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

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

New & MidCoastal Releases + Angela & James Ward + Joel Kraft

1. Various Artists – “Main Title Instrumental (It’s Showtime Folks)”
   from: Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / Universal / Dec. 20, 1979
   [WMM’s theme]

2. Fullbloods – “No Hesitation”
   from: Playing It Safe / High Dive Records / March 7, 2025
   [Fullbloods released double single: Magic Machine with “Who’s Left” on January 9, 2026. Both songs written by Ross Brown (Bargain Hunt Music / ASCAP). Recorded (mostly) live at BRC Audio Productions. Engineered by Zack Hames with assistant engineers Tremain Hunter, Karlton Kinley, Ian McCaslin, and Nathan Gonzales. // Artwork by Sam Hrabko. Mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering. // The first single, “No Hesitation” 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. // Fullbloods is a studio project of songwriter and producer Ross Brown who is also in the bands: Shy Boys, Koney, and Snacky. When Fullbloods play live, Ross is joined on stage by his friends. N writing about Ross Browms previous Fullbloods album, Soft and Virtual Touch , Lionell Williams aka “Vinyl Williams” of PRIVATE PLAYLIST on KCRW calls “Ross Brown a frickin’ genius. He’s the modern day Brian Wilson of America. His whole album, the entire way through, is one of those albums [where] every microsecond, every quantum moment, is wow. He’s just a straight-up genius.” Info: www.fullbloods.com.][Fullbloods played The Ship on February 21, at 9:00 pm with Fake Italian for Daniel Gum’s The Great Conjunction Album Release Show. ][Fullbloods played Hillsiders in KCK on March 7 at 8:00 PM for their own PLAYING IT SAFE Album Release Show with Schemada, and 2w33dy.]

[Pearl & The Oysters, and Fullbloods play recordBar 1520 Grand Ave., KCMO, Thurs, July 30, 2026.]

3. Pearl and The Oysters – “Wide Awake”
   from: Monkey Mind / Stones Throw Records / June 26, 2026
   [6th studio album from P&TO’s engineered, produced, and mixed by Jonathan Rado. // Pearl & the Oysters is a French-American indie pop duo formed by Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack. // Juliette and Joachim write: We wrote Monkey Mind in the span of a few weeks at the top of 2025, in the wake of the LA fires and Trump’s inauguration. Our purpose was twofold. On the one hand, these songs were meant as a way of processing and exorcising the apocalyptic visions of devastation and the lingering sense of restlessness (hence the title) that followed this most un-natural disaster. On the other, we were looking to tap into the social function of music-making and art as a way to further human connection in a time of heightened alienation and dread. We’d never written an album this quickly before. In doing so we were intending to make an urgent poetic statement, one that could encompass both the objectivity of a snapshot and the subjectivity of a scream. After debating how best to make the recording process match the lyrical themes and ambitions of these songs, we thought « what better way to do so than by recording all of it on tape with Jonathan Rado producing? // In May 2025, we set out to track for 8 days at Rado’s studio in the Valley and deliberately threw ourselves off-balance by eliminating a lot of the typical steps and recording gadgetry on which we’d come to rely in previous albums. When we stepped into the studio, we immediately realized that this new (to us) no-demo, no-click, live-to-tape approach was actually mirroring the rawness and immediacy of the writing process itself—despite our rhythm sections being well-rehearsed, and the arrangements for the most part locked in before we began tracking. We both had the feeling that working with Rado would be a fun and rewarding experience since we already knew that we shared a lot of the same musical obsessions (Todd Rundgren, The Beach Boys, Steely Dan, and early-tronic sonorities), but what we didn’t anticipate was how perfect of a match it would be for this album, specifically. Working with analog technology prescribed a particular workflow that often forced us to make quick, intuitive decisions, ultimately yielding some of our most direct and honest delivery yet captured on a record. Surprisingly, we managed to get there while never sacrificing—and in some instances dialing up—our own experimental impulses, thanks in great part to what can only be described as Rado’s sheer studio wizardry. The result felt like a reinvention of P&TO’s musical grammar and our most sincere record to date. // Thanks to Amy Spencer and everyone else at Stones Throw for giving our vision a platform, and constantly plotting new ways in which to saturate the internet with Monkey Mind content. All joking aside, we’re forever grateful to Peanut Butter Wolf and ST for taking a chance on us three albums ago, and making our analog recording fantasy a reality. On that note, we also want to thank Dan Asip and George Seay for their guidance, advocacy, and support at the very beginning of the Monkey Mind adventure. // We hope you’ll enjoy this album as much as we’ve enjoyed making it, and that these songs could be a balm (in the absence of a magic elixir) for these endlessly puzzling times. // The group originated in Paris, later relocating to Gainesville, Florida, and then to Los Angeles. Their music blends elements of indie pop, synth-pop, dream pop, and 1960s/1970s-inspired sounds. // Davis and Polack met during high school in Paris and began collaborating musically. They later moved to the United States, where they became part of Gainesville’s independent music scene. After moving to the U.S., Polack earned a master’s in musicology focused on Brazilian popular music and began a Ph.D. at the University of Florida School of Music. In 2020, they relocated to Los Angeles. // The band’s musical style is often described as an eclectic fusion of space-age pop, soft rock, and jazz influences, characterized by lush arrangements and a dreamy atmosphere. Their songwriting often evokes nostalgic moods while maintaining a contemporary indie sensibility. // Juliette and Joachim met on their first day of high school in Paris, sharing a passion for music and artists like Burt Bacharach, Kurt Weill, and Antônio Carlos. // Also American band such as The Beach Boys to the Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra. // Their self-titled debut album was released in 2017. Subsequent releases include Canned Music (2018), Flowerland (2021), Coast 2 Coast (2023), and Planet Pearl (2024). They have released music under labels such as Feeltrip Records and Stones Throw Records. // The duo has collaborated with musicians including Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab and Riley Geare of Unknown Mortal Orchestra. These collaborations have been noted in critical discussions of their evolving sound.]

[Pearl & The Oysters, and Fullbloods play recordBar 1520 Grand Ave., KCMO, Thurs, July 30, 2026.]

4. Kirstie Lynn – “Blazing Prairie Star”
   from: Blazing Prairie Star / Plaid Dog Studios / July 24, 2026
   [Kirstie Lynn & Galen Clark released Lost River Sound on August 9, 2024. Kirstie Lynn & Galen Clark released Cindergarden (A Sides) on May 22, 2022. They released Cindergarden (B Sides) on June 21, 2023. Kirstie Lynn is a classically trained soprano with a passion for songwriting, always looking to marry poetry and melody. Though Kirstie’s voice has been compared to that of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, her sound is uniquely her own. Kirstie Lynn is a folk singer-songwriter originally from the fingerlakes region of upstate, NY. She began her professional music studies at the age of 15, and has since received both a Bachelor’s degree from Shenandoah University and a Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University in voice and opera performance. Her vocal training lends her the freedom to paint her nature inspired lyrics with a wide range and a beautiful and effortless sound. // Kirstie Lynn brings elements of all the places she has called home into her songwriting. From the lilacs of Rochester, the bridges of London, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia, and the sweeping prairies of the Midwest, you can find melodies and words accompanied by her finger-picking on guitar reminiscent of the many lives she has lived so far. // Kirstie Lynn’s music is inherently emotional, providing a story-teller perspective to the trials and triumphs of life. As an aspiring conservationist and naturalist as well, her lyrics are deeply saturated in the outdoors and her experiences and adventures in nature. // You can find Kirstie Lynn playing either solo or with long-time friend and music partner, Galen Clark, in the Kansas City area. If you’re interested in bringing her or the duo to a stage near you, be sure to submit a message below!// Kirstie Lynn played IN THE ROUND with Calvin Arsenia, Julia Othmer, and Christena Graves at The Bauer, 115 West 18th St., in KCMO’s West Crossroads, Oct. 17, 2025.]

AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival – Saturday, August 1, 3:00pm to 9:30pm
at The Concourse Park, 200 Benton Blvd, KCMO.

Now in its 4th year, Celebrate AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival is Sat, August 1, 3:00pm to 9:30pm at The Concourse Park, 200 Benton Blvd, KCMO. Celebrate Americana is a celebration of the myriad backgrounds, cultures, languages, and sounds that have shaped American music, bringing Grammy-winning artists to KC to perform at the FREE festival alongside youth performers from Art as Mentorship’s year-round mentorship programs. // Main Stage headliners include: Making Movies, RADKEY, Gina Chavez, Rosie Flores, The Freedom Threedom, The Salvation Choir, Audri Page, and Teri Quinn & Landon Hambright. // The Stars Out youth band takes the Main Stage for the 2nd time, performing a set of famous songs co-created by KC artists. // Community performers include youth from The Rebel Song Academy and base academy of music, dance groups, and more multicultural and multimedia performances. // Sample the food of the world with multicultural food and drink options. // Artmaking tents and music activities for all ages. // Physical activities including yard games, an obstacle course, and Copa de Calla soccer with Rygoku Soccer. // Interactive experiences including a bring-your-own-instrument parade with @sass.a.brass.band, drum circles with @drumsafari, a community art project, water toys. // MERCADO international open-air marketplace offering global goods, crafts, resources, and cuisine.// “AMERI’KANA is our living love letter to the Black, indigenous, immigrant and Latino heroes of American music. We want kids like us to know that they come from heroes.” –Making Movies // The AMERI’KANA project grew alongside Art as Mentorship, and its reach has brought Art as Mentorship into the national spotlight. Art as Mentorship is the only organization in the Midwest building a network of GRAMMY award-winning and world-class musicians to serve as mentors to young, Black, Indigenous, immigrant and Latino artists. As mentors, these professional musicians inspire youth to, like themselves, raise their voices and create original music that is grounded in their culture and personal experience. // The AMERI’KANA project’s ability to attract high level collaborators benefits Art as Mentorship greatly, providing mentoring and exposure from nationally-touring, Grammy-level artists. The events and content creation associated with AMERI’KANA provide opportunities for young artists in the programs to gain real world performing experience and develop transferable digital skills, as both performers and producers of its output. // Celebrate AMERI’KANA serves as a “graduation” for young artists in Art as Mentorship’s programs. The opportunity to play alongside historically significant NEA heritage award-winning musicians is the punctuation mark on the learning and success the young artists have achieved. // The AMERI’KANA brand is leveraged as a fundraising mechanism for Art as Mentorship. // AMERI’KANA highlights the influence of the Black and Brown musicians that created and continue to carry the legacy of American music, honoring lineage and legacy while exploring its impact. // AMERI’KANA is a response to intolerance and division, and a step toward healing the deep fissures in American society, reminding us of the connections we share. // AMERI’KANA engages underserved, immigrant and Latinx communities in a retelling of the American music story; inviting students, audiences, and performers to reassess their own sense of identity through an exploration of music history. // AMERI’KANA fills a gap in education, particularly for immigrant and BIPOC students, engaging and empowering young people through music, mentorship and performing opportunities.

