Next Wednesday’s Show…

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I Formed a Band – The Tom Livesay Story

WJC Jazz Band, February 12, 1988, Kansas State Jazz Festival

Wednesday MidDay Medley welcomes Kansas City musician and songwriter, Tom Livesay. We will chronicle the musical history of Tom’s life through every band he has played with, starting with the William Jewel Marching Band, in the late 1980s. That was the band where Tom first met Ike Sheldon. We’ll play music from Tom’s collaborations with Ike, and Phil Wade, before they became… The Wilders.

We’ll hear resurrected tracks from the Kansas City bands: The Young Johnny Carson Story, My Childhood Hero, Foolish Sad Robot, Cher, The Whittlers, The Freshman Senators, Wm. Howell, The Wilders, The Kemps, The Dhurries, Betse Ellis, Tom’s solo recordings, and others.

Show #405

WMM Playlist from January 18, 2012

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Playlist from: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Local & Future Releases
+ Albert Mazibuko of Ladysmith Black Mambazo

1. The Grisly Hand – “Western Avenue”
from: Western Avenue / Independent / February 1, 2012
[The new EP is now available through thegrislyhand.com and on Feb 1 it will be available on iTunes and Amazon. The EP contains 2 original songs, “Western Ave.” & “Black Coffee,” and 2 covers, Radiohead’s “Thinking About You” & “Still Feelin’ Blue” by Gram Parsons. The 2 originals are currently being pressed into a 7″ dual A-Side, which will be available Mid-February. Nick Davis reports that the band is already back in the studio working on another EP, and they’ll be releasing a full-length around this time next year, with or without any label support.]

2. Thee Water MoccaSins – “Diablo Diablo”
from: Thee Water MoccaSins / Independent / April 5, 2012
[Thee Water MoccaSins is comprised of KC musicians Billy Smith on Guitar and Vocals; Steve Tulipana on Vocals, Guitar and Bass; John Bersuch on Drums and Percussion; and Wade Williamson on Guitar, Keyboards, and Bass. All musicians are currently involved with, or have been involved with: Roman Numerals, Season to Risk, Olympic Size, Dirt Nap, Stella Link, Bacon Shoe, Minds Under Cover and Starhaven Rounders. Billy Smith, now living in NYC, told us that the band will release their new record during this year’s Middle of The Map Festival, to be held April 5 – 7.]

10:13

3. John Velghe & The Prodigal Sons– “The Occupier”
from: Don’t Let Me Stay / Lakeshore Records / March 13, 2012
[John Velghe – vox, guitars, keyboards. The Prodigal Sons: Mike Alexander – guitar, mandolin, backing vocals; Chris Wagner – bass, backing vocals; GoGo Ray – drum set; Hermon Mehari – trumpet; Sam Hughes – saxophone; Mike Walker – trombone. With: Kirsten Paludan – vocals; James Mitchell – cello; Whitney Williamson – violin; Catherine Root – violin. John Velghe will be our guest on Mar. 21, to talk about the new record and play a few songs LIVE. John will be concert at The recordBar, Feb 10, w/ 7-piece, “The Prodigal Sons.” “Don’t let Me Stay” will have a special release concert, Mar. 24, at The Record Bar that’ll include an 11 piece ensemble, including string players and a horn section.]

4. The Depth and The Whisper – “Blindsided”
from: One Steady Breath / Independent / June 28, 2011
[Produced and recorded by John Velghe at Guttersnipe recording. This song features Albert Bickley and Dave Tanner, the principle musicians and songwriters, with Troy Van Horn on lead guitar, Go Go ray on Drums, John Velghe on keyboards and backing vocals and Elaine McMilian on backing vocals. The Depth and The Whisper will be in concert at the Record bar on Jan. 27 with the entire band. Dave Tanner told us Elaine McMilian, will be with them for this show.]

5. Christopher Tolle – “We Belong Together”
from: We Belong Together (Digital Single) / Capitol / Jan. 14, 2011
[One of the founding members of Olympic Size, Christopher Tolle told us because of the “feel” of several of his new songs, he is going to wait for Summer to release the full length record. He said it’s just a summer-y-kind-of-record. He is, however, going to release an EP of brand new songs this winter. (2 of the 4 songs are already recorded). He promised us that as soon as the new stuff is out he will send the songs to us, to share with listeners on WMM. CT with Bill Latas will be in concert at The Brick, KCMO – with The CAVES, this Friday, January 20.]

10:27 – (Bands with Andrew Connor)

6. Power and Light – “Earthly Schemes”
from: EP / Warp / January 14, 2012 [A new collaboration between Nathan Readey (production) and Andrew Connor (songs, vocals). Their music is described as pop, chill, downtempo, electropop, french pop.]

7. The ACB’s – “Feel Winter”
from: Daytrotter Studio / Independent / Jan. 6, 2012
[Konnor Ervin on lead vocals, Andrew Connor on Guitar, Bryan McGuire on Bass, Kyle Rausch on Drums. David Hudnall of The Pitch wrote, “Nobody in the city is writing sharper or more inventive melodies than Ervin, who has honed his craft the old-fashioned way: working a part-time job, living in a (crappy) apartment and practicing music all the time.” Recenting while the band was out on the road, The ACB’s were invited to play for The Daytrotter Sessions, in the Horseshack studios, in Rockford, Illinois. The band recorded four songs: 2 from The ACB’s late 2010 release, “Stona Rosa,” and 2 brand new songs. On January 6, Daytrotter posted the songs at Daytrotter.com.]

8. Ghosty – “This Wolf”
from: unmastered track from Spring release / More Famouser Records / April 2012
[Andrew Connor performs with: The ACB’s, Power and Light, The Finsters, Mary Fartune, many know him for the band Ghosty. Andrew told us that Ghosty is currently wrapping up the production of their new album this week, at More Famouser Studios, w/ Mike Nolte. Andrew says they’re “trying for a big vinyl release party in March or April.” The album is not mastered yet, but he passed on a mix of their new song, “This Wolf.”]

