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, January 1, 2025

New Music for a New Year + Krystle Warren + elska

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Minnie Riperton – “Les Fleurs”
   from: Come To My Garden / GRT / September 23, 1970
   [Come to My Garden is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton which was produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney. It was re-released in 1974 on the Janus label, in the same time frame as Riperton’s album Perfect Angel and her hit “Lovin’ You.” // The album was first released on CD in 1990, and has since been made available in digital form. None of the CD editions have material transferred directly from the original master tapes. All CD editions were mastered in UK, USA and other countries using LP records and different noise reduction methods. It is quite possible that original tapes that belonged to GRT were lost forever. // The album peaked at number 160 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in 1974. Some versions of the CD release do not include the last track, “Whenever, Wherever.” Riperton said she wanted a sound like the great Dionne Warwick / Burt Bacharach collaborations for the album. // Minnie Riperton was presented as a solo artist by Ramsey Lewis on Saturday, December 26, 1970, at Chicago’s famed London House. She performed several numbers from the album accompanied by Charles Stepney, the album’s producer. Although commercially unsuccessful, Come to My Garden is considered a masterpiece by critics. “Les Fleur”[a] is probably the album’s best known song, and “Expecting” remains a favorite among fans. // The heavy rock aspect of Riperton’s band Rotary Connection is absent here, replaced by lush orchestrations. The songs, mostly by Stepney and Riperton’s husband Richard Rudolph, are largely minor-key ballads. // The album opener “Les Fleur” got to No. 34 on both the UK Vinyl Singles and UK Physical Singles charts in mid-October 2020. // “Les Fleur” was written by Charles Stepney and Richard Rudolph. // Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1975 single “Lovin’ You”, her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. // Born in 1947, Riperton grew up in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side. As a child, she studied music, drama and dance at Chicago’s Abraham Lincoln Center. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group The Gems. Her early affiliation with the Chicago-based Chess Records afforded her the opportunity to sing backing vocals for various established artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection from 1967 to 1971. // On April 5, 1975, Riperton reached the pinnacle of her career with her No. 1 single “Lovin’ You”. The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album titled Perfect Angel. In January 1976, Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer; in April, she underwent a radical mastectomy. By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the prognosis, she continued recording and touring. She was one of the first celebrities to go public with a breast cancer diagnosis, but she did not disclose that she was terminally ill. In 1977, she became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. In 1978, she received the American Cancer Society’s Courage Award, which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter. Riperton died of breast cancer on July 12, 1979, at the age of 31. // Minnie Julia Riperton was born in Chicago, the daughter of Thelma Inez (née Matthews) (1911–2005) and Daniel Webster Riperton (1898–1991), a Pullman porter. The youngest of eight children in a musical family, she embraced the arts early. Although she began with ballet and modern dance, her parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice training. At Chicago’s Abraham Lincoln Center, she received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction. Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range. While studying under Jeffery, she sang operettas and show tunes, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil’s abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago’s Junior Lyric Opera. The young Riperton was, however, becoming interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. After graduating from Hyde Park High School (now Hyde Park Academy High School), she enrolled at Loop College, now named Harold Washington College, and became a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career. //Riperton’s first professional singing engagement was with The Gems, when she was 15. Raynard Miner, a blind pianist, heard her singing during her stint with Hyde Park’s A Cappella Choir and became her musical patron. The Gems had relatively limited commercial success, but proved to be a good outlet for Riperton’s talent. Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic 1965 Fontella Bass hit “Rescue Me”. In 1964, The Gems released a local hit, I Can’t Help Myself, and their last single, He Makes Me Feel So Good, was released in 1965. The Gems later released records under numerous names—most notably 1966’s Baby I Want You by the Girls Three and 1967’s My Baby’s Real by the Starlets. The latter has achieved cult status with northern soul fans and remains a favorite. It was a Motown-style song reminiscent of Tammi Terrell. In 1968, Watered Down was released as a follow-up, under the name The Starlets. It was the last release of Riperton’s former girl group. While a part of Studio Three, Riperton met her mentor, producer Billy Davis, who wrote her first local hit, “Lonely Girl”, as well as its B-side, “You Gave Me Soul”. In honor of Davis, she used the pseudonym Andrea Davis for the release of those two singles. // Riperton was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from August 1970 until her death in July 1979. Together, Riperton and Rudolph had two children: music engineer Marc Rudolph (born 1968) and actress and comedian Maya Rudolph (born 1972), a Saturday Night Live cast member from 2000 to 2007. Maya was a toddler when “Lovin’ You” was recorded. According to the liner notes from Riperton’s Petals compilation CD, the melody to “Lovin’ You” was created as a distraction for Maya when she was a baby so that Riperton & Richard Rudolph could spend time together. Near the end of the unedited “Lovin’ You”, Riperton sings “Maya, Maya, Maya”.]

3. Helado Negro – “Best For You And Me”
   from: Phasor / 4AD / February 9, 2024
   [Phasor is the eighth studio album by American musician Helado Negro. It was released on through 4AD. It received acclaim from critics. // Inspiration for Phasor dates back as far as 2019, during a trip to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to learn about the complex synthesizer machine “Sal-Mar” developed by American composer Salvatore Martirano. The technology was engineered to create an infinite number of sound sequences, which stimulated Lange as to the “pursuit of constant curiosity in process and outcome”. He referred to the songs he subsequently crafted as “the fruit” and the creation as the “unseen magical process” that he did not want everybody to see because “not everyone cares to see it”. His intentions with the record were to “keep it not so heavily based on traumas or personal identities” but rather draw “inspiration from fiction”. Other means of inspiration for the album include Lange’s previous relocation to Asheville, North Carolina in order to be closer to his family, as well as the theme of food and the phrase “you are what you eat”. // Phasor features nine tracks that Lange promoted through the release of the lead single “LFO” (abbreviation for “Lupe Finds Oliveros”), an “immersive experience that entrances and bewilders”, performances at the Pitchfork Music Festival in London and Paris in 2023, as well as a world tour through Europe and North America in spring 2024. // Roberto Carlos Lange (born 1980), better known by his stage name Helado Negro, is an American musician. In 2019 he was awarded a United States Artists Fellow in Music and also the recipient of a 2019 Grants to Artists award in Music from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. In 2015 he received a Joyce Foundation award. // Lange’s songs are bilingual in English and Spanish and explore Latine identity, drawing on his upbringing in South Florida as the child of Ecuadoran immigrants. // Helado Negro released his 2019 album This Is How You Smile through RVNG Intl., a Brooklyn-based music institution. This Is How You Smile received an 8.5 rating and Best New Music from Pitchfork. // The son of Ecuadoran immigrants, Helado Negro (Roberto Carlos Lange) was born in South Florida in 1980. He grew up in Lauderhill and Davie. // As a high school student during the early 1990s, Roberto Carlos Lange would stay up late watching “Liquid Television” on MTV. Intrigued by the experimental videos and animation he saw there, he “was fascinated by the mystery of how they were made, and was curious as to how to make them.” // In 1999 he enrolled at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia, to study Computer Art and Sound Design. His sound studies focused on installation, performance and experimental art. During his time at SCAD, he participated in experimental sound and art shows, and he began to develop his musical work by purchasing an MPC sampler to create music. He graduated in 2003 with a B.F.A. in Computer Art from SCAD. // Helado released his first full-length album in 2009 titled Awe Owe. // In 2010, Helado released an EP titled Pasajero. // Helado released his second full-length album in 2011 titled Canta Lechuza. // In 2012, Helado released the first of a three part EP, titled Island Universe Story – One. // Helado released his third full-length album in 2013 titled Invisible Life. Helado released the second Island Universe Story EP in 2013. In 2014, Helado released his fourth full-length album titled Double Youth. The third EP in Helado’s three-part Island Universe Story series was released in 2014. // In 2015, Helado released the single “Young, Latin and Proud” along with an animated-visual and lyric video. Lange describes the song as “It was as if I was singing my 6-year-old self a lullaby… It’s about feeling a sense of pride and self-confidence, understanding that you’re born into something and it’s alright to feel good about it. Stereotypes and contradictions are built into identity and I think those are a strong current in both Latino and black identity in the U.S. today. // In 2016, Helado released his fifth full-length album titled Private Energy. In this record, Helado exposes his vulnerabilities, stating “There’s so much that is special [and] fragile about us… We’re vulnerable and scared to share with people. I’m just sharing my own vulnerable shit. The hardest part is talking to somebody else about it. I’m the worst person to sum things up with words but the best [way] to sum it up is with music, you know?” // In 2019 he released his sixth studio album titled This Is How You Smile. “Roberto Carlos Lange’s sixth and best album as Helado Negro deepens and expands upon the imagistic nature of his lyrics and cosmic synth-folk. It is a sublime, masterful piece of music.”]