10:17

5. Radkey – “Ready To Burn”
   from: Bedroom Sand / Little Man Records / July 14, 2026
   [Most recent EP from Radkey. // Radkey released the EP Victory on July 30, 2025. It was part of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2025. // single “Falling Out of Grace” on October 24, 2025. Radkey released the single “Victory” on March 28, 2025. On September 23, 2022 Radkey released the single “Better Than This.” The band released “Games (Tonight)”: on January 28, 2022 on Little Man Records. Isaiah, Dee, and Solomon Radke of the critically acclaimed rock trio Radkey joined us live in our 90.1 FM studios on September 5, 2018. Radkey was formed in 2010 in St. Joseph, where the brothers were raised. The family moved to Kansas City. The band has released multiple full-length recordings. In 2021 Radkey was featured in Dave Grohl’s van-touring documentary film, WHAT DRIVES US. Radkey released GREEN ROOM on Little Man Records on November 27, 2020. On Green Room the band serve as their own producers. Radkey released DARK BLACK MAKE UP in 2015 and DELICIOUS ROCK NOISE in 2016 — plus multiple EPs and singles, and were part of a MasterCard advertising campaign on digital billboards in NYC along with a national television commercial that aired during the 2018 Grammy Awards that brought the band to the attention of Jack White who asked the band to tour with him. In 2018 the band went back on the road with The Damned throughout the United States. In December they went back into the studio to record with producer Bill Stevenson of the California punk rock group Descendents. In early 2019 they played shows in Amsterdam and Stockholm. In 2018 the band released “Basement,” “St. Elwood,” “Rock & Roll Homeschool,” as well as several other singles. On February 22, 2019, Radkey released “No Strange Cats…P.A.W.” a 7-song EP is essentially a collection of the band’s most recent singles. It comes after the January 11, 2019 release of No Strange cats…Spiders – EP a 6 song EP of several new songs mixed with several singles from late 2018.]

[Radkey plays Celebrate AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival 2026, Saturday, August 1, at 3:00pm at The Concourse Park, 200 Benton Blvd. KCMO with Making Movies, Gina Chavez, Rosie Flores, The Freedom Threedom, The Salvation Choir, Audri Page, Teri Quinn & Landon Hambright.]

6. SEYKO – “So Wonderful”
   from: “So Wonderful” – Single / Groove King Records – Fat Beats / June 5, 2026
   [“So Wonderful” wass written by Seyko. She told Michelle Bacon at The Bridge, that itstarted out as a possible Freedom Affair song (Seyko is one of the band’s three lead vocalists), but ultimately didn’t fit their second album thematically. So, she brought the song to a few bandmates Cole Bales for recording and production, Dave Brick on drums and Branden Moser on bass to release this as a solo single. // Seyko released the single “Anybody High: on Cecember 2, 2023 also through Groove King Re cords. And also Produced by Colby Bales of the band Black Light Animals and also a bandmate of SEYKO’s in The Freedom Affair. // Seyko released the single “What I Want” on June 23, 2023. //From www.seykomusic.com: Seyko has always found music to be a reflection of her innermost thoughts and feelings, a way of self-expression but even deeper than that. Music was always a life-giving, constant companion from the happiest moments to the darkest days. Music continues to be Seyko’s way of communicating with the world around her. // Seyko developed her musical talent during her formative years through church and school choirs, friendships that evolved into singing groups, and professional training through voice lessons and songwriting. Opportunities presented themselves, but Seyko also created opportunities for herself as she chased her dream to create and perform her own music. // The Freedom Affair and SUNU, two Kansas City bands Seyko performs and writes with, have solidified her place in the music scene and provide a solid foundation for beginning her solo career. Seyko’s singing and songwriting career has spanned twenty years, and it shows! Her creative growth has led to her being a well-respected artist in Kansas City, allowing her to participate in recording projects for fellow musicians and even singing background vocals for Michael Bublé at a live concert in 2022.]

[Seyko with The Freedom Threedom plays Celebrate AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival 2026, Sat., August 1, at 3:00pm at The Concourse Park, 200 Benton Blvd. KCMO with Making Movies, Radkey, Gina Chavez, Rosie Flores, The Salvation Choir, Audri Page, Teri Quinn & Landon Hambright.]

7. Gina Chavez – “Pitaya Roja (feat. Mexican Institute of Sound)”
   from: Pitaya Roja (feat. Mexican Institute of Sound) – Single / Gina Chavez / April 14, 2021
   [Gina Chavez (born May 24, 1982) is an American bilingual Latin-folk singer and songwriter who has been performing since 2004, releasing her first recording in 2007. Chavez’s parents are of Mexican and Swiss-German descent. Chavez’s father, Gene Chavez, is a second generation Mexican-American from the south side of San Antonio, Texas. Chavez holds a unique style of mixing the content of her music and visuals and is an eight-time Austin Music Award winner. She was named Austin Musician of the Year in 2015. A review by Sonicbids describes the style in her songs containing traversings of cumbia, bossa nova, vintage pop, reggaeton, and folk combined with dynamic vocals and sharp social commentary. Chavez does not work alone, she is teamed with a band of six members. Her recent major album is titled Up.Rooted, and the work that she has compiled together, has earned her various awards, such as Best Latin Band. // Chavez was born in Austin, Texas. She began songwriting and performing at the University of Texas at Austin at the age of 18. Growing up, Chavez’s musical interests included Lyle Lovett, Little Richard, and Michael Jackson. She did not grow up listening to Latino music. It wasn’t until her first year of college when she began writing music while studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina that she discovered a love for folk music and dance. Ever since her time in Argentina, Chavez has incorporated Spanish lyrics as well as rhythms of Latin into her music. Her genre is mainly considered Latin-folk. Chavez’s vocal styling ranges from yearning to sensual to wailing. // On January 1, 2007, Chavez released her debut solo independent album, Hanging Spoons. On December 6, 2014, Chavez released Gina Chavez Live at the Music Club under The Good Music Club that contained five total tracks.[8] Chavez released her first independent studio album, Up.Rooted, on February 11, 2016, online to iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, with physical copies available on CD Baby. // Chavez highly promoted her single Siete-D which takes a stand against gang violence in Central America was published on her YouTube channel March 8, 2016. The visual was filmed in El Salvador in October 2015. // As of April 2016, Chavez is touring solo, and with her full six-person band. // She’s made her presence known with her work in El Salvador, being named one of 11 southern iconic women who have left a beautiful footprint across the south” by Southern Living and Olay. Her work in El Salvador continues to make a worldwide difference outside of music. In an interview with The Austin Chronicle, Chavez is described as “no stranger to the benefit rounds. She routinely puts on productions of her own to support the nonprofit she started after an eight-month mission trip to El Salvador.” // The Austin native has made such an impact and influence in the music scene that in 2015, Austin, Texas mayor, Steve Adler, announced that April 2 is officially known as “Gina Chavez Day.” // While living in El Salvador in 2009, Chavez and her wife Jodi, who also acts as her booking agent, spent eight months educating teenage girls who were surrounded by poverty in gang-dominated barrios.]

[Gina Chavez plays Celebrate AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival 2026, Sat., August 1, at 3:00pm at The Concourse Park, 200 Benton Blvd. KCMO with Making Movies, Radkey, Rosie Flores, The Salvation Choir, Audri Page, Teri Quinn & Landon Hambright.]