10:35

9. The Latenight Callers – “Calaveras”
from: Easy Virtues / TLNC / 2012
[TLNC have been invited to perform in San Francisco, Sat, Jan. 28, at The Noir City Nightclub, in a celebratory fundraiser for The Film Noir Foundation. TLNC were originally formed in Lawrence by baritone guitarist, Krysztof Nemeth, and vocalist Julie Berndsen, With the addition of Guitarist Ellen O’Hayer, Bassist Gavin Mac, and Nick Combs on keyboards TLNC have become a KC Band known for their enchanting live performances. The band hosts a CD Release Party, Sat, Feb 25, at The Beaumont Club. W/ Federation of Horsepower, American Catastrophe, The Delighted, & Voler Aerial Arts.]

10. Grand Marquis – “The Jungle”
from: The Sun Session / Grand Marquis / Jan. 13, 2013
[Recorded live, February 1, 2011 at Sun Studio, 706 Union Avenue, in Memphis Tennessee. This song is on their CD plus their limited edition 2 song 7 inch single on vinyl. Bryan Redmond – lead vocals, soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones; Chad Boydston – trumpet, backing vocals; Ryan Wurtz – guitar; Ben Ruth – upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals; Lisa Mckenzie – drums, washboard.]

10:45 – Wednesday MidDay Medley Exclusive!

Two of Kansas City’s favorite bands: The Hearts of Darkness and The Good Foot have teamed up for the release of their first collaborative project, a split single 7” record titled “Numeration / Bad Way”. This single grew out of a discussion between the two bands about ways to cooperate on a release, share expenses and to grow the spirit of friendly competition. The record jacket features two “front covers”, so it’s up to the bands are leaving it up to their fans and listeners to determine which song is the “A” side and which is the “B” side. The single features The Good Foot’s first released original tune: “Bad Way” on one side and Hearts of Darkness’ first single “Numeration” off the forthcoming album on the other side.

The 7″ vinyl record w/ digital download will be released Sat, Feb 18, at The inaugural Carnivàle du Soul, at the Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway. Carnivàle du Soul was created as the gala event, of the 11 year tradition of Mardi Gras carnival season in KC. Hearts of Darkness and The Good Foot will headline the main stage. Opening the show will be DJ Fat Sal w/ Voler Aerial Fabrics. Also featured will be DJ sets by Superwolf & Joc Max. These DJs specialize in rare funk, soul, R&B, Afro-Caribbean, & reggae on vinyl. More info at: heartsofdarkness.net. The split single will be available at local record stores.

The Hearts of Darkness

11. The Hearts of Darkness – “Numeration”
from: Numeration / Bad Way (Split Single) 7″ Vinyl / Shipshape Records / Feb. 18, 2012
[The Hearts of Darkness will play this year’s Wakaursa Festival. The 15 piece ensemble includes: Les Izmore – Vox, Percussion; Brandy Gordon – Vox; Erica Townsend – Vox; Rachel Christia – Vox; Brad Williams – Drum Kit, Percussion; Sean Branagan – Kit, Percussion; Miko Spears – Congas; Pete Leibert – Bass Guitar; Richard Gumbel – Rhythm Guitar; Jolan Smith – Tenor Sax; Shawn Hansen – Alto Sax, Sam Hughes – Baritone Sax; Andrew Ford – Slide Trombone; Ken Walker – Valve Trombone; Bob Asher – Trumpet. The band blends American funk & soul, hip-hop & KC jazz big-band traditions into an afrobeat-based foundation to create a huge sound. Bobby Asher tells us that the band expects to release the 2nd full length vinyl later in the Spring.]

12. The Good Foot – “Bad Way”
from: Numeration / Bad Way (Split Single) 7″ Vinyl / Shipshape Records / Feb. 18, 2012
[7-piece, KC soul revue that is one of the most popular bands in the area. The band includes: Julia Haile, Adam Wagner, Tim Braun, Quentin Schmidt, David Conarroe, Nick Howell, and Nick Rowland. Known for their interpretations of the Motown & Stax songbook, as well as their own original compositions.]

11:00

13. The B’Dinas – “Five-Day Weekend”
from: Morning Party / Independent / Feb. 25, 2012
[Winner of Audience Favorite on the Electric Stage at the HRC Battle of The Bands, this past Sunday January 15. The B’Dinas will perform at a special CD Release concert for their new 6 song EP, on Saturday, February 25 at Czar.]

14. Sneaky Creeps – “Flat”
from: The Thin Man Wigs Out / Independent / Jan. 8, 2012
[The 2nd EP from band formed by, Max Crutcher, Andy Davis, Andy Erdrich who all met while going to KCAI. Andy Davis moved away, making the Sneaky Creeps a duo pf Max Cruthcher on Drums and Yell/Talk, and Andrew Erdrich on Guitar and Yell/Talk. Recorded by Ashley at Infoaming Vortex All material written by Sneaky Creeps, Andy Erdrich, who is also a co-founder of BREAD! Was happy to report that we were the very first to download their new, release, “The Thin Man Wigs Out,” through bandcamp.]

15. The Brannock Device – “The Consequence of Hope”
from: Into The Witness Chamber / Independent / Spring 2012
[The Brannock Device has been making music for 15 years w/ Jason Beers on vocals & bass; D Bernard Dugan on drums & vocals; Marco Pascolini on guitar; Jeremy Schutte on long distance lover, guitar & vocals; and Elaine McMilian on Vocals. Jason Beers tells us that The Brannock Device’s new album is all done and awaiting packaging.]

11:13 – Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be in concert at The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts on Tues, Jan 24, at 7:30 PM. Info at kauffmancenter.org.

