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

Vi Tran + The 816 Bicycle Collective
+ A Musical Tribute to Abigail Henderson

1. The Noise FM – “Crooked Smile”
from: Attraction / The Record Machine / October, 2013
[Alex Ward: Vocal, Guitar, Keyboard, Programming; Austin Ward: Vocal, Percussion, Drums, Bass; Barry Kidd: Vocal, Bass. Engineered and mixed by Greg Panciera. Recorded at Waterdog Studios, Chicago, Illinois.]

[The Noise FM are returning from Chicago for a hometown record release show in Kansas City on Saturday, September 14 with Quiet Corral and Cowboy Indian Bear at The Riot Room.]

2. Quiet Corral – “Send The Line”
from: Ancestors / Independent / August 27, 2013
[Quiet Corral is a six-piece band from Lawrence, Kansas, that includes: Jim Barnes, Garrett Childers, Isaac Flynn, Matt Green, Jesse Braswell Roberts, Zach Mehl. Recorded in Lawrence, KS at The Art House and The Flynn Music Factory in 2012. Engineered by Jim Barnes. Additional engineering by Isaac Flynn. Mixed by Jim Barnes. Produced by Jim Barnes and Quiet Corral. All songs written by Quiet Corral.]

[Quiet Corral plays KC on Sat., Sept. 14 w/ The Noise FM and Cowboy Indian Bear at The Riot Room.]

3. PedalJets – “Riverview”
from: What’s In Between / Electric Moth Records / June 25, 2013
[Released last Dec. as a 7′ green vinyl single. Now included on The Pedaljets 1st album of new material in 23 years. Paul Malinowski (Vocals, Guitar), Rob Morrow (Drums, Vocals), Mike Allmayer (Guitar, Vocals), Matt Kesler (Bass, Vocals). Produced by The Pedaljets & Paul Malinoski. The albums photos & design are from artist Archer Prewitt of: the Sea and Cake and The Coctails. More info: thepedaljets.com]

[The Pedaljets play The Pedaljets play the Ryan Beye Foundation’s C4 Fest, Friday, September 6, on Locust Street from 18th to 19th Streets in The Crossroads, also playing the festival will be Ruddy Swaine, The Calamaty Cubes, La Guerre, and AU-MusiK. More info at http://www.ryanbeyefoundation.com.]

10:15

4. Julia Holter – “This is A True Heart”
from: Loud City Song / Domino Records / August 19, 2013
[3rd studio album from 30 year old Julia Holter who has been compared to: Laurie Anderson, Julianna Barwick, Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom, and Stereolab. Her father once performed with Pete Seeger. Her mother, Carole Shammas, is a prominent academic and currently holds the John R. Hubbard Chair in History at the University of Southern California. Besides playing and recording music, Holter tutors students and works with a nonprofit organization for teenagers in South Central Los Angeles. A graduate of CalArts, where she studied composition, Holter released her debut studio album, Tragedy, in August 2011.]

5. Crocodiles – “I Like It In The Dark”
from: Crimes of Passion / Frenchkiss Records / August 20, 2013
[4th studio album by noise pop/indie pop band from San Diego, CA. The group was formed in 2008 by core members Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell after the break-up of their former punk bands Some Girls and The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower. Brandon Welches also played in an early incarnation of Dum Dum Girls and he is married to frontwoman Dee Dee Penny. The album was produced by Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes in Los Angeles, California. Guests on the album include Gregg Foreman of Delta 72 and Cat Power, soul singer Afrodyete of Breakestra as well as Welchez’ brother, jazz musician Josh Welchez.]

[In September 2010, Crocodiles released an instrumental song, “Kill Joe Arpaio”, referencing the controversial anti-immigrant Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio heard the song and responded using twitter, “Msg for the San Diego band ‘Alligators’ who wrote new song called ‘Kill Joe Arpaio’: BITE ME,”. Arpaio also referenced the song during an appearance on Phoenix TV channel KPHO, saying “I’m a little concerned about the music, where kids can get this type of music. I think it sends a bad message. I understand freedom of speech, but there has to be a line of threatening a law enforcement official.” Crocodiles responded via Spin Magazine saying “Maybe if the song was called ‘I’m Gonna Kill Joe Arpaio,’ he’d have a case but what we are attacking is the attitudes and policies he represents. In reality, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that his much-deserved heart attack comes soon; the world can always use one less racist.” ]

6. Superchunk – “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo”
from: I Hate Music / Merge Records / August 20, 2013
[10th studio album from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, indie rock band consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and do-it-yourself ethics were influenced by punk rock. The band released a string of full length album’s and compilations throughout the 90’s. Members McCaughan and Ballance founded the successful independent record label Merge Records in 1989 as a way to release music from Superchunk and music created by friends, which has expanded to include artists from around the world like Arcade Fire and The Magnetic Fields.]