8. Roșie Flores & The Talismen – “Oh Yea Do You Love Me?”
   from: “Oh Yea Do You Love Me?”- Single / Mule Kick Records / July 31, 2026
   [The unstoppable Rosie Flores – known widely as the Rockabilly Filly – is coming at you this week with a new single “Oh Yea Do Ya Love Me?” co-written by firebrand Ruby James. // Weeks before her continuing tour with Robert Plant and Saving Grace, Rosie’s single offering is a tongue in cheek, reggae styled jaunt with her own unique spin. // Rosie Flores (born Rosalie Flores; September 10, 1950) is an American rockabilly, blues and country musician who has been writing and performing since the 1970s. She currently resides in Austin, Texas, where August 31 was declared Rosie Flores Day by the Austin City Council in 2006. // Rosie Flores was born in San Antonio, Texas, United States,[2] where she lived until the age of twelve, when her family moved to San Diego.[2] In interviews, Flores has recalled that growing up, she loved to watch musical television shows like The Dick Clark Show and Hit Parade. She began singing as a young child, picking up a guitar at age 6, and eventually learning how to play rhythm guitar from her older brother, Roger. // Flores formed her first band, Penelope’s Children, while still in high school in California. In the 1970s, Flores played the San Diego nightclub circuit and was the namesake of the alt country/cowpunk band Rosie and the Screamers. By 21, she was in Los Angeles at her first recording session, though her first EP, Hit City L.A., wouldn’t be released until 1982, possibly after leaving the Screamers. // In 1983, after the Screamers disbanded, she joined a cowpunk all-female band called Screamin’ Sirens. The latter band produced a series of 7-inch singles and tracks for compilation albums before releasing an album in 1984, Fiesta, produced by Brian Ahern, Michael Reid and Greg Humphries. // Flores’s debut album Rosie Flores came out on Warner Bros./Reprise in 1987. The single, “Crying Over You,” put her on the Billboard chart for the first time. Since then, Flores has recorded 13 additional solo albums. // Flores has toured widely, appearing in the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. and also performing frequently in Austin, continuing into 2024. In 1995, she organized a tour with Wanda Jackson on a coast-to-coast North American tour, and she toured for eight months as a member of Asleep at the Wheel in 1997. She has also traveled with a concert tribute she created to honor Janis Martin, who she cites as a major influence early on in her career. She also performed the tribute concert’s program at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, where, in 2012, she was also part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s tribute to Chuck Berry. Her media appearances include Austin City Limits and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and she had a cameo role in the 1993 film The Thing Called Love featuring River Phoenix and Sandra Bullock. // In addition to her work as a performer and songwriter, Flores has helped to revive the careers of female rockabilly musicians from previous generations and to create new interest in their music. Her album Rockabilly Filly, released on Hightone Records in 1995, included vocals from early rock and roll musicians Janis Martin and Wanda Jackson. In 2007, Flores brought Janis Martin to a recording studio in Blanco, Texas, to procuce with Bobby Trimble a record that would be both Martin’s first solo album in thirty years as well as her last before her death of cancer. After the project was turned down by a number of record labels, Flores raised more than $16,000 on Kickstarter to release the album, which was titled Janis Martin: The Blanco Sessions. Flores is credited as a producer. // Flores’s current (as of 2013–2018) guitar of choice is her James Trussart SteelTopCaster. She uses Fender amplifiers, and has also played Fender Telecasters, Gretsch electrics, Gibson Les Pauls, and various acoustic guitars. // In 2019, Flores released her album, Simple Case of the Blues in the UK. // Flores has revealed that, under pressure from her manager, she had an abortion in 1986, shortly after signing with Warner Bros. She later regretted the decision. She has never been married, and has said that her lifestyle, which involves frequent touring, makes it difficult to maintain long-term relationships.]

[Rosie Flores plays Celebrate AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival 2026, Sat., August 1, at 3:00pm at The Concourse Park, 200 Benton Blvd. KCMO with Making Movies, Radkey, Gina Chavez , Freedom Threedom, The Salvation Choir, Audri Page, Teri Quinn & Landon Hambright.]

10:29 – Underwriting

9. Joel Kraft – “Start It Over”
   from: The End / Joel Kraft / March 1, 2026
   [Joel Kraft on voice, guitar, drums, bass, synth, production, programming, writing, dishwashing, slide flute & guitar; Nick Baker on drums on Awakening, Queen of Kings & The Foundness; Stephen Flanery on vocals on Awakening; Ross McLeron on synthesizers on Start It Over; Marty Kraft on vocals on Awakening; Adam Selzer -on mixing & mastering; Shane Ogren on album art; Philip Cheaney on graphic design. // The End is the fourth album from Kansas City–based singer-songwriter and producer Joel Kraft. It’s a layered indie pop record with roots in folk and a twist of art pop—featuring toy pianos, disco bass lines, square wave synths, and field recordings stitched together by hand. Ten years in the making, it’s the first album Kraft fully produced himself after years of learning from collaborators and experimenting with tape, MIDI, and microphones. // Kraft’s songs are rich with impressionistic lyrics, unconventional structures, and sonic textures that reward repeated listening. His songwriting blends the personal and surreal, moving between vivid imagery and quiet emotional weight without ever settling into one mode for long. // The result is a dreamy, bittersweet, and slightly eccentric pop record built on “slow-release architecture,” as Kraft calls it. The End doesn’t sound like goodbye—it sounds like waking up with a new sense of clarity. All songs written by Joel Kraft ℗ & © 2026 Joel Kraft (BMI). All rights reserved. License all rights reserved.]

[Joel Kraft plays an Album release show on Friday, August 7, 2026 at 6:00pm, Matinee Show with Miss Boating at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO West Bottoms.]

10:35 – Interview with Joel Kraft

Joel Kraft joins us to share details about his new album, THE END released March 1, 2026. Joel Kraft is a curious animal that grew up among the rolling hills of Missouri. Climbing trees and walking through tunnels of Brush Creek, his head swam with all kinds of notions he could only just pin down and understand by singing them out loud over and over again. At first he sang them to himself, then into microphones he found at coffee shops and bars around the US. The End is the fourth album from Kansas City–based singer-songwriter and producer Joel Kraft. It’s a layered indie pop record with roots in folk and a twist of art pop—featuring toy pianos, disco bass lines, square wave synths, and field recordings stitched together by hand. Ten years in the making, it’s the first album Kraft fully produced himself after years of learning from collaborators and experimenting with tape, MIDI, and microphones. Joel Kraft plays an Album release show on Friday, August 7, 2026 at 6:00pm, Matinee Show with Miss Boating at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO West Bottoms.

Joel Kraft thanks for being with us on Wednesday Midday Medley

We just heard “Start it Over”

This one was nearly lost on a failed hard drive. Joel actually did some soldering and borrowed a recovery rig to bring it back from oblivion.

“Start it Over” – lyrics

Let us all look at your fuzzy crumpled little mess
Is that the broken project you’ve been polishing to death
Whenever you are naked out in public, it’s just a dream
But this is definitely happening

Try to play it cool but the spasms won’t subside
You’re in charge of something that keeps turning into light
When you get to hold it, try to love it but it’s hot
And it’s never going to be the way you thought
It’s just not

You thought what you thought
You thought and it’s never gonna be the way

There’s a place in the sky
That is passing you by
Feel yourself start to cry
But it’s over
Yes the moment goes by
In the blink of of an eye
It’s ok, say goodbye
And start it over

Ross McLeron: Moog
Joel Kraft: everything else

Joel Kraft is a curious animal that grew up among the rolling hills of Missouri. Climbing trees and walking through tunnels of Brush Creek, his head swam with all kinds of notions he could only just pin down and understand by singing them out loud over and over again. At first he sang them to himself, then into microphones he found at coffee shops and bars around the US. There were other people then, who would listen while sitting, or dance or sometimes sing along.

What were those songs about? I don’t think Joel himself knew all the way. Were they about someone in particular? About an event? His songs are built with impressions, one stacked upon another to arrive at something new, perhaps the same way each letter in our alphabet was once a symbol for a thing or action, but now can be arranged in strings to mean all kinds of different things.

This fascination with language and experience begins every moment of Joel’s performance, which often feels more like a series of discoveries than a broadcast. He likes people very much (especially singing people), and his favorite part of performing is discovering new moments with them.

Joel Kraft Album release show w/ Miss Boating Matinee Show Friday, August 7, 2026 at 6 PM – 9 PM at The Ship 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO, Doors 6 // Show 7-9pm

The End credits: Joel Kraft – Voice, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Synth, Production, Programming, Writing, Dishwashing, Slide Flute & Guitar; Nick Baker – Drums on Awakening, Queen of Kings & The Foundness; Stephen Flanery – Vocals on Awakening; Ross McLeron – Synth on Start It Over; Marty Kraft – Vocals on Awakening; Adam Selzer – Mixing & Mastering; Shane Ogren – Album Art; Philip Cheaney – Graphic Design

Joel Kraft Discography

Gold in the Bargain Bin – released October 25, 2003

All songs by Joel Kraft. Lisa Donald played cello on Alien Phoneline, Gone, Ocean Song, and she sang harmony on Flowerpatch. Recorded by Joel Kraft, Pete Minda & Dan Balsinger. Mastered by Justin Mathews

1. The Country Song 02:58
2. Lionsong 03:35
3. Alien Phoneline 04:59
4. Gold in the Bargain Bin 02:18
5. Scared 06:29
6. Gone 02:30
7. Rubix Heart 04:18
8. Breathe 02:05
9. Ocean Song 04:31
10. Freefallin Cowboy 02:24
11. Gold in the Bargain Bin (Icecream Truck Remix) 03:25
12. Birthplace 06:18

Born in Midwestern U.S., Joel first learned the word ‘ocean’ from an orange Speak ‘n’ Spell one cold Christmas day in the ’80s. The angled glow-green letters with the queer, patient voice of the toy sent him into a kind of wondering dream. Ocean. It was something he had heard of before, he thought. Maybe from television where one could sometimes find broadcasted pictures of California. He didn’t know it yet, but he was going to meet an ocean in person one day, and write a song about it.

As Joel grew up his teachers frequently observed he had a tendency to stare out the window and daydream. When at last he graduated from a University he continued to follow his dreams right to the edge of North America where there lay an island city called Manhattan. He took what work he could find among the lights and edifices on the crowded little island, first in offices of the financial district downtown, and then on the fashionable floor of a bistro in the East Village. Somewhere between the wordless waiting at 3 am for home-bound subway trains and the din of car alarms set off by thunderstorms, Joel lost the thread of his dreams.

And he didn’t even notice until a day when fate dropped a postcard into his mailbox. Sent from a dear friend on holiday in Amsterdam, the postcard–suspended by hand comfortably within Joel’s gaze–began to resemble a window, or perhaps a door into another world, the world of dreams. Upon stepping through the door. (Stepping through that door was not quite as simple as putting his foot or even head through the postcard, but required a series of banal steps involving ticket offices, bus rides and other fossil fuel consumption, lots of waiting in non-descript rooms. The door which opened upon the world of dreams, however, was quite real.)

Joel found himself in the city of Galway, Ireland holding all his posessions in his two hands and having an acute panic attack. Five minutes later he was uttering a seamless stream of words into the receiver of a public telephone, describing his helplessness to his mother, who listened patiently a half a world away. Suddenly he ran out of words, his voice stopped, leaving only the silence of oblivion. ‘Well, I guess that’s why you went,’ she said simply over the hiss on the receiver. There seemed to be nothing more to say, so they hung up.