4. Clarke Wyatt – “Just Checking In (Radio Edit)”
   from: CLARKES IN SPACE / Clarke Wyatt / March 19, 2024
   [CLARKESINSPACE is an ongoing project by Clarke Wyatt: multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, recording and video engineer. Clarke is a lifelong creator of original music. He has written string quartets, original compositions and songs, studio project parts and production, and video creations. And that’s just the start. His latest project in the works is called “Guitar Party”, where he plays drum kit with electric guitarists (sometimes switching places if the guitarist is also a drummer). It’s the beginning of a video series, first created for youtube, with options for multiple media. Clark is one half of the acclaimed duo Best & Clarke who are “Regular folks whop make exceptional music: This duo from the heartland (Kansas City, Missouri) has its roots in Ozark old time music, honoring traditional songs and tunes that resonate with human experience. New compositions add compelling elements to their musical tapestry.]

5. Fullbloods – “No Hesitation”
   from: Playing It Safe / High Dive Records / March 7, 2025
   [First Single from the 4th studio album of Fullbloods. “No Hsitation” was released on December 7, 2024. // Fullbloods is a studio project of songwriter and producer Ross Brown (Shy Boys, Koney, Snacky). Live he is joined by his friends and the music is probably better that way. Thanks for listening! // Fullbloods released their 3rd full-length album Soft and Virtual Touch on High Dive Records on April 3, 2020. All songs written, performed, recorded, mixed by Ross Brown (℗© 2019 Bargain Hunt Music / ASCAP) in Kansas City, MO. Mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering. Artwork by Nika Winn. Kyle Rausch played drums on 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9, sang on 9. Bill Pollock Played drums on 3 and 5. David Seume played bass on 5. Jerad Tomasino played synth on 9 and 10, sang on 9. Jenni Kornfeld played cello on 4. Leslie Butsch played sax on 10. More information at: http://www.fullbloods.com.]

6. Sylvester – “Body Strong (Live At The Opera House)”
   from: Live At The Opera House (The Complete Recordings / Live At The War Memorial Opera House 1979) / Craft Recordings / September 4, 20254
   [Track features: Martha Wash & Izora Rhodes (better known as “Two Tons O’Fun” who later became The Weather Girls , and scored their oen biggest hit with,“It’s Raining Men” written by Paul Jabara & Paul Shaffer in 1979, intending it for Donna Summer, who had recently become a born-again Christian and rejected the song as “blasphemous”. The song was then offered to Diana Ross, Cher, and Barbra Streisand, all of whom declined it.”SYLVESTER’S HISTORIC 1979 CONCERT AT THE SAN FRANCISCO WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE DEBUTS IN ITS ENTIRETY // Available now 3-LP/2-CD/digital, Live at the Opera House features over two hours of music from the pioneering disco icon, including never-before-heard extended performances, previously unreleased recordings, and the Artist’s “key to the city” ceremony. / “I suppose everyone’s dream fantasy for living your life the way you want it is to go to the opera.” – Sylvester / On the evening of March 11, 1979, thousands of people lined up outside of the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House to catch one of the year’s hottest shows. Splashed across the marquee for the sold-out concert was one singular name: Sylvester. It would not only be a pivotal moment in the career of the pioneering singer, songwriter, disco diva, and queer icon, but also a historic moment for the city’s LGBTQ+ community. // Now, for the very first time, Sylvester’s legendary concert can be re-lived in its entirety through Live at the Opera House. Previously only available in heavily edited excerpts (via 1979’s Living Proof), the new album presents over two hours of AAA-mastered audio, including all 13 songs from the performance —“You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Dance (Disco Heat)” among them—plus a recording of the mid-concert ceremony where Sylvester was awarded the Key to San Francisco. // Live at the Opera House arrives September 6th via Craft Recordings on 3-LP, 2-CD, as well as HD and standard digital. Both the 3-LP edition (which is pressed on purple vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket) as well as the 2-CD set include recently discovered photographs from the evening, plus new liner notes by Joshua Gamson, author of The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The Music, The Seventies in San Francisco (Henry Holt/Picador, 2005). // “I have no real projections except I want to play the San Francisco Opera House. I am—and I’m saying this—I am going to play the opera house! It’s going to be a fabulous show with a full orchestra, lots of costumes, lots of lighting and lots of everything. Lots! And whenever you think you have too much, you should put on more, just to be safe.” —Sylvester, in an October 1977 interview with The Advocate. // While Sylvester had long envisioned his concert at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, nothing could have prepared him for the career-defining moment that it would become. Welcomed home by 3,250 friends, family, and fans, the mononymous singer, songwriter, and disco star was about to deliver one of his greatest live performances. But the path to that hallowed stage was long in the making—and certainly not an easy one. // Born in Los Angeles in 1947, Sylvester James Jr. was a natural performer, who trained his soulful voice in the Pentecostal church. But he also wasn’t afraid to be his true self. Leaving home as a teenager, the trailblazing artist lived openly as a gay man, proudly challenging gender norms through his fluid appearance in an era when queer lifestyles were still criminalized in parts of the US. In 1970, Sylvester adopted San Francisco as his home and began making a name for himself—both as a part of avant-garde drag troupe, The Cockettes, and with his rock group, Sylvester and His Hot Band. Though he failed to find commercial success with the Hot Band’s two releases, he set his sights on a solo career, signing a deal with the Berkeley-based Fantasy Records. Armed with new backing singers—Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes (better known as “Two Tons O’Fun,” who later became The Weather Girls)—Sylvester released a self-titled, disco debut in 1977. His follow-up, 1978’s Step II, made him a star. // In the year leading up to his Opera House appearance, Sylvester became a household name, enjoying a Gold-certified album and two Top 40 hits: “Dance (Disco Heat)” and the enduring hi-NRG anthem, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).” Both singles hit No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart, while the latter song broke the UK’s Top 10. That success found Sylvester playing sold-out gigs in London and touring the US with acts like The Commodores, Chaka Khan, and War. As one of the few publicly queer performers at the time, Sylvester also broke barriers by appearing on national shows like American Bandstand, The Merv Griffin Show, and Dinah Shore. // For Sylvester, booking a show at the San Francisco Opera House was a celebration of all that he had accomplished so far. But, as Joshua Gamson (author of The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco) writes, the evening also proved what a force Sylvester had become within the city’s queer community. “For gay San Franciscans and the people who loved them, who had known Sylvester from his raucous local shows, or from the dance floor, or just from seeing him around the Castro with his broad, shy smile and his dogs, it was like your cousin had just become a movie star.” He adds, “Almost every self-respecting homosexual in San Francisco was somewhere in the crowd.” Also in the audience were a handful of local dignitaries (including state assemblyman and future mayor Willie Brown and city supervisor Harry Britt), plus the artist’s mother, brother, and sister. // As the curtain rose, the 26-piece orchestra launched into an overture of recent hits as Sylvester, dressed in a sequined red robe, made his grand entrance in a tornado of glitter. Befitting the venue, the show was presented in three parts: “An elaborate overture and opening act; a quieter, bluesier center; and a high-energy, allegro third act, ending on a quiet, bittersweet hymn,” describes Gamson. The setlist—a blend of covers and originals—showcased the breadth of Sylvester’s abilities, as he moved seamlessly between pulsating dance numbers and soulful balladry with his powerful, falsetto vocals. // While his two biggest hits (“You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Dance (Disco Heat)”) appeared twice in the show—as orchestral medleys and as previously unreleased extended vocal performances—the artist also premiered “Body Strong” and delivered a rendition of Ben E. King’s “I (Who Have Nothing),” both of which would appear on his 1979 studio album, Stars. The latter performance, meanwhile, makes its debut in this collection. Other previously unreleased selections include an emotive medley of the Benard Ighner-penned staple, “Everything Must Change,” paired with the singer’s own “You Are My Love”—a reprise of the opening overture, plus a cover of the ’70s classic “Never Can Say Goodbye” (in the style of fellow disco queen, Gloria Gaynor), which closed out the evening. // Sylvester also gave impassioned performances of “Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?)” (famously recorded by Billie Holiday), the Patti LaBelle-penned “You Are My Friend,” as well as The Beatles’ “Blackbird.” Midway through the concert, meanwhile, the artist was presented with the Key to the City. The ceremony, which is featured in its entirety on Live at the Opera, was presided over by longtime city supervisor and gay rights activist Harry Britt, who declared March 11th Sylvester Day, on behalf of then-mayor Dianne Feinstein. // The concert would be a personal milestone for Sylvester, as well as a critical and commercial success (it was the country’s highest-selling event that week for venues under 6,000 people). But—having taken place mere months after the assassination of the state’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk—it was also viewed as a symbolic achievement for San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. “1978 had been a year of foul, violent backlash and collective trauma and loss,” writes Gamson. “Milk had been a symbol of gay power and, now, anti-gay brutality. Sylvester had become an icon of joyful gayness and self-possessed unconventionality. To a lot of people, Milk’s death felt like their own, and Sylvester’s success felt like their victory and their vengeance.” // Later that year, excerpts from the concert were released by Fantasy Records as the double LP, Living Proof. The album peaked at No.45 on Billboard’s R&B chart and spawned several charting singles. In a retrospective of the album, AllMusic praised, “Rockers who dismissed disco in general as cold and mechanical never seriously listened to Sylvester, a passionate, captivating singer who had a magnificent range and was consistently mindful of disco’s soul and gospel roots… [Living Proof] documents…that Sylvester was far from one-dimensional.” // In the years that followed, Sylvester continued to enjoy a steady schedule of album releases, including 1982’s All I Need, which spawned the popular single “Do You Wanna Funk,” and 1986’s Mutual Attraction, featuring the chart-topping dance hit, “Someone Like You.” In addition to his celebrated musical career, Sylvester also became a tireless activist for those living with HIV and AIDS. Sadly, the artist lost his own battle to complications from the virus in 1988, at the age of 41. // Sylvester’s legacy continues to live on, as new generations not only fall in love with his music but also acknowledge the barriers he broke as a queer icon. In the decades following his death, Sylvester has been honored in a myriad of ways, including being inducted into the Dance Music Hall Of Fame in 2005 and ranking among Billboard’s greatest dance club artists in 2016. He was one of the inaugural honorees on San Francisco’s Rainbow Honor Walk and was the subject of an acclaimed, off-Broadway play, Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical. More recently, in 2019, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” while in 2023, Rolling Stone included Sylvester on their 200 Greatest Singers of All Time ranking. // Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most essential collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its storied repertoire includes landmark releases from icons such as Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, R.E.M., Joan Sebastian, and Traveling Wilburys. Plus, the catalog recordings of celebrated contemporary acts including A Day to Remember, Evanescence, Alison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Taking Back Sunday and Violent Femmes, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Musart, Nitro, Panart, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Vanguard, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Victory, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation—ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. Craft is also home to the Billie Holiday and Tammy Wynette estates which preserve and protect their respective names, likeness and music through day-to-day legacy management of these cultural trailblazers.]