16. Ladysmith Black Mambazo – “Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes”
from: The Very Best / Springbot Records / September 28, 2011

17. Ladysmith Black Mambazo – “Yangiluma Inkukhu (The Biting Chick)”
from: Songs From a Zulu Farm / Razor & Tie / Feb. 1, 2011

11:20 – Interview with Albert Mazibuko of Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo, was formed by Joseph Shabalala, in the early 1960s. In the mid-1980s, Paul Simon visited South Africa and incorporated Black Mambazo’s harmonies into his 1986 album “Graceland” and introduced World music to mainstream audiences. “Graceland” won the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year. In 1987, Paul Simon produced Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s first U.S. release, “Shaka Zulu,” which won the Grammy Award, for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1988. Since then, the group has received 15 Grammy Award Nominations and three Grammy Award wins, and have recorded 40 albums and sold more than 6 million records. The 10-member ensemble will be in concert at The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts on Tues, Jan 24, at 7:30 PM. (Info at kauffmancenter.org.)

Albert Mazibuko talked about how “Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes” a song wriiten by his cousin Joseph Shabalala and Paul Simon, originally released on “Graceland” in 1986, (and later re-recorded for their 2006 release “Long Walk To Freedom” w/ guest Melissa Etheridge) introduced Black Mambazo to the U.S.

The band traveled to London to record “Graceland” w/ Paul Simon. Many people forget that The Apartheid system was still in place during this time, however the Apartheid government allowed the group to tour to parts of Europe. Albert Mazibuko discussed how it was difficult in those years. He talked about how when the band left the country to play ion parotids of Europe they were never sure if they would be allowed back home.

The Apartheid system was abolished in 1994. The after the release of Nelson Mandela, after 27 years imprisonment, Ladysmith Black Mambazo celebrated the end of Apartheid with their song “Isikifil’ Inkululeko” (“Freedom Has Arrived”). Nelson Mandela (shortly after his release from prison) publicly stated that the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo were “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors”. In 1993 The band accompanied Mandela to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway at his request. Mambazo sang again at President Mandela’s inauguration in May 1994, after he became the first democratically elected President of South Africa. Albert told us how this period felt to him as a citizen of South Africa, seeing these changes in his life.

We asked Albert Mazibuko about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and how his life affected Albert and his family in South Africa. Albert told us that he viewed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as an angel sent from heaven.

The name Ladysmith Black Mambazo represent the hometown of Shabalala’s family, Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal; the black ox, considered to be the strongest farm animal; and Mambazo, which means axe in the Zulu language, and is symbolic of the choir’s ability to “chop down” the competition? I read that, by the early 1970s, the group was forbidden to compete in the competitions because of their continual success.

Albert Mazibuko told us about the style of music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, how this music evolved out of working in the mines, where workers were separated from there families for long periods.

We told Albert about how 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio plays the music of Ladysmith Black Mamboza every week on our program World Sound, produced and hosted by Tom Crane, on Sundays from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

It is reported that the group has had over 30 different members at one point or another over the past forty-five years. However it seems that the core of the group has been the families of Joseph Shabalala; his brothers (Headman and Enoch,) and currently his sons (Thamsanqa, Msizi, Thulani, and Sibongiseni and his cousins (Albert) and Albert’s brother (Abednego Mazibuko currently); (and his brothers Milton, Funokwakhe, and Joseph Mazibuko) (as well as close friends Matovoti Msimanga and Walter Malinga) and close friends Russel Mthembu and Ngane Dlamini, currently with the band. Albert discussed how it’s easier traveling with family, his brothers and cousins, because they are from the same family their voices blend in together in positive ways.

We interviewed Albert Mazibuko live on the phone from Brownsville, Texas, where the band has a show. It’s the 3rd show of their current tour that is taking them to 59 cities over the next 4 months. The group tours 8 months of the year and has traveled all over the world performing for Queens and Presidents, for Olympics. We asked Albert where his favorite places to tour & perform are and he replied his favorite place is “on the stage,” sharing their music with the audiences all over the world.

The members of the group currently reside in or near Pinetown, just outside of the coastal city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. We asked Albert what he misses most about being away from home, and he told us that it was a food served in South Africa that is not available here: sour milk.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been nominated for a Grammy for their recent release, “Songs From a Zulu Farm.” This recording is important to the group because the older members were born and raised on the farms outside of Ladysmith. It is a collection of original and traditional songs that sing of life on the farm.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be in concert at The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts on Tues, Jan 24, at 7:30 PM. Info at kauffmancenter.org.

11:40

18. Fullbloods – “Candy”
from: The Perpetual Machine / Golden Sound Records / 2011
[Ross Brown, Alex Chapman, Bill Pollock, & Glenn Shipps. Ross Brown with Mat Shoare & Jerad Colton Tomasino started Golden Sound Records]

19. Millions of Boys – “Dead Girls”
from: Competing For Your Love / Golden Sound Records / 2011-12
[Omaha based, Sara Bertuldo on Guitar, Bass &Vocals; Alex van Beaumont on Guitar, Bass & Vocals; and Ryan Haas on Drums & Vocals will be performing a Vinyl Release of their album “Competing For Your Love” this Sat, Jan. 21 at The Slowdown, 729 N 14th St. in Omaha, NE.]

