Single / Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing / October 28, 2022 [Ivory Blue signed a publishing deal with Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing of Atlanta GA on August 18, 2021. This company is managing Ivory and handling all of their publishing. Ivory Blue released their full length debut album COMPOUND LOVE on February 25, 2022. For COMPOUND LOVE Ivory served as songwriter, producer, vocalist and played all instruments with the exception of: Lester Estelle on drums, Klaartje Van Lue on piano, Craig Kew on bass, Lennon Bone on drums, and Marco Pascolini on pedal steel guitar. Nick Poortman served in mixing, with Kurt Festge who also served in mixing & Mastering. KC based singer songwriter and rock & roller, Ivory Blue is currently in the studio putting together a new full length 10-song album called “Compound Love” for release in 2022. Ivory Blue’s debut EP, Ready Get Set was released in June 2015 and had wide radio airplay on this show and multiple radio and television stations in Kansas City and across the country. In 2017 Ivory was among 1800 bands that competed in neXt2Rock. Ivory won local & regional challenges and advanced to nationals in Los Angeles to win the top prize. Ivory Blue has played Crossroads Music Festival, The Middle of the Map Festival, The Westport Roots Festival, the KCPT Screening of “Real Boy” at The Kansas City Public Library., and Kauffman Stadium. // Ivory Blue was born in 1986 in Peoria Illinois, as Devin James Miclettet. Ivory’s birth mother put them up for adoption at the age of four. Ivory speaks about how it was difficult to find trust in people offering their home to someone denied it for so long, Ivory lived with eight different families. before running away at 15. // Ivory has talked with us about how in their life they have turned to music to express pain. Ivory spent most of their childhood looking for a family. In 2010 Klaartje Van Lue saw Ivory performing in a YouTube video and contacted them, flying them Ivory KC, and adopting Ivory into the Van Lue family. During the past 10 years Ivory came out as “Non-Binary Transgender. // As a multi-instrumentalist, Ivory began refining their performance style, using digital looping pedals to stack harmonies and guitar parts live on stage, giving their solo shows the feel of a full band. In 2011, Ivory settled in Kansas City, MO and quickly began attracting an intense regional following for their strong vocals and incisive, deeply personal lyrics. // By 2013, IVORY BLUE was playing regularly in and around Kansas City and the first EP ‘Ready Get Set’ was released. in 2015. While the EP helped spread the word and got much attention from regional radio and TV stations, a big break would come in 2017. Ivory entered NeXt2Rock, a nationwide talent search with over 1800 artists/bands who applied to find fresh and promising rock artists. The top 5 national bands battled it off for the win in Los Angeles CA at the legendary Viper Room, with judges Scott Borchetta (BMLG), John Varvatos (fashion designer), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols Guitarist and Host of “Jonesy’s Jukebox”), Desmond Child (Musician, producer), Chris Lord-Alge (producer), Ivory Blue won over the judges and became the grand prize winner! Ivory Ivory won the contest and a one-year record deal with BMLG who re-released the song Ready Get Set from the 2015 EP. Ivory’s 2018 re-release of ‘Ready Get Set’ undauntedly received National and International airplay within weeks. For their upcoming album, IVORY BLUE is producing all the tracks with the exception of Drums and Bass. Ivory is currently working with Lester Estelle (Drummer for Kelly Clarkson), Craig Kew (Bass) KC, Kurt Festge (Mastering | Citizen Kane & Vilent Femmes) NC. and Nick Poortman (LA based Los Angeles based Producer, Engineer, Mixer, and Songwriter) Nick has worked alongside producers including Justin Gray, Gil Norton, Big Tank, and Greg Haver on sessions throughout the USA, UK, Europe, and New Zealand. // On August 18th 2021 Ivory Blue signed a publishing deal with Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing out of Atlanta GA. // Ivory released the singles: “Elite Dreamland,” on Feb. 17, 2021, “Half a Life” on Sept. 20, 2021. Ivory Blue released the video of “Family Table” directed by Mikal Shapiro, on August 21, 2021 and the audio track was released on September 7, 2021. Ivory Blue released the single “Good Changes” on Oct 26, 2021. Ivory Blue released the singles: “Heavy,” “Bad Weather,” “It Must Have Been Me,” “Compound Love,” and “The Start” on December 14, 2021. Ivory Blue joined us on WMM on November 10, September 15, and July 28, in 2021. More info at: https://linktr.ee/ivorybluemusic%5D
The Grisly Hand
The Grisly Hand – “Why Make Me Cry” from: Traitors / The Grisly Hand / July 8, 2022 [One of the singles from The Grisly Hand’s acclaimed new album, TRAITORS. On May 14, 2021, they released the single “Now That You Know.” On August 20, 2021 they released the single, “Why Make Me Cry”. On December 3, 2021 they released the single, “On The Same Side.” It had been four and a half years since The Grisly Hand has released new music. The band released HEARTS & STARS on November 18, 2016, and FLESH & GOLD on October 2, 2015. For those recordings the band had spent a year with Joel Nanos at Element Recording and decided to split the songs between two CD/digital releases: and also release them both together as a double vinyl album release, called THE GRISLY HAND released November 18, 2016 with a new reshuffling of songs for the vinyl LP format. Jimmy Fitzner on guitar & vocals, Lauren Krum on vocals & percussion, Kian Byrne on drums, Mike Stover on steel guitar, bass & vocals, Ben Summers on guitar, vocals & mandolin, Dan Loftus on bass, keyboards & vocals. For the double albums the recordings also featured: Rich Wheeler on tenor saxophone, Nick Howell on trumpet, and Mike Walker on trombone. More info at: http://www.thegrislyhand.com]
Carswell & Hope – “Sign Of The Times (Feat. Katlyn Conroy)” from: Sign Of The Times / Silly Goose Records / August 30, 2022 [Sign of the Times, the first single and title track from the Carswell & Hope full length originally released as a single on June 12, 2022. Featuring Katlyn Conroy on vocals. Single available on Bandcamp, Soundcloud and streaming platforms from July 12th, 2022. Recorded and produced by Jason Slote and Nick Carswell. Mixed and mastered by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios. Lawrence KS based 5-piece band formed June 25, 2012. The band is: Nick Carswell, Jason Slote, Austin Quick, Chris Handley, and Jordan Tucker. Songwriter Nick Carswell is originally from Ireland and has found a new home on the plains of Kansas.Songwriter Nick Carswell is originally from Limerick, Ireland, Nick Carswell has been living in Lawrence, KS since 2011. He formed Carswell & Hope in late 2012. The band released their debut album in 2014, coinciding with a two week Irish tour. Nick also plays bass in the electro-pop band Pink Royal and is the force behind Silly Goose Records and the annual MixMaster music conference, now part of the Crossroads Music Festival. More info at: http://www.carswellandhope.bandcamp.com])
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis
The MidCoast Sound
Today on WMM we are celebrating The MidCoast Sound with 15 of our Favorite recent MidCoastal Releases. 90.1 FM KKFI’s non-profit organization and governing body is the MidCoast Radio Project. MidCoastal is where we are, on the coasts of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers with a music community that spans the Kansas City Metro region and west to Lawrence and Topeka and south to Olathe and east to Columbia and North to St Joseph. Not necessarily the reach of our 100,000 watt signal but definitely the reach of our community.
WMM and KKFI are committed to featuring artists under-represented in other media, and that includes the music community that lives within Kansas City and Lawrence and the area radiance of our 100 watt signal. The story of Kansas City’s Arts and Music Community is our primary objective on WMM, where for 18 years we have shined a light on this music and the artist who create it and that story also include the music labels who help get this music out into the community and beyond Kansas City. That story also includes the recording studios where this music is engineered and mastered.
Wednesday MidDay Medley 90.1 FM was the first radio show and first radio station to ever play many if these amazing musical artists. WMM was the first to play the recordings of: Calvin Arsenia, and Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, and Krystle Warren, and The Black Creatures and KD Kuro, The Shy Boys, The Salvation Choir. We were the first to interview these artists live on the radio and bring their music to a wider audience.
Timothy Finn Kansas City area music writer named WMM “The Best Place to Hear Local Music on the Radio.” and the Best Place to hear area musicians talk about their music.
10:33 – Underwriting
Stephonne
Stephonne – “Cross My Heart (Sext M.F.) (Radio Edit)” from: SIS: Side B [EP] / Stephonne / June 24, 2022 [Co-produced by, Justin Mantooth, and recorded at Westend Recording Studios. Johnny Hamil on bass, and Adam McKee on drums. Stephonne released the single, “Cross My Heart (Sexy M.F.) on June 3, 2022. Stephonne released the single, “Deja Vu” with Shilow and Regina Del Carmen on May 9, 2022. Stephonne released the single “The King’s Gambit” on July 28, 2021. Stephonne was part of the single, “Elephant Man (feat. Stephonne)” from Lee Walter Redding & Stephonne, released April 9, 2021. Stephonne released the single “Beautiful Life (Acoustic)” on January 15, 2021. Stephonne released SIS: Side A on August 7, 2020. The 4 song EP contained the song “Want Me” that was also made into a video featuring body painting on to Stephonne’s body from artist Ryan Wilks. Stephonne released his debut album, “Caged Bird Sings Songs About Red Beard.” The album was one of WMM’s 118 Best Recordings of 2018. Stephonne was born and raised in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Stephonne grew up in KCK. He has performed in multiple shows for Late Night Theatre. Stephonne told John Long of Camp Magazine “I was surrounded by records, and my parents always had music on.” Stephonne’s band is called: The Gay Rodeo with Miki P on drums, Benjamin Hart (Byard) on lead guitar, Ahafia Jurkiewicz-Miles on keyboards, Spencer Thut on bass. Stephonne and The Gay Rodeo hold band practice every week at Charlotte Street Foundation where Stephonne is in his second year of a residency.]
Monta At Odds – “The Perfect Kiss” from: Peaked – Alternative Takes and Remixes / The Record Machine / June 24, 2022 [This cover of the New Order classic is part of the companion album called PEAKED – ALTERNATE TAKES AND REMIXES that has remixes and alternative versions of Monta AT Odds’ 2021 album, PEAK OF ETERNAL LIGHT. On the track the band is: Dedric Moore on synths & programming, Mikal Shapiro on vocals, Matthew Heinrich on drums, Lucas Behrens on baritone guitar, Krysztof Nemeth on baritone guitar, and Kenn Jankowski on synths. // The Perfect Kiss” is a song by the English band New Order. It was recorded at Britannia Row Studios in London and released on May 13, 1985. It was included on a studio album, Low-Life. // The song’s themes include love “We believe in a land of love” and death “the perfect kiss is the kiss of death”. The overall meaning of the song is unclear to its writer today. In an interview with GQ magazine Bernard Sumner said “I haven’t a clue what this is about.” He agreed with the interviewer that his best known lyric is in the song: “Pretending not to see his gun/I said, ‘Let’s go out and have some fun'”. The lyrics, he added, came about after the band was visiting a man’s house in the United States who showed his guns under his bed before they went out for an enjoyable night. It had been quickly written, recorded and mixed without sleep before the band went on tour in Australia. // The song’s complex arrangement includes a number of instruments and methods not normally used by New Order. For example, a bridge features frogs croaking melodically. The band reportedly included them because Morris loved the effect and was looking for any excuse to use it. At the end of the track, the faint bleating of a (synthesized) sheep can be heard. Sheep samples would reappear in later New Order singles “Fine Time” and “Ruined in a Day”. //Despite being a fan favorite, the song was not performed live between 1993 and 2006 due to the complexity of converting the programs from the E-mu Emulator to the new Roland synthesizer. However, it returned to the live set at a performance in Athens on June 3, 2006. // Monta At Odds released their 7th album PEAK OF ETERNAL LIGHT on July 23, 2021. // Monta At Odds is a Kansas City combo led by the brothers Dedric and Delaney Moore. The two have played music together all their lives and have been exploring the Monta At Odds sound since the band’s debut in 2000. Dedric’s pulsing, melodic bass and Delaney’s artfully unhinged synthesizers frame the band’s central character, which is fleshed out by a talented cast of musicians and collaborators. The result is a heady sonic pool that has been inscrutably referred to as ‘Ummagumma meets Arthur Russell’s mutant disco at Vangelis’s house.’ // In 2020 the band added acclaimed vocalists, guitarists, and songwriters Mikal Shapiro and Teri Quinn to the lineup. With Mikal and Teri’s otherworldly vocal contributions, Monta At Odds continued to push their alternate reality into streamlined consciousness. With Lucas Behrens on guitar and synth and Matthew Heinrich on drums both rounds out the stellar lineup. The nad releaased a remix of their single “When I’m Gone” mixed by The Record Machine label mate Kenn Jankowski, lead singer, co-founder of The Republic Tigers. The remix featured Kenn’s voice singing with Teri’s voice. The collaboration led to Kenn joining Monta At Odds as a voclist and synth player. And when Kenn plays out as The Republic Tigers the members of Monta At Odds become The Republic Tigers. On December 18, 2020 Monta At Odds released A GREAT CONJUNCTION their 5-song EP released just in to coincide with the ‘double-planet’ convergence of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 2020, which last occurred in 1226. These tunes form a soundtrack to the planetary event, five songs linked together by the vastness of space and as a meditation on our infinitesimal place in the universe. The EP featured Krystof Nemeth, Teri Quinn, Alexander Thomas, Dedric Moore and Matthew Heinrich. // In late 2020 Monta At Odds released the single “When Stars Grow Old.” // Monta At Odds released their 4-song EP Zen Diagram on May 1, 2020. The album was a more post-punk leaning follow-up to Argentum Dreams. Expect minimal rhythms set to maximum noise, shoegazed guitar signals, slo-mo psychedelic darkwave, endless dub echo, and extended-cut warped disco. Live musicians manipulating time and space via knob turning, cymbal cracking, and pedal pushing as they interlock into hypnotic moments of heavenly bliss that seem to hold forever, captivating the mind. / Info at: http://www.facebook.com/montaatodds%5D
Dimension Bill Edwards
Dimension Bill Edwards – “Lady Lost Love” from: SUSTENANCE / Gordophonic Records / February 10, 2022 [Dimension Bill Edwards released their single,“Surrealberry Hill” on Fat Tuesday, February 16, 2021. The single was inspired by band members move from the West 39th street area to Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas. The spoken word portion of the song is Matt reading from the Egyptian Book of The Dead. The release coincided with an amazing “Float House” that Melissa created for Mardi Gras in Pandemic times. Dimension Bill Edwards is a band that kind of organically formed through live performances at the Walnut Valley Folk Festival and the last set of the festival “Heavy Petting ZO0” held in the Pecan Grove an the band mameber’s association with the band KC Bearfighters. Dimension Bill Edwards is: Matt Weinman on lyrics, vocals & guitar; Melissa Weinman on lyrics, vocals & dance moves; Grant Buell on keyboards & accordion; Mallory Edson on violin; Phil Craven on bass & recording engineer; (John Bersuch on drums for “Surrealberry Hill”) ; Ike Golets on drums for future recordings and live performances. Matt and Melissa met John Bersuch when he moved in next door to them in Strawberry Hill on New Years Eve 2019. Grant Buell and Melissa Weinman are also in the band Good Time Charley. Phil Craven and Mallory Edson and Ike Goletz are also in the band, Whiskey for the Lady. Band members found a wooden sign that read” Dimension Bill Edwards? behinds Cupini’s on West 43rd Street. No one know what the sign was from or what it meant, but they decided to use this for the name of their band. More info at: http://www.dimensionbilledwards.bandcamp.com]
10:45 – Pledge Break #3
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt, and Betse Ellis
Our most played artists in 2022 are The Black Creatures. Wednesday MidDay Medley was the first radio show to play their music. They have been frequent guests on our show. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. The Black Creatures released their self-produced, debut album, See No Evil, on December 6, 2017. The Black Creatures released their single Elements on February 14, 2018. Our playlists show that we first played The Black Creatures on March 14, 2018. Since that date we have championed this band. We first saw them live at InterUrban ArtHouse on July 10, 2019 as part of a Celebration of Queer Identity where Mark was also a performer. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, was self released by the band on September 30, 2019. WILD ECHOES was #2 on WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. WILD ECHOES was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut Records in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine for 2020. // Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott. // The Black Creatures released their new album By Thy Hand on Center Cut Records on August 12, 2022. // Jade and Xavier just completed performances in the world premiere of Christian A. Walker’s “What Came With Spring” for the Owen/Cox Dance Group October 7 thru 9 at City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO. // Mark’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.”
10:52
Making Movies
Making Movies – “Sala De Los Pecadores” rom: XOPA / Cosmica Artists / JUne 17, 2022 [Making Movies released the single “Calor” on March 11, 2022. Making Movies released “Porcelina” on May 17, 2022, which features Tennis, singing in Spanish. All three singles are from the Making Movies album, XOPA and was recorded in Memphis, produced by Ben Yonas and mixed by Tchad Blake. More info at: http://www.makingmovies.world. Making Movies is a Kansas City based 4-piece band and made up of : Enrique Chi on guitar and lead vocals; Diego Chi on bass & vocals; Juan-Carlos Chaurand on percussion & keyboards; and Duncan Burnett on drums. The band draws their influences from the origins of their families: Santiago, Panama, and KC Missouri, and Guadalajara, Mexico. Making Movies released the 5-song EP, EN VIVO (SIN APLAUSO) on February 4, 2022. Prior to that, Making Movies released the 6-track EP BORING BITS, on May 7, 2021, which includes their single “La Marcha.” On February 5, the band released a sneak peek of the new music they’ve been working on. The 7-song, La Cuarentena EP includes a brand new version of the first Making Movies song, “La Marcha” and the lullaby “Could You?” (both mixed by Jim Eno of Spoon and tracked at Memphis Magnetic studio), and the love ballad “Una Vida.” The EP was ranked #25 inWMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2021. The EP also includes: covers of Talking Heads and Tears for Fears classics, plus bonus live acoustic tracks. This EP was made available on BandCamp for only three days on February 5 through February 7, 2021. Since then it has been made private, an is not available anywhere. Making Movies released their single “Could You” on January 12, 2021. About “Could You” lead singer Enrique Javier Chi wrote, “I was thinking about what to share for “Could You?” and I just go back to the fact that Memphis is a profound place… it is a place where you can feel what America truly is and where it comes from. I think you see and feel the reality that so much of this nation was built from exploiting people. You can see that our pop culture is driven by the Black community and yet that community is still the most oppressed in the nation. Things are still so messed up. // Memphis is the place where Elvis started singing black music with a country twang and where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. It’s a beautiful place, it’s a charming place, it feels at times downtrodden and it’s a place that reminds me of home (both KC and Panamá in different ways. Our experiences going to Memphis gave us the context to create “Could You?” It was filmed originally for AMERI’KANA TV..” Making Movies released their critically acclaimed album ameri’kana through 3/2 Recordings on May 24, 2019. This was #1 on WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. Produced by Steve Berlin and Ben Yonas. The notes for this album read: “ameri’kana is a canary in a coal mine, the watchman at the tower. It is a desire to remember where we come from and assure that we better ourselves in every step along our journey. Every chapter is an example, a reason to not be silent and not accept corrupt leaders as something inevitable. ameri’kana is based on faith, faith that every person on this continent carries within themselves the ability to grow, to awaken their consciousness and merits of the same rights. We were accomplices to get ourselves to this point so we will have to be accomplices in the solutions.” This was the band’s follow up release to their critically acclaimed, I Am Another You, released May 26, 2017. The quartet has toured with Arcade Fire, Thievery Corporation, Cold War Kids, Los Lobos, Ozomatli, Tennis, Sergio Mendoza of Calexico, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Hurray for the Riff Raff. Enrique Chi joined WMM on May 19, 2021. ]
[Making Movies are currently on tour, they play Anchorage Alaska on November 4, and Fairbanks. Alaska on November 5, 2022]
The Creepy Jingles
11.The Creepy Jingles – “Working Class Clown” from: TAKE ME AY MY WORDPLAY / High Dive Records / March 25, 2022 [From band’s 11-track, full-length debut, TAKE ME AT MY WORD PLAY. The Creepy Jingles are a Kansas City based, 4-piece rock and roll band that both honors and defies convention. Led by singer / song-writer Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, a transgender wordsmith who charms with razor wit and dazzles with her lyrical acrobatics. Nick Robertson on drums, Travis McKenzie on guitar, and Andrew Woody on bass guitar bring first class musicianship and creativity, helping Nixon paint the perfect picture of colors and sounds that don’t stay in the lines. Their new album, “Take Me at My Wordplay” is an eclectic blend of catchy Brit-Pop melodies that dance around the landscape of surf, NY garage rock, psychedelia and folk music. Paired up with lyrics centering on themes of identity, strained relationships, social media madness, meme magic, pandemic paranoia, paid off political pundits, backyard bullies and barking up the wrong tree. Everything and the kitchen sink or swim. No stoner left unturned. The Creepy Jingles released their Debut EP on High Dive Records on May 3, 2019. The release was in the top ten of WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. ] The Creepy Jingles released their Debut EP on High Dive Records on May 3, 2019.]
[The Creepy Jingles play The Ship, 1221 Union Ave, KCMO, West Bottoms on Friday, October 28, at 9:00 PM, with Ebony Tusks, and Rebecca]
Sam Wright and Chris Hudson
Gullywasher – “Returning Softly” from: COME TOMORROW YOU’LL FALL / Chris Hudson / October 14, 2022 [Gullywasher is an acoustic, Folk, Americana Trio based in Kansas City formed by Chris Hudson on guitar & vocals, Sam Wright on banjo & vocals, and Matt Catalina on bass. More information at: http://www.gullywasherkc.comhttp://www.chrishudson.bandcamp.com]
[Gullywasher plays an Album Release Show, October 22, 2022, at 8:30 PM at The Kaw Valley Public House with Marty Bush and Natalie Prauser.]
11:00 – Station ID 11:00 – Interview with Chris Hudson & Sam Wright
Professional musician and teacher Chris Hudson joins us to share music and details about his new released from his band Gullywasher called COME TOMORROW YOU’LL FALL released on October 14, 2022. Chris Hudson is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, musician, visual artist, and teacher at Kansas City Young Audiences. Gullywasher is a band Chris formed with Sam Wright and Matt Cathlina. Chris was last on WMM after the released of his album with his band, The Bard Owls, a Kansas City based acoustic band created and named by Chris Hudson and Sam Wright. Chris Hudson plays as a solo artist and is part of several other bands including: The Multiverse with Julie Bennett Hume. More information at http://www.chrishudson.bandcamp.com
Sam Wright is a professional actor and musician. He graduated from Emporia State University. Sam is the co-creator of Prejudice & Pride (A Folk Musical) Book by Nicholas Collett & Sam Wright, music & lyrics by Sam Wright. Prejudice & Pride was awarded the 2022 artist residency at Music Theater Heritage in Kansas City, where it will be given a full production in July, 2022. Then the entire company traveled to Scotland in August to present a full run at Edinburgh Fringe 2022 where the production won Best of Festival Awards. From SamWrites & Nicholas Collett Productions, the international collaboration that brought you 2016’s Best of KC award winner Crazy Horse: A Dream of Thunder.
Gullywasher plays an Album Release Show, October 22, 2022, at 8:30 PM at The Kaw Valley Public House with Marty Bush and Natalie Prauser.
Chris Hudson thanks for being with us on WMM.
Chris Hudson a KC Native, Classical Guitarist, Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist, and Visual Artist. He is part of 3 bands: Gullywasher, The Multiverse, and The Bard Owls.
Chris Hudson has been playing and creating songs for decades in the KC – Lawrence area. We last talked with him on the radio show on September 22, 2021 upon the released of Chris Hudson and The Bard Owls album THE ERASING released on September 29, 2021.
Chris joined us on March 31, 2021 to share news about HOLDING THE DAWNING released on March 15, 2021 – The first studio release from the KC based Gullywasher, that includes: Matt Cathlina on upright bass & vocals, Chris Hudson on guitar & vocals, and Sam Wright on banjo & vocals.
Formed in 2018 the band started recording demos, rehearsing and performing these songs at multiple venues, including a trip to SXSW in Austin in early March 2020 just before the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down and quarantine. In the early months of the pandemic they continued to rehearse and write more songs and do live streaming shows. Chris Hudson wrote the majority of the songs. Sam Wright wrote the song “Eastward Facing Road.” The band writes that their songs are” a mix of Americana, Folk, ProgRock, Emo and Jazz.”
HOLDING THE DAWNING was recorded between September and November 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, at Weights and Measures Soundlab in KCMO with Duane Trower. Gullywasher brought in special guest perfomers for several tracks local Chad Brothers of the band Old Sound on guitar, Devan Teran of The Timbers Devon Teran on pedal steel, and Mark Hamblin on Trumpet. More info at: http://www.gullywasherkc.com
Prior to that we talked with Chris Hudson on Nov. 4, 2020, when he and Julie Bennett Hume joined us to share details about their release SONGS FOR LATTER DAYS. Chris Hudson and Julie Bennett Hume have been playing and creating songs for decades in the KC – Lawrence area. Their musical project The Multiverse, released the album, Songs Of Latter Days, on Nov. 1, 2020. They played on all songs with help from the KC acclaimed alternative string duo The Wires with Laurel Morgan Parks on violin & Sascha Groschang on cello. Also contributing to the recording was Jason Beers. http://www.themultiverse.com
Gullywasher plays 9th & State, 1717 West 9th, KCMO, West Bottoms, on Friday, October 21, at 8:30 PM
Gullywasher plays an Album Release Show, October 22, 2022, at 8:30 PM at The Kaw Valley Public House with Marty Bush and Natalie Prauser.
Gullywasher plays Riverwood Winery in Rushville, MO., on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 1:00 PM.