Turning away from the telephone to face the green of Eyre Square, Joel stood a moment before separating one of his feet from the concrete and placing it out in front of him. Shifting his weight forward, he then repeated this procedure with his other foot. Thus he discovered–for the first time, it seemed to him–how to walk. The more he employed this new discovery, the more beautiful people and places came into his experience. He stayed on a small island called Inis Mor in the hospitality of a wonderful friend, playing guitar, writing songs, reading books, singing. He walked into the ocean and out again. He walked through Paris, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Wales, and in Liverpool he used walking to board an orange and white aircraft that took him to Barcelona, Spain.

He walked across Spain, getting up early before the sun and watching mist roll off of distant mountains like silken broth boiling over the side of a pot. His pilgrimage–particularly in Spain–taught him confidence in playing music for others. In the eveningtime he would sit in a common area, singing songs with his guitar, and people would gather around, and listen. Never particularly good at making friends, suddenly he seemed to be making many of them. He went south and studied Flamenco technique with a teacher in Seville, and wrote several songs as well.

Joel returned to Ireland again, and there realized that he wanted to learn how to record his songs. He bought a ticket back to Kansas City where he got to work performing and recording. It took him a year and a half, but he has finally released his debut album, titled Gold in the Bargain Bin. The album contains work written from 1998-2003 in a variety of settings, from his childhood bedroom to apartments in Seville, Queens, Ireland, Illinois etc. One was written in Loose Park. They deal with love, alienation, fear, joy, but most of all dreams and the strange sense of humor life seems so often to require. Joel sings his little heart out.

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Big Ideas – released April 25, 2006

1. Something’s Got to Break 02:40
2. Teacher Showed Up to Learn 04:49
3. Raisins 02:39
4. Light in My Mind 02:03
5. EOW 04:49
6. Catalpas 02:27
7. Rainsong 06:35
8. Big Ideas 02:38
9. Blessed Be the Name 04:28
10. Hymn for Sal 04:08
11. Gone 02:37

All songs written by Joel Kraft except “Blessed Be the Name,” by Joel Kraft & Bill Belzer. Joel Kraft: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitars, accordion, glockenspiel and electric guitar on “Big Ideas”; Nick Baker: drums; Brandon Curtis: trumpet; Jeremy Harman: cello, electric guitars; Rachel Gaither: backing vocals, violin; Adam Greene: bass on “Raisins”; Justin Mathews: backing vocals; Devin McCollum: bass; Matt Wilber: trombone; Strings on “Big Ideas” arranged by Rachel Gaither

Produced, mixed and engineered by Justin Mathews, Intone Creative
Mastered by Paul Wickliffe at Skyline Productions, Warren, NJ
Cover photography and concept: Joshua Hoffine
Sleeve drawings, paintings and design: Shane Ogren
Layout Design: Kalyn Mathews
Pizza and other kindnesses: Jodi Mathews
Muse, amused, bemusing: Bill Belzer

Big Thank Yous: Nick Baker for your huge heart. Justin Mathews for clarity, perseverance and ingenuity – Love and Respect: Rachel Gaither, Jeremy Harman, Bill Belzer, Shane Ogren Lollipop Barbershop, Duane and Nancy Benton, Kasey Rausch, Kaya Rausch-Santee, Mikal Shapiro, David and Cathy Basse, Adam Greene, Eudora, Mollie Fisher, Marwan Chebaro, Mica Stumpf, Desmond Poirier, Caleb Hawley, Jodi Mathews, Mom, Chris Wells, Joshua Hoffine, S. J. Bushman for drawings curious and wonder, Heather, Dad, Jane Gotch, Greg Ansley, Annette (hineighbor!), Felix, Ellyn Herr, Beth Sarver, Whitney Fell, Quinton Mathews, Bassam Helwani, Cindy Woolf, Crystal Hansen, Bonnie Bailey, Trace, Arinna, Shiva, Chloe, Sadie, Jordan Whitney Smith, Las familias Tarrida, Brennan, Pattison, Gibbs, Harrington, McDermott, Linhardt, Potter, Poirier, Lisa Donald, Kalyn Mathews, Prospero’s Bookshop, UG, Shining Heart Community, Annie MacGill, Café Rumi, Cristina Heeren, Regina Basse, Bill Wright, Emily Pattison, Rahima, all of the musicians, my family, my friends—met and not—thank you.

All Songs © 2005 Joel Kraft except “Blessed be the Name” ©1998 W. F. Belzer/J. Kraft.
All Songs published by Joel Kraft (BMI), except “Blessed be the Name,” published by Joel Kraft (BMI) and Nihill Song Music (ASCAP). Made in the U.S.A. Re-recording of this material is a violation of applicable copyright laws. © 2006 Joel Kraft All Rights Reserved.

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The Lighting Project – released December 25, 2021

1. Queen of Kings 03:41
2. Heart of Candy 03:09
3. Even in the Darkness 03:30

Joel Kraft – guitars, percussion, slide whistles, vocals, keyboards; Nick Baker – drums. Recorded, engineered & produced by Joel Kraft; Mixed & mastered by Adam Selzer; Cover art and design by Shane Ogren; Thank you Emily Mentzel for making this possible.

Thank you to so many of my friends for all the inspiration and conversations about music: Israel Nebeker, Shane Ogren, Simone Sharda, Shelby Sifers, Kevin Dolan, Luke Ydstie, Ellen Osborn, Kati Claborn, Jonas Jenkins, Graham Harriman, Skyler Butenshon, Mikal Shapiro, Peter Murray, Konnor Ervin, Bill Belzer, Nick Baker, Nikolos Ray, Ross McLeron, Natasha Ria El-Scari, Nathan Wade Carter, Ama Bentley

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The End – released March 1, 2026

1. Wooden Castle 03:27
2. Natural Wonder 03:50
3. Start it Over 04:18
4. Heart of Candy 03:05
5. Awakening 04:11
6. Queen of Kings 03:42
7. The Foundness 04:04
8. Even in the Darkness 03:07
9. Can’t Go Back 01:02

Nick Baker – Drums on Awakening, Queen of Kings & The Foundness; Stephen Flanery – Vocals on Awakening; Ross McLeron – Synth on Start It Over; Marty Kraft – Vocals on Awakening; Joel Kraft – Voice, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Synth, Production, Programming, Writing, Dishwashing, Slide Flute & Guitar; Adam Selzer – Mixing & Mastering; Shane Ogren – Album Art; Philip Cheaney – Graphic Design

The End is the fourth album from Kansas City–based singer-songwriter and producer Joel Kraft. It’s a layered indie pop record with roots in folk and a twist of art pop—featuring toy pianos, disco bass lines, square wave synths, and field recordings stitched together by hand. Ten years in the making, it’s the first album Kraft fully produced himself after years of learning from collaborators and experimenting with tape, MIDI, and microphones.

Kraft’s songs are rich with impressionistic lyrics, unconventional structures, and sonic textures that reward repeated listening. His songwriting blends the personal and surreal, moving between vivid imagery and quiet emotional weight without ever settling into one mode for long.

The result is a dreamy, bittersweet, and slightly eccentric pop record built on “slow-release architecture,” as Kraft calls it. The End doesn’t sound like goodbye—it sounds like waking up with a new sense of clarity.

All songs written by Joel Kraft ℗ & © 2026 Joel Kraft (BMI). All rights reserved.

www.joelkraft.bandcamp.com

Queen of Kings – Lyrics

You’re a magic wish with sparkle power
Half a sandwich in the morning shower
Write a letter on a ragged apron
Throw a bottle in the flooded basement

You and I we swam troubled water
All the doubts that we refused to slaughter
Now we know what crazy means
Now we know who killed the childhood queen
We’re on the inside now, o my
Don’t cry

We’re the oracles of paste and makeup
All the love notes we get paid to rake up
After all the crowds have gone
After the killing in the Colosseum

It’s a tragedy of tiny portions
Lose your strength in spite of your contortions
Through your whiskers you detect a change
The queen of kindergarten pushes you on stage
You better give it all away
You may still save the day

10:54

10. Joel Kraft – “Queen of Kings”
    from: The End / Joel Kraft / March 1, 2026
    [Joel Kraft on voice, guitar, drums, bass, synth, production, programming, writing, dishwashing, slide flute & guitar; Nick Baker on drums on Awakening, Queen of Kings & The Foundness; Stephen Flanery on vocals on Awakening; Ross McLeron on synthesizers on Start It Over; Marty Kraft on vocals on Awakening; Adam Selzer -on mixing & mastering; Shane Ogren on album art; Philip Cheaney on graphic design. // The End is the fourth album from Kansas City–based singer-songwriter and producer Joel Kraft. It’s a layered indie pop record with roots in folk and a twist of art pop—featuring toy pianos, disco bass lines, square wave synths, and field recordings stitched together by hand. Ten years in the making, it’s the first album Kraft fully produced himself after years of learning from collaborators and experimenting with tape, MIDI, and microphones. // Kraft’s songs are rich with impressionistic lyrics, unconventional structures, and sonic textures that reward repeated listening. His songwriting blends the personal and surreal, moving between vivid imagery and quiet emotional weight without ever settling into one mode for long. // The result is a dreamy, bittersweet, and slightly eccentric pop record built on “slow-release architecture,” as Kraft calls it. The End doesn’t sound like goodbye—it sounds like waking up with a new sense of clarity. All songs written by Joel Kraft ℗ & © 2026 Joel Kraft (BMI). All rights reserved. License all rights reserved.]

[Joel Kraft plays an Album release show on Friday, August 7, 2026 at 6:00pm, Matinee Show with Miss Boating at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO West Bottoms.]