7. Ty Segall – “Sleeper”
from: Sleeper / Drag City Records / August 20, 2013
[Musician and songwriter. He sings, drums, and plays guitar. He has released 8 solo albums and is a member of the bands Fuzz, The Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, Sic Alps, The Perverts, and Ty Segall Band.]

10:30 – Underwriting

10:31- Transition Music…

7B. Queen – “Bicycle Race”
from: Jazz / Hollywood Records / 1978

10:30 – Interview with Idris Raoufi of The 816 Bike Collective

Idris Raoufi is a co-founding member of the 816 Bicycle Collective a volunteer run organization working to rescue, repair and redistribute bicycles. The collective wants to increase the bike community to promote alternative transportation that is healthy, inexpensive, and with zero emissions. The Kansas City Bicycle Federation currently owns the building at 518 E. 31st St. intended to house The 816 Bicycle Collective non-profit community bicycle shop, as well as other like-minded individuals and organizations.

Idris Raoufi discussed the programs of 816 Bike Collective: The List and WRENCH

All bikes are built up by WRENCH mechanics and are double checked for safety. The goal of the list build-up is to provide a bicycle that rolls, stops and is safe to ride; for any further maintenance or upgrades, our shop is here to assist with those needs. Each WRENCH volunteer has a dedicated shift on either THURSDAY or SATURDAY and attends WRENCH meetings. WRENCH volunteers help patrons of the collective with bike needs during any shop hours and often are responsible for opening, greeting, running and/or closing the shop. WRENCH volunteers have a say in how the shop is run, serve as both student and teacher, have an overall understanding of how the shop works, and basic mechanic skills.

The 816 Bicycle Collective purchased outright three under-loved buildings at the corner of 31st and Cherry. This affords us the unique opportunity to take ownership of our future and implement the programming we’ve always dreamed of. In addition to the new home of The 816, these buildings will provide space for other likeminded non-profits and businesses to sustain the operations of the buildings.

You can help 816 Bike Collective by donating at: http://www.neighbor.ly/816-bike

Idris is also one of the organizers of Main Street Day, Saturday, Sept. 7, and The Cyclovia Festival a car-free and care-free environment for walkers, skaters, cyclists. Main Street Day, is coming up on Saturday, Sept. 7, 11:00am to 4:00pm. Main Street will be closed off from 34th to 40th Streets, with through-traffic stops at Armour Blvd. and 39th Street.

More info at: http://www.816bike.org and http://www.mainstreetday.com

10:45

8. Amy Farrand – “Holding Time”
from: Amy Farrand (hearts) You [EP] / Indep. / March 14, 2012
[Recorded & mixed by Chris Meck.]

[Amy Farrand joins us next week to talk about “Weirdo Wednesday Supper Club” at Davey’s Uptown.]

Last week we said goodbye to a friend, a musician, an activist, a singer, a songwriter, an organizer, a founder, a rock & roller, a warrior, a voice, a beauty, a daughter, a wife. The following is Abigail Henderson’s Obituary, as published in the KC Star on August 31, 2013, with additional notes, and 4 songs, from 4 bands, Abigail played with from 2001 to 2013.

Abigail Hope Henderson Meck

Abigail Hope Henderson Meck, 36, died Aug. 27, 2013 at her home in Kansas City after a five-year battle with cancer. Abigail was born April 8, 1977, in New York. In 1984, she moved to a suburb of Detroit. In 1999, she moved to KC to live with her mother, Carol Pfander, who preceded her in death. Abigail attended the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She graduated in 2002 with a bachelor of arts in English. While at UMKC, she was co-founder and co-director of the Association of Women Students. The association sponsored several events, including an appearance by Angela Davis, a performance of “The Vagina Monologues” and a “Take Back the Night” vigil. After college, she also helped organize “Beauty Slays the Beast,” a benefit for political-activism and voter awareness. While in college, Abigail started playing guitar. In 2001, she started her first band, Trouble Junction.