Gullywasher plays The Pairing: Crossroads Wine & Grocer, 1615 Oak St., KCMO East Crossroads on Thursday, October 27 at 7:30 PM with Jason Buice.
Gullywasher plays Chartreuse Saloon 1625 Oak St., KCMO East Crossroads, on Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 10:00 PM.
Chris Hudson and Sam Wright thanks for being with us on WMM.
Gullywasher plays an Album Release Show, October 22, 2022, at 8:30 PM at The Kaw Valley Public House with Marty Bush and Natalie Prauser.
Gullywasher – “Sunshine Stream” from: COME TOMORROW YOU’LL FALL / Chris Hudson / October 14, 2022 [Gullywasher is an acoustic, Folk, Americana Trio based in Kansas City formed by Chris Hudson on guitar & vocals, Sam Wright on banjo & vocals, and Matt Catalina on bass. More information at: http://www.gullywasherkc.comhttp://www.chrishudson.bandcamp.com]
[Gullywasher plays an Album Release Show, October 22, 2022, at 8:30 PM at The Kaw Valley Public House with Marty Bush and Natalie Prauser.]
11:13 – Pledge Break #4
Our WMM Fall Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis
Our friend and longtime listener Ann Stewart called into the show. With her partner Marion Merritt, Ann Stewart is the co-proprietor of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, that features new vinyl releases, in-store performances, and was once the location for a wedding. Ann Stewart has donated to every single fund drive KKFI has had for the last 12 years!!! More information at: http://www.recordwithmerritt.com
Where can I find out about what is happening in my community? LGBTQIA, Urban, Labor Rights, The Environment, The Kansas City Visual & Literary Arts , The Performing Arts, Women’s Issues, Native American Issues, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Classical, Hip Hop, Folk, Women’s Music, Indie Rock, Pop, Electronica, Punk…the answer is KKFI 90.1 FM Kansas City Community Radio. The Voice of The Community
Along with our National Public Affairs shows like Democracy Now and Alternative Radio we offer more locally produced public affairs programs than anywhere else on the dial.
We offer programs specifically produced for the LGBTQIA Community, Women’s Issues, Native American News and Culture, Middle Eastern Music and Information, Latino Programming, African American Public Affairs and Community News, Labor and Worker’s Unions, our prison population and justice system, environmental programming, Visual and Literary Arts, and Performing Arts.
At KKFI there is no automated robot playing the same 40 songs in a “rotation,” based on a formula, created by a singular programmer of the robot. KKFI is the opposite of a robot. There is always human being on the end of the phone line anytime you call 816-931-0901.
90.1 offers 100 different radio programs. 82 of these programs are locally, produced, hosted, engineered and written by over 100 different people, who create content, and personally handcraft each show, each week. There are 61 local music shows and 21 locally produce News, Public Affairs, Arts & Talk shows. There are 140 hours each week of locally produced handcrafted programs.
You will not find this kind of representative diversity anywhere else on your radio dial. Or from any singular source on your computer. It is very special. It needs to be nourished and kept alive in a world of corporate, nationally owned, commercial or religious broadcasting.
Not only do we bring the most diverse and unfiltered news and information, but our musical playlists are deep, and comprehensive. In one week you can hear over 2000 different songs played, in Blues, Jazz, Folk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Classical, World, Americana, Southern Soul, Fusion, Soul, Rock, New Wave, Electronic, Native, Local, Old Timey, Rockabilly, Women’s, Children’s, Gospel, and Experimental.
With all of this, you hear the voices from the hundreds of KKFI volunteers, and thousands of guests from the community, who share their stories, broadcast live from our non-commercial, midtown studios, at 39th & Main, in the center of our metro, across two states, a collective of communities, and thousands of listeners. What is this worth to you?
11:21
BlackStarKids
BLACKSTARKIDS – “CYBERKISS 2 U” from: CYBERKISS / Dirty Hit / September 23, 2022 [From the band’s new fifth album, and their third with Dirty Hit Records, all in the last 4 years. Blackstarkids are phenomenon who came out of Kansas City in 2020 became the soundtrack for the summer. Blackstarkids are a pop/R&B/hip-hop trio based in Kansas City, Missouri. Members include: TheBabeGabe, Deiondre, and TyFaizon (of the Drop Dead XX collective). The members have known each other since high school in Raytown, Missouri. Members met at Raytown South High School and formed the band in 2019. The group released its first album, Let’s Play Sports, on August 1, 2019. Blackstarkids then released their second album SURF through their own label Bedroom Records on February 28, 2020. Blackstarkids caught the attention of The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy and were then signed to The 1975’s management company and UK-based label Dirty Hit Records. They were featured in Clash Magazine. Blackstarkids then released, Surf Basement Demos on Dirty Hit Records on March 5, 2020. On October 29, 2020, Blackstarkids released Whatever, Man on Dirty Hit Records, their third album release of 2020. Gabe, of Blackstarkids recently described the KC Music community to an interviewer, “The music scene here is really nice. There are a lot of bands who are super talented and do all types of genres. The jazz music here is really great as well. Kansas City is honestly a hidden gem when it comes to music. I feel like you can meet an artist anywhere and anyplace in this city.” Deiondre added, “The music scene here is getting cool now, there’s a lot of jazz musicians that go to school for music here too but you can find people from different scenes all over if around the city.” Ty wrote, “The Kansas City scene is great, the community here is so supportive and genuine. This is a really prideful city here and I think they’re finally getting the musicians they deserve.”]
[Blackstarkids are scheduled to play Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Nov. 29, 2022.]
11:24 – Underwriting
Amy Farrand & The Like
Amy Farrand & The Like – “Sweet Thing” from: One / Amy Farrand / April 28, 2018 [Amy Farrand & The Like are Amy Farrand on lead vocals & guitar, Steve Tubbert on bass, Felix Dukes on drums, Kyle Dahlquist on keyboards & backing vocals, Stephan Jean-Francois on trumpet, and Katie Gilchrist on backing vocals. 11-song debut album was recorded with Duane Trower at Weights & Measures Soundlab. Amy Farrand plays over a dozen intruments, bass, drums, lap steel, guitar, she has hosted variety shows, and radio shows and has been a a member of the bands: American Catastrophe, Experimental Instrument Orchestra, Shotgun Idols, Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, Atlantic Fadeout, The Silver Maggies. One reviewer wrote of her, “Amy Farrand is a tough-as-nails vocalist making her an invaluable asset to any live act.”]
[Amy Farrand and The Like play The Reproductive Rights Benefit Show featuring Boxknife, on Friday, October 21, at 9:00 PM at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, West Bottoms of KCMO. This a fundraiser for Missouri Abortion Access Fund.]
Lotta Williams and Amy Farrand
11:30 – Interview with Amy Farrand & Lotta Williams
Amy Farrand plays over a dozen instruments, bass, drums, lap steel, guitar, she has hosted variety shows, and radio shows, and she is licsensed to has been a a member of the bands: American Catastrophe, Experimental Instrument Orchestra, Shotgun Idols, Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, Atlantic Fadeout, The Silver Maggies. One reviewer wrote of her, “Amy Farrand is a tough-as-nails vocalist making her an invaluable asset to any live act.” In April 2018, Amy’s band Amy Farrand & The Like released their 11-song debut album and were nominated for a Pitch “Best of Kansas City” Award.
Lotta Williams is the Front-of-house manager of The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, West Bottoms of KCMO and their new space called “All Else The Sea” that opened last November as a cocktail lounge serving food. Bob Asher and Josh Mobley, who own and operate neighboring bar and diner The Ship, decided to launch All Else The Sea during the pandemic to meet the needs of growing crowds making the West Bottoms a new destination to see live music. They were able to work out a plan with their landlord Adam Jones. The 4,500-square-foot space that was formerly home to Foundation Event Space, which closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All Else The Sea takes its name from a Negro National League slogan, “We Are the Ship, All Else the Sea.” Lotta Williams leads the cocktail program, which features pre-batched seasonal cocktails, such as a barrel-aged maple Old Fashioned, hot buttered rum, whiskey-based Crown Chai Latte and an Oaxacan Old Fashioned with mezcal.
Lotta and Amy share details about The Reproductive Rights Benefit Show featuring Boxknife, and Amy Farrand & The Like, on Friday, October 21, at 9:00 PM at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, West Bottoms of KCMO. This a fundraiser for Missouri Abortion Access Fund. More info at: http://www.theshipkc.com
The last time we talked with Amy on the radio was on May 25, 2022 when she joined us to talk about her band Amy Farrand and the Like before their first show together in almost 3 years on June 3 at The Black Box. Before that we conducted a phone interview with Amy Farrand on April 1, 2020 while she was stranded in Italy after traveling there to help a friend move back to the U.S.
In her second week of visiting her friend the Coronavirus hit hard and citizens were ordered to quarantine themselves at home. Amy was stuck in Italy for 4 months, and when it was time to come home her friend ended up staying Europe. On April 1, 2020 in the US we are at 4085 deaths and 189,785 confirmed cases. As of today there have been over 1 million deaths in the United States due to Covid.
Amy came back to her home town that was shuttered, venues were closed, friends out of work, Davey’s Uptown lost to a fire. Amy decided to turn her efforts in ward, and as she put it, “do the work, on myself, to work out those things that have been haunting me my whole life.” She says that she is happier now than she has ever been in her whole life. She is 70 pounds lighter. Amy says as she did the work, the weight just went away, gradually over the last year and a half. Amy’s hair is naturally curly, her smile as big as ever. Amy Farrand is real. One of the most real people you will ever meet. She is honest and hardworking and a walking history of the last 25 years of the KC music community.
Amy talked with us about picking up a guitar and playing for the first time in years.
Amy Farrand & The Like are Amy Farrand on lead vocals & guitar Steve Tubbert on bass Felix Dukes on drums Kyle Dahlquist on keyboards & backing vocals Stephan Jean-Francois on trumpet Katie Gilchrist on backing vocals.
Amy Farrand & Lotta Williams thank you for being with us on WMM.
The Reproductive Rights Benefit Show featuring Boxknife, and Amy Farrand & The Like, on Friday, October 21, at 9:00 PM at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, West Bottoms of KCMO. This a fundraiser for Missouri Abortion Access Fund. http://www.theshipkc.com
11:40
Boxknife
Boxnife – “Bp Razorblade” from: Manifestering [EP] / Squarestab Records / May 20, 2022 [Boxknife, is a queer dark-pop band from Kansas City made up of Stephanie Bankston, Britt Wild, Mia Morrow, and Brook Worlledge who formed from the ashes of the band Lovergurl. Keyboardist and vocalist, Stephanie Bankston was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She is a graduate of The University of Missouri. She moved abroad in her 20s, and lived in Seoul, Korea, where she played in a mostly female band called BaekMa (“White Horse”). Stephanie returned to Kansas City in the Fall 2015. Brook Worlledge,is a Kansas City native. She is the band’s drummer and she sings and writes songs for the band. Brook is a defender of the proletariat. Brook’s influences range from The B-52s, The Velvet Underground, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Brit Wild has played to Wick and the Tricks and other bands in Kansas City.]
[Boxknife play The Reproductive Rights Benefit Show featuring Boxknife, on Friday, October 21, at 9:00 PM at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, West Bottoms of KCMO. This a fundraiser for Missouri Abortion Access Fund.]
11:43 – Pledge Break #5
This is WMM’s Fall Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis
Case #5 We offer loads and loads of information about what is going on in the community. Not only does this show interview 100+ guests each year, not only do we play nearly 900 different songs with more than half of those being locally produced, but we also shine a light on area not-for-profit theatre companies, art museums & galleries, area festivals, service organizations, area record labels and record stores, the area music scene, arts scene, theatre scene, literary arts scene, political action scene.
In just this past year, we’ve featured segments shining a light on:, The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts, UMKC Conservatory of Music, Owen Cox Dance Group, KC Bass Workshop, The Record Machine, Mills Record Company, Records With Merritt, High Dive Records, Center Cut Records, Manor Records, Lost Cowgirl Records, KC Irish Fest, The Crossroads Music Fest, MixMaster Music Conference, Too Much Rock, Midwest Music Foundation, Apocalypse Meow, filmmaker Morgan Cooper, Charlotte Street Foundation, Inter Urban Arthouse, Lemonade Park, Weights and Measure Sound Lab, Innovation Festival, Bio Kansas, Les Bons Bons Electriques, Outer Reaches Fest, The Greater Philipino Association of Kamsas City, Queer Narratives Fest, No Devide KC, Boulevardia, Gay Pride, Folk Alliance International, The Band That Fell To Earth, .
11:50
Mensa Deathqsuad
Mensa Deathsquad – “Chin Up Eyes Wide Open” from: YOU WILL HEAR THUNDER / Gran Cavalera / April 12, 2022 [This is the ongoing creative engine of Kansas City-based darkwave artist Brandon Phillips – the soft human center of Mensa Deathsquad writes: “Mensa Deathsquad is fundamentally about two things, Dark dance music optimized for sweaty catharsis and the most ragged, unpolished emotional honesty I can bring.” On June 13, 2022 Mensa Deathsquad released the single “Come Say Hello.”On April 12, 2022 Mensa Deathsquad released the 14-track album, YOU WILL HEAR THUNDER, Written, performed and produced by Mensa Deathsquad. Mastered at Element Recording and Mastering. Brandon Phillips of Mensa Deathsquad, writes: “By the time I wrote Chin Up Eyes Wide Open,” (second single from YOU WILL HEAR THUNDER) I was just this little emotional soap bubble, exploding in slow motion. I felt safe in my own skin for the first time in a really long time. This is part of trauma recovery – early on there is this identity crisis that starts in your bone marrow and extends outward into the far reaches of the galaxy and it takes a lot of effort to find yourself again in all that messy tissue and ice cold vastness. By some quirk of luck, I bumped into myself by chance when a friend made a joke about my being exactly her “tall, thin and emotionally unavailable” type. To which I shot back, “Babe, all I am is emotionally available. I am skin and emotions.” Boom. There I was, hiding in plain sight. So “Chin Up, Eyes Wide Open” is a song about my deciding to live that punch line and to just fully embody “skin and emotions” and to never mask that version of myself again. It’s a song about showing up for yourself in all your flawed, fucked up glory.” “Chin Up, Eyes Wide Open” is a follow up to “Light” released November 16, 2021. Brandon Phillips writes, “The electronic music that I daydream about, always has that Stooges layer of dirt and shop grease on it. That’s what I want.” Follow up to CYCLIST, the second album from Mensa Deathsquad released February 23, 2021. The cyclist was released with these notes: Brandon Phillips laid in a Kansas City hospital through the winter of 2019-2020 as his own album release (the unintentionally but appropriately named Patient Zero by his alt-synthwave band Mensa Deathsquad) passed by in the outside world. The first tracks from his debut album Patient Zero were premiering and, chained to a Luciferian merry-go-round of post-operative infections, Brandon strained through the pharmaceutical blur to do promotion for his record, emailing editors and scraping together the necessary pieces they needed. Since his surgery a month prior had gone sideways, and the time, energy, and planning for things like photos, videos and shows had been blown to smithereens, all he had left to look forward to beyond the IVs and the machines that go “ping” was this premiere and the street date. And then came COVID-19, like a rogue wave, to finish off the aimless Mensa Deathsquad sailboat. // But Brandon didn’t die and the boat didn’t sink. As the squall receded and the wanton eye of cruel gods passed over him, Brandon clung to the boat and swore revenge… // As the aphorism goes, “revenge is sweet” and thus Brandon and his Mensa Deathsquad will have the triumphant last laugh. Holed up in the spare bedroom of his apartment in Kansas City with an open wound in his abdomen, two surgical drains, and a severely compromised immune system, Brandon slipped back into his Mensa Deathsquad persona and began working on what would become his newest full length album, Cyclist. // The music that emerged from Brandon’s isolation and illness is a raw, nearly garage-rock take on darkwave and a perfect continuation of what he had begun on Patient Zero. Launching with the one-two punch of electro-punk noir in “Nothing Is Ever Enough” and “Therapist” before the pounding synth-rock of “The Disappointment Of The Christ,” Brandon fixes his furious eyes upon the provocative hypocrisy and violence that results from American Christianity. // A heady package of nudge nudges and intellectual ruminations (a trademark of Brandon’s past as a smartpunk upstart in such seminal bands as The Gadjits and Architects), Cyclist carries both a powerful music punch, a cultural rummaging through pop culture, and a run through his ever-evolving intellect. A knowing wink to fans of the seminal vampire flick The Lost Boy, “Join Us, Michael” is at once a seething appraisal of a world scorched and defiled by an older generation and a musical love letter to that pivotal ‘80s vampire movie soundtrack. “Leap Year (Chaos Reigns)” which began as a Siouxsie & the Banshees-inspired jam serves as Cyclist’s true north – the story of a drug-fueled wrinkle in time that brought the entire cyclical nature of existence into visibility one fateful night. “End Of The World” is dance-floor nihilist electro-rock blending angular post-punk guitar with the nostalgia of neon synths and electroclash drums, while “Takes One To Know One” slowly approaches the thunderstorm of toxic relationships, soulful vocals, tech house kick drums, and grimey-as-hell bass. // As a fitting conclusion to the tour de force through his psyche, Cyclist closes with yet another two-track charge, the swaggering post-electro sneer at celebrity social media, “Famous” followed by the throbbing Giorgio Moroder-via-Tech House cover of Iggy Pop’s classic “The Passenger.” “It was important to me that I cover ‘The Passenger’ as a letter of intent.” Says Brandon. “The electronic music that I daydream about, always has that Stooges layer of dirt and shop grease on it. That’s what I wanted for Cyclist.” The result is a triumph over the storm, as Mensa Deathsquad sails, unvanquished, into victory. More info at: https://mensadeathsquad.bandcamp.com or https://facebook.com/MensaDeathsquad.%5D
11:53 – Pledge Break #6
This is WMM’s Fall Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis
KKFI’s Mission Statement: KKFI is the Kansas City area’s independent, noncommercial community radio station. We seek to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media.
KKFI’s Philosophy Statement: KKFI is committed to diversity in programming and discourse and seeks to create a climate of mutual respect and collaboration among volunteers and staff.
Marion Merritt, Betse Ellis, Thank You! Thank you to everyone who called in!
Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now” from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
Next week on Wednesday, October 26 – Marion Merritt & Nico Gray will be back to c0-host with me for our 2022 Fall On-Air Fundraiser and we will continue with Part 2 of “The MidCoast Sound” playing many of our favorite recent MidCoastal Releases including: Arquesta Del Sol Soul, The Black Creatures, Black Light Animals, Julia Haile, Kevin Morby, Katy Guillen & The Girls, Amado Espinoza and more! Plus The Lone Stranger will play live in our 90.1 FM Studios.
Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information. Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
The MidCoast Sound w/ Amy Farrand + Lotta Williams + Chris Hudson + Marion Merritt + Betse Ellis
WMM celebrates The MidCoast Sound spinning some of our favorite recent MidCoastal Releases. We’ll play tracks from: Stephonne, Making Movies, LYXE, The Grisly Hand, Boxknife, The Creepy Jingles, Blackstarkids, Carswell & Hope with Katlyn Conroy, The Moose, Ivory Blue, Mensa Deathsquad, Monta At Odds, Dimension Bill Edwards, Amy Farrand & The Like, and Gullywasher. This is part-one of a two-week series.
At 11:00 Mark talks with Chris Hudson about his band Gullywasher and their new album GULLYWASHER COME TOMORROW YOU’LL FALL. Gullywasher is an acoustic, Folk, Americana Trio based in Kansas City formed by Chris Hudson on guitar & vocals, Sam Wright on banjo & vocals, and Matt Catalina on bass. Chris Hudson is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, musician, visual artist, and teacher at Kansas City Young Audiences. Gullywasher plays an Album Release Show, October 22, 2022, at 8:30 PM at The Kaw Valley Public House with Marty Bush and Natalie Prauser. More information at: http://www.gullywasherkc.comhttp://www.chrishudson.bandcamp.com
At 11:30 we talk with Amy Farrand and Lotta Williams. Amy Farrand plays bass, drums, lap steel, guitar and has been in the bands: American Catastrophe, Experimental Instrument Orchestra, Shotgun Idols, Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, Atlantic Fadeout, The Silver Maggies, and her current band: Amy Farrand and The Like. Lotta and Amy share details about The Reproductive Rights Benefit Show featuring Boxknife, and Amy Farrand & The Like, on Friday, October 21, at 9:00 PM at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, West Bottoms of KCMO. This a fundraiser for Missouri Abortion Access Fund. More info at: http://www.theshipkc.com
AND… all through the show Mark welcomes WMM’s longtime contributors, Marion Merritt of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business in KCMO, and Betse Ellis, critically acclaimed fiddler, singer, songwriter, and one half of Betse & Clarke as special guest co-hosts. Marion and Betse will encourage our wonderful listeners to call 888-931-0901, or visit http://www.kkfi.org to donate in support 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio during our Fall Fund Drive Show.
On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook & Steve Tulipana of Outer Reaches Fest + Mark Ronning and Les Bons Bons Electriques + Jade Green on “Rite of Joy”
“Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks” from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979 [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]
Emerance Ngunza – “Kama Sio Wewe” from: “Kama Sio Wewe” – Single / The Freedom Choir / September 18, 2022 [(English pronunciation: Comma See Oh Way Way ) “Kama Sio Wewe”. Emerance Ngunza is part of the multi-generational Afro-Beat band from Kansas City The Salvation Choir. A Congolese Rumba band from Congo and Tanzania based in Kansas City, Missouri. Led by choir masters Jeune Premier Silambien and his father, Pastor John Wilondja, the choir writes, records, and performs original gospel songs in Swahili. The Salvation Choir has performed in cities across the Midwest and are scheduled to perform at Boulevardia (Kansas City’s largest outdoor music festival) in June 2022. Their music is currently featured in a national advertising campaign on BBC’s Channel 4 and by the internationally renown record company Dust-to-Digital. The Salvation Choir also performs each Sunday in the gymnasium at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Independence, Missouri. Church services start at 10 AM and all are welcome. The services are in Swahili but a choir member will help translate in English. The Salvation Choir recently had one of their first shows at Reply Lounge in Lawrence, Sunday, March 27, 2022. Fally Afani Editor & Founder of I Heart Local Music wrote, “The band, comprised of a very talented and very large family, consisted of aunties, sisters, uncles, cousins, and children. The Congolese and Tanzanian band is based in Kansas City and performs in Swahili.” More info at: http://www.thesalvationchoir.com]
Robert Glasper – “Therapy pt. 2 [Feat. Mac Miller]” from: BLACK RADIO III SUPREME EDITION / Loma Vista – Concord / October 19, 2022 [4x Grammy and Emmy winning artist Robert Glasper releases “Therapy pt.2 Ft Mac Miller”, the first new single and visual from Black Radio III: Supreme Edition, an extended digital version of his heralded 2022 album Black Radio III. The Supreme Edition of Black Radio III, out Friday via Loma Vista Recordings / Concord, is a deluxe treatment of the third installment in the Black Radio series, based on the history changing album of the same name that celebrates a decade this year. Supercharged with a roster of R&B luminaries like PJ Morton, Estelle, India.Arie, Luke James, Bilal, BJ The Chicago Kid, and more who join an already incredible roster of artists, Black Radio III: Supreme Edition is a true reflection of Glasper’s relationships and respect in the music community. // Glasper reminisces on the making of “Therapy pt.2 Ft Mac Miller”: “I was working with my friend. We were just finishing up this specific beat. I immediately sent it to him, and literally within an hour he sent me back that track. Everything was on there—both verses the choruses—and you could tell it was not something that he had written before. He sang the chord changes. You can tell he really came up with that in the moment.” // The estate of Mac Miller shares: “We’re honored to support in sharing this beautiful song that Malcolm and Robert Glasper created together. The song is a reflection of the special friendship and musical gifts the two shared.”// This month, dubbed Robtober, marks the return of Robert Glasper’s legendary Blue Note residency at the iconic New York City jazz club featuring yasiin bey, Lalah Hathaway, Terrace Martin, Thundercat, Alex Isley, and more surprise guests. This week, Glasper celebrates the release of Black Radio III Supreme Edition with a livestream concert straight from the stage of his residency via Twitch. Tune in HERE at 8pm EST on Wednesday, October 12. Also tune in throughout the month of October, as Glasper will be offering fans behind-the-scenes access during his residency via a new series of Green Room live streams on Twitch. Follow Rob’s Twitch channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/robertglasper // In its first week, the 4th annual Robtober drew crowds that included Miguel, Terrace Martin, comedian Jeff Ross, and more, kicking off what is just the beginning of the month-long super event. The residency will include tributes to Herbie Hancock and the late Meghan Stabile, a celebrated jazz promoter and friend of Glasper, in addition to nights with Lalah Hathaway and Dinner Party sets with Terrace Martin. In previous years, Glasper’s residency was amplified with guest performances from the likes of Stevie Wonder, J Dilla, Jill Scott, Questlove, Common, Q-Tip, Anderson Paak, Kamasi Washington, H.E.R., Chris Rock, and more. This summer, Glasper programmed the inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa Valley—an offshoot of his annual residency—with headliners including Maxwell, Black Star, Snoop Dogg, Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Black Star, Dinner Party, Madlib, Corinne Bailey Rae and special guest host Dave Chappelle. The festival was glowingly covered in a VIBE cover story: “years of musical history and our ancestors’ wildest dreams rolled into one.” // Since its release, Black Radio III, which features a range of artists from Jennifer Hudson to Q-Tip, Killer Mike to Yebba, has landed on “Best of 2022 So Far” lists by Variety, OkayPlayer, and UPROXX. The release was launched with a special MLK Day performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (where Glasper will return on Thursday October 13 to sit in with The Roots), featuring Rhapsody, DJ Jazzy Jeff, BJ The Chicago Kid and Amir Sulaiman. An interview and Emmy-nominated performance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah followed, as well Glasper’s official partnership with Record Store Day and FAMS, the coalition of Black-owned independent US record stores, as an ambassador for A Day of Action. / Robert Glasper’s accolades are a testament to his career which spans over two decades and several genres. He boasts 4 Grammys, an Emmy, a Peabody, and made history with Black Radio (2012), the first album to debut in the top 10 of 4 different genre charts simultaneously: Hip Hop, R&B, Urban Contemporary, Jazz and Contemporary Jazz—his follow-up Black Radio 2. Next month, Glasper will take the stage at Sony Hall with yasiin bey and Bilal before celebrating his groundbreaking album’s 10th anniversary by at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on November 13—special guests yasiin bey, Lalah Hathaway, Bilal, and Meshell Ndegeocello will perform alongside a 32-piece orchestra of all Black musicians (the largest all-Black orchestra the venue has ever presented) led by Derrick Hodge. In addition to his musical releases, Glasper has composed scores for films and series like Peabody-winning Mr. SOUL! (2018), 2020’s The Photograph starring Issa Rae, Emmy-nominated documentary The Apollo, HBO’s 2022 series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and Peacock’s Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air.]