20. The Pedaljets – “Tangled Up”
from: New unreleased recording / Independent / 2012
[Formed in Lawrence, in 1984 they toured all over the country, opening for Hüsker Dü, The Flaming Lips, The Replacements. In 1988 they released their debut, “Today, Today.” Their 2nd album, “Pedaljets,” was released in 1989. And In 1990 the band went their separate ways. 20 years later The Pedaljets find themselves back in the studio. Bassist Matt Kessler passed on this track, from the band’s new sessions. The PedalJets will be in concert at the recordBar Sat, Jan 28, for Michael Byers’ B-day Party. Matt said they’ll be playing all new songs and he told us the band has been recording a lot, and are not sure about a release date, but are hoping for sometime this spring. Matt’s other band, The Doo-Dads will be in CONCERT at the recordBar, Fri, Jan 20 at 6:00 PM. ]

21. The Caves – “Weekend Blues”
from: Duplexiaville / Independent / 2012
[KC based: Andrew Ashby on Guitar & Voice, David Gaumé on Bass, Elizabeth Bohannon on Keyboards, Percussion & Voice, Jake Cardwell on Drums & Percussion. Andrew Ashby, sent us a new track that’ll be part of upcoming release “Duplexiaville” available this Spring on Golden Sound Records. Andrew Ashby also reports to us that this week The Caves are recording a new song for a compilation of KC/Lawrence bands due out for Record Store Day.]

22. The Sleazebeats – “Goosesteppin’ Nazis”
from: The Sleazebeats / Independent / Jan. 1, 2012
[Charlie Colborne – keyboards, guitar, vocals; Bill Belzer – drums; Jeff Harshbarger – bass; Recorded at More Famouser Studios w/ Mike Nolte engineer, mixing, mastering the recordings. The Sleazebeats will play in a CD Release show at the recordBar, Thurs, Feb 16, at 9:30, w/ The Features from Tennessee.]

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
WednesdayMidDayMedley.org
facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM
and kkfi.org

Thanks for listening!

11:59:30

23. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Sources for Notes: Artist’s websites noted above and wikipedia.org

Show #404

Next Wednesday’s Show…

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, January 18, 2011

Local & Future Releases
+ Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Wednesday MidDay Medley presents: “Local & Future Releases.” We’ll play singles and unreleased tracks from area bands currently working on their new 2012 releases. We’ll hear tracks from: John Velghe and The Prodigal Sons, Ghosty, Hearts of Darkness, Sneaky Creeps, The Caves, The Latenight Callers, The Sleazebeats, Christopher Tolle, Dead Voices, The Brannock Device, The Pedaljets, and Thee Water MoccaSins. We’ll also hear new releases from The Full Bloods, Millions of Boys, Grand Marquis, The Depth and the Whisper, and Cass McCombs.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

In our second hour, at 11:15 AM, we’ll talk live with Albert Mazibuko of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Albert Mazibuko has been with the group since 1969, where for more than forty years, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has married the intricate rhythms and harmonies of the native South African musical traditions. The ten member vocal ensemble has recorded forty albums and sold more than six million records. Their first US album “Shaka Zulu” won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be in concert at The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Tuesday, January 24, at 7:30 PM. For more information you can visit http://www.kauffmancenter.org.

Show #404

WMM Playlist from January 11, 2012

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Playlist from: Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Remembering MLK

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his "I Have A Dream" speech.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Born Jan. 15, 1929, he died April 4, 1968. MLK led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. After his death he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 198I.

1. Soweto Gospel Choir – “Pride (In The Name of Love)”
from: In the Name of Love – Africa Celebrates U2 / Shout! Factory Records / 2008

2. Labelle – “Something in The Air / The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
from: Something Silver / Warner Archives / 1997
[originally released on: “Pressure Cookin'” from 1973. The 3rd album from the funk/soul trio of: Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash who each shared a rap on “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron. It was the B-side to Scott-Heron’s first single, “Home Is Where the Hatred Is”, from his album Pieces of a Man (1971). “Something in the Air” is a song orig. recorded by Thunderclap Newman, a band created by Pete Townshend for The Who’s former roadie John ‘Speedy’ Keen who wrote and sang the song. It was a UK #1 single for three weeks in July 1969.]

10:15 – Soul Brother…

3. Curtis Mayfield – “Beautiful Brother of Mine”
from: Roots / Curtom-Buddah / 1971

4. Maceo & The Macks – “Soul Power ’74”
from: James Brown’s Funky People, Pt. 2 / People Records / 1988
[a showcase for the tightest horn section in history, over an instrumental version of “Soul Power”. Not only is this particular record sampled more than hors douvres in a supermarket aisle, it contains samples itself in the form of tape overlays of civil rights rallies, a Dr. King speech, and an announcement of King’s assassination. Maceo Parker has played saxophone with James Brown, Parliment, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and Prince.]

5. Sweet Honey in The Rock, Aaron Neville, Lamar Campbell, & Spirit of Praise
– “Ella’s Song”
from: Soundtrack to Boycott / HBO / 2001
[Boycott is the critically acclaimed 2001 HBO film staring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Terrence Howard as Ralph Abernathy, and CCH Pounder as Jo Ann Robinson.]

10:30 – King’s Life, Death, and Spirit…

6. Darwin Hobbs & Karen Clark-Sheard – “King”
from: Soundtrack to Boycott / HBO / 2001

7. Mahalia Jackson – “Take My Hand Precious Lord”
from: Something to Believe In / Hear / 2002
[She sang this song at MLK Funeral]

8.Tramaine Hawkins, Ella Mitchell, Billy Porter & Chorus-“Rocka My Soul”
from: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre “Revelations” / V2 / 1998

10:45 – Freedom…

9. Nina Simone -“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”
from: Silk and Soul / RCA / 1967

10. Solomon Burke – “None Of Us Are Free”
from: Don’t Give Up On Me / Fat Possum / 2002
[Back up singers: The Blind Boys of Alabama]

11. Nina Simone – “I Shall Be Released”
from: To Love Somebody / RCA / 1967

11:00 – The Staple Singers…

12. The Staple Singers – “When Will We Be Paid”
from: Single / Stax (Fantasy / Ace) / 1967

13. Mavis Staples – “Down in Mississippi”
from: Live – Hope At The Hideout / Anti / 2008
[Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Mavis Staples, of The Staple Singers, is a celebrated equal rights activist. She’s performed at inaugural parties for Presidents Kennedy, Carter and Clinton, Recorded in June, 2008, in the run up to the Presidential election of Barrack Obama. Recorded live in the intimate bar The Hideout, in her hometown of Chicago. The record is filled with freedom songs. Mavis Staples, who marched and sang and protested alongside Dr. Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, saw her sense of hope validated on Nov. 4th, 2008 when Barrack Obama was elected President.]