11. Miss Boating – “Not My Life”
    from: Jewel In The Trash / High Dive Records / June 29, 2024
    [Miss Boating is a KC based, five-piece with multi-instrumentalist & lead singer Charlie Coleborne, drummer Bill Belzer, Aaron Jones on trombone, Tom Gillespie on Saxophone, and Bryan McGuire on bass. (Phil Dickey played bass on the album.) Charlie and Bill met in the late 1980s. In the beginning they were called The Sympathetic Fringe, and then The Sleazebeats. In recent years Charlie & Bill added Aaron, Tim and Bryan. Described by one local radio host as “the perfect house band for a John Waters After Party.” One of their songs is about a friend’s mom’s dynamic relationship with prescription medication. Another is a tribute to the late Evan Jolly, their former bassist. All of the songs are written by Charlie Colborne. // From the ashes of their former band The Sleazebeats, Charles Colborne and Bill Belzer faced a difficult 2019 when combined with the death of Charlie’s own beloved mother, their friend and bassist Evan Vhargon died. The band wrote that they “were lost when Evan passed.” Through the tough times Bill and Charlie kept playing and wrote that they “were blown away when Phil Dickey wanted to jam with us… the jamming turned into something more and we were going again. We couldn’t be more thankful and humbled.” Phil is part of the bands Dragon Inn 3, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. // On Jan 1, 2020 Miss Boating released The Vhargon Sidestep with: Charlie Colborne on keyboards, guitar, vocals; Bill Belzer: drums, vocals; Phil Dickey on bass; Aaron Jones on trombone; Tim Gillespie on saxophone. Ross Brown served as engineering, did all of the mixing for The Vhargon Sidestep and Mike Nolte handled all of the mastering.]

[Miss Boating plays the Joel Kraft Album release show on Friday, August 7, 2026 at 6:00pm, Matinee Show with Miss Boating at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO West Bottoms.]

11:00 – Station ID

12. The JWB – “MidDay”
    from: In Perspective / James Ward Band / January 18, 2010
    [James Ward and Angela Ward of The James Ward Trio and James Ward Band also known as The JWB. The JWB is a Jazz Fusion band formed over 20 years ago that combines Jazz, R&B, Funk, and Gospel. The Wards consist of Angela Ward on keyboards, James Ward on bass, and Jaylen Ward on drums. In addition to performing, they also run a Music School where they facilitate Music Education Programs in the community. Their goal is to offer the gift of music to all. The Wards perform regularly at The Blue Room located on the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District. They also perform individually in various bands in the Kansas City Music Scene.]
    [Angela Ward will be performing with Lee Langston at 1587 Prime, Thurs, July 30, at 6:30pm.]
    [The James Ward Band will be performing at the Blue Room on Friday, July 31, at 8:30pm.]
    [James Ward will be at Eddie V’s on Wednesday, August 12, at 6:30pm.]
    [Angela Ward plays with Lee Langston at 1587 Prime Friday, on August 7, at 6:30pm.]
    [The James Ward Trio play Jazz by the River on Saturday, August 8, in Leavenworth, Kansas.]

11:04 – Interview with James Ward and Angela Ward

James Ward and Angela Ward of The James Ward Trio and James Ward Band also known as The JWB. The JWB is a Jazz Fusion band formed over 20 years ago that combines Jazz, R&B, Funk, and Gospel. The Wards consist of Angela Ward on keyboards, James Ward on bass, and Jaylen Ward on drums. In addition to performing, they also run a Music School where they facilitate Music Education Programs in the community. Their goal is to offer the gift of music to all. The Wards perform regularly at The Blue Room located on the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District. They also perform individually in various bands in the Kansas City Music Scene.
James Ward and Angela Ward thanks for being with us on Wednesday Midday Medley
[Angela Ward will be performing with Lee Langston at 1587 Prime, Thurs, July 30, at 6:30pm.]
[The James Ward Band will be performing at the Blue Room on Friday, July 31, at 8:30pm.]
[James Ward will be at Eddie V’s on Wednesday, August 12, at 6:30pm.]
[Angela Ward plays with Lee Langston at 1587 Prime Friday, on August 7, at 6:30pm.]
[The James Ward Trio play Jazz by the River on Saturday, August 8, in Leavenworth, Kansas.]

Angela is originally from Florida, and went to Florida A & M University in Tallahassee, Florida. It was there that she met James Ward.

Later Angela came to Kansas City for work and eventually married James

James and Angela created the Comprehensive Arts Institute – with a mission is to equip and develop our youth with active and creative minds.

The Wards perform regularly at The Blue Room located on the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District. They also perform individually in various bands in the Kansas City Music Scene.

James Ward and Angela Ward collaborate with many musicians, One such project was Erin Keller’s SONGS FOR TIMES LIKE THESE, with the James Ward Band doing original songs written & produced by Erin Keller and recorded by Chad Meise. Erin Keller & the James Ward Band played an Album Release Dinner Matinee Show, Friday, January 26, 2024, at 6:00pm, at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO.

Songs For Times Like These features Erin Keller on vocals, with the James Ward Band

James Ward on electric bass,
Jaylen Ward on drums & cymbals,
Angela Ward on keyboard,

Along with Chad Meise on electric guitar.
Recorded & mixed by Chad Meise. Mastered by Collin Jordan.
Artwork by David Ford. Photos & Graphics by Kayla Haskins.

Erin Keller and The JWB latest album “Songs for Times Like These” is political, funny, groovy, and thought-provoking. If you feel like the world is making you crazy, you might feel very seen and heard at this show! The songs are about humanity coming together in unity and love to make the world a better place. The JWB featuring James, Angela, and Jaylen Ward always lay down a funky groove you can dance and/or relax to.

Erin Keller also presents The Golden Spirit Fundraising Event, a performance of critically acclaimed Joni Mitchell album “Mingus,” with Patrick Ketter on saxophone, Angela Ward on keyboards, Adam Schlozman on guitar, Matt Leifer on drums, and Forest Stewart on bass, on Saturday, May 25, at Unity Temple on the Plaza,West 47th, KCMO.

James Ward and Angela Ward thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

11:22

13. The JWB – “Groove Axis”
    from: Groove Axis / James Ward Band / January 10, 2010
    [James Ward and Angela Ward of The James Ward Trio and James Ward Band also known as The JWB. The JWB is a Jazz Fusion band formed over 20 years ago that combines Jazz, R&B, Funk, and Gospel. The Wards consist of Angela Ward on keyboards, James Ward on bass, and Jaylen Ward on drums. In addition to performing, they also run a Music School where they facilitate Music Education Programs in the community. Their goal is to offer the gift of music to all. The Wards perform regularly at The Blue Room located on the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District. They also perform individually in various bands in the Kansas City Music Scene.]
    [Angela Ward will be performing with Lee Langston at 1587 Prime, Thurs, July 30, at 6:30pm.]
    [The James Ward Band will be performing at the Blue Room on Friday, July 31, at 8:30pm.]
    [James Ward will be at Eddie V’s on Wednesday, August 12, at 6:30pm.]
    [Angela Ward plays with Lee Langston at 1587 Prime Friday, on August 7, at 6:30pm.]
    [The James Ward Trio play Jazz by the River on Saturday, August 8, in Leavenworth, Kansas.]

14. Malek Azrael & The Vibez – “Anxiety (feat. Mike Dillon)”
    from: Live At Greenwood Social Hall with Mike Dillon / MAZ.EL Records / May 15, 2026
    [Along with 12 track album recorded LIVE at Greenwood Social Hall with Malek Azrael, Josh Luke, Calvin Haverkamp, Quinn Cosgrove, and Mike Dillon. With Kaydee Gabel, Katie Benyo, Victor Daniel Diaz-Sanchez, and Madi Tozier // Malek Azrael also has a new single, “ANNOY MY FRIENDS” released July 17, 2026 one of three singles he has released this year. // Malek Azrael /]released the EP FEELS LIKE on March 1, 2025. // On February 28, 2025, Malek Azrael released the single “Room 4U”. // On March 1, 2024 Malek Azrael released his single, “in ur mind.” On October 15, 2021 Malek Azrael released his 10-track album “Waves” which first featured members of his live band “The Vibez”. Since then, they have grown their fanbase in KC and surrounding areas through live concerts land appearances at Boulevardia Festival, Ameri’Kana, and the 18th and Vine Gumbo Fest, and shows at RecordBar, The Truman, Grinders, and Knuckleheads and collaborated with larger acts such as Making Movies, The Greeting Committee, and D Smoke debut. Male Azrael lives in KCMO. He has worked for Boys Grow, and Art As Mentorship (Making Movies non-profit organization). He sometimes plays with Making Movies and played the Ameri-Kana Fest. Malek Azrael played KKFI’s 18th Annual Crossroads Music Fest, on Aug. 27, at The Black Box, in West Bottoms. Malek & The Vibez played Boulevardia Festival at Crown Center, on June 16, 2024.]