7. Kim Deal – “Crystal Breath”
   rom: Nobody Loves You More / 4AD / November 22, 2024
   [Debut solo album by the American musician Kim Deal. It was released by 4AD, and promoted with the singles “Coast”, “Crystal Breath”, “A Good Time Pushed” and “Nobody Loves You More”. // Nobody Loves You More is Deal’s first solo album. It includes contributions from her sister Kelley Deal and other former Breeders collaborators, such as Jim MacPherson and Mando Lopez, as well as Savages’ Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan, Raymond McGinley of Teenage Fanclub, and the Raconteurs’ Jack Lawrence. // The album includes over a decade’s work, with its earliest songs dating back to 2011, shortly after Deal’s departure from the Pixies following their Lost Cities Tour. “Are You Mine?” and “Wish I Was” were written in 2011 and released in 2013 as part of a self-released seven-inch vinyl series in 2013. Steve Albini, a frequent collaborator, recorded “A Good Time Pushed” in the final sessions at Electrical Audio in Chicago before his death in May 2024. // Musically, Nobody Loves You More blends familiar Breeders-esque rock with surprising stylistic choices, such as bossa nova and brass instrumentation, as heard in the title track. Songs like “Disobedience” and “Big Ben Beat” evoke the energy of Breeders’ classics, while others, like “Wish I Was,” reimagine earlier material with fresh arrangements. Despite its eclectic nature, the album retains Deal’s style, offering both familiarity and innovation. // The album’s themes range from the deeply personal to whimsical inspirations. For instance, the poignant track “Are You Mine?” is inspired by a moment with Deal’s mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Conversely, “Crystal Breath” arose from Deal’s admiration for actress Rose Byrne, though the song’s intended purpose as a TV theme was ultimately declined. // Upon its release, Nobody Loves You More was well received by music critics. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Nobody Loves You More received “universal acclaim” based on a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 from 11 critic scores. // The Quietus highlighted the range, from the vibrant, brass-infused bossa nova of the title track to the raw vulnerability of songs like “Are You Mine?” AllMusic added their ‘Editor’s Choice’ tag to the collection and stated “Nobody Loves You More is some of her finest music yet, and while any of these songs would’ve been a standout with one of her other projects, it’s all the sweeter that they’re hers alone”.]

10:29 – Underwriting

8. Elska – “Màngata”
   from: Dancing Alone (LP) / Time Released Sound / July 5, 2024
   [11-track album release. Electronic/Ambient music from KC based Elska. elska is the narrator of cinematic lullabies and creation of Composer Laura Boland. She represents love, imagination, optimism, conflict & awareness. Elska writes, “My vignettes are comprised of moments and memories that explore the human condition and our spiritual migrations in the context of our ever-changing environment.” .Composed, recorded, and mixed by Laura Boland in Kansas City, MO. Mastered by Jessica Thompson in San Francisco, CA. Polaroids by Laura Boland, Alex Alexander and Peter Rad. Polaroid stories by Laura Boland Artwork/Design by Colin Herrick and Maria Chenut. // Elska writes: “Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this and listen. I am happy to present Dancing Alone to you: a slow waltz through the darkest corridors of our yesterdays. Here, we excavate dusty memories and are united with our shadows to uncover a reverberating love inside our hearts’ distorted beats. Evocative orchestrations of ghostly soundscapes and nostalgic synth textures decorate this internal terrain and accompany ethereal vocal narrations that tie together the complexities and explorations of “home.” // Elska released the 5 track EP lerden in Januaryt 29, 2021. // Elska released the 8-taxck album elska on September 28, 2018. More info at: elskamusic.me]

[Elska plays miniBar 3810 Broadway, KCMO on April 12, 2025,with Minneapolis band Stranger Gallery.]

10:35 – Interview with Laura Boland

Elska is the narrator of cinematic lullabies and the creation of Composer Laura Boland. She represents love, imagination, resilience & awareness. Her vignettes are comprised of moments that explore the human condition and our spiritual migrations in the context of our ever-changing environment. Elska’s introspective songs waltz through the darkest corridors of our yesterdays; excavating memories and uniting us with our shadows to uncover a reverberating love inside our heart’s distorted beats. Evocative orchestrations of ghostly soundscapes and nostalgic synth textures decorate this dusty, internal terrain and accompany her ethereal vocal narrations. Elska first emerged in Brooklyn, New York in 2018. She currently resides in Kansas City, MO.