The Black Creatures – “A Perch of My Own Choosing” from: By Thy Hand / Center Cut Records / August 12, 2022 [This new album follows their last singles: “Criminal” on June 24, 2022, “Loud For Nothin” on May 27, 2022, and “True Friends” on September 17, 2021. Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal their background in opera, and their honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, that was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine. “Wild Echoes” was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). // From Center Cut Records Promo Materials: The Black Creatures make a point to blur the lines of genre while maintaining a recognizable cohesion; oftentimes blending contemporary styles of pop, hip-hop, dance, R&B, EDM and soul with cinematic and storytelling sci-fi/fantasy elements and themes. With the complex and creative approach The Black Creatures take to their art, a diverse audience regularly flocks to their gripping and intensely enchanting performances. // Representing the strange land of Kansas City, Missouri, Jade Green and Xavier began working together around the end of 2013 after meeting on-line talking about cosmetics. After Jade stumbled upon Xavier’s SoundCloud, they asked if they could put their vocals on it, and this led to future collaborations with no more than the intention to dabble. They couldn’t stop and eventually dubbed the project The Black Creatures. // Both Jade & Xavier write and perform vocals, with Xavier at the helm of production and composition. Jade Green has a vocal background in opera and a penchant for theatrics, and both are the foundation of their ever-evolving approach to writing and performing in The Black Creatures. While the instrumentals may set the tone for the show, Jade’s voice captivates the audience from beginning to end. Originally a violinist, Xavier unfurled into a producer and vocalist, maintaining the same air of intrigue and mystery throughout his compositions and performances in The Black Creatures. // The band released four singles and accompanying videos from The Wild Echoes. “Wretched (It Goes)” was featured in the NPR Live Sessions “Songs For Change” when The Black Creatures were selected as one of 12 national artists, and included in 90.9 The Bridge’s Top 100 singles along with their song “D’ummm” which was in heavy rotation in the winter. Nuance Magazine wrote, “The Black Creatures take their musical talents and use them in such a way that forces listeners to not only tap their foot to a catchy tune, but pay attention and feel something about what is going on in the world around them. Tackling fascism, police brutality, and the deep-rooted effects of slavery in a rhythmic fashion is one thing. Simultaneously making it a good listen is another. However, The Black Creatures make it happen.” // WMM’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.”]
[Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott.]
10:16 – Interview with Jade Green
Jade Green is one half of the band The Black Creatures with Xavier Martin. The two began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal their background in opera, and their honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker.
Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, that was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine.
The Black Creatures recently were the recipients of the Charlotte Street Foundation 2022 Generative Performing Artist Fellowship Grant and Award.
The Black Creatures released their new album By Thy Hand on Center Cut Records on August 12, 2022
Jade and Xavier just completed collaborative performances with Owen/Cox Dance Group and The Black Creatures and Director & Choreographer Christian A. Warner, for the amazing theatrical production, WHAT CAME WITH SPRING at Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO.
Owen Cox made the decision to create a new dance piece choreographed to the music of The Black Creatures. Director and Choreographer Christian A. Walker created this new 90-minute piece with 5 dancers and 10 tracks from The Black Creatures. The result is one of the most moving, beautiful, and important works of art created in Kansas City this year!
Christian A Walker
The Owen/Cox Dance Company has brought their music to new levels with Christian A. Warner’s impeccable storytelling through movement, putting Jade and Xavier into the tableau, into the scene, placing them into so many parts of the stage, while all the while allowing their live singing voices to ring clear and true.More info at: http://www.owencoxdance.org
Xavier Martin and Jade Green prove why they are proud recipients of the 2022 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award Fellows. And they make it look and sound so good. These are two of the hardest working artists in Kansas City, and they are both incredibly unassuming and human in their journey. Their music continues to tell the story of the world we are living in with social and political lyrics delivered by two young, incredibly gifted musical artists, who mirror each other so very beautifully. There is no equivalent to this band. The Black Creatures are a true original.
Jade Green joins us to share details about “Rite of Joy,” the first national mental heath conference to focus exclusively on mental health for people of color, from October 13 to October 15, 2022 at University of Missouri-Kansas City, in Pierson Auditorium, 5000 Holmes Street, KCMO. “Rite of Joy is a Poetry for Personal Power Mental Health and Arts wellness conference centered around Black/African American people and their experiences,” said Sheri Hall, Executive Director. “There is a mental health crisis among Black/African American people coming out of the coronavirus pandemic and its severe impact with job and business losses as well as the trauma of racial injustice.” Learn more at http://www.riteofjoy.com
Jade Green, (They/Them) Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Congratulations on your incredible work with “What Came With Spring” Owen/Cox dance Group’a world premiere choreographed by Christian Warner in collaboration with The Black Creatures.
Rite of Joy
Rite of Joy is First National Mental Health Conference Focused on People of Color in Kansas City Poetry for Personal Power Hosts Gathering October 13 through 15, 2022 at University of Missouri-Kansas City Pierson Auditorium, 5000 Holmes St., Kansas City, MO 64110
Kansas City, MO. — Poetry for Personal Power is hosting “Rite of Joy,” the first conference in the nation to focus exclusively on mental health for people of color from October 13 to October 15, 2022. “Rite of Joy is a Poetry for Personal Power Mental Health and Arts wellness conference centered around Black/African American people and their experiences,” said Sheri Hall, Executive Director. “There is a mental health crisis among Black/African American people coming out of the coronavirus pandemic and its severe impact with job and business losses as well as the trauma of racial injustice.”
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only one out of three Blacks/African Americans receive mental health services. “The prolonged trauma from racial injustice and historic inequity in access to mental health services created a mandate for this conference,” says Hall. Rite of Joy addresses this historic crisis and barriers to care such as the stigma associated with mental illness; distrust of the healthcare system; the lack of providers from racially diverse backgrounds who are culturally competent.
The conference is an opportunity for providers and practitioners to network, share best practices, and foster a culture of celebration. “We are excited to come together to celebrate what is strong with our communities, even as we unite to create more wellness for solid communities,” says Hall. “We are firm believers in nothing about us without us, and that is why this conference is built and directed by those it is intended to serve.”
To support the Black Community to decrease the disparities in mental health care, sponsoring this conference is one easy step a business or organization can take. Learn more at http://www.riteofjoy.com and choose a sponsorship level for supporting this conference. To register for the conference, visit RiteofJoy.com. Poetry for Personal Power is a 501(c)(3) nationally recognized expert on trauma and resilience incorporated and headquartered in Wyandotte County, Kansas. To learn more go to PoetryforPersonalPower.org.
This conference will convene practitioners and peers to create opportunities for diverse communities of practice to engage in collective learning, networking, examination of research, and evidenced best practices and outcomes. It will provide a space to build Health Partner support communities across the nation dedicated to promoting and developing sustained mental health and well-being within Black/ African American communities.
Rite of Joy is First National Mental Health Conference Focused on People of Color in Kansas City Poetry for Personal Power Hosts Gathering October 13 through 15, 2022 at University of Missouri-Kansas City Pierson Auditorium, 5000 Holmes St., KCMO, 64110
To register for the conference, visit RiteofJoy.com. Poetry for Personal Power is a 501(c)(3) nationally recognized expert on trauma and resilience incorporated and headquartered in Wyandotte County, Kansas. To learn more go to PoetryforPersonalPower.org.
The Black Creatures Discography
The Black Creatures “Mouth 2 Mouth” – Single, June 5, 2016. The Black Creatures released their debut album, See No Evil, Dec. 6, 2017. The Black Creatures “Elements” – Single, February 14, 2018 The Black Creatures “Silver Tears” – Single, June 19, 2018 with additional voices provided by AniMal (Ana Marcela Maldonado Morales) , Barbara Solomon , Kassidee, Quaranta , Adres Va Cortas The Black Creatures “Dare” (Gorillaz Cover)” – Single, August 8, 2019 The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – September 30, 2019 The Black Creatures – “Turn” – Single, October 30, 2019 The Black Creatures – “Quartz (Twilight)” – Single, November 13, 2019 The Black Creatures – “SHINE” – Single, December 11, 2019 The Black Creatures- “Ghost Bustin’ Dead Prezidentz” – Single, January 8, 2020 The Black Creatures – “To Whom It May Concern” – Single, January 22, 2020 The Black Creatures – “Arcade Love” – Single, February 5, 2020 The Black Creatures – “Run Up” – Single, February 19, 2020. The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – September 30, 2019 The Black Creatures – “wretched (it goes)”- Single, July 17, 2020 [remastered] [Center Cut] The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – Album (Remastered] August 28, 2020 [Center Cut] The Black Creatures – “Negative Zero” – Single/Video [Center Cut] The Black Creatures – “FRIENDS” – Single/Video on September 17, 2021 [Center Cut] The Black Creatures – “Loud For Nothin” Single/Video on May 27, 2022 The Black Creatures – “Criminal” Single/Video June 24, 2022 The Black Creatures – BY THY HAND – album August 12, 2022 BY THY HAND was produced by Xavier, and written by Jade and Xavier, and mastered by Collin Jordan (Xiu Xiu, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco) The Black Creatures will be releasing more singles and video.
The Black Creatures are a multifaceted music duo from Kansas City. Gleefully playing with elements of soul, hip-hop, and EDM, they’re here to tell interdimensional stories – through all-original, lyric-heavy songs and live performances. They share real stories from a less-explored perspective, while others are spun from fantastical vantage points. Influenced by neo-soul sirens like Erykah Badu and Alicia Keys, wordsmiths like Da Brat and Tech N9ne, and composers a la Daft Punk and Robert Glasper, they make music that defies genre and tradition in an effort to break generational curses. The idea is that society’s hexes, long bound up by the threads of anti-black repression, insincerity, and envy, can be uncrossed by doing what has not been done before. They aim to honor the past, celebrate the present, and transcend the expectations of the future by creating consistently unique songs, videos, images, and interactive live performances.
Jade Green also performs with: Arquesta Del SolSoul. a Kansas City-based music collective featuring 3 musicians who worked together in Hearts of Darkness. They call themselves: “African Futurist Genre Killerz from the Middle of the Map bringing an innovative multidimensional sound inspired by our founding musical ancestors to decolonize and time bend indigenous sounds of the Caribbean, Latin America, West, Central, and Southern Africa.” Members include Les Izmore, Jessica Ayala, Brad Williams, Jade Green, Chalis O’Neal, Irving Graham, Ernest Melton, Andres Ramirez, Fabian Prado.
Jade Green, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Rite of Joy is First National Mental Health Conference Focused on People of Color in Kansas City Poetry for Personal Power Hosts Gathering October 13 through 15, 2022 at University of Missouri-Kansas City Pierson Auditorium, 5000 Holmes St., KCMO, 64110
To register for the conference, visit RiteofJoy.com. Poetry for Personal Power is a 501(c)(3) nationally recognized expert on trauma and resilience incorporated and headquartered in Wyandotte County, Kansas. To learn more go to PoetryforPersonalPower.org.
10:33 – Underwriting
Mark Ronning on the October 12, 2022 edition of Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI 90.1 FM.
10:35 – Interview with Mark Ronning
Mark Ronning is a musician and organizer. He plays synthesizers in the band Mr. Golden Sun. He has also played synthesizers in the band The House, formerly called Finer Spirit. Mark also plays in the band Pool Culture. Mark also performs as a solo artist playing his modular synthesizer. Mark Ronning graduated from Kansas State University in 2017 where he studied Electrical Engineering and Music.
Mark Ronning joins us to share details about Les Bons Bons Electriques Vol. 2, Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM at Stray Cat Film Center, 1662 Broadway Blvd., KCMO. Les Bons Bons Electriques is an electronic arts performance event that features visual and musical artists from Kansas City.
Les Bons Bons Electriques’ curated artist list will be digitally slurring visuals and noises with visuals by Lahna Saccone, who will be haunting all TV’s and projectors, the musical paints and multi-sensory soundscapes of Coloratura, Matthew Lloyd’s modular synthesis, the dark and fantastical electronics of Collidescope, and the fractured circuit twists of electronic duo HXXS.
Mark Ronning thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Les Bons Bons Electriques’ curated artist list will be digitally slurring visuals and noises
Lahna Saccone, who will be haunting all TV’s and projectors,
Coloratura (Camry Ivory) with musical paints and multi-sensory soundscapes of,
Matthew Lloyd’s modular synthesis,
Collidescope with the dark and fantastical electronics
HXXS with fractured circuit twists from the electronic duo.
10:42
HXXS – “DEJA VU (feat. Thor Harris)” from: Channeler / Little Giant / August 6, 2021 [17-track album from Jeannie Colleene and Gavin Neves who make up the duo known as HXXS. Cutting their teeth in this harsh reality, HXXS has formed a strange mix of noise and deteriorating rebellion. Armed with a combination of drum machines, loopers, electric guitar, and banshee like squalls from both vocalists, HXXS brings the mania of electronic-noise, combines it with jazz-like swordsmanship and incantory spell craft. Taking pride in making things increasingly difficult on themselves by performing live cuts with ritual-like fever, while maintaining the unstable improvisation and manic haywire you might get from free-jazz which makes their live sets unpredictable. “Too unsettling and vivid to dismiss” HXXS “paints a picture of grievances that fester like open wounds.” Jeannie Colleene – Vocals, Drum Production, Production, Engineer // Gavin Neves – Vocals, Guitar, Production, Engineer // Rose Cherami – Temporal Frequencies & Additional Production on ‘Careful What U Wish 4’ // Moor Mother – Additional Vocals on ‘Careful What U Wish 4’ // Thor Harris – Woodwinds, Additional Percussion on ‘Convergent’, ‘Deja Vu’, ‘Thought Experiments’, ‘Channeler’ ‘Careful What U Wish 4’ // Jorge Arana – Drums on ‘Peter, Bjorn & John The Baptist’ // Zak Pischnotte – Saxophone on ‘Wormtongue’ // Martinez Hillard – Additional Vocal/Verse/Lyrics on ‘CHANNELER’ // Josh Mathews – Drums on ’10 & 2′ // A Man From The Past Speaking To The Future – Voice // Original photo by Shawn Brackbill // Art By Gavin Neves // Recorded by Jeannie Colleene & Gavin Neves // Mixed and Mastered by Gavin Neves // Recorded live at Good Intentions Paving Company // All songs written and performed by HXXS // Music and Lyrics by HXXS // HXXS is Jeannie Colleene and Gavin NevesThe KC-based duo has toured extensively in venues the size of living rooms to concert halls with acts like Liars, ADULT., and Kyp Malone. Also in 2020 HXXS released How the West Was Won on High Dive Records on June 18, 2021. How The West Was Won was originally released digitally on June 4, 2020, after HXXS was signed to High Dive Records this was released on vinyl. ]
[HXXS play Les Bons Bons Electriques Vol. 2, Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM at Stray Cat Film Center, 1662 Broadway Blvd., KCMO.]
Mark Ronning
10:47 – More Interview with Mark Ronning
We are talking with Mark Ronning about Les Bons Bons Electriques Vol. 2, Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM at Stray Cat Film Center, 1662 Broadway Blvd., KCMO. Les Bons Bons Electriques is an electronic arts performance event that features visual and musical artists from Kansas City.
Les Bons Bons Electriques’ curated artist list will be digitally slurring visuals and noises with visuals by Lahna Saccone, who will be haunting all TV’s and projectors, the musical paints and multi-sensory soundscapes of Coloratura, Matthew Lloyd’s modular synthesis, the dark and fantastical electronics of Collidescope, and the fractured circuit twists of electronic duo HXXS.
Mark Ronning thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Les Bons Bons Electriques is an electronic arts performance event that features visual and musical artists from KC. This time, everything is going further. On Halloween weekend, Les Bons Bons Electriques’ curated artist list will be digitally slurring visuals and noises in one of KC’s most eclectic and unique artist spaces: Stray Cat Film Center. The cast includes visuals by Lahna Saccone, who will be haunting all TV’s and projectors, the musical paints and multi-sensory soundscapes of Coloratura, Matthew Lloyd’s modular synthesis, the dark and fantastical electronics of Collidescope, and the fractured circuit twists of electronic duo HXXS.
Les Bons Bons Electriques is a series of immersive musical and visual electronic synthesis, Les Bons Bons Electriques was created to celebrate KC’s electronic artists. This is a hat-tip to mashing, breaking, bending, oscillating, and filtering sound and video.
Stray Cat Film Center was established in 2018, Stray Cat Film Center is Kansas City’s only non-profit microcinema!
Stray Cat is an artist-run, non-profit microcinema and community space located in Kansas City’s Crossroads neighborhood. Overseen by a crew of volunteer programmers, Stray Cat’s fifty-seat theater screens a diverse roster of wild and challenging films—everything from weepy French dramas to gory horror movies to films with a political consciousness.
Stray Cat is committed to being a safe and accessible venue for film education, live art, and community building. Accessibility information can be found here. The Stray Cat staff encourages patrons to reach out with any feedback or to request additional assistance via email or through any of our social media profiles.
STRAY CAT FILM CENTER // 1662 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108
Stray Cat Film Center is located in Kansas City, MO since August 2018. We are a fantastically funky DIY micro-cinema that makes provocative cinema accessible to underserved audiences in the Kansas City area. The theater hosts screenings of lost, forgotten or disenfranchised films, host educational programs and acts a screening room for prospective filmmakers. We are a platform for volunteer programing and bringing your voice to the silver screen. Wanna get involved or become a member? Contact us to become a Stray Cat Member today!
Mark Ronning Thanks for being with us on WMM.
Les Bons Bons Electriques Vol. 2, is Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM at Stray Cat Film Center, 1662 Broadway Blvd., KCMO. Les Bons Bons Electriques ifeatures visuals by Lahna Saccone,musical paints and multi-sensory soundscapes of Coloratura, Matthew Lloyd’s modular synthesis, the dark and fantastical electronics of Collidescope, and the fractured circuit twists of electronic duo HXXS.
Mark Ronning and Brenton Cook on the October 12, 2022 edition of Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI 90.1 FM.
10:56
Collidescope – “The Blackness” from: “The Blackness” – Single / Collidescope / October 13, 2022 [“The Blackness” is from the upcoming album “Clown Town” that Collidescope hopes to release in early 2023. Collidescope is essentially a duo that includes: Hadiza. on vocals, beats, & synthesizers; and Madison Monroe on guitar, bass, beats, synthesizers, mixing & vocals. On December 31, 2020 Collidescope released their 7-track album DEEP TAPE. DEEP TAPE includes Victoria Falls Stillwater on addition sound production and vocals, and was mixed and mastered by J.Ashley Miller. DEEP TAPE is a follow up the band’s debut EP SYSTEMIC released December 16, 2017. Hadiza also released her solo album SHADOW WEIGHT on Nov. 22, 2019. More info at: http://www.hadizaisnothere.bandcamp.com or http://www.acollidescope.bandcamp.com ]
[Collidescope play Les Bons Bons Electriques Vol. 2, Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM at Stray Cat Film Center, 1662 Broadway Blvd., KCMO.]
[Collidescope plays Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.]
11:00 – Station ID
Steve Tulipana, Dedric Moore, and Brenton Cook, on the October 12, 2022 edition of Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI 90.1 FM.
11:00 – Interview w/ Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana
KCK based musician and producer Dedric Moore is cofounder of the prolific band Monta At Odds who last year released their critically acclaimed 7th full length album PEAK OF ETERNAL LIGHT, on July 23, 2021. PEAK OF ETERNAL LIGHT was released on vinyl this year. On June 24, 2022 Monta At Odds releases, PEAKED – ALTERNATE TAKES AND REMIXES containing alternate ltakes with special covers, and remixes. Dedric is also one half of the band Static Phantoms a project of Dedric Moore and Krysztof Nemeth who have released three singles.
Dedric Moore, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Brenton Cook studied Computer Science at Missouri University of Science and Technology, in Rolla, Missouri, where he also had his own college radio show. Brenton has produced extensive compilations of area music for the Midwest Music Foundation. He formed the Kansas City independent music label, Haymaker Records in January 2014. The label has released multiple full length albums, for Monta At Odds, HMPH!, Be/Non, Jorge Arana Trio, Riala, Mysterious Clouds, Sie Lieben Maschinen, Schwervon!, and others on vinyl, cassette, CD, and 7 “. He has also produced two Haymaker compilation releases, called Fairgrounds. For the last 10 years, Brenton has been a co-curator of the Outer Reaches Fest shows.
Brenton Cook, Thanks for being with us today on WMM
Also joining us is Musician & Vocalist Steve Tulipana, of the bands Season To Risk, Roman Numerals, Thee Water Mocassins, Men of Men, The Band That Fell To Earth, Co-Owner and Manager of recordBar, miniBar, and Lemonade Park..
Steve Tulipana thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Dedric, Brenton, & Steve are here to share details about Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO. The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA. The Saturday lineup features: Cheer Accident, Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance. XO Blackwater provides the video projection visuals for both evenings. More info at: http://www.outereachesfest.com
Outer Reaches is a music festival based in Kansas City that showcases ‘out there’, left-of-center artists pushing boundaries in their respective genre. Regional acts as well as national and international touring acts are a part of the festival’s spirit, celebrating the variety of freethinking music around the globe.
Originally called KC Psych Fest Outer Reaches started in 2012 to bring together outsider musical acts and celebrate experimental music in Kansas City. While still very psychedelic, the Outer Reaches Fest has grown to emphasize musical acts pushing boundaries.
Dedric Moore launched this festival in 2012. The idea grew out of the music he was creating with his Brother Delaney Moore at the HQ Artspace in KCK. Dedric is a member of the bands Monta At Odds, Mysterious Clouds, and Gemini Revolution.
The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.
11:07
Plack Blague
Plack Blague – “Body Talk” from: Night Trax / Ormolycka Records / May 12, 2017 [Since 2012 Lincoln, Nebraska’s Plack Blague has been releasing their own special brand of leather induced electronic body music. Plack Blague writes, “ Night Trax is Plack Blague’s latest soundtrack for your night out cruising around the town. The leather clad dance daddy brings you nine brand new throbbing tracks of sadistic Electronic Body Music full of demented Industrial eroticism. Take an electro walk on the wild side and Destroy The Identity!” Beats created at: House of S&M // Recorded/Mixed/Mastered at: Sean Joyce Audio in Lincoln, Nebraska. The released their 2-track EP Wear Your Body Out on September 4, 2020. Beats recorded at House of S&M 2019. Mixed & Masterd by: Sean Joyce at Metal Cat Studios 2020 // Producer: Plack Blague. Co-producer: Sean Joyce 2019-2020 on Lincoln, Nebraska. Plack Blague released the split 7” single: COCK E.S.P. . Dangerous on September 3, 2021 on Wade Corps Records. The Plack Blague track dangerous is only available digitally from this record at the moment. More info at: http://www.plackblague.com]
[Plack Blague plays Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.]
Night Stories
Night Stories – “Ghosts/The Dead Rise” from: Spooky Party Sounds from The City / Blood Gushing Records / October 5, 2018 [The Haunting Tale of Night Stories // Merging the menacing spirit of a John Carpenter score, the potent force of a Trent Reznor beat, and the macabre imagery of classic horror, unconventional musician/songwriter Greg Meister (the Wheelers, the Slats) and accomplished multi-instrumentalist and electronic composer Phil Young (Annalibera, Tires, the Wheelers) create a hair-raising multimedia experience that will make you wish Halloween lasted all year long. // Night Stories began where many spooky things do — in a dark, damp basement. Phil was taking a leak in the toilet behind Greg’s furnace when he suddenly heard the ominous swell of sinister organ music. His palms sweating, Phil frantically shook off, zipped up, and discovered to his relief that the unsettling sounds were not an indicator of his imminent demise at the hands of a psycho, but merely Greg tinkering around on the keys. // The sick pleasure Phil felt from his brief moment of terror led him to suggest the two longtime musical collaborators form a scary synth band to rattle unsuspecting teenagers in sleepy Midwest towns. Although Phil was partly joking, lifelong horror aficionado Greg was full steam ahead, arranging terrifying tracks faster than a scream queen can run up the stairs in a foolish attempt to escape the killer. // And so, Night Stories were on the loose. // The duo scooped up their first show just a week later when the talented, yet surprisingly unscary, Surf Zombies declined an offer to score the 1922 silent horror masterpiece, Nosferatu. Night Stories stepped up to compose and polish a 94-minute set in less than three weeks to deliver an electrifying performance to a packed house — and they’ve been thrilling awe-struck audiences ever since. // Experience the thrill for yourself with Night Stories’ debut release, Vol. 1, which features soundtracks to two gruesome films that exist only in their twisted minds. Night Stories emerge only in the month of October and on Friday the 13th throughout the year. So catch them live before they…catch you.]