11:30 – Underwriting

15. Mumford & Sons – “Here (with Chris Stapleton)”
    from: Prizefighter / Glassnote Records / February 20, 2026
    [Prizefighter is the sixth studio album by the British folk rock band Mumford & Sons, released on 20 February 2026 via Island Records and the group’s label Gentlemen of the Road. Produced by the band with Aaron Dessner, the group began writing songs for Prizefighter before the release of their previous album Rushmere (2025), and recorded the entire album in ten days at Dessner’s studio in New York. It was accompanied by four singles: “Rubber Band Man” (with Hozier), “Prizefighter”, “The Banjo Song”, and “Here” (with Chris Stapleton). In addition, the album features collaborations with Gigi Perez, and Gracie Abrams. // After completing their fifth album Rushmere (2025), Mumford & Sons continued to write and record music. During one of their sessions at Electric Lady Studios, the group ran into Aaron Dessner, who previously worked on their 2015 album Wilder Mind. They shared demo recordings with him while he played them songs he had written with Justin Vernon and Jon Bellion. Frontman Marcus Mumford travelled with Dessner to various parts of the world to write songs, including “Rubber Band Man”. The album was recorded in ten days at Dessner’s Long Pond Studios in New York, with the group writing “more songs than [they] had in the last seven years combined”. // Unlike previous Mumford & Sons albums, Prizefighter features several featured collaborations with other artists, including Chris Stapleton, Hozier, Gigi Perez, and Gracie Abrams; group member Ben Lovett attributed their desire to work with other musicians to “a place of security that was formed through the work with Pharrell [on 2024’s ‘Good People’] and with Dave Cobb on Rushmere.” The group sent a rough version of the album to Hozier, a longtime friend, and he asked to sing on “Rubber Band Man” after it “jumped out to him”. Abrams’ involvement began when she heard a version of “The Banjo Song”, which was not originally written by the group, and encouraged Mumford to record it. She became “a sounding board for the entire album”, providing feedback on lyrics throughout its production. She was offered to appear on any track and selected “Badlands”, which she “envisaged that song as a duet” and lead to the group approaching it as “a Bonnie and Clyde-style getaway song”. Mumford sent a demo of “Here” to Stapleton, his “favourite vocalist in the world right now”, and asked him to feature on the track he described as their “Brokeback moment”. Justin Vernon, Brandi Carlile, and Finneas also contributed to the album. // Mumford & Sons are an English folk rock band formed in Greater London. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, guitar, drums), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards), and Ted Dwane (vocals, bass, guitar). // Mumford & Sons have released six studio albums: Sigh No More (2009), Babel (2012), Wilder Mind (2015), Delta (2018), Rushmere (2025), and Prizefighter (2026). Their debut, Sigh No More, peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the US, with Babel, Wilder Mind, and Delta all debuting at number one in the US, the former becoming the fastest-selling rock album of the decade and leading to a headline performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2013. // The band has won music awards throughout their career, with Sigh No More earning the band the Brit Award for Best British Album in 2011, a Mercury Prize nomination and six overall Grammy Award nominations. The live performance at the 2011 Grammy ceremony with Bob Dylan and The Avett Brothers led to a surge in popularity for the band in the US. The band received eight total Grammy nominations for Babel and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The band also won the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2013 and an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement in 2014. // Mumford & Sons was formed in December 2007 by multi-instrumentalists Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, and Winston Marshall. Band members play acoustic guitar, drums, keyboard instruments, bass guitar, and traditional folk instruments such as banjo, mandolin and resonator guitar. The band name originates from Marcus Mumford being the most visible member, organising the band and their performances. Lovett indicated that the name was meant to evoke the sense of an “antiquated family business name”. // Mumford and Sons were amongst a handful of similar southern English bands who were increasing their visibility in West London around the same time, giving rise to the label “West London folk scene”. Mumford downplays that characterisation as an exaggeration—Mumford & Sons and a few other folk acts just happened to be operating in the same general area at the time. In an interview with the Herald Sun, Marcus Mumford said, “It’s not folk really. Well, some of it is, and it’s certainly not a scene. Someone got over-excited about a few bands who live in a hundred-mile radius and put it in a box to sell it as a package. It’s a community, not a scene. It’s not exclusive.” Having developed in the same musical and cultural environment, Mumford & Sons’ sound has been compared to that of artists such as Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn or Laura Marling, whose backing band had included Marshall, Mumford, and Dwane.]

[Mumford and Sons play The Morton Amphitheater Sunday, August 2, 2026 at 8:00pm]

16. Jamogi – “HOLLABACK (feat. Les Izmore)”
    from: J’DAY / Jam Tunes / June 12, 2026
    [J’Day is a celebration of growth, creativity, and self discovery. Three years in the making, the album represents the culmination of Jamogi’s journey through a wide range of genres, influences, and sonic landscapes. The result is a body of work that not only showcases his musical versatility but also reveals the many facets of his personality. // Produced alongside OceanLife Gianni, J’Day captures the energy, emotion, and moments that make life memorable. From the horn driven fanfare of “Go Big or Go Home” to the flirtatious blend of West Coast, Midwest, and Southern influences on “Back N’ Forth,” Jamogi demonstrates a clear understanding of both his sound and his audience. Tracks like “Do It to Me” transport listeners through different eras and musical inspirations, while songs such as “Storybook,” “Treasure,” and “Georgia Peach” reveal his romantic side through storytelling, heartfelt lyricism, and poetic imagery. // The album also features collaborations with a talented lineup of friends and fellow artists on tracks including “What’s It Gonna Be?” and “HOLLABACK,” adding even more personality and perspective to the project. // More than just a collection of songs, J’Day marks a defining moment in Jamogi’s artistic journey. It is a bold statement of who he is today and a testament to the creative vision he has spent years refining. Rich with personality, versatility, and heart, the project positions Jamogi for his next era and leaves listeners wondering where he’ll take them next. // Jamogi is also know as Byron Hyde a Kanas City based singer, songwriter, MC, producer, originally from Los Angeles, California.// Jamogi released the single “Georgia Peach (feat. Burgandy)” on September 5, 2025. Jamogi released Jamogi & The Jammers: Live at Flew The Coop Sessions (Flew The Coop Live) through Jam Tunes on April 11, 2025. // Jamogi released the single “Do It To Me” on March 28, 2025. // Jamogi released the single “Go Big or Go Home” on August 30, 2024, Jamogi released the single “Hot Block” on May 30, 2024. Jamogi released the EP, Star-Crossed Lover on March 3, 2023. Jamogi then released a “Star-Crossed Lover GALACTIC REMIX (feat. Watchman)” single on June 9, 2023.Jamogi previously released the AGE OF AQUARIUS EP on March 3, 2023, and the single “Celebration” on Dec. 9, 2022, and the single “Anymore” on May 6, 2022. // Jamogi played the ROCK IS BLACK—a celebration of Black artists in rock music, happening February 28, 2025 at 7:00 PM at the Zhou B Art Center, 1801 E 18th Street, KCMO. Rock is Black features: Malek Azrael & The Vibez, Jamogi and The Jammers, Stephonne, and Frankie Shorez & Mercy Fire. Kamogi and the Jammers played Boulevardia 2025]

[Les Izmore & The Goats plays The Brick, McGee St., KCMO, Friday, July 31 with Super Massive Blackholes and Phaze II.]