14. Pops Staples – “You Gotta Serve Somebody”
from: e-town live volume 3 / e-town /
[orig. written by Bob Dylan. Rec. Sept. 16, 1994, Live in Boulder] [Roebuck “Pops” Staples was born on a cotton plantation near Winona, Mississippi, on December 28, 1914, the youngest of 14 children. When growing up he heard, and began to play with, local blues guitarists such as Charlie Patton, who lived on the nearby Dockery Plantation, Robert Johnson, and Son House. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade, and sang with a gospel group before marrying and moving to Chicago in 1935. A “pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s,” and an accomplished songwriter, guitarist and singer. Patriarch of The Staple Singers, which included his son Pervis and daughters Mavis, Yvonne, and Cleotha.]

11:15 – Gospel & Folk Music Carried the Message…

15. Thelonius Monk Septet – “Abide With Me”
from: Monk’s Music / Riverside / 1957
[written by William Henry Monk, an organist, church musician, and music editor, born March 16, 1823 and died March 18, 1889. He composed a fair number of popular hymns, including one of the most famous from nineteenth century England, “Eventide,” used for the hymn “Abide with Me.” He also wrote a number of anthems.]

16. Pete Seeger – “We Shall Overcome”
from: The Essential Pete Seeger / Columbia – Legacy / 2004
[derived from a gospel song by Reverend Charles Tindley called “We Will Overcome” written in 1901. Adapted and made famous by Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and others the song became central to the civil rights movement of the 1950 and 1960s and eventually used all around the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made use of “we shall overcome” in the final Sunday March 31, 1968 speech before his assassination.]

17. Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion – “Dr. King”
from: exploration / New West / 2005 [written by Pete Seeger]

18. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – “This Land is Your Land”
from: Naturally / Daptone / 2005
[written by Woody Guthrie, Sarah Lee’s Grandfather.]

11:30 – Singer Songwriters…

19. Kris Kristofferson – “They Killed Him”
from: Kris Kristofferson: “Singer / Songwriter” / Sony / 1991

20. Robert Coleman Trussell – “Days of Jubilee”
from: Juice and Jive / Goodnight-Loving / 2008

21. Laura Love – “Hard Times”
from: You Aint Got No Easter Clothes / Koch / 2004

11:45 – Brothers…

22. Isley Brothers – “Brother, Brother, Brother”
from: Brotherhood / Hear Music / 2006

23. The Holmes Brothers – “Promised Land”
from: Promised Land / Rounder / 1997

24. The Chambers Brothers – “People Get Ready”
from: The Time Has Come / Columbia / 1967
[written by Curtis Mayfield]

11:59:30

27. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
__________________________________________________

Quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

A lie cannot live.

A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.

The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt.

Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

We have guided missiles and misguided men.

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources for Notes: Artist’s websites noted above and wikipedia.org

Show #403

Wednesday MidDay Medley Remembers MLK – January 11, 2012

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Remembering MLK

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Wednesday MidDay Medley Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929. Dr. King led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

By the time of his death, Dr. King had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 198I.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his life and work, Mark will play music from: Nina Simone, Pops Staples, Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers, Thelonius Monk Septet, Pete Seeger, Curtis Mayfield, Mahalia Jackson, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Odetta, The Isley Brothers, The Chambers Brothers, The Neville Brothers, The Holmes Brothers, Sweet Honey in The Rock, Tramaine Hawkins, Ella Mitchell, Billy Porter, Solomon Burke, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Robert Coleman Trussell, U2, Laura Love, Labelle, Darwin Hobbs & Karen Clark-Sheard.

Show #403

WMM Playlist from January 4, 2012: Celebrating Iris DeMent

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Playlist from: Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Celebrating Iris DeMent & Her Influences

Iris DeMent

1. Loretta Lynn & Jack White – “Portland Oregon”
from: Van Lear Rose / Interscope / 2004
[produced by Jack White of The White Stripes and Racontuers. It was initially intended as a musical experiment, blending the styles of country singer-songwriter Lynn and producer White, who performs on the whole album as a musician. At the time, Lynn was 69 and White was 28. The title refers to Lynn’s origins as the daughter of a miner working the Van Lear coal mines. The album was the most successful crossover music album of Lynn’s 45-year career. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, Lynn won: Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for her duet with White.]

2. Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell – “Girl From North Country”
from: The Best of The Johnny Cash TV Show / Columbia Legacy / 2007
[a TV music variety show that ran for 58-episodes from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC. It featured many folk/country musicians of the time: Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Merle Haggard, James Taylor and Tammy Wynette. It also featured other musicians such as jazz great, Louis Armstrong, who died 8 months after recording the show. Recorded at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, then home of the Grand Ole Opry. The first show featured Joni Mitchell, Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw, Fannie Flagg and Bob Dylan. The show included a “Country Gold” segment that featured legends never seen on network TV such as Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys. Cash refused to cut the word “stoned” from Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, he stood by his Christian faith “despite network anxieties”, and persisted in bringing on Pete Seeger whose anti-Vietnam song on another network had “caused a firestorm.” He premiered his Man in Black song on an episode filmed at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University’s campus. The show was dumped in 1971 as part of ABC’s so-called “rural purge,” which also claimed that network’s The Lawrence Welk Show.]