Laura Boland Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

“Dancing Alone” was released on a boutique label in CA. called Time Released Sound on July 5, 2024.

elska performed a handful of times here in KC this Summer and Fall, and also in Minneapolis and Brooklyn (two places she has lived and was a part of the music community.

Elska plays miniBar 3810 Broadway, KCMO on April 12, 2025, with Minneapolis band Stranger Gallery.] More info at: More info at: elskamusic.me

Laura moved to KC in 2021 from Brooklyn during the pandemic when finances became uncertain. Laura’s family moved here in KC from New Jersey when Laura was young.

Laura has been a vocalist for many years and started composing and experimenting in Sound Design in 2012.

Laura attend The Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College and Elska was born during that time.

Laura is happy to be back in KC and is meeting wonderful people and inspiring musicians.

Laura also plays keyboards and songs with Redder Moon.

Laura is a Hair Stylist by day.

elska’s two albums can be found on all streaming and on Bandcamp. https://elskalullabies.bandcamp.com/album/leden

Laura Boland Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

[Elska’s latest album “Dancing Alone” was released on July 5, 2024. Elska plays miniBar 3810 Broadway, KCMO on April 12, 2025, with Minneapolis band Stranger Gallery.] More info at: More info at: elskamusic.me]

10:50

9. Elska – “Tesori”
   from: Dancing Alone (LP) / Time Released Sound / July 5, 2024
   [11-track album release. Electronic/Ambient music from KC based Elska. elska is the narrator of cinematic lullabies and creation of Composer Laura Boland. She represents love, imagination, optimism, conflict & awareness. Elska writes, “My vignettes are comprised of moments and memories that explore the human condition and our spiritual migrations in the context of our ever-changing environment.” .Composed, recorded, and mixed by Laura Boland in Kansas City, MO. Mastered by Jessica Thompson in San Francisco, CA. Polaroids by Laura Boland, Alex Alexander and Peter Rad. Polaroid stories by Laura Boland Artwork/Design by Colin Herrick and Maria Chenut. // Elska writes: “Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this and listen. I am happy to present Dancing Alone to you: a slow waltz through the darkest corridors of our yesterdays. Here, we excavate dusty memories and are united with our shadows to uncover a reverberating love inside our hearts’ distorted beats. Evocative orchestrations of ghostly soundscapes and nostalgic synth textures decorate this internal terrain and accompany ethereal vocal narrations that tie together the complexities and explorations of “home.” // Elska released the 5 track EP lerden in Januaryt 29, 2021. // Elska released the 8-taxck album elska on September 28, 2018. More info at: elskamusic.me]

[Elska plays miniBar 3810 Broadway, KCMO, April 12, 2025, w/ Minneapolis band Stranger Gallery.]

10. the eradicats – “New Best Friend”
    from: Best in Show / Celery Wolf Records / October 2, 2024
    [Words by Kristi Who and Josh Thomas. Music by Josh Thomas, Chris Smead, Justin Brooks, and Kristi Who, Artwork by Kristi Who. // What if Pixies were funny? Black Francis specifically, Kim Deal is hilarious and the coolest person ever. What if They Might Be Giants grew up listening to punk? The eradicats answer these questions, and maybe even a few others, on their debut EP “Best in Show”.// Questions like: Are slightly crooked teeth a serious medical condition? Do axolotls enjoy a good petting? Who was Dave Griffin?]

11. Laura Marling – “Patterns”
    from: Patterns in Repeat / Chrysalis Records / October 25, 2024
    [8th studio album from Laura Beatrice Marling, born Feb. 1, 1990, from Eversley, Hampshire. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim, her 2nd album I Speak Because I Can, and her 4th album Once I Was An Eagle were all nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, 2010, 2013, respectively. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards, and was nominated for the same award at the 2012 and 2014 Brit Awards. The youngest of three daughters, Marling learned guitar at an early age. Her father, Sir Charles William Somerset Marling, the 5th Marling Baronet, ran a recording studio, introduced her to folk music and shaped her musical taste, an experience that Marling later described as, “a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse….[because] I couldn’t slot myself into the age-appropriate genre”. Marling received a scholarship to attend Leighton Park School, a private Quaker school in Reading, Berkshire. During her secondary school years she felt uneasy around other people and was afraid of death. Marling dated Noah and the Whale singer/guitarist Charlie Fink briefly before the pair separated in 2008. She also dated Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons until late 2010. She moved to Silver Lake in LA, California in 2013, before relocating back to London in December 2014. In September 2013, Marling explained: “I am a solitary person but I love people, I’m not a misanthrope. I like the idea of speaking only when it’s strictly necessary. The closest I ever feel to people is in shared experience. I’m still exploring that, I don’t know where it’s going to lead me.]

12. The Slay Belles – “A Gift of Love”
    from: A Slay in a Manger / Parlour Door Music / December 21, 2024
    [Written by Krystle Warren & Jacob Snider // J. Most on guitar • Michael Riddleberger on drums • Jesse Singer on vibraphone and celeste • David Moore on piano• David Dawda on bass• Krystle Warren on vocals / Produced by The Glitter Twins]

11:00 – Station ID

13. Krystle Warren & The Faculty – “Strangely Optimistic”
    from: Extended Play / Parlour Door Music / November 1, 2024
    [Krystle Warren & The Faculty are: Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Jonathan Anderson. Following their double album LOVE SONGS (2012) Krystle Warren & The Faculty were involved in many musical projects. Krystle Warren & The Faculty, released the single “Macca” on May 22, 2023. They released and their single “Rising” released May 31, 2019, and written especially for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed television mini series WHEN THEY SEE US. When Covid delayed the upcoming release of Extended Play, Krystle and members of The Faculty along with some of their frequent collaborators formed The Crew to release the 4-song CREW EP on September 15, 2020. Through isolation came unity. The Crew was made up of: Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams). // A portion of the proceeds from The Crew. EP were donated to the various causes and organizations // // The Faculty was formed with Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Dave Moore. While the four boys had classes and gigs, Krystle floated around New York and made a lot of friends. She busked and wrote songs, and, with the help of her band members and Ben Kane, who had an internship at Electric Lady Studios and was sneaking them in at odd hours, Krystle turned those songs into an e.p. called Diary. // Diary led to Circles, which Ben Kane co-produced with Voodoo engineer Russell “The Dragon” Elevado. Circles was bought by Because Music in France, but Krystle still recorded Love Songs in New York, a double album that invokes a Blakean duality with its two subtitles, ‘A Time to Refrain from Embracing’ and ‘A Time You May Embrace’. // Love Songs​ was produced with most of the Faculty (Zach was on tour with Amos Lee) and a slew of guest musicians in Brian Bender’s Brooklyn studio, The Motherbrain. Bender’s assistant, Jonathan Anderson, would later go on to replace Dave Moore on keys. // The Faculty has always been a tenuous project for everyone involved because of the distance and the schedules. While everyone remains close friends, the band members are spread across the globe. Krystle in France. Riddleberger in New York and Zach in Woodstock. Jonathan in Los Angeles. And then they are all working musicians, touring, recording, and collaborating with an impressive list of artists. Musicians like, in no particular order: D’Angelo, Hercules and Love Affair, Donald Fagen and the Nightfliers, Joan As Police Woman, Jonathan Wilson, Emily King, Janet Jackson, Ron Sexsmith, Amy Helm, Taylor Swift, Rufus Wainwright, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, The Knights, Bleachers, Emmylou Harris, Amos Lee, Mayra Andrade, Lana Del Rey, Broken Social Scene, Teddy Thompson, Lakecia Benjamin, and honestly that’s less than the half of it. // So they have been busy, and they have gained a lot of experience since the days of sneaking into ElectricLady late night or playing for meager pay and free wine at an East Village Italian resto. And while Diary, Circles, and Love Songs​ were recorded with everyone in the same room (​Three the Hard Way, Krystle’s solo album, was pared down to her and Kane collectively), Extended Play​ was recorded disparately and assembled together by the steady hands and ears of Kane and Krystle. There is distance between the musicians in the recording process, but there is still a close emotional connection that can be heard in these songs. // The songs that make up ​Extended Play​ are songs of experience—the lyrics reflect on a crush from high school, a departed musical hero, and others who live in memory. There is nostalgia in Extended Play, and a forlornness. // Krystle describes “When I Look Back,” the last song of the album, as “an apology to my teenage self.” Twenty years ago she was writing songs about what happened day-of because being young is about immediacy and living in the present tense. Now the songs are about years past because life slows down, and we are allowed the time to “look back.”// But as Krystle sings in “Rising,” “Future lingers while past is present.” She’s writing about the past because we are all our collected histories—or as she puts it in “When I Look Back”: “there’s still something of her that stays.” The future, of course, still lingers, always there waiting for us, for the next move. The album ends with a recording of Audre Lorde’s gravelly voice. She says, // I’m going on to something else, the shape of which, I have no idea. ‘Only thing I know is, it’s going to be quite different. What I leave behind has a life of its own – I’ve said this about poetry … Well in a sense, I’m saying it about the very artifact of who I have been. // Krystle Warren & The Faculty still have more to come. They have built twenty years of memories, experiences, recordings, and shows, and with the release of Extended Play,​ they continue to show a commitment to growing as musicians together, even if apart. The Extended Play bio written by Phil Anderson]