17. Mavis Staples – “Human Mind”
    from: Sad And Beautiful World / Anti / June 10, 2025
    [Sad And Beautiful World contains covers of songs by Tom Waits, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Frank Ocean, Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, and Kevin Morby’s including ”Human Mind” written especially for the album by Hozier & Allison Russell. // Lead Vocals – Mavis Staples; Background Vocals – Anjimile; Acoustic Guitar – Brad Cook, Phil Cook; Electric Guitar – Rick Holmstrom, Phil Cook; Bass – Brad Cook; Drums – Matt McCaughan; Drum Programming – Matt McCaughan, Brad Cook; Wurlitzer – Phil Cook; Piano – Phil Cook; Organ – Phil Cook; Saxophone- Matt Douglas // A legendary performer who turned 86 next month on July 10, Mavis Staples continues to be a tour-de-force in music and a voice for the voiceless in today’s divided society. Well known for her work in the gospel and Americana space, Staples is also an R&B icon who famously worked with the one and only Prince in his 80’s heyday. // Hailed by NPR as “one of America’s defining voices of freedom and peace,” Staples is the kind of once-in-a-generation artist whose impact on music and culture would be difficult to overstate. She’s both a Blues and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer; a civil rights icon; a GRAMMY Award-winner; a chart-topping soul/gospel/R&B pioneer; a National Arts Awards Lifetime Achievement recipient; and a Kennedy Center honoree. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., performed at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, and sang in Barack Obama’s White House. // At a time when most artists begin to wind down, Staples ramped things up, releasing a trio of critically acclaimed albums in her 70’s with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy that prompted Pitchfork to rave that “her voice has only gained texture and power over the years” and People to proclaim that she “provides the comfort of a higher power.” “I sing because I want to leave people feeling better than I found them,” Staples says. “I want them to walk away with a positive message in their hearts, feeling stronger than they felt before. I’m singing to myself for those same reasons, too.” // On July 9, Staples and award-winning children’s poet Carol Boston Weatherford will release the new children’s book ‘Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples’, a vibrant and poetic new picture book that introduces young readers to Staples’ life story, who began singing at age 8 and ever since has used her voice as a rallying cry to the country at numerous civil rights protests and continues to sing and share her message of love, faith and justice in front of large audiences today. // Staples recently celebrated her upcoming birthday early in stellar fashion at Los Angeles’s YouTube Theater this past April, gracing the stage alongside a star-studded lineup including Hozier, Chris Stapleton, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Black Pumas, and more. Currently on tour in Europe, Staples will return to the US and perform at Willie Nelson’s 4th of July picnic on the nation’s birthday. The next day she begins a run of dates with Norah Jones, who she affectionally calls “my baby sister.” All upcoming dates are listed below. // Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family’s band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member. During her time in the group, she recorded the hit singles “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do It Again”. In 1969, Staples released her self-titled debut solo album. // Staples continued to release solo albums throughout the following decades and collaborated with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Prince, Arcade Fire, Nona Hendryx, Ry Cooder, and David Byrne. Her eighth studio album You Are Not Alone (2010), earned critical acclaim, and became her first album as a soloist to reach number one on a Billboard chart, peaking atop the Top Gospel Albums chart. It also earned Staples her first Grammy Award win. Following this, she released the albums One True Vine (2013), Livin’ on a High Note (2016), If All I Was Was Black (2017), and We Get By (2019); she is also featured on the single “Nina Cried Power” by Hozier. // Staples is the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and has won three Grammy Awards, including one for Album of the Year as a featured artist on We Are by Jon Batiste.[6] Named one of the ‘100 Greatest Singers of all Time’ by Rolling Stone in 2008; Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2018, as a member of The Staple Singers. Additionally, she was made a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2016. The following year, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a soloist. In 2019, she received the inaugural Rock Hall Honors Award from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a soloist. // Staples was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 10, 1939. She began her career with her family group in 1950. Initially singing locally at churches and appearing on a weekly radio show, the Staples scored a hit in 1956 with “Uncloudy Day” for the Vee-Jay label. When Mavis graduated from what is now Paul Robeson High School in 1957, The Staple Singers took their music on the road. Led by family patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples on guitar and including the voices of Mavis and her siblings Cleotha, Yvonne, and Pervis, the Staples were called “God’s Greatest Hitmakers”. // With Mavis’ voice and Pops’ songs, singing, and guitar playing, the Staples evolved from enormously popular gospel singers (with recordings on United and Riverside as well as Vee-Jay) to become the most spectacular and influential spirituality-based group in America. By the mid-1960s The Staple Singers, inspired by Pops’ close friendship with Martin Luther King Jr., became the spiritual and musical voices of the civil rights movement. They covered contemporary pop hits with positive messages, including Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and a version of Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth”. // During a December 20, 2008, appearance on National Public Radio’s news show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, when Staples was asked about her past personal relationship with Dylan, she admitted that they “were good friends, yes indeed” and that he had asked her father for her hand in marriage. // The Staples sang “message” songs like “Long Walk to D.C.” and “When Will We Be Paid?,” bringing their moving and articulate music to a huge number of young people. The group signed to Stax Records in 1968, joining their gospel harmonies and deep faith with musical accompaniment from members of Booker T. and the MGs. The Staple Singers hit the Top 40 eight times between 1971 and 1975, including two No. 1 singles, “I’ll Take You There”, produced by Al Bell and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning, “Let’s Do It Again,” and a No. 2 single “Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas?” // Mavis made her first solo foray while at Epic Records with The Staple Singers, releasing a lone single “Crying in the Chapel” to little fanfare in the late 1960s. The single was finally re-released on the 1994 Sony Music collection Lost Soul. Her first solo album would not come until a 1969 self-titled release for the Stax label. After another Stax release, Only for the Lonely, in 1970, she released a soundtrack album, A Piece of the Action, on Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label. A 1984 album (also self-titled) preceded two albums under the direction of rock star Prince; 1989’s Time Waits for No One, followed by 1993’s The Voice, which People magazine named one of the Top Ten Albums of 1993. Her 1996 release, Spirituals & Gospels: A Tribute to Mahalia Jackson, was recorded with keyboardist Lucky Peterson. The recording honors Mahalia Jackson, a close family friend and a significant influence on Mavis Staples’s life. // Staples singing during the 2006 NEA National Heritage Fellows concert. // Staples made a major national return with the release of the album Have a Little Faith on Chicago’s Alligator Records, produced by Jim Tullio, in 2004. The album featured spiritual music, some of it semi-acoustic. // In 2004, Staples contributed to a Verve release by legendary jazz-rock guitarist, John Scofield. The album, entitled That’s What I Say, was a tribute to the great Ray Charles and led to a live tour featuring Staples, John Scofield, pianist Gary Versace, drummer Steve Hass, and bassist Rueben Rodriguez. A new album for Anti- Records entitled We’ll Never Turn Back was released on April 24, 2007. The Ry Cooder-produced concept album focuses on gospel songs of the civil rights movement and also included two new original songs by Cooder. // Her voice has been sampled by some of the biggest selling artists, including Salt ‘N’ Pepa, Ice Cube, Ludacris, and Hozier. Staples has recorded with a wide variety of musicians, from her friend, Bob Dylan (with whom she was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award in the “Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals” category for their duet on “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking”, from the album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan) to The Band, Ray Charles, Prince, Nona Hendryx, George Jones, Natalie Merchant, Ann Peebles, and Delbert McClinton. She has provided vocals on current albums by Los Lobos and Dr. John, and she appears on tribute albums to such artists as Johnny Paycheck, Stephen Foster and Bob Dylan. // In 2003, Staples performed in Memphis at the Orpheum Theater alongside a cadre of her fellow former Stax Records stars during “Soul Comes Home,” a concert held in conjunction with the grand opening of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music at the original site of Stax Records, and appears on the CD & DVD that were recorded and filmed during the event. In 2004, she returned as guest artist for the Stax Music Academy’s SNAP! Summer Music Camp and performed again at the Orpheum with 225 of the academy’s students. In June 2007, she again returned to the venue to perform at the Stax 50th Anniversary Concert to Benefit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, produced by Concord Records, who now owns and has revived the Stax Records label. // In 2009, Staples, along with Patty Griffin and The Tri-City Singers, released a version of the song “Waiting For My Child To Come Home” on the compilation album Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration. // On October 30, 2010, Staples performed at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear alongside singer Jeff Tweedy. In 2011 she was joined on-stage at the Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival by Arcade Fire singer Win Butler. The two performed a version of “The Weight” by The Band. // Staples also performed at the 33rd Kennedy Center Honors, singing in a tribute to honoree Paul McCartney. // Staples headlined on June 10, 2012, at Chicago’s Annual Blues Festival in Grant Park. // On June 27, 2015, Staples performed on the Park Stage of Glastonbury Somerset UK. On October 31, 2015, Staples performed with Joan Osborne in Washington, D.C. at The George Washington // University’s Lisner Auditorium as part of their Solid Soul Tour. // In February 2016, Staples’s album Livin’ on a High Note was released. Produced by M. Ward, the album features songs written specifically for Staples by Nick Cave, Justin Vernon, tUnE-yArds, Neko Case, Aloe Blacc, and others. Discussing the album Staples said: “I’ve been singing my freedom songs and I wanted to stretch out and sing some songs that were new. I told the writers I was looking for some joyful songs. I want to leave something to lift people up; I’m so busy making people cry, not from sadness, but I’m always telling a part of history that brought us down and I’m trying to bring us back up. These songwriters gave me a challenge. They gave me that feeling of, ‘Hey, I can hang! I can still do this!’ There’s a variety, and it makes me feel refreshed and brand new. Just like Benjamin Booker wrote on the opening track, ‘I got friends and I got love around me, I got people, the people who love me.’ I’m living on a high note, I’m above the clouds. I’m just so grateful. I must be the happiest old girl in the world. Yes, indeed.” // In January 2017, Staples was featured as a guest vocalist on “I Give You Power”, a single from Arcade Fire benefiting the American Civil Liberties Union. In February 2017, Staples appeared on NPR’s Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me! in the “Not My Job” segment, answering questions about the rock band The Shaggs. In April 2017, “Let Me Out”, a single from the fifth studio album by Gorillaz, Humanz, was released, featuring Staples and rapper Pusha T. // Staples’s sixteenth album If All I Was Was Black was released on November 17, 2017. The record was again produced by Jeff Tweedy and contains all original songs cowritten by Mavis and Tweedy. Following the release, Staples toured with Bob Dylan. She also appeared on the 2017/18 Hootenanny. In 2018, she sang on Hozier’s single “Nina Cried Power”. // In May 2019, Staples celebrated her 80th birthday with a concert at the Apollo Theater, 63 years after first appearing at the theater as a teenager with her family band, the Staple Singers, in 1956. The show, which featured special guest artists, including David Byrne & Norah Jones, is one of a series of collaborative concerts she staged in May to commemorate her 80th birthday. She performed at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival. // In 2022, Staples released Carry Me Home, a collaboration with Levon Helm, recorded at Helm’s Midnight Ramble in 2011. // She released the single “Worthy” on June 18, 2024. // On May 13, 2022 Kevin Morby released THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH on Dead Oceans. It was #7 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2022. It was Kevin Morby’s 7th album as a solo artist. From www.rollingstone.com: “In January 2020, songwriter Kevin Morby witnessed his father collapse from a medical event while visiting his childhood home in Kansas. In a state of shock, the singer spent the evening looking at old family photos and fixated on an image of his father as a young man, looking, as Morby states, ‘full of confidence.’ The experience forced Morby to confront both the idea of mortality and the passage of time — and, after an extended sojourn in Tennessee, these reflections came together in the form of his upcoming album, This Is a Photograph. To mark the announcement, the singer released the record’s eponymous single, accompanied by a music video directed by Chantal Anderson. Produced by frequent Morby collaborator Sam Cohen, This Is a Photograph was primarily written in Memphis’ historic Peabody Hotel, where the singer-songwriter holed up in search of inspiration and self-realization amongst the city’s dark past.” // On October 16, 2020 Kevin Morby released SUNDOWNER, ranked #20 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020 and was his 6th release. Kevin Robert Morby was born April 2, 1988. SUNDOWNER was the follow up to his 2019 release OH MY GOD. Kevin Morby released CITY MUSIC in 2017. Kevin learned to play guitar when he was 10. In his teens he formed the band Creepy Aliens. 17-year-old Morby dropped out of Blue Valley Northwest High School, got his GED, and moved from his native KC to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, supporting himself by working bike delivery and café jobs. He later joined the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project together called The Babies, who released albums in 2011 & 2012. He began a solo career in 2013 releasing his debut HARLEM RIVER. His 2nd album STILL LIFE was released in 2014. SINGING SAW was in WMM’s 116 Best Recordings of 2016. CITY MUSIC was in WMM’s 118 Best Recordings of 2018.]