3. John Prine w/ Iris Dement – “We’re Not The Jet Set”
from: In Spite Of Ourselves / Oh Boy / 1999
[In 1968 country superstar George Jones witnessed a fight between Tammy Wynette and her husband Don Chapel. At Jones’s urging, Wynette and her daughters drove away with him. Wynette and Jones married Feb. 16, 1969, and Wynette’s 4th daughter, Georgette, was born in 1970. Jones and Wynette, were nicknamed the “President and First Lady” of country music, and they recorded a string of hit duets that seemed drawn directly from their volatile relationship, which resulted in their divorcing in 1975. Their classic recordings included “Two Story House,” “Golden Ring,” and the humorous “(We’re Not) The Jet Set.”]

10:15 – Influences of Iris DeMent

4. Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire”
from: 16 Biggets Hits / Columbia Legacy / 2007
[co-written by June Carter (wife of Johnny Cash) and Merle Kilgore. The song was recorded on March 25, 1963 and became the biggest hit of his career, staying at #1 on the charts for 7 weeks. “Ring of Fire” refers to falling in love – which is what June Carter was experiencing with Johnny Cash at the time. Some sources claim that June had seen the phrase, “Love is like a burning ring of fire,” underlined in one of her uncle A. P. Carter’s Elizabethan books of poetry. She worked with Kilgore on writing a song inspired by this phrase as she had seen her uncle do in the past. In the 2005 film, Walk the Line June is depicted as writing the song while agonizing over her feelings for Cash despite his drug addiction and alcoholism as she was driving home one evening. She had written: “There is no way to be in that kind of hell, no way to extinguish a flame that burns, burns, burns”. Cash claims he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by “Mexican horns”. Four years after the song was released, Carter and Cash were married which Cash states helped to stop his alcohol and drug addictions. Cash’s daughter, Rosanne has stated, “The song is about the transformative power of love and that’s what it has always meant to me and that’s what it will always mean to the Cash children.]

5. Loretta Lynn – “You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man”
from: Legends of Country Music / Columbis Legacy / 1997
[Live performance for Austin City Limits taped in 1983. Loretta Webb was the second of 8 children; grew up in Butcher Holler, a section of Van Lear, a mining community in Kentucky. Growing up with such humble roots had a huge effect on Lynn’s life and heavily influenced her music as an adult. Her autobiography describes how, during her childhood, the community had no motor vehicles, paved roads, or flush toilets. She married Oliver Vanetta Lynn, known as “Doo,” on Jan. 10, 1948, at age 13. In an effort to break free of the coal mining industry, at 14, Lynn moved to the logging community Custer, Washington, with her husband. The Lynns had 4 children – Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Cissy and Ernest Ray – by the time Loretta was 18, and in her early 20s she then had twin girls, Peggy & Patsy. No stranger to controversy, Loretta Lynn possibly had more banned songs than any other country music artist, prior to The Dixie Chicks, including “Rated X,” about the double standards divorced women face, “Wings Upon Your Horns,” about the loss of teenage virginity, and “The Pill,” lyrics by T. D. Bayless, about a wife and mother becoming liberated via the birth control pill. Her song “Dear Uncle Sam,” released in 1966 during the Vietnam War, describes a wife’s anguish at the loss of a husband to war. It has been included in live performances during the current Iraq War.]

6. Bob Dylan – “I Shall Be Released”
from: The Essential Bob Dylan / Columbia – Sony / 2000
[Originally recorded October, 1971. ]

7. Joni Mitchell – “For The Roses”
from: For The Roses / Asylumn / 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. The title song “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 and 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.” A nude photograph of Joni Mitchell was included on the inside cover of the original LP and is included in the CD booklet. The photograph shows the singer from the rear and was taken from a considerable distance; she is shown standing on a rock and staring out at the ocean. This created some controversy at the time.]

10:30

8. Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash – “If I Were A Carpenter”
from: Classic Country Great Duets / Time Life – Sony / 2004
[written by Tim Hardin. Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter Cash during a live show in 1968. Flustered and egged on by 5,000 people in the audience, June finally said “yes.’ The couple then launched into “If I Were A Carpenter” that was then recorded in 1969 after the couple was married]

9. Merle Haggard – “Workin’ Man Blues”
from: Oh Boy Classic Presents Merle Haggard / Oh Boy Records / 2000 [Originally released in 1969, a tribute to a core group of his fans: The American blue-collared working man. Backed by an electric guitar that typified Haggard’s signature Bakersfield Sound, he fills the role of one of those workers expressing pride in values of hard work and sacrifice, despite the resulting fatigue and the stress of raising a large family. Included on Haggard’s 1969 album “A Portrait of Merle Haggard.” Included in this collection on John Prine’s Oh Boy Records.]

10. Johnny Cash – “I’m Leaving Now”
from: American III Solitary Man / American Recordings / 2000
[written by Johnny Cash with vocals and guitar by Merle Haggard. 3rd album in the American series by Johnny Cash. Between “Unchained” and “Solitary Man,” Cash’s health declined due to various ailments, and he was even hospitalized for pneumonia. His illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. The album American III: Solitary Man (2000) contained Cash’s response to his illness, typified by a version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”, as well as a version of U2’s “One” produced by Rick Rubin, it was a Grammy winner, for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for Cash’s version of the Neil Diamond song “Solitary Man”.]

11. Greg Brown – “Blues Go Walking”
from: Covenant / Red House Records / 2000
[his 17th album. NPR wrote that “Greg Brown is both a road poet and a keen observer of the natural world.” Greg Brown says that he likes to think about his work as stories sanded down into songs.]

10:45

12. Victoria Williams -“Early”
from: Going Driftless An Artist’s Tribute to Greg Brown / Red House / 2002 [features female songwriters incl.: Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Iris Dement, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Greg Brown’s three daughters & more, who’ve joined forces to record a tribute album, each selecting their own favorite song by Brown to benefit The Breast Cancer Fund. Iris married Greg Brown on November 21, 2002. ]

13. Greg Brown w/Iris -“Jacob’s Ladder”
from: Honey in The Lion’s Head / Trailer / 2003

14. Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band w/Iris – “I’m Still In Love With You”
from: The Mountain / E – Squared / 1999
[Released February 23, 1999. Songs were written by Earle as a tribute to the founder of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, who had died in 1996.]