11:03 – Interview with Krystle Warren

Krystle is one of our most played artists, of all time, on this radio show. Krystle is also one of our most frequent guests, today is her 20h appearance on our show.

Krystle Warren began performing in her native KC at the age of 16. Krystle graduated from Paseo Arts Academy and in 2001 began her musical career collaborating with area jazz and pop musicians. After moving to New York City, she started busking on the streets and later formed her band, The Faculty. After her independent EP release, Diary, Krystle was signed to Paris based music label Because Music who sent her a one-way ticket. Krystle Warren & The Faculty released the album CIRCLES in 2009. The epic double album release, LOVE SONGS… followed in 2011, and contained twenty-four songs about love, and was recorded in New York City over the span of two weeks, with close to thirty musicians. Around this time, Krystle joined forces with one of her musical idols, Rufus Wainwright, on his world tour as an opener and bandmate. Krystle Warren then released her solo album THREE THE HARD WAY, in 2017 where she played every instrument and reunited with producer Ben Kane. On May 31, 2019 Krystle Warren & The Faculty released heir single “Rising” written especially for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed television mini series WHEN THEY SEE US. When the pandemic put The Faculty’s new album on hold, Krystle released the 4-song EP, THE CREW on September 15, 2020. Last year Krystle released the single “Macca” on May 22, 2023, and the single “La Dolce Vita” This year on March 1, 2024.

Krystle Warren & The Faculty released their new album Extended Play on November 1, 2024 on Parlour Door Music More info at: http://www.krystlewarren.com

Krystle Warren, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

The Faculty was formed in 2006 with Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Dave Moore. Jonathan Anderson, would later go on to replace Dave Moore on keys. the band members are spread across the globe working musicians, touring, recording, and collaborating with musicians like: D’Angelo, Hercules and Love Affair, Donald Fagen and the Nightfliers, Joan As Police Woman, Emily King, Janet Jackson, Ron Sexsmith, Taylor Swift, Rufus Wainwright, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, Emmylou Harris, Amos Lee, Lana Del Rey, Broken Social Scene, Teddy Thompson, Lakecia Benjamin, and more.

Last time you were with us was in June when you were back here in KC to perform at The Percheron Rooftop Series at Crossroads Hotel and Boulevadia.

In 2024 Krystle played live on WMM with Jean Fabien Dijoud aka “Jeff” doing “Macca”.

Krystle Warren & Solomon Dorsey headlined the KC Folk Fest 2023 on Saturday, May 20, in Washington Square Park, Kansas City, MO.

Also in 2024 Krystle Warren & The Faculty released “LA DOLCE VITA” a single on March 1, 2024

The Faculty formed in 2006 w/ Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Dave Moore. With the help of Ben Kane, who had an internship at Electric Lady Studios and was sneaking them in at odd hours, Krystle created Diary an EP.

Diary led to the full length, Circles, which Ben Kane co-produced with Voodoo engineer Russell “The Dragon” Elevado.

Krystle Warren then recorded Love Songs, a double album, ‘A Time to Refrain from Embracing’ and ‘A Time You May Embrace’ in NYC, with most of the Faculty and a slew of guest musicians in Brian Bender’s Brooklyn studio. Bender’s assistant, Jonathan Anderson, would later go on to replace Dave Moore on keys.

While everyone remains close friends, the band members are spread across the globe. Krystle in France. Riddleberger in New York, and Zach in Woodstock. Solomon and Jonathan in Los Angeles. And then they are all working musicians, touring, recording, and collaborating with musicians like: D’Angelo, Hercules and Love Affair, Donald Fagen and the Nightfliers, Joan As Police Woman, Emily King, Janet Jackson, Ron Sexsmith, Taylor Swift, Rufus Wainwright, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, Emmylou Harris, Amos Lee, Lana Del Rey, Broken Social Scene, Teddy Thompson, Lakecia Benjamin, and more. More info at http://www.krystlewarrenandthefaculty.com

11:11

13. Krystle Warren & The Faculty – “Build It Up”
    from: Extended Play / Parlour Door Music / November 1, 2024
    [Krystle Warren & The Faculty are: Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Jonathan Anderson. // Following their double album LOVE SONGS (2012) Krystle Warren & The Faculty were involved in many musical projects. Krystle Warren & The Faculty, released the single “Macca” on May 22, 2023. They released and their single “Rising” released May 31, 2019, and written especially for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed television mini series WHEN THEY SEE US. When Covid delayed the upcoming release of Extended Play, Krystle and members of The Faculty along with some of their frequent collaborators formed The Crew to release the 4-song CREW EP on September 15, 2020. // The Faculty was formed with Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Dave Moore. While the four boys had classes and gigs, Krystle floated around New York and made a lot of friends. She busked and wrote songs, and, with the help of her band members and Ben Kane, who had an internship at Electric Lady Studios and was sneaking them in at odd hours, Krystle turned those songs into an e.p. called Diary. // Diary led to Circles, which Ben Kane co-produced with Voodoo engineer Russell “The Dragon” Elevado. Circles was bought by Because Music in France, but Krystle still recorded Love Songs in New York, a double album that invokes a Blakean duality with its two subtitles, ‘A Time to Refrain from Embracing’ and ‘A Time You May Embrace’. // Love Songs​ was produced with most of the Faculty (Zach was on tour with Amos Lee) and a slew of guest musicians in Brian Bender’s Brooklyn studio, The Motherbrain. Bender’s assistant, Jonathan Anderson,]

11:14 – More Interview with Krystle Warren

Krystle is one of our most played artists, of all time, on this radio show. Krystle is also one of our most frequent guests, today is her 20h appearance on our show.