[Night Stories play Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.]
Monta At Odds
Monta At Odds – “When Stars Grow Old (Single Mix)” from: Peaked – Alternative Takes and Remixes / The Record Machine / June 24, 2022 [Peaked – Alternative Takes and Remixes contains songs from Peak of Eternal Light in their alternate lifeforms, with special covers, and remixes. “When Stars Grow Old.” was released as a single from the band’s 7th full length album, Peak of Eternal Light, from The Record Machine. Dedric Moore describes the song , “it’s an android of a song, combining the human and the electronic into a sizzling new sonic creation. “When Stars Grow Old” is the sound of humanity visiting new worlds across the dark spaces of time, reconstructing the beat of music through memory and instinct. An ad hoc band plays to the sparkling, unfamiliar sky of a distant world. It’s the music of the future if formed from ghostly, discarded impressions of the past.” The band describes their music as: Mutant Disco, minimal synthwave, post-punk dance, Electronica, Indie, Space Rock, Ambient. Monta At Odds is a psychedelic, experimental indie/space rock/electronic collective based in KCK formed by brothers Dedric and Delaney Moore. Recently the band had added Mikal Shapriro and Teri Quinn and Lucas Behrens to the line up. Monta at Odds is: Dedric Moore on synths, programming; Mikal Shapiro on vocals; Matthew Heinrich on drums; Lucas Behrens on baritone guitar; Krysztof Nemeth on baritone guitar; and Kenn Jankowski on synths.Past supporting members: Alexander Thomas, Adam Davies, Zach Bozich, Aaron Osborne, Matthew Hayden, Mika Tanaya, Sterling Holman, Bree Plaster; Eric Bessenbacher, Ryan Shank, Jeremiah James, Samer Saba, Doug Hutchinson, Erin O’Neill, Sam Behrens, Sam Hughes, Tom Romero, Caleb Aldrich, John Aldrich. Monta At Odds released their 6th full length album Argentum Dreams on October 19, 2018. ]
[Monta At Odds plays Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Plack Blague, Night Stories, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.]
Steve Tulipana, Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook, and Mark Ronning on the October 12, 2022 edition of Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI 90.1 FM.
11:16 – Interview w/ Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana
We are talking with Dedric, Brenton, & Steve are here to share details about Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO. The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA. The Saturday lineup features: Cheer Accident, Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana Thank you for being with is on WMM.
XO Blackwater provides the video projection visuals for both evenings.
Monta at Odds is: Dedric Moore on synths, programming; Mikal Shapiro on vocals; Matthew Heinrich on drums; Lucas Behrens on baritone guitar; Krysztof Nemeth on baritone guitar; and Kenn Jankowski on synths.
Dedric Moore of the Kansas City super group, Monta At Odds. Their critically acclaimed album PEAK OF ETERNAL LIGHT has just been released on vinyl and Monta At Odds played an official vinyl release party on June 25 at RecordBar,.
On June 24, 2022 Monta At Odds releases, PEAKED – ALTERNATE TAKES AND REMIXES containing songs from PEAKED in their alternate lifeforms, with special covers, and remixes.
Sonic prognosticators Monta At Odds is a Kansas City combo led by the brothers Dedric and Delaney Moore. Dedric’s pulsing, melodic bass and Delaney’s artfully unhinged synthesizers frame the band’s central character, which is fleshed out by a talented cast of musicians and collaborators. The result is a heady sonic pool that has been inscrutably referred to as ‘Ummagumma meets Arthur Russell’s mutant disco at Vangelis’s house.’
Monta At Odds continues to push their alternate reality into streamlined consciousness. Minimal rhythms set to maximum noise, shoegaze guitar signals, slo-mo psychedelic darkwave, endless dub echo, and extended-cut warped disco. Live musicians manipulating time and space via knob turning, cymbal cracking, and pedal pushing as they interlock into hypnotic moments of heavenly bliss that seem to hold forever, captivating the mind.
11:20
Morgue VVitch – “Changeling” from: Lore EP / Morgue VVitch / February 22, 2022 [Kansas based Solo Artist/ Singer/ Songwriter/ Producer/ Sound Designer. The 3-track EP Lore was written, recorded and produced by Tara Saavedra. Engineered and mastered by Francisco Mendez. Additional engineering on track 3 “Lore” by Matthew Cassidy.]
[Morgue VVitch plays Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.]
Boxknife
Boxknife – “The Tower” from: “The Tower” – (Single) / Squarestab Records / May 20, 2022 [Debut Single from Boxknife, a queer dark-pop band from Kansas City made up of Stephanie Bankston, Britt Wild, Mia Morrow, and Brook Worlledge who formed from the ashes of the band Lovergurl. Keyboardist and vocalist, Stephanie Bankston was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She is a graduate of The University of Missouri. She moved abroad in her 20s, and lived in Seoul, Korea, where she played in a mostly female band called BaekMa (“White Horse”). Stephanie returned to Kansas City in the Fall 2015. Brook Worlledge,is a Kansas City native. She is the band’s drummer and she sings and writes songs for the band. Brook is a defender of the proletariat. Brook’s influences range from The B-52s, The Velvet Underground, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Brit Wild has played to Wick and the Tricks and other bands in Kansas City. Boxknife is releasing their debut EP, MANIFESTERING on July 29 with a special EP Release Show at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming, KCMO, West Bottoms, at 7:00 PM with The Creepy Jingles and Collidescope. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/boxknifemusic%5D
[Boxknife play Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Collidescope, Morgue VVitch, and LOQSA.]
LOQSA – “Green Lady” from: the future was better – version 1 / LOQSA / April 1, 2022 [Kansas City, Kansas based LOQSA offers atmospheric synths and music that will stick in your head for days with a unique blend of pop-laden hooks and sleek and chilled out charm. About “the future was better – version 1” LOQSA writes, “This is the first version of the album that I’ve yet to figure out what to do with. I would eventually love to put lyrics on it but I don’t think my vocals fit. Until then, it’s purely instrumental. LOQSA is Brody Lowe who plays synthesizers in Redder Moon.
[LOQSA play Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Collidescope, Morgue VVitch, and Boxknife.]
11:29 – Underwriting
11:31 – Interview with Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana
We are talking with Dedric, Brenton, & Steve are here to share details about Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO. The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA. The Saturday lineup features: Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana Thank you for being with is on WMM.
XO Blackwater provides the video projection visuals for both evenings.
CHEER-ACCIDENT – “Call From Andersonville” from: A New Ear 2022 / Cheer-Accident / March 1, 2022 [Chicago based band. Born during the first few seconds of 1981; many decades later: still here. Thymme from the Band writes, “While growing up, New Year’s Eve was always a special time for me: that was the one night of the year that I could count on my parents and both of my sisters to be gone until at least 2:00 in the morning, which meant, for my ever-growing sense of youthful anticipation, the opportunity to partake in the exquisite coupling of creative solitude with energizing externalities, myriad and insistent. (As the sounds of celebratory human ruckus at Times Square blared from the television, I would “make stuff up” on the piano in the adjacent room.) On one of these yearly occasions, I decided to invite my pals, Mike Greenlees and Jim Drummond, into my ritual. Mike brought his drums, Jim brought his stream of consciousness, and, suddenly (though we didn’t know it at the time), CHEER-ACCIDENT was born. (“Literally in the opening seconds of 1981…” so the mythology goes.) As somebody may have once said, “never let an origin story go to waste,” and so, fast forwarding several decades into the future, you’ll find us, once again, engaging in this perennial brainstorming session, this time in the form of neighborhood improv gatherings. (Fortunately, here in Chicago, you can throw a rock and hit somebody who knows what to do with sound in a spontaneous way, and many of these people live in rock-throwing proximity to our beloved CheerAx Basement.) When we restarted this tradition in 2015, I would unfailingly spend a fair bit of time in the first few weeks of the year, mixing select moments of improvisatory wonder, thinking that surely some of it would turn up on an album someday. Well, given that that’s still yet to happen, I decided to (in a timely manner) whittle 2022’s three-and-a half-hour session into a Bandcamp-exclusive album. Rather than having to wait for some nebulous time in the future for it to see the light of day, y’ll have access to it… right now. // This is the first of its kind. Hopefully in a series. // From a mixing standpoint, I wanted to approach this material with the same degree of whimsy and wrongness that permeated the original event. The aesthetic is anti-purist from both directions: ya don’t get a “genuine” document of an actual occurrence, nor do ya get the benefit of an ideal recording setup, where every instrument can luxuriate in their respective isolation. It’s the worst of both worlds! Since I was one of the improvisers in the original performance, I decided to carry that sense of adventure into the mixing and editing stages, not being overly concerned with the preciousness of “capturing” something sacred, but allowing myself the freedom to shoot out in whatever direction the current sonic landscape suggested. // Having said that, when I listen to the end result, it’s clear that the personalities of the people involved, and the atmosphere of the event, continue to shine through. In other words, the “after the fact” liberties taken (and there were many) serve as more of an extrapolation than a negation.” (2/22/22) // Mike Hagedorn- low brass, electronics, percussion, whistle, voices; Cory Bengtsen- synthesizers, turntable, percussion, piano; Angie Mead- piano, moog, nord, voice; Jeff Libersher- guitar, static, voice; Thymme Jones- drums, nord, marimba, cowbell, voice; Over the phone: Dylan Zavagno- garlic chopping/dinner prep; Daniel Bear- piano; Sandy Gordon- briefspeak; Recorded from 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM in the CheerAx Basement (Humboldt Park, Chicago) on New Year’s Day, 2022. Mixing, sequencing, mastering completed on 2sday, 2/22/22.]
[Cheer-Accident play Outer Reaches Festival on Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
Season To Risk – “Spasser” from: The Shattering / Owned and Operated Recordings / August 21, 2001 [Ben Ruth, David Silver, Duane Trower, Josh Newton, Steve Tulipana, Wade Williamson // “Floods, fires, and fickle major record label executives afflicted this incredible band. Lady Fame was merely flirtatious. Their third album, “Men Are Monkeys. Robots Win.” was manufactured out of phase. Their sound is the sum of surviving a rollercoaster of near fatal disasters; melodic, much darker than Punk, and informed by the brutal writings of Harry Crews. The band is the product of broad-shouldered, hard-working Kansas City, fueled on barbecue and locally brewed beer. Indeed, S2R persists.” – KentMcQueen (August 5, 2020) // From band’s website http://www.robotswin.com: Kansas City Noise Rock. Shortly after getting together at school in 1989, they won a ‘Battle of the Bands’ which brought them into the studio for the first time. The only copy of the resulting demo tape that was actually mailed out ended up at Red Decibel records in Minneapolis, MN, who as luck would have it, were starting to work in conjunction with Colombia records. Before they knew what hit them, the band was signed to Columbia records, recording more demos at Sony Studios in NYC, and then living in Chicago, IL to record their self-titled first album at Soundworks Studio. // The band spent years constantly touring throughout North America; returning briefly to their hometown of Kansas City, MO for a few days or weeks, sometimes on the road 8 – 10 months out of the year. Odds are high when you spend most of your time driving that vehicles will break down day after day, wheels will fall off or blow-out, drivers will fall asleep, engines (and people) will crack or burst into flames. The van once flipped over on a frozen highway in Minnesota. The 22-foot RV rolled backwards with no brakes down a hill in Seattle. They broke down all over the country, including on the Golden Gate bridge, and left a trail of dead vehicles in their wake. // They lived at Bisi Studios, NYC for the Summer of 1994 recording their 2nd album, In a Perfect World. The music was a darker, more complex collection of songs, and the album was received with rave reviews from fans, and puzzled looks from the people at Colombia. There was no place on the radio for music like this yet, and exactly what category in the music store was this CD supposed to be displayed in? By chance, someone at Sony was looking for a band to play during a scene in the film ‘Strange Days’ and within days, the band was in Hollywood, playing the song ‘Undone’ over and over again… For the next year, the band was in a different city every night, which led to total exhaustion by the end of a summer 1995 arena tour w/ Corrosion of Conformity and Monster Magnet, resulting in the cancellation of their European tour w/ CIV for the Winter of 1996. The band was dropped from Columbia. And bass player Paul Malinowski quit to join the KC band Shiner. // The band quickly took on bass player Josh Newton and got busywriting music. Pooling resources, they spent the next 2 years building Trainwreck Sound Studios in KCMO. As floors, walls & ceilings were built, new Season To Risk songs were written, members worked with their other bands, and recording started at Trainwreck, with Casket Lottery, The Farewell Bend, Dirtnap, Iron Rite Mangle, Gunfighter and the Pornhuskers. They built their dream studio from the ground up: a 15 x 20 control room, equipped with a 1974 24-channel Auditronics console and a 2-inch tape machine, a 30 x 50 foot tracking room with antique oak floors, and a huge apartment/rehearsal studio upstairs on the 2nd floor. In Oct 1998, shortly after the studio officially opened to the public, a sudden flash flood of the Missouri river totalled everything in the neighborhood in 15 minutes, destroying the building, their tour RV in the parking lot, their bank account and almost everything else. They’re lucky noone was killed, except then Josh Newton was also lost to Shiner. // Fortunately, the third album was finished prior to the flood, and the band was able to wade through the five-foot deep, freezing, flood waters in total darkness out of the building to safety. Unfortunately, they discovered that the album Men Are Monkeys, Robots Win (Thick Records) was printed ‘out-of-phase’, making the songs sound hollowed-out. The label never re-released the printed CD, but the corrected mix is available on iTunes. // Legendary punk rock drummer/producer Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Decendents) has always been a friend to Season To Risk, and has brought the band on tour with ALL several times. This led to the recording of the album, The Shattering, in 2000 with Jason Livermore and Bill Stevenson at the Blasting Room in Ft. Collins, CO, and its release on Owned & Operated records in 2001. The addition of the third and final bass player of S2R, Billy Smith of the band Dirtnap, brought the band full circle. The Shattering album is more diverse than ever, fusing elements from all of the band’s previous work and some new experimentation into twelve heavy, melodic songs.
Members of Season To RisK (Throughout the years)
Steve Tulipana (vocals, guitar, synthesizer) Founding Member: 1989 – present Bands: Roman Numerals, Pornhuskers, Unknown Pleasures, Water Moccasins
Billy Smith (bass, voice, guitar, synthesizer) Member: 2000 – present Bands: Dirtnap, Olympic Size, Unknown Pleasures, Roman Numerals
David Silver (drums, synthesizer, oscillator, samples) Member: 1994 – present Bands: Iron Rite Mangle, E.A.R.S.H.O.T., Antibodies, another.
Wade Williamson (guitar, keyboard) Member: 2000 – present Bands: Olympic Size, The Stella Link
Josh Newton (bass, voice, synthesizer) Member: 1995 – 1999 Bands: Shiner, Reggie & the Full Effect, Glazed Baby, Iron Rite Mangle, From Autumn To Ashes, ETID
Paul Malinowski (bass, voice, recording engineer) Founding Member: 1989 – 1995 Bands: Fire of 1666, Shiner, Big Sky Blue Earth
Tim Dow (drums) Recurring Member (live): 1990,1992, 1994 Bands: Shiner, Year of the Rabbit, the Joy Circuit
Jason Gerken (drums) Member: 1994 (studio) (In a Perfect World) Bands: Molly McGuire, Kingdom of Snakes, Gunfighter
[Season To Risk play Outer Reaches Festival on Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, w/ Cheer Accident, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
The Peculiar Pretzelman – “And The Birds Will Mark His Passing” from: Transmissions from the Electromagnetic Understream / The Peculiar Pretzelman / 4/13/18 [Their new album “One Day Even All Your Enemies Will Die: Chapter 1” is available through their website for download. Exclusive pictures of the recording process are included with your digital purchase. http://www.pretzelmen.com%5D
[The Peculiar Pretzelman play Outer Reaches Festival on Sat, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Cheer-Accident, Season to Risk, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
11:41 – Interview w/ Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana
We are talking with Dedric, Brenton, & Steve are here to share details about Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO.
The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.
The Saturday lineup features: Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana Thank you for being with is on WMM.
XO Blackwater provides the video projection visuals for both evenings.
The Black Mariah Theatre – “Mean To Be Mean” from: “Mean To Be Mean” – Single / The Black Mariah Theatre / October 5, 2022 [Twin sisters Analiese and Sophia make up the Kansas City based band, The Black Mariah Theater. Their sparkly witch-rock sound, as it’s been described, is genre-bending funky drum beats, jazzy guitar tones, and tell-it-like-it-is lyrics. Perfect for anyone who’s had a bad day, a lonely night or a broken heart. // Recorded and mastered by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios in Kansas City. // released On The Black Mariah Theater released the single “Broken Bone” was also recorded, mixed, and mastered at Element Recording Studios by Joel Nanos. alternative duo female vocals garage rock indie rock Kansas City]
[The Black Mariah Theatre play Outer Reaches Festival on Sat, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Cheer-Accident, Season to Risk, The Moose, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
Jacob E.chord – “Rnr” from: Lava Lion’s Reflections in Retrospect / Jacob E.chord / November 21, 2020 [Jacob E.chord released the single, “The Way 2” on February 18, 2022. // Jacob E.chord released the single, “Om, Yu! (or ‘Hologram of November Weather’)” on April 1, 2022. Music by Jacob E. Lyrics by James Shelton and Jacob E. Mixed by Jacob E. Mastered by Brandan Hoffman. More info at: http://www.jacobechord.bandcamp.com]
Jacob E.chord plays Outer Reaches Festival on Sat, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Cheer-Accident, Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzleman, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
She Speaks In Tongues – “MRS. JOHNSON” from: gloria GUITAR / SHE SPEAKS IN TONGUES / May 6, 2014 [Described by Sasha Geffen as “Best Feminist Rock n’ Roll Exorcism” SHE SPEAKS IN TONGUES is ARTIST/VOCALIST Kate McCandless. Armed with voice and looping pedal and a fierce, shamanic energy, SHE SPEAKS IN TONGUES lures with nostalgia – simultaneously embracing and questioning its comfort and authority with a dark, feminist bent. “Due to the music sampling in my work, I am currently only accepting DONATIONS for my music at this time. Please donate to VENMO or PAYPAL after listening or downloading to enable me to continue making my work and covering costs.” – The artist // “Blue” recorded at Emaciated Raiden (aka Dick Cheney’s Bunker), Chicago, Ill., 2013. Engineered and mixed by Steve Marek. Songs 2–6 recorded at CarterCo Recording, Chicago, Ill., 2013. Engineered and mixed by Jonah Kort. Additional mixing and effects engineering by Curtis Ruptash at The Wayback Machine, Chicago, Ill. Mastered by Jonathan Schenke. Cover photo by Reginald Lawrence. she speaks in tongues is: Kate McCandless—vocals, guitar, Eric Schmidt—guitar, Daniel Majid—bass guitar, Adrian Vigliano—drums, Nigel Harsch—samples. All songs performed by she speaks in tongues. All songs arranged by Kate McCandless.]
[She Speaks in Tongues plays Outer Reaches Festival on Sat, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Cheer-Accident, Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzleman, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
11:52 – Interview w/ Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana
We are talking with Dedric, Brenton, & Steve are here to share details about
The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA.
The Saturday lineup features: Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana Thank you for being with is on WMM.
XO Blackwater provides the video projection visuals for both evenings.
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana Thank you for being with is on WMM.
Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO. http://www.outereachesfest.com
11:55
The Moose – “Tr 10 0 10” from: Renaissance / Desert Animal Records / September 22, 2022 [new 11-track album from The Moose. On August 21, 2022 The Moose released the single “Macrowave”. On April 22, 2021 The Moose released SPATURE their 26-track double album. One of WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2021. The album contained music and lyrics all composed by The Moose. The album was engineered, mixed, and mastered by members Emma Klein and Jake Hilger. SPATURE is a sonic amalgamation of sunny peaks and dark chasms. Join The Moose as they experiment with the fantastical worlds of space and nature. From ‘Lava’ to ‘Mother Tree’, there is a song on this double LP for everyone.The Moose is a psychedelic rock/pop alternative band from Lee’s Summit / Kansas City, formed in 2016 by Jake Hilger, Alex Huffman, and Tyler Frey with Emma Klein and Parker Tozier joining in 2016. The Moose released their debut full length album, The First Real Encounter, on Dec. 21, 2018. The Moose joined us LIVE on WMM on July 10, 2019. The Moose also recently released SONGS OF SPATURE – LIVE FROM MYCO PLANET MUSHROOM FARM April 2022. More info at: http://www.musicofthemoose.com]
[The Moose play Outer Reaches Festival on Sat, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO, with Cheer-Accident, Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelman, The Black Mariah Theater, She Speaks in Tongues; Jacob E.chord and experimental dance project Composition of Dance.]
Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now” from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
Next week on Wednesday, October 19 – Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis will be back to c0-host with me for our 2022 Fall On-Air Fundraiser with special guests Amy Farrand and Chris Hudson. Please Tune in next week and call in during our show to show your support for Wednesday MidDay Medley on 90.1 FM – Kansas City Community Radio.
Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information. Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook & Steve Tulipana of Outer Reaches Fest + Mark Ronning and Les Bons Bons Electriques + Jade Green on “Rite of Joy”.
Mark spins more New & MidCoastal Releases from: The Black Creatures, HXXS (with Thor Harris), Monta At Odds, Emerance Ngunza, Season To Risk, The Moose, Collidescope, Boxknife, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues, Morgue VVitch, LOQSA, Plack Blague, Cheer-Accident, Night Stories, The Peculiar Pretzelmen, and Robert Glasper with Mac Miller.
Jade Green
At 10:15 AM we talk with Jade Green about “Rite of Joy,” the first national mental heath conference to focus exclusively on mental health for people of color, from October 13 to October 15, 2022 at University of Missouri-Kansas City, in Pierson Auditorium, 5000 Holmes Street, KCMO. “Rite of Joy is a Poetry for Personal Power Mental Health and Arts wellness conference centered around Black/African American people and their experiences,” said Sheri Hall, Executive Director. “There is a mental health crisis among Black/African American people coming out of the coronavirus pandemic and its severe impact with job and business losses as well as the trauma of racial injustice.” Learn more at http://www.riteofjoy.com
At 10:30 Mark Ronning joins us to share details about Les Bons Bons Electriques Vol. 2, Friday, October 28, at 7:00 PM at Stray Cat Film Center, 1662 Broadway Blvd., KCMO. Les Bons Bons Electriques is an electronic arts performance event that features visual and musical artists from Kansas City. Les Bons Bons Electriques’ curated artist list will be digitally slurring visuals and noises with visuals by Lahna Saccone, who will be haunting all TV’s and projectors, the musical paints and multi-sensory soundscapes of Coloratura, Matthew Lloyd’s modular synthesis, the dark and fantastical electronics of Collidescope, and the fractured circuit twists of electronic duo HXXS. More info at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/les-bons-bons-electriques-vol-2-tickets-439383817827
At 11:00 Mark welcomes Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana who share details about this year’s Outer Reaches Festival on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd. KCMO. Outer Reaches is a music festival based in Kansas City that showcases ‘out there’, left-of-center artists pushing boundaries in their respective genre. Regional acts as well as national and international touring acts are a part of the festival’s spirit, celebrating the variety of freethinking music around the globe. The Friday lineup includes: Plack Blague, Night Stories, Monta At Odds, Morgue VVitch, Collidescope, Boxknife, and LOQSA. The Saturday lineup features: Season to Risk, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Moose, The Black Mariah Theater, Jacob E.chord, She Speaks in Tongues; and experimental dance project Composition of Dance. XO Blackwater provides the video projection visuals for both evenings. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/events/1014930602508256
On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
FANNY: The first, and all-time best, all-girl rock band + Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, & Lisa McKenzie of Cher U.K.
“Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks” from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979 [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]
Other Americans – “I Don’t Want To Be This” from: Last Dance / Gran Calavera Records / October 10, 2022 [New album from Kansas City Super Group Other Americans released Paraniod Fiction on Gran Calavera Records on February 9, 2021. They released their 8-song EP OA2 on October 19, 2019. O.A. released their debut EP, Other Americans on June 29, 2018. Julie Berndsen on lead vocals, Adam Phillips on drums, Brandon Phillips on guitar, Michelle Bacon on bass. Produced by Brandon Philllips. Engineered by Joel Nanos. Recorded at Element Recording Studios in KC. . Hailing from KCMO and Lawrence, KS, the electro-alternative OTHER AMERICANS are comprised of members of The Architects, Latenight Callers, Frogpond, Radar State and Brandon Phillips and The Condition. The band first appeared on the scene in 2018 with a self-titled debut EP and a dynamic and explosive live show that combined 120 Minutes-inspired alterna-classicism with infectious, electro danceability. Other Americans is a virtual Midwestern supergroup. The cohorts first crossed paths in when a mutual friend and matchmaker introduced Brandon Phillips to vocalist Julie Berndsen “We were all looking for something new to do musically, recalls Brandon. “The way I remember it, a mutual friend (KC music producer Joel Nanos) told me that Julie was looking to start something new and I sent her a note about it. We had tacos to see if we liked each other.”]