11:00

Iris DeMent was the youngest child of Pat DeMent and his second wife, Flora Mae. (As the baby of the family, she was Pat DeMent’s fourteenth child, and Flora Mae’s eighth.) She was born near the town of Paragould, Arkansas but grew up in Cypress, California, where she grew up singing gospel music.

Iris DeMent grew up singing gospel music. During her teenage years she was first exposed to country, folk, and R&B, drawing influence from Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell who we featured in our first hour.

In this hour, we will feature music from her debut recording, “Infamous Angel,” as well as its follow-up, the autobiographical, “My Life,” released in 1994 and we’ll play from her third Warner Brother’s release, “The Way I Should,” released in 1996, which contains some of Iris DeMent’s more political songs.

Also this hour we’ll feature more of Iris DeMent’s collaborations with other artists, singing harmony w/ John Prine, John McCutcheon, Emmylou Harris, Tom Russell, Nancy Griffith, Randy Scruggs, and Kansas City Bus Driver – Gary Kirkland.

After a series of jobs: as a waitress and typist, Iris Dement wrote her first song at the age of 25. She played at open-mic nights in Kansas City, before moving to Nashville, in 1988, where she contacted producer Jim Rooney, who helped her land a record contract. Dement did not make her recording debut until 1992, when her independent label offering, Infamous Angel, won almost universal acclaim. Despite a complete lack of support from country radio, the record’s word-of-mouth praise earned her a deal with Warner Bros., which reissued “Infamous Angel” in 1993.

15. Iris DeMent -“Let The Mystery Be”
from: Infamous Angel / Warner Brothers / 1992 / 1993

16. Iris DeMent – “Easy’s Getting Harder Everyday”
from: My Life / Warner Brothers / 1994

17. Iris DeMent -“The Way I Should”
from: The Way I Should / Warner Brothers / 1996
[Produced by Randy Scruggs]

11:15 – Collaborations

18. Nanci Griffith w/Iris – “Ten Degrees and Getting Colder”
from: Other Voices Other Rooms / Elektra / 1993
[written by Gordon Lightfoot]

19. Nanci Griffith w/Iris & Emmylou -“Are You Tired of Me Darling”
from: Other Voices Other Rooms / Elektra / 1993
[High Harmony – Iris / Low Harmony – Emmylou Harris] [Nanci Griffith’s 10th album. Here she pays homage to other songwriters who have influenced her own career.]

20. John McCutcheon w/Iris – “Over The Garden Wall”
from: Sprout Wings and Fly / Rounder / 1997
[written by AP Carter]

21. Gary Kirkland w/Iris – “Just For Me”
from: Shootin’ The Works on Love / Dark Horse / 2003

11:30 – Collaborations

22. Randy Scruggs w/Iris & Emmylou – “Wildwood Flower”
from: Crown of Jewels / Reprise / 1998

23. John Prine w/ Iris – “In Spite of Ourselves”
from: In Spite of Ourselves/ Oh Boy / 1999
[written by John Prine]

24. Tom Russell w/Iris – “Love Abides”
from: The Man From God Knows Where / Hightone / 1999

11:45

25. Greg Brown -“Good Morning Coffee”
from: If I Had Known – Essential Recordings, 1980 – 1996 / Red House / 2003
[Iris married singer-songwriter Greg Brown on November 21, 2002. They now both live together in Iowa.]

26. Greg Brown – “Bucket”
from: Evening Call / Red House / 2006
[The Washington Post writes, “The singer-songwriter from Iowa has a baritone as rough and chunky as Thanksgiving gravy with the turkey bits still in, and that’s just how his words drip out on his album, “The Evening Call.” on “Whippoorwill” he sing as sweetly as his lover down in Kansas City. That’s his wife, Iris DeMent, and on “Joy Tears,” he tells her, “When you start your singing, honey, the heavens open up with grace.”]

27. Iris DeMent – “Leaning on The Everlasting Arms”
from: True Grit (Sountrack to the Motion Picture) / Nonesuch Records / Dec. 17, 2010
[The musical score for the Coen Brothers new interpretation of the True Grit was created by Carter Burwell. Much of the music was adapted from old public domain gospel hymns. The very last song heard in the film, during the closing credits, is the only piece on the soundtrack that includes vocals. The track is not available on the CD release, but is available if you download the entire album through I-tunes. The song was originally written by Elisha A. Hoffman and Anthony J. Showalter, and originally published in 1887. Copyright is now Public Domain. Iris also included an earlier version of this song on “Lifeline” her 2004 independently released album of protestant gospel hymns, she grew up hearing her mother sing.]

11:59:30

27. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003
[orig. 1957]

A Personal Note:

I first met Iris DeMent when I was working at Kinko’s at 39th & Rainbow in KC, KS, in the early 1990s. Iris came in to copy a few of her press clippings, and on another visit to make her wedding announcements. Later I personally discovered her as a singer on Late Night with Conan O’Brien where she performed her song “My Life.” Then I ran into her at the old Classic Cup in Westport. I was nervous and shy, but she approached me and asked, “How do I Know You?” Our paths crossed many times again and we bumped into each other at a Patti Smith concert in Lawrence.

Iris DeMent played three songs for one of our Big Bang Buffet shows back in 1999, at one of the first First Fridays, at the Hobbs Building during Culture Under Fire. She took the same stage as the incredible dance performance by David Ollington that ended with his body being absent of all clothing. Iris also did a benefit for Friends of Community Radio in 2002, and for KKFI in 2004, both times Greg Brown joined Iris in concert. We were all surprised when Iris and Greg were married several months after their 2002 show at Unity Temple on the Plaza.