9. Trouble Junction – “Middle West”
from: Trial By Fire / Independent / 2003
[The songs were recorded in Spring 2003. Trouble Junction were: Abigail Henderson, guitar & vocals; Mike Stover, guitar; Calandra Potter, vocals Guitar; Jeff Williams, bass; and John Bersuch, drums. This music was recorded and mixed by John Velghe who told me that when Abigail unleashed her powerful voice in his home studio, plaster fell from the ceiling.]

In the fall of 2003, singer/songwriter Abigail Henderson and guitarist Chris Meck got together and started writing songs. They confessed that their first songs were “pretty country…pretty… cow-punkish.” Mike Stover wrote on facebook that, “Trouble Junction had to end so that Abigail could start the next chapters.” In 2003, Abigail started the band The Gaslights with Chris Meck, who would later become her husband. The Gaslights recorded five albums, releasing three of them.

As we approach our 500th show this fall, I remember my friend Anne Winter, who inspired me to volunteer in community radio and so much more. Anne was instrumental in nudging me into working on many great projects and shows. I started doing this radio program the same year The Gaslights released their debut recording. Prominently displayed on the New Releases shelf at Recycled Sounds, Anne’s record store, it was Anne Winter who encouraged me to check out The Gaslights first release, “Midwest Hotel.”

10. The Gaslights – “Magnolia”
from: The Midwest Hotel / Flyover Records / 2004
[Abigail Henderson vocals & guitar; Chris Meck guitars & vocals; Glen Hockemeir drums & percussion; Monty Black bass guitar; Clarke Wyatt on Wurlitzer]

11:00

The Gaslights toured & recorded from 2004 to 2008. After 9 bass players, 3 drummers, 2 vans, 1 dead moose, 1 impromptu marriage, countless tours of the United States, 3 tours in Europe, 3 full length releases. The Gaslights ended.

In early 2008, Abigail was diagnosed with Stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer. In response to her battle with a health insurance company and daunting medical bills, she and others in the music community founded the Midwest Music Foundation, a group that sponsors health care programs and provides financial relief to local musicians who have suffered a health care crisis. Since 2009, the MMF has distributed $30,000 in health-care grants. It also co-sponsored the Well Women’s Clinic, which provides free screenings for female musicians. Abigail also founded Apocalypse Meow, an annual fundraiser for the MMF.

Doing this radio show has taught me about the growing & fertile KC Music Scene. Abigail was always fostering the community, as a songwriter & performer, but also as an organizer. A frequent guest on WMM, she came on the air to talk about Apocalypse Meow & The MidCoast Takeover. On one of her earliest appearances, Abigail told me,”We think of this as OUR radio show.” She was right. In fact, 90.1 FM, belongs to all of us. She knew that.

In 2010, Abigail & Chris formed: Atlantic Fadeout with Dutch Humphrey on bass, vocals; and Amy Farrand on drums. Abigail had lost her hair, but not her power. Anyone who saw Atlantic Fadeout live, could not deny the spirit in her performance. Like opera, you felt the song, because Abigail imprinted her lyrics into your heart, with the strength of her voice.

11. Atlantic Fadeout – “Better Run of Bad Luck”
from: Better Run of Bad Luck / Flyover Records / May 23, 2011
[Debut AF featuring: the great…Abigail Henderson on lead vocals and guitar; Chris Meck lead guitar, steel guitar, vocals; Dutch Humphrey on bass, vocals; and Amy Farrand on drums. The new band was created from the ashes of The Gaslights, combined with the super powers of Amy Farrand who plays bass in American Catastrophe (amoung several other bands) and Dutch Humphrey who sings lead in Cherokee Rock Rifle.]

Abigail had undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy treatments. In January 2012 her cancer reappeared and she tried an experimental treatment. As reported in the Kansas City Star, “She took a last-ditch experimental drug and recovered, but not unscathed. The cancer had paralyzed one of her vocal cords. Still, she did not give up her music. Instead, she and Meck started Tiny Horse, a folk duo that would grow into a full band.” She told The Star last October, just days before the 5th annual Apocalypse Meow, “I used to nail notes to the walls, I can’t do that anymore. I had to find a different path. It’s like a guitar player who loses fingers: You can still play, you just have to figure out how to do it differently.”

In addition to her mother, Abigail was preceded in death by her father, Frank Henderson, who died in 2007. Abigail is survived by her husband and many friends and music fans in the KC and Lawrence area. A memorial in her honor was held Sat, Aug. 31, at Unity Temple on The Plaza. After the services, a wake was held that lasted until the sunrise.