Katy Guillen & The Drive
Katy Guillen & The Drive – “Set In Stone” from: ANOTHER ONE GAINED / Katy Guillen / August 19, 2022 [This was the first single from ANOTHER ONE GAINED the new album from Katy Guillen & The Drive produced by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Heartless Bastards, Ray LaMontagne) at Invisible Creature Studio in Los Angeles. This is brimming with vibrant textures, fuzzy electric guitars, and warm vocals. “Set In Stone” marked the beginning of a major life transition for Katy Guillen (pronounced Ghee-En). Written shortly after her longtime band announced their final show, she was struggling to find the next step in her career and personal life, while longing for a past sense of stability. “The song’s vigorous structure and deliberate rhythms convey that feeling of defeat and darkness, but with a sense of resolution and surrender through the guitar solo – a favorite moment on the record for me,” explains Katy. “While it started on shaky ground, coming out on the other side meant starting over and building something new.” ANOTHER ONE GAINED is a memoir of growth and reawakening by way of heart-wrenching transition and change – loss of her long-time band, end of a romantic relationship and finding herself amidst it all. “Set In Stone” premiered earlier on Guitar Girl Magazine. Katy Guillen & The Drive – Katy Gillen (drums) and Stephanie William (drums) – dropped their first EP, Dream Girl, right before the 2020 lockdown, leaving them without opportunities to perform live. In their basement rehearsal space, they spent the year learning home recording and pre-production techniques, gradually crafting a collection of songs from the ground up. The following April, they took the demos to producer/engineer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Heartless Bastards, Ray LaMontagne) at Invisible Creature Studio in Los Angeles. From their work with Ratterman emerged a batch of 15 songs. At the end of 2021, the band released the four-track Battles EP, offering listeners a darker, more simmering edge to their impelling indie-rock sound. Ten more would comprise Another One Gained, the full-length debut due August 19, 2022. Previously Katy Guillen & The Drive released BATTLES EP on December 17, 2021, Recorded at Invisible Creature Studio in Los Angeles, CA. Engineered and mixed by Kevin Ratterman. Produced by Kevin Ratterman, Katy Guillen, and Stephanie Williams. Mastered by Shelley Anderson at Black Lab Mastering in Louisville, KY. All songs written by Katy Guillen and Stephanie Williams. Katy Guillen on vocals, guitar, bass, & keyboarda. Stephanie Williams on drums & percussion. Additional keys and programming by Kevin Ratterman. Album design and photography by Morgan Jones. This is a follow up to Katy Guillen & The Drive’s 7-song EP, DREAM GIRL, released March 20, 2020. Katy Guillen & The Drive, is a project dedicated to Guillen’s songwriting that is founded on the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen & Stephanie Williams. With Guillen on guitar & vocals and Williams on drums, the two sculpt a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls. In 2012, Guillen & Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums: Katy Guillen & the Girls, Heavy Days, and Remember What You Knew Before. Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards. In these 6 years playing together, Guillen & Williams created a dynamic, sound informed by Guillen’s mesmerizing, emotive guitar style and poignant arrangements, and an equally captivating live show that showcased Williams’ technical, melodic style, resulting in a powerful on-stage chemistry. In addition to the compelling synergy formed by years of playing together, the two developed a method of working together on Guillen’s songs that only deepened their artistic connection, propelling them to forge a path to a new plateau in their music. KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of the artist’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots. Katy Guillen joined us on WMM on March 18, 2020. More info at: http://www.katyguillenmusic.com]
[Katy Guillen & The Drive open for FANNY for their one-night-only reunion concert from Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.]
Danger Mouse & Black Thought–”Aquamarine (feat. Michael Kiwanuka) from: Cheat Codes / BMG / August 12, 2022 [‘Cheat Codes’, the collaborative debut album from Danger Mouse and Black Thought is out August 12 via BMG. In addition to Michael Kiwanuka, the record features Kid Sister, A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, MF DOOM, Joey Bada$$, Russ, Conway the Machine and more. // Brian Joseph Burton was born July 29, 1977. He is known professionally as Danger Mouse is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z’s The Black Album with instrumentals from the Beatles’ The Beatles, also known as The White Album. In 2008, Esquire named him one of the “75 most influential people of the 21st century”. // He formed Gnarls Barkley with CeeLo Green and produced its albums St. Elsewhere and The Odd Couple. In 2009 he collaborated with James Mercer of the indie rock band The Shins to form the band Broken Bells. In addition, Burton worked with rapper MF Doom as Danger Doom and released the album The Mouse and the Mask. // As a producer Danger Mouse produced the second Gorillaz album, 2005’s Demon Days, as well as Beck’s 2008 record Modern Guilt and four albums with The Black Keys (Attack & Release, Brothers, El Camino and Turn Blue). In 2016, Danger Mouse produced, performed on and co-wrote songs for the eleventh studio album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers titled The Getaway. Danger Mouse has also produced and co-written albums by Norah Jones (Little Broken Hearts), Electric Guest (Mondo), Portugal. The Man (Evil Friends), Adele (25), and ASAP Rocky (At.Long.Last.ASAP). He has been nominated for 22 Grammy Awards and has won six. Danger Mouse has been nominated in the Producer of the Year category five times, and won the award in 2011. // Tarik Luqmaan Trotter was born October 3, 1973. He is better known as Black Thought, an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded as “one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time”, he is widely lauded for his live performance skills, continuous multisyllabic rhyme schemes, complex lyricism, double entendres, and politically aware lyrics. With the Roots, he is a singer and rapper on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, frequently playing games with Fallon and his guests.]
Scruffy & the Janitors – “In The Witch’s House” from: “In The Witch’s House” – Single / This Tall Records / October 1, 2022 [Formed in St Joseph, MO as a group of teenagers wanting to play Delta blues covers mixed with its own garage rock sound. A part of the rise of the local music scene in the 2010s, sharing bills with bands like Radkey, Dreamgirl and Eyelit, the band got a taste of fame with songs like “Shake It Off” and “Dirtleg” getting spins on Kansas City alt-rock radio. The band’s newest single “In The Witch’s House” is due to be released October 1, 2022. Band Member Teriq Newton told us that “The song is Volume 2 of our horror-themed, Grimm’s fairy tales inspired, single series which began in 2019 called Keepers of the Underdark, but you can just refer to the track as “In The Witch’s House”. The music was produced, mixed, and mastered by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios.]
Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul – “Haha” from: Topical Dancer / Bounty & Banana – DEEWEE – Because Music / March 4, 2018 [Topical Dancer is a studio album by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul and co-written and produced by Soulwax. Released on 4 March 2022 under the label Deewee, Topical Dancer is Adigéry and Pupul’s debut album as a duo. // Pupul and Adigéry are both based in Belgium with shared heritage from Martinique, a French island. They first met while working for the soundtrack of Belgica, a 2016 Belgian drama, after being invited by Soulwax, who also co-written and produced this album. The album is influenced by experiences of racial discrimination and sexual abuse. In the album, Adigéry sings in English, Dutch, Creole, and French. The album features Charlotte Adigéry’s mother, Christiane Adigéry and was released under the label Deewee, which the duo previously released three EPs on. “Thank You” is the lead single of Topical Dancer and the second single is “Blenda”. “Blenda” was released on November 4, 2021 along with an announcement of the album and its release date. The first track of the album “Bel Deewee” is a field recording of Adigéry entering the Deewee recording complex, which is also where they recorded the album, and calling through the intercom. // On the review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, Topical Dancer received an average score of 85, based on six reviews, indicating “universal acclaim”. Emily Mackay of The Observer called the album “banging fusion of funk, house and techno”. Paul Simpson of AllMusic claimed the album was “catchiest and most danceable songs Adigéry and Pupul have written to date” and that the lyrics “offer a lot of food for thought”. Eric Torres of Pitchfork called the album “riveting” and reported that the album had a “roguish charm”. Jasper Willems wrote on Beats Per Minute that Topical Dancer is “spiritual palette cleanser as much as it is a physical one” and “a record for literally anyone”. In a review written for NME, reviewer Max Pilley claimed that the album “arrived bursting with positive energy”.]
[Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul played the Empty Bottle in Chicago on Sept. 19 at 8:00 PM]
Ivory Blue – “Starlit Love Child” from: “Starlit Live Child’ – Single / Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing / October 28, 2022 [Ivory Blue signed a publishing deal with Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing of Atlanta GA on August 18, 2021. This company is managing Ivory and handling all of their publishing. Ivory Blue released their full length debut album COMPOUND LOVE on February 25, 2022. For COMPOUND LOVE Ivory served as songwriter, producer, vocalist and played all instruments with the exception of: Lester Estelle on drums, Klaartje Van Lue on piano, Craig Kew on bass, Lennon Bone on drums, and Marco Pascolini on pedal steel guitar. Nick Poortman served in mixing, with Kurt Festge who also served in mixing & Mastering. KC based singer songwriter and rock & roller, Ivory Blue is currently in the studio putting together a new full length 10-song album called “Compound Love” for release in 2022. Ivory Blue’s debut EP, Ready Get Set was released in June 2015 and had wide radio airplay on this show and multiple radio and television stations in Kansas City and across the country. In 2017 Ivory was among 1800 bands that competed in neXt2Rock. Ivory won local & regional challenges and advanced to nationals in Los Angeles to win the top prize. Ivory Blue has played Crossroads Music Festival, The Middle of the Map Festival, The Westport Roots Festival, the KCPT Screening of “Real Boy” at The Kansas City Public Library., and Kauffman Stadium. // Ivory Blue was born in 1986 in Peoria Illinois, as Devin James Miclettet. Ivory’s birth mother put them up for adoption at the age of four. Ivory speaks about how it was difficult to find trust in people offering their home to someone denied it for so long, Ivory lived with eight different families. before running away at 15. // Ivory has talked with us about how in their life they have turned to music to express pain. Ivory spent most of their childhood looking for a family. In 2010 Klaartje Van Lue saw Ivory performing in a YouTube video and contacted them, flying them Ivory KC, and adopting Ivory into the Van Lue family. During the past 10 years Ivory came out as “Non-Binary Transgender. // As a multi-instrumentalist, Ivory began refining their performance style, using digital looping pedals to stack harmonies and guitar parts live on stage, giving their solo shows the feel of a full band. In 2011, Ivory settled in Kansas City, MO and quickly began attracting an intense regional following for their strong vocals and incisive, deeply personal lyrics. // By 2013, IVORY BLUE was playing regularly in and around Kansas City and the first EP ‘Ready Get Set’ was released. in 2015. While the EP helped spread the word and got much attention from regional radio and TV stations, a big break would come in 2017. Ivory entered NeXt2Rock, a nationwide talent search with over 1800 artists/bands who applied to find fresh and promising rock artists. The top 5 national bands battled it off for the win in Los Angeles CA at the legendary Viper Room, with judges Scott Borchetta (BMLG), John Varvatos (fashion designer), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols Guitarist and Host of “Jonesy’s Jukebox”), Desmond Child (Musician, producer), Chris Lord-Alge (producer), Ivory Blue won over the judges and became the grand prize winner! Ivory Ivory won the contest and a one-year record deal with BMLG who re-released the song Ready Get Set from the 2015 EP. Ivory’s 2018 re-release of ‘Ready Get Set’ undauntedly received National and International airplay within weeks. For their upcoming album, IVORY BLUE is producing all the tracks with the exception of Drums and Bass. Ivory is currently working with Lester Estelle (Drummer for Kelly Clarkson), Craig Kew (Bass) KC, Kurt Festge (Mastering | Citizen Kane & Vilent Femmes) NC. and Nick Poortman (LA based Los Angeles based Producer, Engineer, Mixer, and Songwriter) Nick has worked alongside producers including Justin Gray, Gil Norton, Big Tank, and Greg Haver on sessions throughout the USA, UK, Europe, and New Zealand. // On August 18th 2021 Ivory Blue signed a publishing deal with Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing out of Atlanta GA. // Ivory released the singles: “Elite Dreamland,” on Feb. 17, 2021, “Half a Life” on Sept. 20, 2021. Ivory Blue released the video of “Family Table” directed by Mikal Shapiro, on August 21, 2021 and the audio track was released on September 7, 2021. Ivory Blue released the single “Good Changes” on Oct 26, 2021. Ivory Blue released the singles: “Heavy,” “Bad Weather,” “It Must Have Been Me,” “Compound Love,” and “The Start” on December 14, 2021. Ivory Blue joined us on WMM on November 10, September 15, and July 28, in 2021. More info at: https://linktr.ee/ivorybluemusic%5D
[Ivory Blue plays recordBar, recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Friday, October 7, at 7:00 PM with Steamboat Revival, and David Luther Band.]
10:29 – Underwriting
Cher U.K. – “College Song” from: She’s A Weird Little Snack / Red Decibel Records / 1993 [ Mike McCoy on lead vocals and guitar, Heather Grehan on bass, Lisa McKenzie on drums. Recorded By Dave Pinsky and Jake Wisely. This is the Cher U.K. lineup that put out numerous singles, two Red Decibel albums and wreaked havoc on stages across the country. “We spent far too much time in a smelly van playing every show we could while getting paid far too little. But it was a great adventure filled with wild, fun times and a lot of laughs, and we met so many wonderful people along the way,” says bassist Heather Grehan. An early Red Decibel (Minneapolis record label) press kit described Cher U.K. as: “3-way pop punk with the better sex in the majority, and boy are they tight! Kansas City homies of Red Dec-mates Season To Risk, Cher U.K. got indie singles, two complete babes, and a writhing maniac that pleads for abuse while singing and bashing a Gibson like an 8-year-old conniption fit. And they added the “U.K.” ‘cuz apparently there’s another band called “Cher.”]
[Cher U.K. plays 2 very special Reunion Shows: Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall 644 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS. and Saturday, October 8 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO Both shows also feature the bands: Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys.]
10:34 – Interview with Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, and Lisa McKenzie
Joining us live in our 90.1 FM Studios we welcome: guitarist & singer Mike McCoy, bassist Heather Grehan, and drummer Lisa McKenzie who play two special Cher U.K. Reunion Shows: Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, Kansas, and Saturday, October 8 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO with Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys. Cher U.K. was signed to Red Decibel in 1993. Their first album, SHE’S A WIERD LITTLE SNACK, was released on October 12, 1993, followed by GO-GO FISH, released in November 1994.
Mike McCoy grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas. After graduating High school he moved to Kansas City. After his gap year ended he left KC to attend Texas Christian University. After college Mike returned to KC to work at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Mike has been making music for more than 30 years, playing country-roots to punk to performance art and power pop. Mike founded the KC band Cher UK in the mid 1990s and fronted the Black Rabbits of Lawrence, Kansas, and the Austin, bands: American People and The Service Industry. Mike is the founder of The North vs. South Music Festival. In 2019 Mike McCoy’s Trompe-l’œil released “Eyein’ Lies” one of WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. Mike McCoy, lives in Austin Texas where he builds all kinds of cool things with his construction company.
Heather Grehan grew up in Kansas City. At 15 she started playing bass after buying her first bass from an ex-boyfriend for $100.00. In her early 20’s she played in the bands: Wizards of Kansas with John Paul Cofflin, and Andersons with Scott Hrabko. With Lisa McKenzie she formed two heavy metal bands called Force of Habit and Bitches Brew. In the early 1990s shoe moved to Los Angeles with her bast friend to work as a scenic artist for the film and television industy. After several earthquakes, the “LA Riots” and the Screen Writer’s Union strike that shut down film production, she was persuaded to move back to KC from Lisa McKenzie and soon found herself in the newly formed “trio version” of Cher U.K. that many refer to as the “classic line up” of the band. In 1996 she became a merchant marine sailor and worked herself from deckhand to Captain. For 18 years she worked on ships all over the world, making her way of life in a field work where women were out number by hundreds of men. Heather lives in Gig Harbor, Washington.
Lisa McKenzie went to Blue Springs Senior High and Studied Cultural Anthropology at UMKC. After her early heavy-metal bands with Heather, she became drummer for Cher UK and with the band was signed to Red Decibel Records, released numerous singles, two Red Decibel albums and wreaked havoc on stages across the country. After Cher UK ended, Lisa helped to form the Grand Marquis in 1998 where she played and recorded with the band for 18 years releasing multiple albums and eps and winning Best “Blues” band one year, and best “Jazz” band the next, from The Pitch Music Awards. Lisa plays drums for Damien Gunn and the Magnificent Bang Bangs. She has also played for the bands: Bantaba, Sycamore Grove, and Alex Abramovitz and His Swing’n Kansas City Jazz Band. Heather is a mom who also works at a Motessori School serving students from age 12 to 18, where teaches Humanities, and French, and runs the Equine Program at their school.
Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, and Lisa McKenzie, Thanks for being with us on WMM.
The Cher U.K. reunion has special significance, as this group lineup hasn’t played together since 1996.
Cher U.K. was signed to Red Decibel in 1993 after Brent Ashley, head of promotions at Red Decibel saw them in Kansas City. Their first album, She’s a Weird Little Snack, was released on October 12, 1993, followed by Go-Go Fish, released in November 1994. While the albums featured such classics as “College Song,” “Go-Go,” and “Kibbles’n’ Bitz,” it’s the live shows that always attracted the most attention. Angie Scharnhorst of the Kansas City Star probably described them best as a “neo-punk trio combining screaming, almost disembodied vocals with staccato rhythms, and a guitar that seems to throb with a life of its own.”
“We spent far too much time in a smelly van playing every show we could while getting paid far too little. But it was a great adventure filled with wild, fun times and a lot of laughs, and we met so many wonderful people along the way,” says Grehan.
10:46
Cher U.K. – “A Boner Request” from: She’s A Weird Little Snack / Red Decibel Records / 1993 [ Mike McCoy on lead vocals and guitar, Heather Grehan on bass, Lisa McKenzie on drums. Recorded By Dave Pinsky and Jake Wisely. This is the Cher U.K. lineup that put out numerous singles, two Red Decibel albums and wreaked havoc on stages across the country. “We spent far too much time in a smelly van playing every show we could while getting paid far too little. But it was a great adventure filled with wild, fun times and a lot of laughs, and we met so many wonderful people along the way,” says bassist Heather Grehan. An early Red Decibel (Minneapolis record label) press kit described Cher U.K. as: “3-way pop punk with the better sex in the majority, and boy are they tight! Kansas City homies of Red Dec-mates Season To Risk, Cher U.K. got indie singles, two complete babes, and a writhing maniac that pleads for abuse while singing and bashing a Gibson like an 8-year-old conniption fit. And they added the “U.K.” ‘cuz apparently there’s another band called “Cher.”]
[Cher U.K. plays 2 very special Reunion Shows: Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall 644 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS. and Saturday, October 8 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO Both shows also feature the bands: Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys.]
10:47 – More Interview with Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, and Lisa McKenzie
Joining us live in our 90.1 FM Studios we welcome: guitarist & singer Mike McCoy, bassist Heather Grehan, and drummer Lisa McKenzie who play two special Cher U.K. Reunion Shows: Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, Kansas, and Saturday, October 8 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO with Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys. Cher U.K. was signed to Red Decibel in 1993. Their first album, SHE’S A WIERD LITTLE SNACK, was released on October 12, 1993, followed by GO-GO FISH, released in November 1994.
Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, and Lisa McKenzie, Thanks for being with us on WMM.
Mike McCoy’s Trompe-l’œil released the album Eyein’ Lies on July 19, 2019. Formed in Austin, Texas in August 2015, members include: Andrew Duplantis, Jacob Schulze, Travis Garaffa, David Garrett, and Mike McCoy.
From Press Release Materials:
Kansas native and Austin resident Mike McCoy is a man for all seasons. A gifted singer, composer, songwriter, social commentator and conceptual artist from the heartland, McCoy has been making music for more than 30 years, incorporating a whiplash array of styles and genres from country-roots to punk to performance art and power pop. All overlap in McCoy’s world. Mike founded the KC power-pop band Cher UK (Cargo/FistPuppet) & (Red Decibel/Columbia Records) in the mid 1990s and has fronted other quirky conceptual bands such as the Black Rabbits of Lawrence, Kansas, and two Austin critics’ darlings, the American People and the Service Industry.
Mike is also a prolific solo artist . A religion studies and art-history graduate of TCU, fund-raising researcher at Yale, a carpenter/designer in Austin, an online “word contortionist” and a former museum administrator in KC, McCoy’s truest calling is the crafting of songs. He’s a hayseed intellectual-philosopher whose compositions strike the right balance of plaintive and high-brow, sardonic and humble. McCoy brings a singular, poet’s sensibility to the music equation. He writes about a wonderful waitress in a rundown town who has the power to make or break your stay (“if you treat her well, you might get what you want…”), about an immigrant woman whose dreams of America lead her to a lonesome life as a domestic (“feather duster I believe her, no one sees the way I see her…”), about American apathy and how winter is a submarine (“winter is a submarine — I lay inside and I no longer dream…”).
In most of McCoy’s songs, there is something deeply wistful, despite the freighted narratives and their dizzying wordplay. He’s a serious guy and he writes about serious stuff. Yet in the lyrics and in the spaces between words and melody, you can almost hear that lone whistle blow in the dark of a heartlands night; you hear a style of writing that combines political commentary and snarky populism with an inextinguishable belief that somehow, with the right blend of gumption and fortitude, we humans might just pull off something good. He’s equal parts punk-rock-Americana — a strange brew of Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, John Mellencamp, Ramones and Burl Ives. But no matter in what incarnation you encounter Mike McCoy, you’ll find he’s driven by the same basic themes: ideas and ideals of humanity, principles and hopes, outrage and indignation, absurdism and dadaism, puns and poetry and parody, with a large dose of red-white-and-blue wishful thinking.
Mike has worked as a fund-raising researcher at Yale, and a carpenter and designer in Austin.
On May 6, 2020 we interviewed Mike McCoy with Producer Howie Beno In 2004 Mike founded the North vs. South Music Festival, a bi-annual, bi-polar music festival designed to showcase independent rock along the I-35 corridor.
On October 17, 2012 Mike McCoy appeared on WMM to promote the Cher UK EP release of Boy Named Sue, released October 20, 2012 with the single. “Little Blue Soldier.” with Mike McCoy on Guitar & Vox, Mark Reynolds on Bass, and Bernie Dugan on Drums.
Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, and Lisa McKenzie, Thanks for being with us on WMM.
Cher U.K. plays 2 very special Reunion Shows: Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall 644 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS. and Saturday, October 8 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO Both shows also feature the bands: Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys.
10:59
Cher U.K. – “Disaster” from: She’s A Weird Little Snack / Red Decibel Records / 1993 [ Mike McCoy on lead vocals and guitar, Heather Grehan on bass, Lisa McKenzie on drums. Recorded By Dave Pinsky and Jake Wisely. This is the Cher U.K. lineup that put out numerous singles, two Red Decibel albums and wreaked havoc on stages across the country. “We spent far too much time in a smelly van playing every show we could while getting paid far too little. But it was a great adventure filled with wild, fun times and a lot of laughs, and we met so many wonderful people along the way,” says bassist Heather Grehan. An early Red Decibel (Minneapolis record label) press kit described Cher U.K. as: “3-way pop punk with the better sex in the majority, and boy are they tight! Kansas City homies of Red Dec-mates Season To Risk, Cher U.K. got indie singles, two complete babes, and a writhing maniac that pleads for abuse while singing and bashing a Gibson like an 8-year-old conniption fit. And they added the “U.K.” ‘cuz apparently there’s another band called “Cher.”]
[Cher U.K. plays 2 very special Reunion Shows: Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall 644 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS. and Saturday, October 8 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO Both shows also feature the bands: Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys.]
11:02 – Station ID
Mike McCoy’s Trompe-l’œil – “The Hard Way” from: Eyein’ Lies / Mike McCoy’s Trompe-l’œil / July 19, 2019 [Formed in Austin, Texas in August 2015, members include: Andrew Duplantis, Jacob Schulze, Travis Garaffa, David Garrett, and Mike McCoy. Kansas native and Austin resident Mike McCoy is a man for all seasons. A gifted singer, composer, songwriter, social commentator and conceptual artist from the heartland, McCoy has been making music for more than 30 years, incorporating a whiplash array of styles and genres from country-roots to punk to performance art and power pop. All overlap in McCoy’s world. Mike founded the KC power-pop band Cher UK (Cargo/FistPuppet) & (Red Decibel/Columbia Records) in the mid 1990s and has fronted other quirky conceptual bands such as the Black Rabbits of Lawrence, Kansas, and two Austin critics’ darlings, the American People and the Service Industry. Mike is also a prolific solo artist . A religion studies and art-history graduate of TCU, fund-raising researcher at Yale, a carpenter/designer in Austin, an online “word contortionist” and a former museum administrator in KC, McCoy’s truest calling is the crafting of songs. He’s a hayseed intellectual-philosopher whose compositions strike the right balance of plaintive and high-brow, sardonic and humble. McCoy brings a singular, poet’s sensibility to the music equation. He writes about a wonderful waitress in a rundown town who has the power to make or break your stay (“if you treat her well, you might get what you want…”), about an immigrant woman whose dreams of America lead her to a lonesome life as a domestic (“feather duster I believe her, no one sees the way I see her…”), about American apathy and how winter is a submarine (“winter is a submarine — I lay inside and I no longer dream…”). In most of McCoy’s songs, there is something deeply wistful, despite the freighted narratives and their dizzying wordplay. He’s a serious guy and he writes about serious stuff. Yet in the lyrics and in the spaces between words and melody, you can almost hear that lone whistle blow in the dark of a heartlands night; you hear a style of writing that combines political commentary and snarky populism with an inextinguishable belief that somehow, with the right blend of gumption and fortitude, we humans might just pull off something good. He’s equal parts punk-rock-Americana — a strange brew of Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, John Mellencamp, Ramones and Burl Ives. But no matter in what incarnation you encounter Mike McCoy, you’ll find he’s driven by the same basic themes: ideas and ideals of humanity, principles and hopes, outrage and indignation, absurdism and dadaism, puns and poetry and parody, with a large dose of red-white-and-blue wishful thinking.]