Iris performed her song, “Wasteland of the Free” on stage at the Uptown, to open for Michael Moore, because it was one of his favorite songs. She played with Greg at Community Christian Church before Amy Goodman (of Democracy Now), took the stage. Amy is also a huge fan of Iris. Iris helped raise over $20,000.00 in both benefit concerts she gave for Community Radio. She never took a penny.

One of the biggest reasons Iris did all of these things was because Anne Winter was a mutual friend, and Anne asked Iris. Anne was like that really incredible mentor who challenged us all to rise above life’s mediocrity, and DO something. She challenged us all. But she also LOVED helping to make her friend’s dreams come true. Having Iris play on stage with us at a Big Bang Buffet show was one of those moments for me. Asking me to stage manage at the Michael Moore show at the Uptown Theatre, was another. Inviting me to sing old time hymns with Iris and Anne, and Ike Sheldon of The Wilders, at Iris’s River Market loft was another. Anne helped to make all of these connections. Anne even went on tour with Iris at one point, to support her friend.

Thank you Iris! and thank you Anne! I love you both so very much!

Sources for Notes: Artist’s websites noted above and wikipedia.org

Show #402

Next Wednesday’s Show: Celebrating Iris DeMent

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Birthday Tribute to Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent

Wednesday MidDay Medley celebrates the Birthday of Iris DeMent, born January 5, 1961, in rural Paragould, Arkansas. She was the youngest of 14 children. At the age of three, her devoutly religious family moved to California, where she grew up singing gospel music. During her teenage years, Iris was exposed to country, folk, and R&B, drawing influence from Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.

After a series of jobs as a waitress and typist, Dement wrote her first song at the age of 25. She played open-mic nights in Kansas City, until she moved to Nashville, in 1988, and met producer Jim Rooney, who helped her land a record contract.

Dement made her recording debut in 1992, when her independent label offering, “Infamous Angel” won critical acclaim. Despite a complete lack of support from country radio, the record’s word-of-mouth praise earned her a deal with Warner Bros. records, which reissued “Infamous Angel” in 1993.

We’ll feature music from all four of Iris DeMent’s CDs, plus her additional work with artists such as her husband – Greg Brown, and also: John Prine, John McCutcheon, Emmylou Harris, Tom Russell, Nancy Griffith, Steve Earle, Gary Kirkland and songs from various compilations.

We’ll also feature music from Iris DeMent’s inspirations: Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and others.

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #402

WMM Playlist from Dec. 28 – The 111 Best Recordings of 2011 (part 4 of 4)

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Mark Manning

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, December 28, 2011:

The 111 Best Recordings of 2011
(Part 4 of 4)

The 111 Best Recordings of 2011 are based on the playlists of Wednesday MidDay Medley. In 2011 we’ve featured hundreds of New & Local Releases, we’ve featured dozens of LIVE, in-studio performances from area musicians, and we’ve interviewed over 150 local and national artists. Over 40 recordings on our list are from the KC & Lawrence area. All December we’ve been playing nearly 8-hours of music that represent: The 111 of Best Recordings of 2011!

Howard Iceberg's 7-CD collection of over 100 songs, "Welcome Aboard" tops our list of The 111 Best Recordings of 2011

The Wilders also make our list with their 2011 release, "The Wilders"

1. (27.) Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – “Morning Thought”
from: It’s A Corporate World / Warner Brothers / June 3, 2011
[A project started by Detroit based Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott, recording in a basement without the benefit of expensive microphones or big-name producers.]

2. (26.) The Low Anthem – “Boeing 737”
from: Smart Flesh / Nonesuch / February 21, 2011
[The follow up to their critically acclaimed “Oh My God, Charlie Darwin” where the three original band members-Jocie Adams, Ben Knox Miller, and Jeff Prystowsky took over a Block Island cabin in the dead of winter. To record Smart Flesh, the group expanded to a quartet with the addition of drummer Mat Davidson and they found a former pasta factory in Central Falls, Rhode Island, a cavernous loft space that became crucial to the shape of the album. Says vocalist Miller, “We knew right away when we stepped into the factory that the space was really the main instrument for the whole record. The resonance was chilling. We were able to experiment with new recording techniques to capture the sound at different distances. Mics 100-200 feet away caught the sound barreling across the room.” Additional tracks were recorded in a garage that had previously been home to a reptile breeder, another unconventional studio space that the quartet dubbed “the gator pit.”]

3. (25.) Dengue Fever – “Cement Slippers”
from: Cannibal Courtship / Concord Music / April 19, 2011
[Newest release from 6-piece band formed by brothers: Zac and Ethan Holtzman in 1981 after being inspired by a trip to Cambodia.]

4. (24.) Thee Oh Sees – “Crushed Grass”
from: Carrion Crawler – The Dream / In The Red Records / Nov. 8, 2011
[From San Francisco. It began as an outlet for John Dwyer to release his instrumental, experimental home recordings, and over the course of several albums evolved into a full band. We first played The Oh Sees on Sept. 28.]

5. (23.) David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights – “I’ll Climb Back Up That Hill”
from: Left By Soft / Merge Records / April 26, 2011
[8th album from former leader of legendary New Zealand band, the Clean.]

6. (22.) Tom Waits – “Chicago”
from: Bad As Me / Anti Records / October 21, 2011,
[17th studio album and Waits’ first album consisting completely of new material in seven years since Real Gone (2004). Waits’ label, ANTI-, recently agreed on a distribution deal with Warner Music Group allowing them to release the album internationally. This marks Waits’ first release through the Warner organization since Heartattack and Vine (1980). Upon its release, Bad As Me received widespread critical acclaim.]

7. (21.) Austra –“Lose It”
from: Feel It Break / Domino Records / May 17, 2011
[Co-founder and lead singer, and songwriter Katie Stelmanis, draws upon her classical and operatic upbringing and mixes it up with drummer Maya Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf to create what Amazon calls, “a stark, danceable masterpiece suitable for both ritual incantations and clubs.”]