18. Lucy Dacus – “Planting Tomatoes”
    from: “Planting Tomatoes” – Single / Interscope / April 18, 2026
    [Lucy Dacus released “Plantong Tomatoes” as a Record Store Day “ 7” vinyl release. Dacus explains “I wrote most of the song on tour in Europe last year and walking around my neighborhood. It’s about trying to stay present and grateful when you know that life ends, for yourself and everyone you love, and how to avoid disenchantment by seeing through as many of your little ideas as possible.”​ // Lucy Dacus released Forever is a Feeling on February 21, 2015, part of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2025. Lucy Elizabeth Dacus was born May 2, 1995. She is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus first gained fame following the release of her debut album, No Burden (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Historian, her second album, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Home Video, her third studio album, was released in 2021. Forever is a Feeling, her fourth album, was released in 2025. // In addition to her solo work, Dacus is also a member of the indie supergroup Boygenius, with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. The band has released one studio album and two EPs to critical acclaim and widespread touring. The band won 3 Grammy Awards in 2024, including Best Alternative Music Album. They also became the first all-female band to win Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance. // In October 2023, Rolling Stone named Dacus the 213th-greatest guitarist of all time, noting: “[her] guitar is as essential an instrument as her voice”. // Lucy Elizabeth Dacus was adopted as an infant and grew up in Mechanicsville, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond. She is of Uzbek and Irish descent.[8] Her adoptive mother is a professional pianist and music teacher, and her adoptive father is a graphic designer. Dacus had an early interest in music, and bought her first guitar, an Ibanez, from Craigslist when she was in middle school. After graduating from Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in 2013, she began studying film at Virginia Commonwealth University, but left to avoid student debt and the “feeling of being misunderstood” in her university program. Prior to becoming a full-time musician, she was employed by Richmond Camera as an editor for children’s school photos. During this time, she wrote approximately 30 songs, nine of which would make up the tracklist of No Burden.] [Lucy Dacus brought her a Forever is a Feeling Tour to The Midland Theatre on May 7]

19. Kevin Morby – “100,000”
    from: Little Wide Open / Dead Oceans / May 15, 2026
    [Kevin Morby’s 8th studio album. // From Kevin’s Bandcamp page: For Kevin Morby, the “little wide open” is the big sky, the small lives, it’s his origins in the Midwest, and every duty and modesty and familiarity and isolation: the land, the people, and the parts of that inside him. “There’s something unintentionally musical about the Midwest; cicadas chirping in the trees, a train passing, a tornado siren going off,” explains Morby. “If you listen, there are these almost ominous sounds taking place beneath the wide-open sky—its ugliness and its beauty and how the two are often working together simultaneously. And while the Midwest isn’t technically the badlands, it’s my badlands.” // Little Wide Open is the title of Kevin Morby’s eighth studio album, produced by Aaron Dessner. In the summer of 2024, Dessner had asked Morby to support The National at their London show in Crystal Palace Park. Shortly after, Dessner—who was on a hot streak, having produced albums for Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Gracie Abrams—reached out to Morby to say he’d love to produce his next album. They began recording at Aaron’s Long Pond Studio in Stuyvesant, NY, early in 2025 and finished in September of that year. // The album, which features a host of contributors such as Dessner—who plays multiple instruments across it—Amelia Meath, Andrew Barr, Justin Vernon, Katie Gavin, Lucinda Williams, Meg Duffy, and more, has been described by Morby as the third in a trilogy of releases, following 2020’s Sundowner and 2022’s This Is a Photograph, which catalogued his time in the Midwest after moving back to Kansas City. This time out, Dessner’s production elevates Morby’s recordings while never losing focus of the songs themselves. There’s a newfound confidence and clarity in both Morby’s writing and Dessner’s production that recalls Tom Petty’s 1994 classic Wildflowers. // Now primarily living in LA, the atmosphere that runs through Little Wide Open has changed somewhat from its predecessors. As Rachel Kushner writes of Morby in the album’s accompanying essay: “It’s about time, about feeling like he has shifted from nostalgia and the losing game, losing but beautiful, of holding onto the past. He has accepted that time is ceaselessly flowing, and you can’t stop it. Instead, he feels like he’s riding it. He’s riding passenger with time.” // Kevin Morby’s single “Beautiful Strangers’ was recently recorded by Mavis Staples for her 2025 album SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD. Mavis Staples won a Grammy at the 68th Annual Grammys for Best American Roots Performance for her interpretation of Kevin’s song. Kevin released this song only as a single in 2016 in tribute to the victims of the Orlando Pulse shooting. Kevin Morby is pretty bowled over by the existence of this cover. Morby says. “It isn’t easy to put into words what it feels like having one of the best, most important vocalists and cultural figures of both the 20th and 21st century sing one of my songs.” // Kevin Robert Morby was born April 2, 1988. Kevin learned to play guitar when he was 10. In his teens he formed the band Creepy Aliens. 17-year-old Morby dropped out of Blue Valley Northwest High School, got his GED, and moved from his native KC to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, supporting himself by working bike delivery and café jobs. He later joined the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project together called The Babies, who released albums in 2011 and 2012. Kevin Morby began a solo career in 2013 releasing his debut album HARLEM RIVER on November 26, 2013. STILL LIFE, his 2nd album, was released in October 14, 2014. SINGING SAW his 3rd album was released April 15, 2016 and was in WMM’s 116 Best Recordings of 2016. His 4th album CITY MUSIC was released June 16, 2017 and was in WMM’s 118 Best Recordings of 2018. Kevin Morby released his 5th album OH MY GOD on April 26, 2019. On October 16, 2020 Kevin Morby released SUNDOWNER, his 6th release, #20 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020. On October 8, 2021 Kevin Morby released A NIGHT AT the LITTLE LOS ANGELES (Sundowner 4-Track Demos) on Dead Oceans Records. On May 13, 2022 Kevin Morby released THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH his 7th album as a solo artist, on Dead Oceans. It was #7 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2022. From www.rollingstone.com: “In January 2020, songwriter Kevin Morby witnessed his father collapse from a medical event while visiting his childhood home in Kansas. In a state of shock, the singer spent the evening looking at old family photos and fixated on an image of his father as a young man, looking, as Morby states, ‘full of confidence.’ The experience forced Morby to confront both the idea of mortality and the passage of time — and, after an extended sojourn in Tennessee, these reflections came together in the form of, This Is a Photograph. Produced by frequent Morby collaborator Sam Cohen, This Is a Photograph was primarily written in Memphis’ historic Peabody Hotel, where the singer-songwriter holed up in search of inspiration and self-realization amongst the city’s dark past.” On January 25, 2023 Kevin Morby released MUSIC FROM MONTANA STORY a 13 track film soundtrack. On May 26, 2023 Kevin Morby released MORE PHOTO-GRAPHS (A Continuum) on Dead Oceans Records. Throughout his 10 album releases Kevin has also released 25 singles. Kevin Morby played The Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway,May 29, at 7:00 with Liam Kazar.]

For WMM, I’m Mark Manning. Thanks for listening!

11:55

20. The Creepy Jingles – “Vow Down”
    from: Washed Up / Enigmatic Brunch Records / May 22, 2026
    [WASHED UP was written by Jocelyn Nixon, and recorded, engineered, and mixed by Paul Malinowski at Massive Sounds Studios in Shawnee, Kansas, with Jocelyn Olivia Nixon on lead vocals, piano, rhythm guitar; Andrew Woody on bass; Nick Robertson on drums; and Wills Van Doorn on lead guitars. // The Creepy Jingles line up originally included “Drummer Nick Robertson charges the group forward with a fiery fueled obsidian backbeat. Andrew Woody on bass guitar; Rounding out the band is Guitarist Travis McKenzie who generously spins a holographic spectrum of color that lift the catchy Brit pop melodies that effortlessly dance about the rapidly changing landscapes of New York Garage Rock and 60s/70s folk music.“ // Earlier this year Jocelyn Olivia Nixon shared with us the unreleased single “fight for your say” for our March 4, 2026 radio show. // Last year Jocelyn Olivia Nixon released the single, “YOU AIN’T RIGHT! YOU MUST BE WRONG!” on May 2, 2025. Jocelyn Olivia Nixon is lead singer of the band The Creepy Jungles. The Creepy Jingles are getting ready to release a new alum called WASHED UP coming this spring. Jocelyn told Nick Spacek of The Pitch, “that the songs she presents to her bandmates in The Jingles’ songs are poppier stuff, typically, while solo songs are more folky, mellow, weird, and lyrical. Solo work also gives her the opportunity to work with others outside the group. As Nixon explains, “It’s basically a tongue-in-cheek song making fun of hard right conservatives and social cliques who think only their way is ‘right.’” She said, “I felt like I needed something where I can be a bit more vulnerable and naked, I suppose,” the musician says. “I think because Jingles do rock n roll pop songs well, I think I’m kinda boxed in as an artist and singer. This is my way of saying I have many sides to myself as an individual and as an artist, and I can forge my own path and defy expectations.” Jocelyn Nixon’s next single, “Real Deal,” is due later this summer . // The Creepy Jingles released a series of 4 new singles in 2024 including “When Things Go Wrong” on February 23, 2024. // The Creepy Jingles are a Kansas City based, rock and roll band that both honors and defies convention. Led by singer / song-writer Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, a transgender wordsmith who charms with razor wit and dazzles with her lyrical acrobatics. The Creepy Jingles released their album, TAKE ME AT MY WORDPLAY on March 25, 2022 through High Dive Records. Paired up with lyrics centering on themes of identity, strained relationships, social media madness, meme magic, pandemic paranoia, paid off political pundits, backyard bullies and barking up the wrong tree. Everything and the kitchen sink or swim. No stoner left unturned. The Creepy Jingles released their Debut EP on High Dive Records on May 3, 2019. The release was in the top ten of WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. ]

[The Creepy Jingles play Hillsiders in KCK Fri, July 31, at 8:00 w/ Eggs On Mars, and Shared Walls]

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

Next week, on Wednesday, August 5 we welcome very special guest: D Rashaan Gilmore who hosts UNBOSSED and UNBOTHERED Saturdays at 5:00pm on KKFI; and BOSCO who is playing The Folly Theatre August 11 at 8:00pm.]

You can find our playlists at: www.wednesdaymiddaymedley.org & www.kkfi.org
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Thank you to KKFI Staff: Executive Director – Bess Wallerstein-Huff, Chief Operator – Chad Brothers, Director of Development & Communications – J Kelly Dougherty, Volunteer Coordinator – Darryl Oliver, and Office Manager Book Keeper – Shaina Littler.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to KKFI’s Summer Fund Drive during WMM we had a total of 33 people donate a total of $3513.50. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

This radio station is more than the individual hosts of each individual radio show. It is a collective spirit of hundreds of people, setting aside ego, to work for the greater good of community building and the goal of keeping our airwaves, non-commercial, and open! Thank you to programmers who create content for over 85 locally produced radio shows & volunteers who made 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:
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Show #1158