Krystle Warren began performing in her native KC at the age of 16. Krystle graduated from Paseo Arts Academy and in 2001 began her musical career collaborating with area jazz and pop musicians. After moving to New York City, she started busking on the streets and later formed her band, The Faculty. After her independent EP release, Diary, Krystle was signed to Paris based music label Because Music who sent her a one-way ticket. Krystle Warren & The Faculty released the album CIRCLES in 2009. The epic double album release, LOVE SONGS… followed in 2011, and contained twenty-four songs about love, and was recorded in New York City over the span of two weeks, with close to thirty musicians. Around this time, Krystle joined forces with one of her musical idols, Rufus Wainwright, on his world tour as an opener and bandmate. Krystle Warren then released her solo album THREE THE HARD WAY, in 2017 where she played every instrument and reunited with producer Ben Kane. On May 31, 2019 Krystle Warren & The Faculty released heir single “Rising” written especially for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed television mini series WHEN THEY SEE US. When the pandemic put The Faculty’s new album on hold, Krystle released the 4-song EP, THE CREW on September 15, 2020. Last year Krystle released the single “Macca” on May 22, 2023, and the single “La Dolce Vita” This year on March 1, 2024. Her band The Faculty will finally release their album, EXTENDED PLAY on November 1. More info at: http://www.krystlewarren.com

Krystle Warren, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Krystle Warren & The Faculty Discography

Krystle Warren & The Faculty has released the EP “Diary” on May 1, 2007
Krystle Warren released “The Up Series – EP” on November 10, 2008
Krystle Warren releases the 13-song Album CIRCLES on March 13, 2009
Krystle Warren & The Faculty released “A Time To Keep – Love Songs EP”, Aug. 12, 2011
Krystle Warren & The Faculty released the double album 24-song “Love Songs” released on vinyl in Europe on April 9, 2012 as “Love Songs: A Time to Embrace,” and “Love Songs: A Time to Refrain from Embracing. ” And released on separate digital and CD albums in the United States as: “Love Songs: A Time to Embrace,” on March 13, 2012 and “Love Songs: A Time to Refrain from Embracing” on February 27, 2015
Krystle Warren released the album THREE THE HARDWAY on August 18, 2017
Krystle Warren & The Faculty released the single “Rising” on May 31, 2019
Krystle Warren & The Crew released the 4-song EP, THE CREW on September 15, 2020
Krystle Warren & The Faculty released the single “Macca”on May 22, 2023
Krystle Warren & The Faculty released the single “LA DOLCE VITA” on March 1, 2024
From Diary EP to Extended Play A Truncated History of Krystle Warren & The Faculty
From http://www.krystalwarren.com written by Phil Anderson:

Krystle Krystle Warren met Solomon Dorsey some weekend at a high school debate competition in KC. After she had trounced Solomon’s debate partner, the two ended up in an open classroom where they began playing music—Krystle had brought her guitar and was practicing chords, and Solomon, then an accomplished violinist, cellist, bassist, and singer likely had some sort of instrument on him, and even if he didn’t he had his voice.

Due to some specific details we’re not going to get into, Krystle was already living on her own; she was eighteen and he was seventeen. But she had a friend who had an apartment near hers, and this friend was having a party. “Wanna go?” she asked Solomon. And, as Solomon puts it, he has seen or spoken to Krystle every single day of his life since.

So when Solomon decided to attend the jazz program at New School in New York, he asked Krystle, “Wanna go?” And a few months after he moved, Krystle showed up. On her first night in the city, Solomon introduced her to Zach Djanikian, a saxophonist he’d become fast friends with at school. They lived in the same dorm, and Zach and Solomon took Krystle to a practice room in the basement and the three of them played musical games. According to Zach, “We’d sing as many melodies as we could over four open strings of the upright bass, plucked successively. ‘Norwegian Wood’ and the theme to ​Family Matters​ were a couple favorites.”

This led to busking as a trio, and each of them was hustling for gigs. An Italian restaurant that featured live music gave Krystle a regular night, and she often had Solomon and Zach play with her. Zach’s friend from Philadelphia, Ben Kane, would come to these nights, and he brought Mike Riddleberger.

In Philly, Zach was in a band called The Brakes, and Ben Kane was producing an album for Zach’s band in a windowless apartment that he shared with Riddleberger. Kane and Riddleberger had become friends a year earlier at NYU, bonding over their love of D’Angelo’s album Voodoo. Riddleberger says that even though he saw Krystle perform, he didn’t speak to her until after she saw him play with his band, Quintus. Zach had brought her, and she approached him after the show to play in a band she was starting.

The Faculty was formed with Krystle, Solomon, Zach, Riddleberger, and Dave Moore, a keyboardist from Kansas who was at New School, too. While the four boys had classes and gigs, Krystle floated around New York and made a lot of friends. She busked and wrote songs, and, with the help of her band members and Ben Kane, who had an internship at ElectricLady Studios and was sneaking them in at odd hours, Krystle turned those songs into an EP called DIARY.

And it was a diary. The songs were about her daily experiences in this new place and with these new people. “I’ve Seen Days” has a title that implies a reflection, but it’s about how the world is new to her, how she’s “a frightened child” in a new city. “The New Astrologer” is about a new and exciting love, one that remains a good friend of hers. “A Song For Holly” is a letter to family explaining her new quotidien life (“your big sister / out in New York on some subway / your big sister, out trying to get paid”). And “Central Park” is a document of a night she had in Central Park with Zach and his boyfriend (now husband) Jesse, and how she is coming to embrace this new city, these new people, and this new chapter of her life.

If DIARY, the Faculty’s first recordings, is Krystle’s “Songs of Innocence,” then EXTENDED PLAY, the Faculty’s latest, is Krystle’s “Songs of Experience.”

Diary led to CIRCLES, which Ben Kane co-produced with Voodoo engineer Russell “The Dragon” Elevado. Circles was bought by Because Music in France, and Krystle had her next move. She stayed in France even when her relationship with Because ended because she found Vanessa, and Vanessa was worth staying in France for. But Krystle still recorded ​LOVE SONGS in New York, a double album that invokes a Blakean duality with its two subtitles, “A Time to Refrain from Embracing” and “A Time You May Embrace.” LOVE SONGS was produced with most of the Faculty (Zach was on tour with Amos Lee) and a slew of guest musicians in Brian Bender’s Brooklyn studio. Bender’s assistant, Jonathan Anderson, would later go on to replace Dave Moore on keys in the Faculty.

The Faculty has always been a tenuous project for everyone involved because of the distance and the schedules. While everyone remains close friends, the band members are spread across the globe. Krystle in France. Riddleberger in NYC and Zach in Woodstock. Solomon and Jonathan in LA. And then they are all working musicians, touring, recording, and collaborating with an impressive list of artists. Musicians like: D’Angelo, Hercules and Love Affair, Donald Fagen and the Nightfliers, Joan As Policewoman, Jose James, Emily King, Janet Jackson, Ron Sexsmith, The Dixie Chicks, Amy Helm, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Rufus Wainwright, Kylie Minogue, Sara Bareilles, Natalie Merchant, Kesha, Bleachers, Emylou Harris, Amos Lee, Lana Del Rey, Broken Social Scene, Teddy Thompson, Lakecia Benjamin, Jenny Lewis, that’s less than the half of it.

So they have been busy, and they have gained a lot of experience since the days of sneaking into ElectricLady late night or playing for meager pay and free wine at an East Village Italian resto. And while DIARY and CIRCLES and LOVE SONGS were recorded with everyone in the same room (THREE THE HARDWAY was just Krystle & Kane together), EXTENDED PLAY was recorded disparately and assembled together by the steady hands and ears of Kane and Krystle. There is distance between the musicians in the recording process, but there is still a close emotional connection that can be heard in these songs.

And Krystle is writing with a close emotional connection to the distant past. The songs that make up Extended Play are songs of experience—the lyrics reflect on a crush from high school, a departed musical hero, and others who live in memory. There is nostalgia in ​EXTENDED PLAY and a forlornness. These songs are filled with references, musical and otherwise, to those who have inspired Krystle over the years, from Les Mis (specifically the song adopted by ACT UP) to Gregory Djanikian, Zach’s poet father, and Audre Lord.

Krystle describes “When I Look Back,” the last song of Extended Play​ as “an apology to my teenage self.” Seventeen years ago she was writing songs about what happened day-of because being young is about immediacy and living in the present tense. Now the songs are about years past because life slows down, and we are allowed the time to “look back.”

But as Krystle sings in “Rising,” “Future lingers while past is present.” She’s writing about the past because we are all our collected histories—or as she puts it in “When I Look Back”: “there’s still something of her that stays.” The future, of course, still lingers, always there waiting for us, for the next move. The album ends with a recording of Audre Lorde’s gravelly voice. She says,

“I’m going on to something else, the shape of which I have no idea. ‘Only thing I know, is it’s going to be quite different. What I leave behind has a life of its own. I’ve said this about poetry… Well in a sense, I’m saying it about the very artifact of who I have been.”

Krystle Warren & The Faculty still have more to come. They have built seventeen years of memories, experiences, recordings, and shows, and with the release of ​Extended Play​, they continue to show a commitment to growing as musicians together, even if apart.