11:07
Fanny – “Soul Child” from: Charity Ball / Reprise / July 1971 [Charity Ball is the second studio album by the American rock group Fanny, released in July 1971 on Reprise. The album’s title track became the group’s first top 40 hit. // The album was, like the previous year’s debut Fanny, produced by Richard Perry. The songs were all written by the group, with the exception of a cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “Special Care”. The group experimented with a wider range of musical styles than the first album, including ballads and funk in addition to straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. The photograph of the band used in the front cover artwork was taken by Candice Bergen. // Music critic Robert Christgau wrote, “This record exploits [drummer Alice de Buhr’s] chops and presence, sinking the pop harmonies in a harder, funkier frame. The title tune is a pure raver that oughtabeahit, but almost every song has something–or several somethings–to recommend it.” // In a retrospective review, AllMusic’s Mark Deming said that Charity Ball, in comparison with the groups first album, is a “stronger, more confident, and more enjoyable disc,” writing that “the push and pull between June Millington’s tough guitar figures and Nickey Barclay’s rollicking keyboards yield more exciting results here.” He felt that the band has better songs on Charity Ball, but that the production is “sometimes a bit more polished than this music needed.” // The album reached No. 150 on the Billboard 200. The title track was released as a single, reaching No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100]
[Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.]
Jackie Nugent, Brie Darling-Howard, Nita Norris, and Patti Quatro
11:11 – Interview with: Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, Mia Huggins, Nita Norris, and Jackie Nugent
In a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone, David Bowie revealed his great respect for the band Fanny writing: “They were extraordinary: they wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody’s ever mentioned them. They’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever; it just wasn’t their time.” He continued… “”One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace. And that is Fanny… Revivify Fanny and I will feel that my work is done.”
FANNY was the first all-female rock act to record an entire album for a major record label, and in fact recorded and released five albums for major labels. FANNY was the first all-female rock act to rise to real prominence in the US and Europe. Acknowledged by both the press and their many fans as an awesome live act – in the words of Steve Peacock, a top UK music journalist of the era, “if you close your eyes, it’s like listening to the Stones” – FANNY toured tirelessly for up to nine months of every year. In a career that stretched from 1970 to 1975, they had a string of hit singles and also played on the studio recordings of some legendary artists. In addition to their many live gigs, they performed on top music and variety television shows of the time, including The Old Grey Whistle Test, the Sonny and Cher Show, American Bandstand and The Beat Club, Germany’s most famous band program.
The Film Society KC in partnership with Midwest Music Foundation and the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City presented a screening of their documentary, FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK at Screenland Armour, 408 Armour Rd, North Kansas City, MO LAST NIGHT on Oct 4, with Fanny band members, June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, and Patti Quattro in attendance! AND TONIGHT is a one-night-only reunion concert from Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.
Joining us live in our 90.1 FM studios are members of Fanny: Brie Howard-Darling, and Patti Quatro, along with Mia Huggins who will be playing bass for the bad tonight at recordBar
Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins, thanks for being with us on WMM.
Also with us are two of the women in Kansas City who helped make this event happen, Nita Norris, and Jackie Nugent, thanks for being with us on WMM.
Brie Howard-Darling (also known and credited as Brie Darling, Brie Howard, Brie Brandt, and Brie Berry) is an American drummer, singer, percussionist, songwriter, artist, cake designer, and actress of Filipino and European descent. She has recorded with such recording artists as Carole King, Ringo Starr, ELO, Keith Moon, The Temptations, Jimmy Buffett, Melissa Manchester, Janiva Magness, and Glen Campbell. She has toured extensively with Martin Mull, Kiki Dee, Jack Wagner, Bruce Willis, Robert Palmer, Carole King, Jimmy Buffett, Robbie Nevil, and Duran Duran. She has been a band member of Fanny, American Girls, Boxing Gandhis, Fanny Walked The Earth, and Cherie Currie & Brie Darling. // Howard-Darling was born (August 9, 1949) in Stockton, California and raised in Folsom, California, a suburb of Sacramento, California to parents Elmo Robert Berry and Angeles Calamaya. Darling is a sixth generation Californian. // She began performing professionally at fourteen years old with the band, The Kee-Notes, and became a member of the Sacramento Musician’s Union in 1964. In 1965 the band recorded three songs for Esar Records, making Darling one of the first female rock drummers to record rock music. She credits her younger and older brothers as her greatest early influences, as they were both musicians, and there was a drum kit in their living room where she could practice. In 1966, she joined the all-female Sacramento band The Svelts, which would later evolve into Fanny, becoming the first all-woman band to be signed to a major record label to record a full album. // In 1967, Howard-Darling married Mike Brandt. She gave birth to her daughter Brandi Brandt in 1968. // Howard-Darling joined former band members in Los Angeles in 1970, forming a short-lived lineup of the all-female band Fanny as the lead singer. A decision was made to change the number of band members from five members to four creating more of a Fab Four image. She left the band and pursued other musical ventures. // Howard-Darling rejoined Fanny in 1974, recording Rock and Roll Survivors released on Casablanca Records. The first single, “I’ve Had It” reached #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second single, Butter Boy, spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #29 on April 5, 1975. Fanny was the first all-woman rock band to release an album on a major label. After a U.S. tour promoting the album, Darling (Brie Howard) left the band. // In 2018, original band members Jean Millington (bass), June Millington (lead guitar), and Howard-Darling reunited as Fanny Walked the Earth, releasing an eponymous album, their first recording together in more than 40 years. It features several female musicians who have credited Fanny with helping open the door for them decades ago, among them the Runaways’ Cherie Currie, the Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Vicki and Debbi Peterson, veteran rock singer and musician Genya Ravan and former Fanny member Patti Quatro, the sister of Suzi Quatro. // American Girls (band) were an American all-female band based in California, United States. The band consisted of Howard-Darling (vocals, drums, percussion), Hilary Shepard (vocals, percussion), DB Tressler (guitar), Miiko Watanabe (bass, backing vocals) and Teresa James (keyboards, backing vocals). Original members included Louise Goffin (rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals) and Daryl Hannah (keyboards). // American Girls released one album, in 1986 titled American Girls. The video for their single “American Girl” received some airplay on MTV. Their song “Androgynous” appeared in the 1986 film Tough Guys and the song “American Girl” appeared on the soundtrack for Out of Bounds. They also opened for The Lords of the New Church on 1986 tour dates. // Miles Copeland III (brother of the Police’s Stewart Copeland) was the band’s manager. // Aside from Howard-Darling’s own music projects and bands, she has toured extensively with other successful recording artists, most notably with Carole King, Jimmy Buffett and Robert Palmer. Starting in 1990, she toured with King as a percussionist and vocalist for five years in the U.S. and internationally. Darling performed with Jimmy Buffett on five tours over a span of five years and with Robert Palmer for two U.S. tours and one international tour. // Howard-Darling and her husband, Dave Darling are the founders of Boxing Gandhis which was signed to the record label, Mesa Blue Moon in 1993. The band has recorded three albums. They climbed the charts with a #5 hit on the Billboard Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) charts with the song, If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin’) off their debut album after touring the US as opening act for the Dave Matthews Band and Big Head Todd and the Monsters.[9] The song’s music video also garnered a Billboard Music Award for “Video of the Year” which was directed by Brian Lockwood (director). If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin’) was featured in Episode 3 of the 2011 season of the HBO Original Series True Blood. // In 2016, Howard-Darling joined a live performance by her former Fanny bandmates June and Jean Millington. This inspired the formation of a new band called Fanny Walked the Earth. An album of all-new songs with the same title was released in March 2018. The album marks the first time June, Jean, and Brie all recorded at the same time in over 40 years. // Currie and Howard-Darling (credited as Brie Darling) recorded The Motivator, a full-length album that was released on August 2, 2019 on Blue Elan Records.
Patti Quatro
When she was only 17 years old, Patti Quatro formed the all female band, The Pleasure Seekers who released their first single in 1964. The Pleasure Seekers were basically a Quatro family project: Bandmembers in their initial incarnation were Patti Quatro (guitar), Suzi Quatro (vocals and bass guitar), Nancy Ball (drums), Mary Lou Ball (guitar), and Diane Baker (piano). Baker’s father was in the jazz band led by Art Quatro, who was the father of the Quatro sisters. Diane Baker was later replaced on piano by another sister, Arlene Quatro; while Nan Ball left the band in late 1965 and was replaced on drums by Darline Arnone. // The first single by the Pleasure Seekers came out in 1964 on Hideout Records – which was associated with a popular Detroit nightclub called the Hideout – and is truly remarkable. At that time, Suzi Quatro was only 15. They were a band, not a vocal group, and this gives the song a completely different sound. // Patti Quatro went on to play with brother Michael’s MQ Jam Band, (classical rock keyboardist), touring, recording and co-producing the album “Look Deeply Into the Mirror” (1973). She then joined forces with Fanny, recording Rock And Roll Survivor, with two highly charted singles, “Butter Boy” and “I’ve Had It”, and touring through the U.S. and Europe (1974). Later, Patti did studio work with groups such as ELO, Keith Moon (Who), Harry Nillson, Bonnie and Delaney, Billy Cox, and Frances Gall, recording a live album in Europe. // Patti also did some modeling in Los Angeles, in between musical projects. She is presently in production with co-partner Nancy, in the Quatro sisters CD’s, and running Cradle Rocks Publishing, as well as future musical projects. She also runs with her husband, Starflight Travel, a rock agency that handles the travel arrangements for groups through the ages such as: Ozzy Osbourne /Black Sabbath, Yes, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Rod Stewart, Pfish, Police, ACDC, Ted Nugent, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, and more
Mia Huggins is a professional musician and bass player who is filling in for Jean Millington on Fanny + shows.
Nita Norris (Nenita Gumangan) is an organizer and performer. She is married to filmmaker Todd Norris. She studied Graphic design at The University of Kansas, where she graduated in 1997. Nita s the brainchild behind the film premiere in KC and fanny’s reunion concert at recordBar. Her organizational work and passion for this band made all of this happen!!!!
Jackie Nugent
Jackie (Strnad) Nugent works for the Federal Reserve here in Kansas City. She is a member of the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City. Jackie was also part of the organizational work with Nita to make all of this happen.
Fanny was an American rock band, active in the early to mid 1970s. They were one of the first all-female rock groups to achieve critical and commercial success, including two Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 singles.
The group was founded by guitarist June Millington and her sister, bassist Jean, who had been playing music together since they moved from the Philippines to California in the early 1960s. After playing through several variations of the band, they attracted the interest of producer Richard Perry who signed them to Reprise Records in 1969 as Fanny. The band recorded four albums together before June Millington quit the group, leading to the original line-up splitting. Following a final album, Fanny disbanded in 1975. The Millington sisters have continued to play music together since the split, and with a former drummer, Brie Howard-Darling, formed the spin-off group Fanny Walked the Earth in 2018.
The group has continued to attract critical acclaim for rejecting typical girl group styles and expectations of women in the rock industry generally, and emphasizing their musical skills. Later groups such as the Go-Go’s, the Bangles, and the Runaways cited Fanny as a key influence.
Brie can you tsalk about how you met June and Jean Millington and ended up playing with them in the band the Svelts?
Sisters June and Jean Millington moved with their family from the Philippines to Sacramento, California in 1961. They began to play music together on ukuleles, which helped them gain friends. In high school they formed an all-female band called the Svelts with June on guitar, Jean on bass, Addie Lee on guitar, and Brie Howard-Darling (Brandt) on drums. Brie Howard-Darling left to get married and was later replaced by Alice de Buhr. When the Svelts disbanded, de Buhr and Lee formed another all-female group called Wild Honey. The Millington sisters later joined this band, which played Motown covers, and eventually moved to Los Angeles.
Frustrated by a lack of success or respect in the male-dominated rock scene, Wild Honey decided to disband after one final open-mic appearance at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles in 1969. They were spotted at this gig by the secretary of producer Richard Perry, who had been searching for an all-female rock band to mentor. Perry convinced Warner Bros. Records to sign the band, still known as Wild Honey, to Reprise Records. The group won the contract without the label hearing them play, on the grounds of being a novelty act, despite their genuine musical talent. Prior to recording their first album, the band recruited keyboardist Nickey Barclay.
The band was then renamed Fanny, not with a sexual connotation but to denote a female spirit. The initial lineup consisted of June Millington on guitar, Jean Millington on bass, de Buhr on drums, Barclay on keyboards, and Brie Howard-Darling on lead vocals and percussion. Perry dismissed Brandt because he wanted the group to be a self-contained four-piece band like the Beatles. The Millingtons and Barclay all assumed lead vocal duties on alternating songs, while de Buhr sang lead occasionally on later albums.
Richard Perry produced the band’s first three albums, beginning with Fanny in 1970. Because of the connection to Perry and Reprise Records, Barclay was invited to tour with Joe Cocker as a backing singer, and consequently appeared on the album Mad Dogs and Englishmen. The group’s cover of Cream’s “Badge” from the first album had significant radio airplay. The follow-up album, Charity Ball was released the following year, and its title track reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100. The members of Fanny also worked as session musicians, and played on Barbra Streisand’s 1971 album Barbra Joan Streisand, after Streisand had wanted to record with a small band. The group continued to pick up well-known fans; David Bowie sent the group a letter admiring their work and invited the band to a post-show party where he showed them mime techniques. With young engineer Leslie Ann Jones as their road manager and live sound mixer, Fanny toured worldwide, opening for Slade, Jethro Tull and Humble Pie, gaining widespread popularity in the United Kingdom. A 1971 article in Sounds remarked that the group “seems that they are the support group to everyone these days”. The group made several live television appearances during tours, including The Sonny and Cher Show, American Bandstand, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Beat-Club.
The group’s third album, Fanny Hill (1972) featured the Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick in addition to Perry’s production. It included a cover of the Beatles’ “Hey Bulldog” and Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar”. The latter featured regular Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, and was released as a single, reaching #85 on the Billboard Hot 100. Fellow Stones sideman Jim Price also played brass on the album. Rolling Stone wrote a rave review of the album, praising the group’s musical skills and particularly June Millington’s ability to play both lead and rhythm guitar.
Fanny Hill was the band’s 3rd album, but it was also the name of a place in Los Angeles where the band lived in the early years after being signed by Reprise Records
11:22
Fanny – “Sound and the Fury” from: Fanny Hill / Reprise / February 1972 [Written by June Millington. June Millington on lead vocals and guitar, Jean Millington on bass & vocals, Nicole Barclay on keyboards & vocals, Alice De Buhr on drums & vocals. The group’s third album, Fanny Hill (1972) featured the Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick in addition to Perry’s production. It included a cover of the Beatles’ “Hey Bulldog” and Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar”. The latter featured regular Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, and was released as a single, reaching #85 on the Billboard Hot 100. Fellow Stones sideman Jim Price also played brass on the album. Rolling Stone wrote a rave review of the album, praising the group’s musical skills and particularly June Millington’s ability to play both lead and rhythm guitar. ]
[Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.]
11:26
Joining us live in our 90.1 FM studios are members of Fanny: Brie Howard-Darling, and Patti Quatro, along with Mia Huggins who will be playing bass for the bad tonight at recordBar
Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins, thanks for being with us on WMM.
Also with us are two of the women in Kansas City who helped make this event happen, Nita Norris, and Jackie Nugent, thanks for being with us on WMM.
Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.
11:30 – Underwriting
Their fourth album, Mothers Pride (1973), was produced by Todd Rundgren. By the time Mothers Pride was released, June Millington was feeling constrained by the group format. The record label wanted her to wear certain designer clothes and adopt a hard rock image, which she resisted. She decided to quit the group, later saying “I needed to figure out who I was” and regularly clashed with Barclay, who had a different personality to her. June moved to Woodstock to study Buddhism, but insisted the group continue without her.
De Buhr also left the band, with a returning Brandt replacing her on drums. Patti Quatro (sister of Suzi Quatro) replaced June on guitar. This lineup signed with Casablanca Records and released the final Fanny album, Rock and Roll Survivors, in 1974. The first single, “I’ve Had It” reached #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Brie Howard-Darling left the band shortly after the album’s completion when she married composer James Newton Howard, and was briefly replaced by Cam Davis. Barclay quit the group at the end of 1974, thinking it was not working without June Millington. The second single, “Butter Boy” was written by Jean Millington about Bowie, and became their biggest hit, reaching #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1975. By the time that was released, the group had split.
11:37
Fanny – “Butter Boy” from: Rock And Roll Survivors / Casablanca / July 1974 [Written by Jean Millington. Jean Millington on lead vocals and bass, Nicole Barclay on keyboards & vocals, Brie Howard-Darling on drums & vocals, Patti Quatro on guitar & vocals. Producer – Vini Poncia, Executive Producer Mark Hammerman, Engineer – Bob Schaper, Mastered by Douglas Sax, Synthesizer, & Clavinet – James Newton Howard. By the time Fanny’s 4th album, MOTHERS PRIDE was released, June Millington was feeling constrained by the group format. The record label wanted her to wear certain designer clothes and adopt a hard rock image, which she resisted. She decided to quit the group, later saying “I needed to figure out who I was” and regularly clashed with Barclay, who had a different personality to her. June moved to Woodstock to study Buddhism, but insisted the group continue without her. Drummer Alice De Buhr also left the band, with a returning Brie Howard-Darling replacing her on drums. Patti Quatro (sister of Suzi Quatro) replaced June on guitar. This lineup signed with Casablanca Records and released the final Fanny album, Rock and Roll Survivors, in 1974. The first single, “I’ve Had It” reached #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Brie Howard-Darling left the band shortly after the album’s completion when she married composer James Newton Howard, and was briefly replaced by Cam Davis. Barclay quit the group at the end of 1974, thinking it was not working without June Millington. The second single, “Butter Boy” was written by Jean Millington about Bowie, and became their biggest hit, reaching #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1975. By the time that was released, the group had split.]
[Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.]
11:41
Joining us live in our 90.1 FM studios are members of Fanny: Brie Howard-Darling, and Patti Quatro, along with Mia Huggins who will be playing bass for the bad tonight at recordBar
Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins, thanks for being with us on WMM.
Also with us are two of the women in Kansas City who helped make this event happen, Nita Norris, and Jackie Nugent, thanks for being with us on WMM.
Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM.
After the breakup, in 1975 the Millington sisters put together a new line-up of Fanny for a short tour, though no older Fanny material was played. This group ultimately morphed into a new all-women band called the L.A. All-Stars, which generated some interest from record labels, but with the stipulation that the band tour as Fanny and play only old Fanny songs, which June Millington opposed.
June Millington subsequently released three solo albums in the 1980s and has had a career as a producer for artists including Holly Near, Cris Williamson and Bitch and Animal. She operates the Institute for Musical Arts, a non-profit organization supporting girls and women in music. Jean Millington was married to Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick for a time and later became an herbalist. The Millingtons continued to record together after Fanny as well, most recently on the 2011 album Play Like a Girl on June’s label Fabulous Records. Nickey Barclay released a solo album titled Diamond in a Junkyard in 1976 then withdrew from the music industry. De Buhr later worked in marketing for several major record labels, and promoted the Go-Go’s, who cited Fanny as an influence. She collaborated with Real Gone Music in a reissue program of the group’s albums.
Patti Quatro continued to work as a session musician for her sister Suzi and was involved in the reissue of material by the Quatro sisters’ early band the Pleasure Seekers. Brie Howard-Darling, had an active post-Fanny career, fronting the bands American Girls, which released one album in 1986, and Boxing Gandhis, which has released four albums since the mid-1990s. She has also acted in films such as 1982’s Android and is the mother of Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt. Patti Quatro and Brie Howard-Darling both toured with Electric Light Orchestra and appeared on the album A New World Record in 1976.
In 2002, Rhino Records released the limited edition 4-CD box set First Time in a Long Time, which collected Fanny’s first four studio albums along with live recordings, outtakes, and promotional items. A reunion concert featuring the Millington sisters and de Buhr (Barclay declined to appear for health reasons) was held at Berklee College of Music on April 20, 2007, where the band members received the Rockrgrl Women of Valor award for their achievements. The first four original Fanny albums are available on Real Gone records, with updated liner notes, pictures, and new mixes.
In 2016, Brie Howard joined a live performance by the Millington sisters. This inspired the formation of a new band called Fanny Walked the Earth. An album also titled Fanny Walked the Earth was released in March 2018. The album marks the first time June, Jean, and Brie all recorded at the same time in nearly 50 years. Fanny is the subject of the documentary film Fanny: The Right to Rock, released in 2021 and directed by Bobbi Jo Hart.
Though Fanny was not the first all-female band to sign with a major label (after Goldie & the Gingerbreads and the Pleasure Seekers), they were the first to release an album on a major label and one of the first to achieve top 40 success on the Billboard Hot 100. Fanny’s music was influenced by the Beatles and the Funk Brothers, the loose studio musician collective on Motown records.
The band resisted suggestions by the record company to dress in a typical girl group style, or emphasise any sex appeal, and rehearsed regularly, wanting to acquire a reputation based on their musical talent. Jean Millington later said that Fanny had to have a strong live presence in order to overcome audience’s perceptions that women could not play rock music well. June added, “We knew we had to prove we could play and deliver live. Otherwise, no one would believe it.” The group were more successful in the UK and Europe, where audiences appreciated their music and respected their work, as opposed to the US. De Buhr was disappointed to discover that some record company executives merely treated Fanny as a gimmick that should not be taken seriously. Promoter Bill Graham was reluctant to give the group a headlining slot at venues, for fear the group would split up as the members got married and had children, though the group have stressed this was due to business pragmatics and not chauvinism. During tours, female fans would ask the group how to form a band. Later all-female bands such as the Runaways and the Bangles have cited Fanny as a key influence.
A retrospective review of the group’s career in Rebeat stressed that Fanny were simply a good band, irrespective of gender. June Millington has been praised for her guitar skills, and was described by Guitar Player as the hottest female guitar player in the music industry. During her time in Fanny, she initially favored the Gibson ES-355 and Fender Twin Reverb amp, before acquiring a Gibson Les Paul Junior guitar and Traynor amplifiers. She used the Les Paul primarily for slide guitar playing. Jean Millington’s main instrument in Fanny was a 1963 Fender Precision Bass, which is still in her possession.
Little Feat bandleader Lowell George was a fan of Fanny and jammed with the group when they were in Los Angeles. In a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone, Bowie revealed his respect for the band:
They were extraordinary: they wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody’s ever mentioned them. They’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever; it just wasn’t their time. — David Bowie
Personnel Original line-up Jean Millington – bass, vocals (1969-1975) June Millington – guitar, vocals (1969-1973) Nickey Barclay – keyboards, vocals (1970-1974) Alice de Buhr – drums, vocals (1969-1973)
Later members Patti Quatro – guitar, vocals (1974-1975) Brie Howard – drums, vocals (1973-1974) Cam Davis – drums (1974-1975)
Discography Studio albums Fanny (1970) Charity Ball (1971) (No. 150) Fanny Hill (1972) (No. 135) Mothers Pride (1973) Rock and Roll Survivors (1974)
Live albums Fanny Live (1998; recorded 1972) (reissued as Fanny: Live in 1972)
Compilation albums First Time in a Long Time – The Reprise Recordings (4CD box set, 2002)
Fanny Walked the Earth Fanny Walked the Earth (2018
11:52
For WMM, I’m Mark Manning. Thanks for listening!
Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, Mia Huggins, Nita Norris, and Jackie Nugent thanks for being on WMM.
Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM
11:54:00
Fanny Walked The Earth – “When We Need Her” from: Fanny Walked The Earth / Blue Elan Records / March 2, 2018 [Jean Millington on bass and vocals, June Millington on guitar and vocals, and Brie Darling on drums and vocals. // Brie Darling remembers vividly the first time she met June and Jean Millington. It was 1966, and Darling had traveled from California to Nevada to audition for the Millington’s high school band, the Svelts, as their newest hot drummer during a performance at The Lemon Tree in the town of Sparks. Just 16 years old, Darling approached the sisters – whose music she already knew well – in the parking lot. // “I still see that picture,” says Darling now. “They were just like goddesses to me. They looked bigger than life. And we just immediately bonded.” // What eventually followed was the groundbreaking formation of Fanny, the California-based band that would pave the way for women musicians for decades to come. After formally coming together to form the group and relocating to Los Angeles, Fanny landed a deal in 1969 with Reprise Records, becoming the first-ever all-female rock band to sign a record deal for a full-length album. Now, nearly 50 years since that parking lot meeting, Fanny has reunited as Fanny Walked the Earth — a name that reflects all that they’ve accomplished in their lives; all they’ve seen, done and lived through — for their first album in decades. // “There is something about us playing together,” says June. “It’s incredibly special; it’s beyond words.” // Drawing influence from Motown bands to the Beach Boys to Jimi Hendrix, Fanny released their first five albums between 1970 and 1974 with various iterations of members. Working with producers including Richard Perry, Todd Rundgren and Vini Poncia, their sound was a mix of full-throttle, rockin’-funk vocals; unapologetically heavy rock guitars; and hard, punchy beats. // “We were exploding with our own creativity and musicality,” says June. “We were in sync.” // The band was also shattering expectations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, to say that rock was male-dominated would be a gross understatement; rock was almost completely male. But the girls of Fanny never backed down from the challenge. “I just wanted to have fun, and I wanted to show off, and I wanted to do what I loved doing,” says Darling. “If anyone was ever a little snide, I thought, ‘You just wait.’” // Adds Jean, “We were just involved with our band and our mission. We weren’t focused on being women trying to make it in a man’s world; we were focused on the challenge of it and having a lot of fun.” // In 1975, the band had a breakout hit with “Butter Boy,” which hit number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song, written by Jean, was about her then-lover, David Bowie. “It was tongue-in-cheek,” she says. “He was the inspiration.” // Over the years, Fanny became major influences for bands like The Runaways, The Bangles and the Go-Go’s, and have been recognized as the trailblazers for decades since. NPR described the band as “the most masterful all-female band of the classic rock era,” and Pitchfork recently labeled June a “rock n’ roll pioneer.” // “The women in Fanny are like queens to me,” says Cherie Currie of The Runaways. “They started all of it. They cracked that door and made it possible for us to believe that we could do it too.” // Fanny broke up soon after “Butter Boy” hit the charts, but stayed in touch as they went their separate ways, always keeping their music and their experiences close to their hearts. And so, when Laudable Productions and the Massachusetts-based Northampton Arts Council decided to host a tribute to June in February of 2016, Jean and Brie didn’t hesitate to participate. From the moment they played together at their first rehearsal, it was as if no time had gone by at all. // “It came right back,” says June. “The minute we hit the stage, it was right back to that thing that was fresh and exciting and an adventure.” // It didn’t take long before they decided to get back together in the studio, too. Their new self-titled album is an 11-track, all-original LP that’s shot through with the same raucous courage and fearlessness as their original works. “Lured Away” tells the story of rock n’ roll lives that are still going strong – “I’m coming to, time to fully wake up / I gotta burn, don’t wanna give it up” – while “Storm Crossed” is an homage to Jimi Hendrix. “When You Need Her” features appearances by rock legends Currie, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s, and Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson of The Bangles. // “I feel like Fanny Walked the Earth has an encoding of what we’ve experienced over the years,” says June. “This is an important stand we’re taking. Who gets to be 69 and still playing? Back then, it was just proving that girls can play like guys. Now, it’s like, ‘Ha!’ Women can break another glass ceiling.”]