You can honor Abigail’s work and her music by donating to the Midwest Music Foundation. For more information you can visit: http://www.MidwestMusicFound.org

This year Abigail Henderson and Chris Meck released the beautiful EP, “Darkly Sparkly” from their most recent band: Tiny Horse. Abigail’s final live performance in Kansas City was at Knuckleheads on July 11, when Tiny Horse opened for the BoDeans.

Abigail Hope Henderson Meck, your life was cut short, way too early, but in the last 10 years you did more than many will do in 60 years, and you have left us better off than we were before you were here. We will keep your light shining!

12. Tiny Horse – “Ride”
from: Darkly Sparkly [EP] / Flyover Records / Mar. 4, 2013 [Outside of the band, we were the first to hear the debut EP release from Abigail Henderson and Christopher Lynn Meck. In our opinion, Abigail’s voice remains one of the most honest and moving voices in KC music scene, Chris Meck’s guitar sings too. Cody Wyoming-baritone guitar, guitar, keys, Zachary Phillips-bass guitar, Matt Richey-drums, percussion ]

11:11 – Underwriting

11:12

13. Vi Tran Band – “Sign On A Country Road”
from: American Heroine / Independent / October 4, 2013
[The Vi Tran Band is singer, songwriter, guitarist – Vi Tran, with Katie Gilchrist on vocals, percussion; Sean Hogge on guitar; Jerod Rivers on drums, vocals; and Ben Byard on bass, vocals]

[Vi Tran Band plays Manhattan, Kansas at Aggie Central Station on Sept. 14. Vi Tran Band plays Kill Devil Club, in KC on First Friday Oct. 4, w/ Mark Lowrey and David George & A Crooked Mile.]

11:15 – Interview with Vi Tran

Writer, actor, musician, artist, teacher, singer, songwriter – Vi Tran was born near Saigon, Vietnam and raised in southwestern Kansas. He began performing as a toddler in the refugee camps of southeast Asia. Other refugees took pity on the young (and literally starving) artist, giving him what food they could spare. Vi Tran considers his life an open-ended refugee story and All-American tale, full of landlocked sailors and broken lovers; loss and discovery; but most of all, hope. Vi has appeared in Theatres all across Kansas City as an actor, has also become a big part of the Kansas City Music Scene and is on the verge of releasing his debut full length recording “American Heroine.”

Vi Tran in Element Recording Studio

Vi Tran discussed what inspired him to write these songs. He talked about his journey as an immigrant, being born in Vietnam, living in a refugee camp, and how he ended up in Kansas.

11:27

14. Vi Tran Band – “Waterlily”
from: American Heroine / Independent / October 4, 2013

11:33

Vi Tran Band: singer, songwriter, guitarist Vi Tran, Katie Gilchrist on vocals, percussion; Sean Hogge on guitar; Jerod Rivers on drums, vocals; and Ben Byard on bass, vocals

American heroine was recorded by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studio.

Vi Tran Band plays Manhattan, Kansas at Aggie Central Station on Sept. 14.

Vi Tran Band plays Kill Devil Club, in KC on First Friday Oct. 4, w/ Mark Lowrey and David George & A Crooked Mile.

More info at: http://www.vitranmusic.com

11:45

15. Vi Tran Band – “The Charmer”
from: American Heroine / Independent / October 4, 2013
[The Vi Tran Band is singer, songwriter, guitarist – Vi Tran, with Katie Gilchrist on vocals, percussion; Sean Hogge on guitar; Jerod Rivers on drums, vocals; and Ben Byard on bass, vocals]

[Vi Tran Band plays Manhattan, Kansas at Aggie Central Station on Sept. 14. Vi Tran Band plays Kill Devil Club, in KC on First Friday Oct. 4, w/ Mark Lowrey and David George & A Crooked Mile.]

16. High and Dry – “Pay No Attention To Alice”
from: High and Dry / Independent / August 16, 2013
[KC based band High and Dry is: Greg Connally on accordian & vocals; Sam Zech on guitar & vocals; Cathy Hawes on mandolin & vocals; and John Yingst on dobro, banjo & vocals. Written by Tom T. Hall.]

17. Betse Ellis – “Question to Lay Your Burden Down”
from: High Moon Order / Free Dirt Records / June 14, 2013
[A renowned fiddler, Betse Ellis, is known by many as a founding member of The Wilders]

11:59:30

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

Sources for notes on tracks: artist’s websites and wikipedia.org

Show #489