Written by Phil Anderson

Krystle Warren and 90.1 FM KKFI

Mark first interviewed Krystle Warren for The Tenth Voice, back 2002. Mark waited several hours, during a winter snow storm, at a huge party, where Krystle played with her band including her longtime friend Solomon Dorsey on bass, in a packed, smoke filled apartment near Community Christian Church across the hall from where Solomon lived, to be given a 2 song demo CD, that contained Krystle’s first recorded music, including a song called “Chanel #5.” Krystle has since gone on to be known all over the world, but still maintains contact with her hometown of Kansas City.

Krystle was on WMM on June 29, 2016 as “Guest Producer” to share inspirations for her new record, THREE THE HARDWAY playing early gospel recordings, that crossed over into Jazz from: Pharoah Sanders, Edwin Hawkins, and The Swan Silvertones. Krystle’s critically acclaimed album, Three The Hard Way was #1 on WMM’s 117 Best Recordings of 2017. Wednesday MidDay Medley was the first to play tracks from Krystle’s album, before it was released. Krystle came on the show months before the release, to share music that was the inspiration for the recording. Released on Parlour Door Music, on August 18, 2017 and Produced by Krystle Warren and Ben Kane. Recorded, engineered, and mixed by Ben Kane. Written & performed by Krystle Warren. Mixed at The Garden, Brooklyn. Mastered & cut by Alex DeTurk at Masterdisk. In 2015 in Krystle Warren premiered new songs from this album at the Middle of the Map Fest in a packed room at Californos in Westport and later at The Polsky Theatre for the Performing Arts Series of Johnsons County Community College. For this record Krystle decided to play every instrument and vocals & back up vocals, “playing bass, drums, lap steel, piano, guitar, and vocals directly to analog tape. She and Ben Kane recorded in Villetaneuse, France, a small town on the outskirts of Paris in a vintage 70s era studio that offered just the right, rich sound to suggest the musical foundation for the record, and to do justice to the duo’s carefully balanced arrangements.” On the Wednesday MidDay Medley radio show in 2016 Krystle shared inspirations for this record, early gospel recordings, that crossed over into Jazz from: Pharoah Sanders, Edwin Hawkins, and The Swan Silvertones. // Krystle was on the show on Oct. 16, 2019 with Brad Cox when she was in KC to present LoveSongs with Owen/Cox Dance Group at Oct 19 & 20, 2019 at Polsky Theatre at JCCC.

We talked with Krystle on September 23, 2020 about The Crew EP where Krystle and friends recorded unique versions of four classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of the moment: the movement of the people. Warren embarked on the project after her newest album, with her band The Faculty, was stalled due to COVID-19

Krystle Warren, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Krystle Warren & The Faculty released their new album Extended Play on November 1, 2024 on Parlour Door Music. For More Info: http://www.krystalwarren.com

11:23

15. Krystle Warren & The Faculty – “Without U”
    from: Extended Play / Parlour Door Music / November 1, 2024
    [Krystle Warren & The Faculty are: Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Jonathan Anderson. // Following their double album LOVE SONGS (2012) Krystle Warren & The Faculty were involved in many musical projects. Krystle Warren & The Faculty, released the single “Macca” on May 22, 2023. They released and their single “Rising” released May 31, 2019, and written especially for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed television mini series WHEN THEY SEE US. When Covid delayed the upcoming release of Extended Play, Krystle and members of The Faculty along with some of their frequent collaborators formed The Crew to release the 4-song CREW EP on September 15, 2020. // The Faculty was formed with Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Dave Moore. While the four boys had classes and gigs, Krystle floated around New York and made a lot of friends. She busked and wrote songs, and, with the help of her band members and Ben Kane, who had an internship at Electric Lady Studios and was sneaking them in at odd hours, Krystle turned those songs into an e.p. called Diary. // Diary led to Circles, which Ben Kane co-produced with Voodoo engineer Russell “The Dragon” Elevado. Circles was bought by Because Music in France, but Krystle still recorded Love Songs in New York, a double album that invokes a Blakean duality with its two subtitles, ‘A Time to Refrain from Embracing’ and ‘A Time You May Embrace’. // Love Songs​ was produced with most of the Faculty (Zach was on tour with Amos Lee) and a slew of guest musicians in Brian Bender’s Brooklyn studio, The Motherbrain. Bender’s assistant, Jonathan Anderson,]

11:28 – Underwriting

16. The Fur and the Fang – “Mr Lorry”
    from: EP 4 /The Fur and the Fang / December 17, 2024
    [Zachary Hodson (formerly of Dolls On Fire) on vocals, guitars, keys, percussion; Valerie Schurman on vocals, kazoo, percussion; Seann McAnally on vocals, bass; Joe Frogge on vocals, ukulele. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson. Performed by the Fur and the Fang except Bad Gospel music and lyrics written by Seann McAnally performed by the Fur and the Fang. Album art generated by DJ Flickster. The Fur and the Fang are Campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barnstomping hootenanny. More info at: http://www.thefurandthefang.bandcamp.com

The Fur and the Fang Discography
The Fur and the Fang released the 4-track EP, EP3 on December 17, 2024
The Fur and the Fang released the 5-track EP, EP3 on July 23, 2024
The Fur and the Fang released the 4-track EP, EP2 on August 25, 2023
The Fur and the Fang released the 4-track EP, EP1 on February 28, 2023
The Fur and the Fang released the 6-track EP, A Furry Fangy Holiday 2023 on Dec. 20, 2023
The Fur and the Fang released the single, “The Horrors We Don’t Know” on October 31, 2023.

17. David Luther – “Smile About Something”
    from: Who You Are / David Luther / April 2025)
    Recorded at Skinny Elephant Recording/Nashville, Tennessee. Engineered by Dylan Alldredge. Mixed by Neilson Hubbard. Produced by Neilson Hubbard. Mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering/Nashville, Tennessee. Written by David Luther Broxterman. The band: David Luther on acoustic, vocals; Neilson Hubbard on drums, percussion, backing vocals, keys; Juan Solórzano om acoustic, bass, electric bass, and Kelly Dougherty backing vocal. Smile About Something will be released on January 21, 2025 is the first single from David Luther’s recently recorded album titled – Who You Are. Recorded at Skinny Elephant Recording in Nashville Tennessee. Produced by Neilson Hubbard and engineered by Dylan Alldredge. The song, written by David Luther and Elijah Newman, is a call to positive action amidst a chaotic landscape and personal hardships encouraging us to find what we can smile about and let that frame how we move forward. The album will be released on a TBD date in April of 2025. More information can be found at thedavidluther.com David recently completed a successful Kickstarter Campaign for the new album and it is still open for support. Information about that can also be found through thedavidluther.com or through kickstarter.com // David Luther Broxterman recorded his first self-titled EP in 2009 with Nashville producer Neilson Hubbard. The EP featured backing vocals from Americana artist Garrison Starr. This experience was the catalyst that would send him on his path to a music career, gigging part-time to begin with while working full-time as a social worker. // In 2020, during the heart of COVID-19, David knew it was time to embrace becoming a full-time musician.. Stepping away from social work and side jobs, especially as a single father of two boys, was a faith move then. During this time, David collaborated with David George and Pat Tomek on his EP Take Me Home, which was released in 2022. The EP included the anthem Home To Kansas City and World’s Gonna Change, a song co-written by David, Brandon Mashburn, and Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning songwriter Tom Whitlock. George and Tomek’s dedication and artistry to the project, along with the exceptional musicians and singers, inspired David. Shortly after, David worked with his sister Anna Taylor and producer Brandon Mashburn on the single I Will, released in 2023, a song to draw attention to things that unite rather than divide us. // In July 2024, David again joined Neilson Hubbard, studio musician Juan Solórzano, and engineer Dylan Alldridge in their East Nashville studio to record a new full-length Americana album. The album, Who You Are, features partner Kelly Dougherty on several songs and Garrison Starr on If Love Just Ain’t Enough. The songs on the LP are a journey of David’s songwriting, many coming from painful places in the past and leading up to the last song he finished the night before the last days of recording, the title track. // David is grateful for the people in his family and community who have come alongside him, often carrying him and sometimes dragging or chasing him down his path. He says he can’t imagine how he’d still be doing this without their ongoing help and encouragement, especially that of his partner and manager, Kelly Dougherty. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but there’s no going back.”]