[Fanny play a one-night-only reunion concert as Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM]
Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now” from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
Next week on Wednesday, October 12 we welcome Dedric Moore, Brenton Cook and Steve Tulipana who share details about this year’s Outer Reaches Festival Friday October 14 and Saturday October 15 at recordBar. // Also next week we talk with Mark Ronning about his curated Electonic Music Event. // And Jade Green joinsus to share details about “Rite of Joy,” the first conference in the nation to focus exclusively on mental health for people of color from October 13 to October 15, 2022.
Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information. Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
FANNY: The first, and all-time best, all-girl rock band + Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, & Lisa McKenzie of Cher U.K.
Mark spins More New & MidCoastal Releases from: Scruffy & The Janitors, Other Americans, Katy Guillen & The Drive, Ivory Blue, Cher U.K., Fanny, Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, Danger Mouse & Black Thought with Michael Kiwanuka.
At 10:30 we talk with guitarist & singer Mike McCoy, bassist Heather Grehan, and drummer Lisa McKenzie about their special Cher U.K. Reunion Shows on Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, Kansas, and Saturday, October 9 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms, KCMO with Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys. This is the Cher U.K. lineup that put out numerous singles, two Red Decibel albums and wreaked havoc on stages across the country. Cher U.K. was signed to Red Decibel in 1993 after Brent Ashley, head of promotions at Red Decibel saw them in Kansas City. Their first album, SHE’S A WIERD LITTLE SNACK, was released on October 12, 1993, followed by GO-GO FISH, released in November 1994. While the albums featured such classics as “College Song,” “Go-Go,” and “Kibbles’n’ Bitz,” it’s the live shows that always attracted the most attention. Angie Scharnhorst of the KC Star probably described them as a “neo-punk trio combining screaming, almost disembodied vocals with staccato rhythms, and a guitar that seems to throb with a life of its own.” Bassist Heather Grehan stated, “We spent far too much time in a smelly van playing every show we could, while getting paid far too little. But it was a great adventure filled with wild, fun times and a lot of laughs, and we met so many wonderful people along the way.”
At 11:11 Mark welcomes members of the legendary band Fanny who are in KC for their new documentary film and concert at recordBar. The Film Society KC in partnership with Midwest Music Foundation and the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City present a screening of their documentary, FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK at Screenland Armour, 408 Armour Rd, North Kansas City, MO on Oct 4, at 7:00 PM, with Fanny band members, June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, and Patti Quattro in attendance! Held in tandem with a one-night-only reunion concert from Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM. FANNY was the first all-female rock act to record an entire album for a major record label, and in fact recorded and released five albums for major labels.
FANNY was the first all-female rock act to rise to real prominence in the US and Europe. Acknowledged by both the press and their many fans as an awesome live act – in the words of Steve Peacock, a top UK music journalist of the era, “if you close your eyes, it’s like listening to the Stones” – FANNY toured tirelessly for up to nine months of every year. In a career that stretched from 1970 to 1975, they had a string of hit singles and also played on the studio recordings of some legendary artists. In addition to their many live gigs, they performed on top music and variety television shows of the time, including The Old Grey Whistle Test, the Sonny and Cher Show, American Bandstand and The Beat Club, Germany’s most famous band program. “One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace. And that is Fanny… Revivify Fanny and I will feel that my work is done.” — David Bowie. More info at: http://www.fannyrocks.com
On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Jennifer Owen of Owen Cox Dance Group & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures + Judith Levy & “At the Heart of the Matter”
“Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks” from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979 [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]
The Black Angels – “Empires Falling” (CD #2) (3:32) from: Wilderness of Mirrors / Partisan Records / September 16, 2022 [The Black Angels are an American psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas. Formed in May 2004, they took their name from the Velvet Underground’s “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” They have released six studio albums and one compilation album. // In 2005, the Black Angels were featured on a dual-disc compilation album of psychedelic music called Psychedelica Vol. 1 from Northern Star Records. This, along with the growing popularity of their MySpace page, gave the band a jump in popularity in the underground scene. // The group’s debut LP, Passover, released in 2006, was generally well received in the underground independent rock community and was noted for its dark tones and lyrical content. A review of Passover described them as “Walking in the shadows cast by Spiritualized mastermind Jason Pierce,” invoking “dirges” reminiscent of the 13th Floor Elevators. Passover included a quote in the liner notes from Edvard Munch: “Illness, insanity, and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life.” The band was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 Kevin Bacon movie, Death Sentence, on the second episode of FOX’s Fringe, and in the ninth episode of Californication. // They released their second album Directions to See a Ghost in 2008. Songs from Directions to See a Ghost were also featured in The History Channel’s 2009 documentary, Manson. Their song “Young Men Dead” was featured on the March 17, 2010 episode of UFC Primetime, “St. Pierre vs. Hardy,” on Spike. “Young Men Dead” was also included on the soundtrack for the 2011 snowboard movie The Art of Flight. // Festival appearances by the band during this time included Lollapalooza 2007, SXSW 2006 & 2008, and All Tomorrow’s Parties 2008, among others. Touring partners included the blues rock band The Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Warlocks, Roky Erickson, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Queens of the Stone Age, The Raveonettes, Wolfmother, and The Horrors. // Between October 28 and November 2, 2008, the band performed as Roky Erickson’s backing band on the West Coast. The band featured on Unkle’s May 2010 release, Where Did the Night Fall, collaborating on a song called “Natural Selection.” // On April 23–25, 2010, The Reverberation Appreciation Society and the Black Angels presented their third annual music-and-arts festival, Austin Psych Fest. Bands topping the 43-band bill included The Raveonettes, Pink Mountaintops, The Warlocks, The Gaslamp Killer, Warpaint, Night Beats, and Silver Apples. // The band’s third album, Phosphene Dream, was released on September 14, 2010. The group played the ATP New York 2010 Music Festival in Monticello, New York, in September 2010. On Record Store Day 2011 a 12″ LP titled Another Nice Pair was released, a limited edition red LP containing the band’s first two EPs. Of the total records pressed, 100 were randomly inserted with a print signed by Alex Maas, Stephanie Bailey, Christian Bland, Kyle Hunt, and Nate Ryan. // The 4th annual Austin Psych Fest ran from April 29 – May 1, 2011, and was held at the Seaholm Powerplant (the last event to be held inside the building) and featured Roky Erickson, Spectrum, Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, Atlas Sound, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Prefuse 73 and A Place To Bury Strangers topping a lineup of 55 bands. // The band’s fourth album, Indigo Meadow, was released on April 2, 2013, and they embarked on a tour across the United States in May 2013 in support of the album. // In February 2014, the Black Angels covered a version of “Soul Kitchen” for A Psych Tribute to the Doors, released by Cleopatra Records. // The 7th annual Austin Psych Fest was held during May 2–4, 2014 at Carson Creek Ranch next to the Colorado River and featured a rare Friday night performance from the legendary 1960s baroque pop band The Zombies, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre performing together on the same stage, the psychedelic folk band Quilt, the electronica duo Peaking Lights, Temples, Sleepy Sun, The War on Drugs, Loop, and an incendiary performance from Japanese drone rock band Acid Mothers Temple in which several instruments were lit on fire. // On July 22, 2014, the Black Angels released their EP, Clear Lake Forest. // In December 2014, the Black Angels released a split single, along with Sonic Jesus, called “Molly Moves My Generation.” // The 8th annual Austin Psych Fest, now renamed Levitation, was held from May 8–10, 2015 at Carson Creek Ranch and featured an impressive lineup, including a rare 50th anniversary reunion of pioneering Texas psychedelic rock band The 13th Floor Elevators, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s 30th anniversary performance of Psychocandy in its entirety, Spiritualized, Primal Scream, and Earth. Melody’s Echo Chamber and Rose Windows were scheduled to perform, but Rose Windows announced their breakup prior to the event and Melody’s Echo Chamber had travel issues and had to cancel. // The band released their fifth album, Death Song, in April, 2017. // The band released their sixth album, “Wilderness of Mirrors,” on September 16th, 2022.]
[The Black Angels play The Bottleneck 737 New Hampshire St., Lawrence KS., Saturday, October 1, at 7:00 PM with The Vacant Lots.]
BLACKSTARKIDS – “CYBERKISS 2 U” (CD #3) (3:09) from: CYBERKISS / Dirty Hit / September 23, 2022 [From the band’s new fifth album, and their third with Dirty Hit Records, all in the last 4 years. Blackstarkids are phenomenon who came out of Kansas City in 2020 became the soundtrack for the summer. Blackstarkids are a pop/R&B/hip-hop trio based in Kansas City, Missouri. Members include: TheBabeGabe, Deiondre, and TyFaizon (of the Drop Dead XX collective). The members have known each other since high school in Raytown, Missouri. Members met at Raytown South High School and formed the band in 2019. The group released its first album, Let’s Play Sports, on August 1, 2019. Blackstarkids then released their second album SURF through their own label Bedroom Records on February 28, 2020. Blackstarkids caught the attention of The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy and were then signed to The 1975’s management company and UK-based label Dirty Hit Records. They were featured in Clash Magazine. Blackstarkids then released, Surf Basement Demos on Dirty Hit Records on March 5, 2020. On October 29, 2020, Blackstarkids released Whatever, Man on Dirty Hit Records, their third album release of 2020. Gabe, of Blackstarkids recently described the KC Music community to an interviewer, “The music scene here is really nice. There are a lot of bands who are super talented and do all types of genres. The jazz music here is really great as well. Kansas City is honestly a hidden gem when it comes to music. I feel like you can meet an artist anywhere and anyplace in this city.” Deiondre added, “The music scene here is getting cool now, there’s a lot of jazz musicians that go to school for music here too but you can find people from different scenes all over if around the city.” Ty wrote, “The Kansas City scene is great, the community here is so supportive and genuine. This is a really prideful city here and I think they’re finally getting the musicians they deserve.”]
[Blackstarkids are scheduled to play Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Nov. 29, 2022.]
10:13
Music from SOLSOUL FEST 2022 presented by Arquesta Del SolSoul on Friday, September 30, doors open at 7:00 PM, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St., KCMO, West Bottoms, featuring: The Phantastics, Regina Del Carmen, Just Angel and The Wades, Ebony Tusks, Collidescope, Arquesta Del SolSoul and DJ SKEM]
Arquesta Del SolSoul – “Six Second Sunz (Radio edit)” from: Arquesta Del SolSoul / Arquesta Del SolSoul / August 16, 2022 [ 7-track, debut album. They call themselves, “African Futurist Genre Killerz from the Middle of the Map bringing an innovative multidimensional sound inspired by our founding musical ancestors to decolonize and time bend indigenous sounds of the Caribbean, Latin America, West, Central, and Southern Africa.” Members include Les Izmore, Jessica Ayala, Brad Williams, Chalis O’Neal, Jade Green, & Hadiza. Aa KC-based Cosmic music collective teleporting through Indigeneity, Decolonization and Freedom. Their sound brings a multidimensional portal of Rhythm and Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B, Afro-Latin percussion, and Spoken Word inspired by our founding musical ancestors to decolonize and spacetime bend indigenous sounds of the Caribbean, Latin America, West, Central, and Southern Africa. More information at: http://www.arquestadelsolsoul.bandcamp.comhttp://www.instagram.com/arquestadelsolsoul%5D
[Arquesta Del SolSoul play SOLSOUL FEST 2022 presented by Arquesta Del SolSoul Friday September 30, doors open at 7:00 PM, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St., KCMO, West Bottoms, featuring: The Phantastics, Ebony Tusks, Jass, Regina Del Carmen, JUST ANGEL & The Wades, Collidescope, and DJ SKEME.]
Regina Del Carmen – “Don’t Mess Up My High” from: 29 / Regina Del Carmen / September 28, 2020 [Second album from 20 year old singer songwriter who released The High Priestess Mixtape on September 16, 2019. More info at: https://soundcloud.com/reginadelcarmen%5D
[Regina Del Carmen plays SOLSOUL FEST 2022 presented by Arquesta Del SolSoul Friday September 30, doors open at 7:00 PM, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St., KCMO, West Bottoms, featuring: The Phantastics, Ebony Tusks, Jass, JUST ANGEL & The Wades, Collidescope, Arquesta Del SolSoul and DJ SKEME.]
Ebony Tusks – “HDF” from: HDF – Single / High Dive Records / January 17, 2020 [Ebony Tusks reeased their debut full length album, Heal Thyself on High Dive Records on November 6, 2020. Ebony Tusks is Daniel Smith on DJ & Production, Geese Giesecke on vocals & Production, and Marty Hillard on vocals & Production. A rattling subwoofer is a sonic aberration, a byproduct of high volume that often results in a speaker system’s long-term damage. It takes the listening experience from exclusively aural to physical, evoking a range of reactions from listeners. This experience is bonded inextricably with rap music for both its fans and dissenters, a familiar beacon for some and an unwelcome nuisance for others. Marty was a cashier at Burger King while in high school, spending every Saturday morning working the drive-thru window. One of his best friends pulled up to the menu and filled the speaker with sounds from his 1972 Volkswagen Beetle’s cassette adapter. Marty’s headset was filled with hot, white noise. He knew it was a rap song but it was mutated to scorched earth. It also happened to come through the main speaker right inside the drive-thru window. His manager was not at all pleased, rushing quickly to turn it off. Marty and his friend laughed it off at the time. EBONY TUSKS is a compilation of moments like these. Daniel, Geese, & Marty are 3 people from the Midwest who take pleasure in the mutations of sound available in the least expected places.]
[Ebony Tusks play SOLSOUL FEST 2022 presented by Arquesta Del SolSoul Friday September 30, doors open at 7:00 PM, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St., KCMO, West Bottoms, featuring: The Phantastics, Regina Del Carmen, Jass, JUST ANGEL & The Wades, Collidescope, Arquesta Del SolSoul and DJ SKEME.]
Just Angel – “Selfish” from: Just Angel: Pt. 2 {EP] / Just Angel / December 25, 2021 [Just Angel is a Kansas City based, Singer, musician, songwriter, dancer, and creative artist, Just Angel. Her powerful voice has been called, “Passionate … Soulful… and Inspiring.” Her music finds its home in Rock, Jazz, and Alternative, and she has found a way to incorporate those genres within her love with Soul and R&B. Just Angel has performed with My Brothers & Sisters. Just Angel and her band, The Wades can be found rocking stages with her original songs from her recordings and eclectic takes on popular music. She released her debut EP, JUST ANGEL, PART 1 on December 24, 2020. She released her follow up EP, JUST ANGEL, PART 2 on December 25, 2021. She also contributed vocals to the recent Sisterbot record. More info at: https://linktr.ee/JustAngel_TigerLilyStar%5D
[Just Angel and The Wades play SOLSOUL FEST 2022 presented by Arquesta Del SolSoul Friday September 30, doors open at 7:00 PM, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St., KCMO, West Bottoms, featuring: The Phantastics, Regina Del Carmen, Jass, Ebony Tusks, Collidescope, Arquesta Del SolSoul and DJ SKEM]
Jass – “Higher Ground” from: “Higher Ground” – Single / JASS / August 16, 2022, [Jass is Jasmine “Jass” Couch. This new single follows her release, “Him” on February 23, 2022. Jass released At the Close of a Decade on November 26, 2022. It was part of WMM’s 121 Best Recordings of 2021. She wrote, “After years of writing and recording in voice memos .. I decided to grab my iPad and began recording something that I am very proud of. I named it, At the Close of A Decade, and released it in November 2019. With my iPhone/iPad, some apple headphones, I created this project. The amazing people around me told me it was worth it, even when I didn’t believe it myself. I convinced myself I would be the only one that liked my songs. If you decide to listen you’ll hear sound clips of shows and movies that made a difference in the way I saw the world, the way I saw myself, and the way I overcame my experiences. I remember asking my grandma and my son if I should release what I’ve been writing and they both said very simply to do it, so I’ve done it. I want to thank all of my wonderful friends who have been my soundboards during this process, all of the people that have asked me when it’s coming, the people that have kept me accountable, and believed that this time it was for real. My story is so very triumphant and beautiful because I have overcome experiences and shunned the fear I had to do what I love. It’s crazy how you can talk your way out of some amazing things and also how you can talk yourself into making some amazing things happen. If you partake, I hope you enjoy.” // Last month un August – Jass played a SOLD OUT Thundercat show at GRINDERS, released a brand new single called HIGHER GROUND and in the first month there are 500 streams and it was added to Sofar Sounds CHILL VIBES Spotify playlist, and Jass played a SOLD OUT @sofarsoundskc show, and headlined a show at The Bottleneck in Lawrence with my boys! (Colby Bales and Brande Moser), and she opened up for The New Respects at The Uptown, and sang the Negro National Anthem at BLAQUE to School Night at the KC Monarchs game.More info at: http://www.jassrcouch.com]
[Jazz play SOLSOUL FEST 2022 presented by Arquesta Del SolSoul Friday September 30, doors open at 7:00 PM, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St., KCMO, West Bottoms, featuring: The Phantastics, Regina Del Carmen, Just Angel and The Wades, Ebony Tusks, Collidescope, Arquesta Del SolSoul and DJ SKEM]
10:29 – Underwriting
The Black Creatures – “A Perch of My Own Choosing” from: By Thy Hand / Center Cut Records / August 12, 2022 [This new album follows their last singles: “Criminal” on June 24, 2022, “Loud For Nothin” on May 27, 2022, and “True Friends” on September 17, 2021. After being signed to Center Cut Records the label remastered and reissued their album Wild Echoes and began releasing singles. “Wild Echoes” was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). Since the release of ”Wild Echoes” the band has released seven entirely new songs, nearly one per month, all posted to their bandcamp page. The Black Creatures fuse dark-pop hip-hop, soul, jazz, and electronic music with elements from science fiction to tell inter-dimensional stories of love, community, life, culture, history. Xavier & Jade have made an impression in the KC music community with their live shows in clubs, galleries, record stores, and area music festivals. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. // Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal her background in opera, and her honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, that was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine. // From Center Cut Records Promo Materials: The Black Creatures make a point to blur the lines of genre while maintaining a recognizable cohesion; oftentimes blending contemporary styles of pop, hip-hop, dance, R&B, EDM and soul with cinematic and storytelling sci-fi/fantasy elements and themes. With the complex and creative approach The Black Creatures take to their art, a diverse audience regularly flocks to their gripping and intensely enchanting performances. // Representing the strange land of Kansas City, Missouri, Jade Green and Xavier began working together around the end of 2013 after meeting on-line talking about cosmetics. After Jade stumbled upon Xavier’s SoundCloud, they asked if they could put their vocals on it, and this led to future collaborations with no more than the intention to dabble. They couldn’t stop and eventually dubbed the project The Black Creatures. // Both Jade & Xavier write and perform vocals, with Xavier at the helm of production and composition. Jade Green has a vocal background in opera and a penchant for theatrics, and both are the foundation of their ever-evolving approach to writing and performing in The Black Creatures. While the instrumentals may set the tone for the show, Jade’s voice captivates the audience from beginning to end. Originally a violinist, Xavier unfurled into a producer and vocalist, maintaining the same air of intrigue and mystery throughout his compositions and performances in The Black Creatures. // After releasing Wild Echoes in the fall of 2020, the record received Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine, along with high praise from around the world for the four released singles and accompanying videos. “Wretched (It Goes)” was featured in the NPR Live Sessions “Songs For Change” when The Black Creatures were selected as one of 12 national artists, and included in 90.9 The Bridge’s Top 100 singles along with their song “D’ummm” which was in heavy rotation in the winter. Nuance Magazine wrote, “The Black Creatures take their musical talents and use them in such a way that forces listeners to not only tap their foot to a catchy tune, but pay attention and feel something about what is going on in the world around them. Tackling fascism, police brutality, and the deep-rooted effects of slavery in a rhythmic fashion is one thing. Simultaneously making it a good listen is another. However, The Black Creatures make it happen.” // Mark’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.”]
[Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott.]
10:35 – Interview with Jennifer Owen & Xavier Martin
Jennifer Owen is Artistic Director of Owen/Cox Dance Group, an ensemble she co-founded with composer Brad Cox in 2007. She has choreographed over fifty new works for Owen/Cox Dance Group. Jennifer Owen, joins us to talk about “What Came With Spring” a world premiere choreographed by Christian Warner in collaboration with The Black Creatures.
Xavier Martin is one half of the band The Black Creatures with Jade Green. The two began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal her background in opera, and her honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, that was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine. The Black Creatures recently were the recipients of the Charlotte Street Foundation 2022 Generative Performing Artist Fellowship Grant and Award. The released their new album By Thy Hand on Center Cut Records on August 12, 2022
“What Came With Spring” has performances: Friday, and Saturday, October 7 and 8, at 8:00 PM and Sunday, October 9 at 2:00 PM, at City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO. Owen/Cox Dance Group is a 501(c)3 not for profit corporation. http://www.owencoxdance.org
Jennifer Owen, Xavier Martin, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Jennifer Owen has choreographed over fifty new works for Owen/Cox Dance Group, including two commissions by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and works commissioned by Island Moving Co. of Newport, RI, Kansas City Dance Festival, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, and Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. She has also created nine new works for Kansas City Ballet’s In the Wings choreographic workshop, and a winning entry for the 2006 Columbus Choreography Project. Owen is the recipient of a 2000 Princess Grace Honorarium. Prior to founding Owen/Cox Dance Group, Owen enjoyed a 13-year international ballet career. After training with Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, School of American Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, she went on to dance with the Russian State Ballet, Moscow Renaissance Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, BalletMet, and was a guest artist with the National Ballet of Turkmenistan. She has performed principal roles in Giselle, Don Quixote, George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Donizetti Variations, and the central pas de deux in Todd Bolender’s Arena.
Jen Owen’s husband and partner is Brad Cox, who is also the founder of The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City–a musicians’ collective dedicated to the creation and performance of new large ensemble jazz. AND, Brad Cox Octet–an eight-piece ensemble made up of 2 saxophonists, 2 bass players, 2 drummers, and 2 keyboardists.
Owen/Cox Dance Group is a 501 (c) 3 not for profit corporation with a mission is to create new music and dance collaborations, to present high-quality contemporary dance performances with live music, and to engage as wide an audience as possible through affordable live performance, education and outreach programs
Over the last few years Owen/Cox Dance Group’s was working on a U.S. State Diplomacy Tour in Ukraine. COVID-19 local & international protocol, postponing this trip until later. Jen Owen how do you explain how your donace company has been involved in international history and now with the Russian invasion into the Ukrain things have dramatically changed.
We last talked with Jennifer Owen on April 20, when Owen/Cox Dance Group is looking forward to their world premiere performance of “Skin” a world premiere music and dance collaboration with New Orleans-based cellist Helen Gillet. Friday, and Saturday April 1 and 2 at 8:00 PM and Sunday, April 3 at 2:00 PM, at City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO.
The Black Creatures are a multifaceted music duo from Kansas City. Gleefully playing with elements of soul, hip-hop, and EDM, they’re here to tell interdimensional stories – through all-original, lyric-heavy songs and live performances. They share real stories from a less-explored perspective, while others are spun from fantastical vantage points. Influenced by neo-soul sirens like Erykah Badu and Alicia Keys, wordsmiths like Da Brat and Tech N9ne, and composers a la Daft Punk and Robert Glasper, they make music that defies genre and tradition in an effort to break generational curses. The idea is that society’s hexes, long bound up by the threads of anti-black repression, insincerity, and envy, can be uncrossed by doing what has not been done before. They aim to honor the past, celebrate the present, and transcend the expectations of the future by creating consistently unique songs, videos, images, and interactive live performances.
Xavier Martin is DJ/Writer/Producer/Rapper/Singer at The Black Creatures. Jade Green performs with: Arquesta Del SolSoul. a Kansas City-based music collective featuring 3 musicians who worked together in Hearts of Darkness. They call themselves: African Futurist Genre Killerz from the Middle of the Map bringing an innovative multidimensional sound inspired by our founding musical ancestors to decolonize and time bend indigenous sounds of the Caribbean, Latin America, West, Central, and Southern Africa.” Members include Les Izmore, Jessica Ayala, Brad Williams, Jade Green, Chalis O’Neal, Irving Graham, Ernest Melton, Andres Ramirez, Fabian Prado.