18. Day Shepherd – “Chosen (feat. Tirsah)”
    from: “Chosen (feat. Tirsah)” – Single / Irony & Anemia Records / September 13, 2024
    [As well as being a singer songwriter, Day Shepherd is a Licensed Professional Counselor at D & M Shepherd INC. Day studied Counseling psychology at Avila University and graduated in 1996. This song is written in support of the LGBTQ community and it’s the story of ChosenFamily. I have a dear friend who came out to her family as being lesbian and her family is struggling to accept her sexuality. This family has been very important to me and it has saddened me deeply that they could not support their daughter. W/Tirzah DeMeire.]

19. The The – “Cognitive Dissident”
    from: Ensoulment / Cinéola – earMUSIC / September 6, 2024
    [The The are an English rock band from London, formed in 1979 by singer-songwriter Matt Johnson. Johnson is the only constant, and often sole, band member. The The achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles, seven reaching the top 40. Their most successful studio album, Infected (1986), spent 30 weeks on the chart. They followed this with the top-ten studio albums Mind Bomb (1989) and Dusk (1993). // The The operated as a solo project from 1982 to 1987, though their albums featured contributions from musicians such as Jools Holland, JG Thirlwell and Neneh Cherry. It became a full band from 1988 to 2002, notably featuring former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr until 1994. The The went on hiatus from 2002 to 2017, and released their first studio album in 24 years, Ensoulment, in 2024. // Ensoulment is THE THE’s first studio album of new songs in a quarter century. This 12-song album was released on Cinéola / earMUSIC on Friday 6 September 2024. // Encompassing characteristic topics ranging from love & sex, war & politics, life & death – to the meaning of what it is to be human in the 21st century – Ensoulment was written, demoed and mixed at Studio Cinéola in London, the base of THE THE’s main creative force, Matt Johnson. // The songs were further refined in rehearsals ahead of a six-day session at Real World Studios near Bath, where Matt was joined by long-standing THE THE members James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Earl Harvin (drums), and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar). The album also marks the return of co-producer and engineer Warne Livesey, who previously worked on landmark THE THE albums Infected (1986) and Mind Bomb (1989). Additional performances include Gillian Glover (backing vocals), Terry Edwards (horns), Sonya Cullingford (fiddle) and Danny Cummings (percussion). // Over the years, THE THE’s releases have developed a distinct aesthetic style, which in no small part owes to the artwork of Matt Johnson’s late brother Andrew (AKA artist Andy Dog). Ensoulment features some of Andrew’s previously unpublished works on the cover, in the exquisitely designed 32-page booklet for the vinyl and CD formats, as well as on the covers of all singles. ‘Cognitive Dissident’ is the first single from the album, written by Matt Johnson and Barrie Cadogan, produced by Matt Johnson and Warne Livesey, released digitally on 17th May. The limited edition physical 7″ vinyl will become available from 7 June. Soon to be revealed is a stunning music video by long-time THE THE collaborators – director Tim Pope, People Like US (Vicki Bennett), and Peter Knight!]

20. Horsegirl – “Julie”
    from: Phonetics On and On / Matador / February 14, 2025
    [First Single from upcoming album Phonetics On and On from Horsegirl is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, made of Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece. // In 2021, the group signed to Matador Records. In 2022, they released their debut studio album, Versions of Modern Performance. // The group originated in 2019 and they self-released their first song, “Forecast”, that year. The group released their first EP, Horsegirl: Ballroom Dance Scene et cetera, through Sonic Cathedral Recordings in 2020. Paste named the EP one of the 25 best EP’s of 2020. // In November 2021, the group released another song, “Billy”, their first on Matador Records. The song was named one of Rolling Stone’s “Songs You Need to Know”. Alongside the song, the group released a cover of Minutemen’s song “History Lesson – Part II”. // On June 3, 2022, the band released their debut album, Versions of Modern Performance, via Matador.]

21. Betse & Clarke – “Auld Lang Syne 2022”
    from: “Auld Lang Syne 2022” – Single / Betse & Clarke / January 2, 2022
    [Most recently Betse & Clarke released the album, WINTER on June 4, 2020. It was in the top ten of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020. WINTER was a collection of songs and tunes, including original compositions, traditional songs and fiddle tunes, and modern songs re-envisioned. This recording was compiled during winter 2020, with a feeling of introspection. Songs under copyright were properly licensed for this digital release. Regular folks, exceptional music: This duo from the heartland (Kansas City, Missouri) has its roots in Ozark old time music, honoring traditional songs and tunes that resonate with human experience. New compositions add compelling elements to their musical tapestry. Follow up to the duo’s 2017 release, Tunes We Like released only in analog on cassette. Betse & Clarke are a traditional and future folk duo with Betse Ellis on fiddles, violins, viola & vocals and Clarke Wyatt on banjos, guitar, cello, multi-instruments. Betse & Clarke have played and toured around the world. Individually their musical roots go deep in the KC music scene. Clarke Wyatt is a founding member of Mr. Marco’s V7, and Betse Ellis is a founding member of The Wilders. Last year Betse & Clarke released ”River Still Rise,” originals and reworked traditional compositions presented “to be enjoyed as a musical adventure, much like the river exploration of the famous duo Lewis & Clark, an inspiration for the band’s name.” More Info at: http://www.betseandclarke.com]

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

NEXT WEEK, on January 8, 2025, we present our annual Birthday Tribute shows to Rock Icon David Bowie and singer songwriter Iris DeMent. We dedicate our first hour for Iris DeMent, born January 5, 1961, in rural Paragould, Arkansas. We’ll feature music from Iris Dement, Greg Brown, and John Prine, and from her inspirations: Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Merle Haggard. At 11:00 we fill up our second hour in tribute to David Bowie, born January 8, 1947. We celebrate David Bowie with musical tracks from his studio albums, from his Reality Tour Live recordings, from songs performed by musicians he influenced: The Sea and Cake, Chase The Horseman, Julia Othmer and Ondara, from electronic musical pioneers Kraftwerk, and from Oscar winning film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who in his very first motion picture role as an actor and film composer played opposite of David Bowie in the 1983 feature, “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”.

In two weeks on January 15, 2025, we present “Remembering MLK,” our annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born Jan. 15, 1929. We’ll play: Bobby Watson & The I Have A Dream Project (featuring Glenn North), Krystle Warren, The Freedom Afair, Calvin Arsenia, The Black Creatures, H.E.R., Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Curtis Mayfield, Maceo & The Macks, Mahalia Jackson, Marian Anderson, The Staple Singers, Pops Staples, Mavis Staples, The Swan Silvertones, Sweet Honey in The Rock, Aaron Neville, Tramaine Hawkins, Ella Mitchell, Billy Porter, Solomon Burke, Nina Simone, Pete Seeger, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Soweto Gospel Choir, The Intl. Noise Conspiracy, and Labelle.

In three weeks on January 22, 2025 we’ll spin even more Bowie in honor of The Band That Fell To Earth who will be presenting their annual Tribute to Bowie with a VIP show Thursday, January 23, where they play the entire “Let’s Dance” album and regular shows Friday and Saturday, January 24th and 25th at recordBar. Mike Dillon will also be on the WMM show.

THANK YOU to our incredible KKFI Staff; Director of Development & Communications – J Kelly Dougherty, Volunteer Coordinator – Darryl Oliver, Chief Operator – Chad Brothers.

This radio station is more than the individual hosts of each individual radio show. Instead it is about a collective spirit of hundreds of hardworking people, unselfishly setting aside ego, to work for the greater good of community building and the gigantic goal of keeping our airwaves free, non-commercial, and open to all! Congratulations and thank you to all programmers & volunteers who went the extra effort to keep our station alive.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

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

Show #1076