The Black Creatures Discography
The Black Creatures “Mouth 2 Mouth” – Single, June 5, 2016. The Black Creatures released their debut album, See No Evil, Dec. 6, 2017. The Black Creatures “Elements” – Single, February 14, 2018 The Black Creatures “Silver Tears” – Single, June 19, 2018 with additional voices provided by AniMal (Ana Marcela Maldonado Morales) , Barbara Solomon , Kassidee, Quaranta , Adres Va Cortas The Black Creatures “Dare” (Gorillaz Cover)” – Single, August 8, 2019 The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – September 30, 2019 The Black Creatures – “Turn” – Single, October 30, 2019 The Black Creatures – “Quartz (Twilight)” – Single, November 13, 2019 The Black Creatures – “SHINE” – Single, December 11, 2019 The Black Creatures- “Ghost Bustin’ Dead Prezidentz” – Single, January 8, 2020 The Black Creatures – “To Whom It May Concern” – Single, January 22, 2020 The Black Creatures – “Arcade Love” – Single, February 5, 2020 The Black Creatures – “Run Up” – Single, February 19, 2020. The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – September 30, 2019 The Black Creatures – “wretched (it goes)”- Single [Center Cut], July 17, 2020 [remastered] The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – Album (Remastered] August 28, 2020 [Center Cut] The Black Creatures – “Negative Zero” – Single/Video [Center Cut] The Black Creatures – “FRIENDS” – Single/Video [Center Cut] The Black Creatures – BY THY HAND – album August 12, 2022
BY THY HAND was produced by Xavier, and written by Jade and Xavier, and mastered by Collin Jordan (Xiu Xiu, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco) The Black Creatures will be releasing more singles and video.
Jennifer Owen and Xavier Martin, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
Owen/Cox Dance Group is looking forward to their world premiere performance “What Came With Spring” has performances: Friday, and Saturday, October 7 and 8, at 8:00 PM and Sunday, October 9 at 2:00 PM, at City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO. Owen/Cox Dance Group is a 501(c)3 not for profit corporation. http://www.owencoxdance.org
10:59
Loud 4 Nothin – “Garden of Nightmare” from: By Thy Hand / Center Cut Records / August 12, 2022 [This new album follows their last singles: “Criminal” on June 24, 2022, “Loud 4 Nothin” on May 27, 2022, and “True Friends” on September 17, 2021. After being signed to Center Cut Records the label remastered and reissued their album Wild Echoes and began releasing singles. “Wild Echoes” was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). Since the release of ”Wild Echoes” the band has released seven entirely new songs, nearly one per month, all posted to their bandcamp page. The Black Creatures fuse dark-pop hip-hop, soul, jazz, and electronic music with elements from science fiction to tell inter-dimensional stories of love, community, life, culture, history. Xavier & Jade have made an impression in the KC music community with their live shows in clubs, galleries, record stores, and area music festivals. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. // Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal her background in opera, and her honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker. Their breakthrough album, WILD ECHOES, that was re-released and re-mastered by Center Cut in 2020 and named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine. // From Center Cut Records Promo Materials: The Black Creatures make a point to blur the lines of genre while maintaining a recognizable cohesion; oftentimes blending contemporary styles of pop, hip-hop, dance, R&B, EDM and soul with cinematic and storytelling sci-fi/fantasy elements and themes. With the complex and creative approach The Black Creatures take to their art, a diverse audience regularly flocks to their gripping and intensely enchanting performances. // Representing the strange land of Kansas City, Missouri, Jade Green and Xavier began working together around the end of 2013 after meeting on-line talking about cosmetics. After Jade stumbled upon Xavier’s SoundCloud, they asked if they could put their vocals on it, and this led to future collaborations with no more than the intention to dabble. They couldn’t stop and eventually dubbed the project The Black Creatures. // Both Jade & Xavier write and perform vocals, with Xavier at the helm of production and composition. Jade Green has a vocal background in opera and a penchant for theatrics, and both are the foundation of their ever-evolving approach to writing and performing in The Black Creatures. While the instrumentals may set the tone for the show, Jade’s voice captivates the audience from beginning to end. Originally a violinist, Xavier unfurled into a producer and vocalist, maintaining the same air of intrigue and mystery throughout his compositions and performances in The Black Creatures. // After releasing Wild Echoes in the fall of 2020, the record received Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine, along with high praise from around the world for the four released singles and accompanying videos. “Wretched (It Goes)” was featured in the NPR Live Sessions “Songs For Change” when The Black Creatures were selected as one of 12 national artists, and included in 90.9 The Bridge’s Top 100 singles along with their song “D’ummm” which was in heavy rotation in the winter. Nuance Magazine wrote, “The Black Creatures take their musical talents and use them in such a way that forces listeners to not only tap their foot to a catchy tune, but pay attention and feel something about what is going on in the world around them. Tackling fascism, police brutality, and the deep-rooted effects of slavery in a rhythmic fashion is one thing. Simultaneously making it a good listen is another. However, The Black Creatures make it happen.” // Mark’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.”]
[Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott.]
11:04 – Station ID – 11:01
Miloe – “Miloe – where u are (radio edit)” from: gaps EP / Loma Vista Recordings – Concord / September 16, 2022 [Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bob Kabeya moved to the U.S. with his family at the age of 8 to reunite with his father, a journalist who was granted asylum three years prior. Greenhouse is an exhilaratingly energetic and youthful homage to Summer and the weather patterns of his childhood, paired with lyrics of teenage melodrama and idealism. “The Minnesotan climate can feel so limiting compared to where I grew up, almost like we’re waiting half the year to actually live our lives,” he explains. Living in a region that faces harsh winter for much of the year, and in 2020 served as ground zero for uprisings against police violence, Kabeya created Greenhouse as an offering of sunshine to his community as winter returned. // “The darkness of Minnesota winters contrasts with his youth, and his new EP Greenhouse aims to bring some sunshine to his current home.” – NPR Music, All Songs Considered // “blissed out” “shoegaze-pop rumination.” – The FADER // “bright, shoegaze delight.” – NYLON // “Miloe’s reach exceeds the suburban backyard, elsewhere capturing the travelogue of his youth in finger plucks and gently swaying piano.” – MTV // “With only five tracks, [Greenhouse] showcases Miloe’s seemingly almost effortless knack for melodies and simple, yet captivating instrumentals that make the project as a whole undeniable. Not much is known about what’s on Miloe’s docket for 2021, but consider us excited for whatever that may be” – UPROXX // “lovely…smooth pop number” – DORK.]
Be/Non – “AMOY” from: A Valley of No: The Alternative A Mountain of Yeses / Haymaker Records / Apr. 8, 2020 [Originally released May 12, 2009, A Mountain of Yeses was made by: Brodie Rush on vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards; Ben Ruth on bass guitar; Ryan Shank on drums & percussion, and Jeremiah James on guitar, Moog & Vocals. Brodie writes: “This album is a journey into the sculpting process of creating “A Mountain of Yeses”. In contrast to the original release, this compilation contains alternate mixes, isolated tracks and demo versions. Be/Non presents a bizarro-like version of the AMOY album, showing an alternate universe what could have been if the creation of the album went on a divergent path. Behold the paradoxical serendipity of Be/Non’s unique take on constructing a space-themed story/album. A visual accompaniment to the album has been in production since 2008 and now has a 2021 release date.” Brodie Rush is a musician, songwriter, band leader, graphic artist, actor, father and survivor. He is the Director of Animation & Motion Graphics at Crush Media. He is also the creative genius behind Be/Non, a Kansas City band that has been making music for over 20 years and released their critically acclaimed 6th album, Mystic Sunrise / Sunset Magic, on Haymaker Records on February 29, 2016, followed by Freedom Palace in 2018 that had been stuck in the studio for 12 years due to disputes with the original record label and personnel changes in the band until Brodie rescued the tapes and remastered the album for Haymaker Records. Brodie Rush has been working to get his life back after surviving an Aortic Dissection in October 2019, and after being in a coma, and after months of therapy, recovery, and healing through two dangerous years of Covid-19. Brodie was working on a new song before this life-threatening event and it’s taken over two years to get it together. In 2022 Be/Non, are playing their first shows in over six years.]
[Be/Non play recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd, on Friday, Sept. 30, at 7:00 PM with Dan Jones & The Squids ]
Kat King – “New Sun” from: “New Sun” – Single / Manor Records / July 29, 2021 [Kansas City based 5-piece shimmer-pop band Kat King will release their single “New Sun” that breathes life back into life itself. Led by Kat, herself, a seasoned musician who charms with an infectious dance-inducing energy, the upcoming single is an electric blend of catchy bright melodies that find itself right in the heart & heat of summer. Derek Melies on guitar, John Kaul McCain on bass, Daniel Cole on drums, & Kara LePage on keys bring a refreshing dynamism both on and off the stage. Centering on themes of self-care, steadfast friendship, and revitalizing optimism, “New Sun” compels listeners to look towards new, more positive, more productive perspectives. Follow up to the June 9, 2021 SAY WHAT YOU MEAN 5-track EP recorded with her band. Kat King on guitar, keyboards, & vocals; Derek Melies on guitar & back ground vocals; John McCain on bass; Daniel Cole on drums. Co-produced & mixed/mastered by Joel Martin. Lawrence Kansas based singer songwriter Kat King released her last single Song of Spain in 2019 and her single “2017” in, 2018. She released her 5-song EP “Falling Up” on December 1, 2017. Kat King has been creating music since the 2nd grade. She’s produced one 13-song album and three EP’s, the first one released at the age of 14. More info at: http://www.katbking.com ]
[Kat King plays Manor Records 5 year Anniversary Fall Fundraiser Auction, on Saturday, October 1, 7:00 to 11:00 PM, 6 PM – 10 PM at Manor Records in Strawberry Hill Neighborhood of KCK.]
Olivia Fox – “Let Me Down Slow” from: “Let Me Down Slow” – Single / Olivia Fox Music / September 23, 2022 [Let Me Down Slow is produced by Tyler Banks, their longtime producer, drummer and now add co-writer to the list. “Tyler has always been a crucial part to our overall sound and production. We’ve worked together a certain way for so long, that it is so nice to create these new batches of songs from the ground up with him. That’s really made the songwriting process so enjoyable to have everyone now involved. And you can feel that in the music,” says lead singer Flynn.The Kansas City based band, OLIVIA FOX is Lauren Flynn, Aubrey Callahan and Tiffany Smith. The trio released their full length album “Carbon” on August 23, 2019. The band has previously released multiple singles and two EPs. OLIVIA FOX create music that is a unique marriage between classic folk instrumentation, vocals, and harmonies to modern programmed beats and synth pads. OLIVIA FOX were all brought together through their manager David “DJ” Lee. In 2019 year Lauren had a baby boy, Aubrey got married, and Tiffany adopted a new doggie. // Their album CARBON was Produced by Tyler Banks. Co-Produced by David “DJ” Lee. All Songs written by Lauren Flynn, BMI, Except “Blame” written by Lauren Flynn and David “DJ” Lee. All Vocals by OVFX. Additional vocals on “Not Going Down” by: Kianna Alarid, Jessica Paige, Jo Mackenzie, Kat King, Nicki White, Natalie Norman, and Crystal Rose. All drums, synths and programming by Tyler Banks. All Violin by Tiffany Smith. Acoustic guitars by Lauren Flynn. Acoustic guitars on “Across the Water” and “Carbon” by Katy Guillen. Acoustic guitars on “Easy” and “Utah” by Josh Johnson. Piano on “Little Bird” and “Elevator Doors” by Jess Hughes. Album artwork: Chet Flynn. OLIVIA FOX were last on WMM on April 4, 2018 and Nov. 13, 2019. Info at http://www.weareoliviafox.com]
[Olivia Fox played the 18th Annual Crossroads Music Fest, Saturday, August 27, at 10:30 PM on Community Lending of America Stage at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming, one of 6 STAGES in the Historic West Bottoms with over 25 Bands. More info at http://www.cmfkc.com]
Miya Folick – “Bad Thing” from: “Bad Thing” – Single / Stop Talking – Nettwerk / August 26, 2022 [Much-lauded vocalist, songwriter and producer Miya Folick shares a new track today, “Bad Thing,” co-written by Folick, Mitski and Andrew Wells and co-produced by Gabe Wax and Wells. The new song is taken from her forthcoming EP, 2007, slated for release September 9 via Nettwerk. // “The day I wrote this song, I woke up with a first-class, absolutely soul crushing hangover, after having slept for a couple fretful hours,” Folick says. “I wasn’t the kind of person who could hide a hangover, so I told Mitski and Andrew what was going on. We wrote this song. It’s about being stuck in a cycle of behavior that you can’t get out of, but it’s not bleak. There’s hope in the song. I always knew that I would get out of that cycle eventually.
The Uncouth – “Ring The Bell” from: “Ring The Bell” – B Side Single / The Uncouth / 2022 [Our friend Steve Gardels of the Kansas City based band The Uncouth writes to us that, “The Uncouth and I are in the studio finishing the tracking for our (untitled for now) full length record and we’ve been meaning to get you a little sample of what’s to come. Earlier this summer, we released a digital single called Know Your Roots with a B side called “Ring The Bell.” We’re an Oi! band so we write songs about work, that’s a given. With all of this talk about “quiet quitting” added to the ongoing discussion of workers’ rights and the fight for livable wages for all, we figured now is a great time to send Ring The Bell to a wider radio audience.’ // “We’ve all seen how corporations, politicians and bosses benefit from the hard work of the people “beneath” them. Profits are skyrocketing while the rest of us have watched our wages stay the same. Ring The Bell throws this into focus and asks “Will you let the bastards stand on your neck?”. For us, the answer is clear. No more breaking our backs just to pay our rent. Ring the Bell comes complete with our tried and true brand of street punk: pounding drums, ripping guitars, driving bass and group vocals to sing along with for the folks who’ve had enough. Fast and to the point with no swears (for once).”]
11:27 – Underwriting
Amado Espinoza – “The Blue Journey” from: Q’ansas / Amado Espinoza / July 6, 2022 [Amado Espinoza Quartet brings Andean soul to the heartland. Amado plays traditional Andean instruments – the charango and sikus, as well as the mandolin and didgeridoo. He teams up with Andres Ramirez on percussion, Tina Bilberry on violin, & Johnny Hamil on bass, to bring a contemporary electric feel to Amado’s dynamic compositions. Expanding ideas of sound, texture and space, they invoke the musical ancestors of us all and activate the music that is alive in all our DNA. The journey is both ritual & joyous celebration.]
11:33 – Interview with Judith G. Levy
Artist Judith G. Levy joins us to share details about her solo exhibition of new work, “At the Heart of the Matter” showing through October 22, at Studios Inc, 1708 Campbell St, KCMO. Joey Orr, Curator for Research at the Spencer Museum of Art, wrote, “Throughout the exhibit, she wrestles with the heaviness of contemporary life, saturated by gender-based violence, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, ecological disaster, and the global pandemic.” Judith G. Levy is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores complexity, commonality and contradiction in personal stories, historical narratives and socio-cultural issues. She uses her queer gaze to examine memory, authenticity, and desire, while she reconfigures and recreates in order to describe departures from traditional understandings and to create new meanings. Levy has been the recipient of the Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC, a Charlotte Street Fellowship for an Art Omi Artist Residency, and a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship. Levy’s artwork has been exhibited both regionally and nationally. More info at http://www.studiosinc.org and http://www.judithglevy.com
Judith G. Levy thanks for being with us on WMM.
Judith G. Levy is the recipient of the Studios Inc. Residency Program
Studios Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides studio space, professional development, networking, and exhibitions for mid-career artists in the KCMO region. http://www.studiosinc.org
Launched in 2003 to serve mid-career artists, Studios Inc is Kansas City’s nonprofit arts organization that offers pivotal three-year residencies to mid-career artists who are poised to significantly expand their careers in accordance with the career goals articulated in their residency application. Its competitive application process, sharp focus on career advancement, and commitment to serve the under-served population of mid-career artists set Studios Inc apart from other artist-support organizations. Studios Inc offers a unique immersion experience for resident artists, who use their studio and exhibition space to produce and exhibit work, network and learn from one another, and attract and cultivate relationships with art patrons, collectors, and arts professionals.
Operating within Studios Inc are five unique but inseparable programs. These are the Residency Program discussed above, the Exhibition Series Program which exhibits resident artist works throughout the year free to the public, the Internship Program which offers students a custom designed internship experience that is immersive, fun and resume-building, the Patron Program which matches patrons to artists providing the opportunity for greater connection between patron and artist, and studios.gallery which leverages Studios Inc’s permanent collection to increase exposure for past and current resident artists and offers program support via sales.
“At the Heart of the Matter” showing through October 22, at Studios Inc, 1708 Campbell St, KCMO.
“At the Heart of the Matter” includes several parts:
POSTCARDS FROM THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE, 88 postcards, 2022-ongoing
Judith G. Levy began her ongoing project, POSTCARDS FROM THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE in 2021. She was searching for a way to explore her increasing concerns about the climate crisis, infrastructure fragility, and the erosion of the American democracy. Levy alters found postcards by repainting parts of them with gouache. She reframes the meanings of statues and monuments, and adjusts images of historic buildings, bridges, dams, highways, and scenic places to shift the focus away from sentimental pictures to confrontations about an endangered world.
TEARING #2
The Human Rights Campaign last year identified 57 transgender, non-binary and gender-nonconforming individuals that were killed in the United States in 2021, making this the deadliest year on record to date. Many of those killed by this increased violence are Black transgender women, and often their lives are also endangered by racism, poverty and transphobia. Frequently their deaths are reported using dead names and are misgendered. In the Jewish tradition of mourning, one tears one’s garment to represent the reality of death and to express grief. While she is not related familiarly to the 57 people who have been killed, Levy tore 57 shirts and wore one for each person. Her queered concept of family is an expanded one, and she mourns these deaths. The three empty places in the grid represent the many deaths that were unreported.
IM/MIGRATION: Portraits of Immigrant People and Migrant Plants, 29 photographs, 2021-ongoing
In her ongoing photographic project, Judith G. Levy creates portraits of refugee and immigrant individuals and pairs each person with a migrant (non-native) edible fruit or vegetable. Levy is interested in highlighting and celebrating the range, and diversity of people and plants who have come to the United States. Her project explores the definition of what is considered “American,”, as she honors refugees and immigrants who make their home here. Levy acknowledges the migrant plants that have become essential components in our daily diet. Many of the people Levy photographs live in Kansas and Missouri, two states that are considered part of the Heartland of America , a large region with traditional roots that has become more diverse.
IS COVID AT MY DOOR?
Judith G. Levy is immuno-compromised, and she has been very careful to protect herself from getting infected with the Covid-19 virus. Starting in October 2021, she began taking photographs daily through the peephole in the front door of her house, peeking out from what felt like a place of safety. Over times, what began as an anxious effort grew into a ritualistic practice that offered her meditative moments, as she connected with the world outside her door. The landscape beyond, albeit it consisted of a suburban, front lawn, became a healing agent, as well as reminder of nature’s beauty and enduring capacity for change. As she collected these images, they became a diary-like documentation of the passing of time during heightened concerns. She continued to photograph daily throughout March of 2022, when she received her second booster vaccination.
IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE, installation, 2022
In 1935 writer Sinclair Lewis published a novel, It Can’t Happen Here, which is about the fragility of the American democracy and a depiction of the rise of a United States dictator who curtails individual freedom. In October of 2021, a Texas state lawmaker created a list of 850 books he believes should be banned in schools throughout Texas. He has stated that the books on his list “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex”. Some of the books he wants to ban focus on transgender identity and critical race theory. Levy filmed librarians from her local library reading all 850 titles and included this in her installation on a monitor which also shows clips of a 2021 book burning event in Tennessee. In addition, she includes books that have a long-standing history of being banned or challenged, particularly in public and school libraries across the United States. Levy conceives this installation as both an alter and a pyre to capture the duality she sees about reading and books.
Ava Golem: The Story of a Protector, 2021, video, 9 min
In Jewish mystical beliefs, a Golem is an anthropomorphic being created from pure soil by Jews to protect them against adversaries who threaten their communities and lives. Narrative about Golems underscore the true fragility of Jewish life during centuries of persecution and annihilation in Europe. Judith G. Levy responded to the significant increase of anti-Semitism globally during the past several years and created a contemporary, queer Golem who is concerned not only about protecting Jews, but who also focuses on the present-day environmental crisis.
AMONG THE TREES
Among the Trees is an video installation created from found 35 mm slides converted into photographs and from edited found drone video. This project explores the range of the relationships we have with trees. The images move from ones on the left that depict people in the presence of trees to portraits of trees taken by unknown photographers to video footage of large-scale fire disasters. In the ones on the left trees are part of family portraits and provide for things such as shade for picnics and offer beauty to landscapes for homes and parks. In the second set, the trees are observed by many amateur photographers and are seen as objects of beauty or interest. The third part is comprised of edited drone video of the California fires of 2018. While this imagery is devastating, it is also more abstract, suggesting that our relationship with the trees is a more distant one, when it comes to environmental policy and practice.
200 found 35mm slides from the 1940’s to the ‘70’s, found drone video, total project is 14:51 minutes, looped video, 2020
Joey Orr, Curator for Research at the Spencer Museum of Art, wrote the following introductory text for the exhibition and discusses some of the work in this show.
“At the Heart of the Matter is a solo exhibition of new work by artist Judith G. Levy. Throughout the exhibit, she wrestles with the heaviness of contemporary life, saturated by gender-based violence, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, ecological disaster, and the global pandemic. In the midst of seemingly ceaseless emergency, this exhibition stakes it claims on empathy, care, and a shared humanity. Like all forms of representation in her practice, the individual works are both real and metaphorical, playful and sincere. Using still and moving images and found objects, she moves across mediums, gently nudging visual and material cultures toward more compassionate horizons.”
Is Covid at My Door?, detail from 180 photographs in 3 sections, archival digital prints, total 72″h x 40″w, 2021/2022
“Levy depicts everyday objects as agents that reveal a shared human vulnerability. The front door acts as a threshold into the sanctity of home, while doubling as protection from the potential perils of the world beyond. The exhibit also reflects on the fluidity of global and local identities in a series of portraits photographed in simple, natural light. All of the participants are connected to the artist through trusted, word-of-mouth networks. Often dressed to reference their countries of origin, they cradle vegetables and fruits that are common, though not native to the United States. The series is a complex expression of immigration provoking viewers to consider their assumptions behind feelings of familiarity and difference. Old travel postcards are overpainted to reconstruct their locations, transformed by drought and flooding in present times and our not too distant futures. Through worn away landscapes and monuments, this work turns ironically on the souvenir’s inherent nostalgia for a lost world that was always predicated on the devaluation of lives and ecologies.”
I’M/MIGRATION: Portraits of Immigrant People and Migrant Plants, 17″h x 25w”, 2022
“In the video work, Golem, she doubles herself, appearing as the golem she has made for her own protection. It is a magical story addressing a violent and persistent history. It also acknowledges something about her making. Ava Golem explains that the artist has made her because “she’s frightened and worried; she’s scared.” Instead of turning away from the exploitation and structural inequalities of the world, Levy intervenes, however briefly, into how their meanings are conveyed. At the Heart of the Matter emerges from a fraught contemporary moment, and since the exhibition cannot remake the world on its own, it imagines its repair.”
Judith G. Levy thanks for being on WMM.
Judith Levy’s solo exhibition of new work, “At the Heart of the Matter” runs through October 22, at Studios Inc, 1708 Campbell St, KCMO.
Amado Espinoza – “Above The City Blocks” from: Q’ansas / Amado Espinoza / July 6, 2022 [Amado Espinoza Quartet brings Andean soul to the American heartland. Amado plays traditional Andean instruments – the charango and sikus, as well as the mandolin and didgeridoo. He teams up with Andres Ramirez on percussion, Tina Bilberry on violin, and Johnny Hamil on bass, to bring a contemporary electric feel to Amado’s dynamic compositions. Expanding ideas of sound, texture and space, they invoke the musical ancestors of us all and activate the music that is alive in all our DNA. The journey is both ritual and joyous celebration.]
Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now” from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
Next week on Wednesday, October 5 we welcome members of the legendary band Fanny who are in Kansas City for the showing of their new documentary film and for a live concert at recordBar. The Film Society KC in partnership with Midwest Music Foundation and the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City present a one-night-only screening of the new documentary, Fanny: The Right to Rock at Screenland Armour. on Oct 4, at 7:00 PM, with Fanny band members, June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, and Patti Quattro in attendance! Held in tandem with a one-night-only reunion concert from Fanny+ (June Millington, Brie Howard-Darling, Patti Quatro, and Mia Huggins) with Katy Guillen and the Drive opening the show, at Record Bar, 1520 Grand Ave, KCMO, on Wednesday, October 5, Doors at 6:00 PM. FANNY was the first all-female rock act to record an entire album for a major record label, and in fact recorded and released five albums for major labels.
FANNY was the first all-female rock act to rise to real prominence in the US and Europe. Acknowledged by both the press and their many fans as an awesome live act – in the words of Steve Peacock, a top UK music journalist of the era, “if you close your eyes, it’s like listening to the Stones” – FANNY toured tirelessly for up to nine months of every year. In a career that stretched from 1970 to 1975, they had a string of hit singles and also played on the studio recordings of some legendary artists. In addition to their many live gigs, they performed on top music and variety television shows of the time, including The Old Grey Whistle Test, the Sonny and Cher Show, American Bandstand and The Beat Club, Germany’s most famous band program. “One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace. And that is Fanny… Revivify Fanny and I will feel that my work is done.” — David Bowie More info at: https://fannyrocks.com
Also next week we talk with Mike McCoy, Heather Grehan, and Lisa McKenzie about their special Cher UK reunion Shows with Danger Bob, and The Bubble Boys on Friday, October 7 at Liberty Hall In Lawrence and Saturday, October 9 at The Ship, 1221 Union in The West Bottoms.
Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information. Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org
Wednesday MidDay Medley 