#663 – January 4, 2017 Playlist | Wednesday MidDay Medley

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

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Tributes to Iris DeMent & David Bowie

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

2. Greg Brown – “Let The Mystery Be”
from: Freak Flag / Yep Roc / May 10, 2011
[Iris Dement’s song “Let The Mystery Be” from her debut Infamous Angel, from 1992. This song was covered by David Bryne, 10,000 Maniacs, Bun E. Carlos, and many others, it also became the theme song for the 2nd season of The Leftovers.While Greg Brown was recording this album, lighting hit the studio where Greg Brown he was recording songs for his 24th album: Freak Flag, the title track was all that remained of the lost original album. Greg wrote ten new songs, recording them at Memphis, Tennessee’s legendary Ardent Studios. Produced by Bo Ramsey, the album also includes a cover of Pieta Brown’s song ”Remember the Sun.”]

Wednesday MidDay Medley celebrates the birthday of Iris DeMent, born January 5, 1961, in rural Paragould, Arkansas. She was the youngest of 14 children. At the age of 3, her devoutly religious family moved to California, where she grew up singing gospel music. During her teenage years, Iris was exposed to country, folk, & R&B, drawing influence from Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, & Joni Mitchell.

Iris moved to the midwest and after a series of jobs as a waitress and typist, she wrote her first song at the age of 25. She moved to Kansas City and played Harling’s Upstairs and open-mic nights alongside Scott Hrabko and Howard Iceberg. Iris met producer Jim Rooney in Nashville, in 1988, who helped her land a record contract.

Iris Dement made her recording debut in 1992, with her independently produced album, “Infamous Angel.” The record won critical acclaim and John Prine mentioned Iris in his list of favorite recordings of the year published in Rolling Stone. Despite a complete lack of support from country radio, the word of mouth praise for Iris DeMent’s “Infamous Angel” earned her a deal with Warner Bros Records, which reissued “Infamous Angel” in 1993. We started the show with a song originally from that album called, “Let The Mystery Be” that was lovingly covered by her husband, the great folk singer songwriter – Greg Brown. “Let The Mystery Be” has also been covered by David Bryne, 10,000 Maniacs, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, and it was the theme song for the second season of The Leftovers.

Today we feature music from some of Iris DeMent’s six full length albums, plus her collaborative work with Greg Brown, John Prine, and Emmylou Harris.

Plus, we feature music from Iris DeMent’s inspirations: Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Merle Haggard. Please stay with us.

Full disclosure, I love Iris DeMent. I’ve seen her live in concert over 8 times. I met Iris DeMent when I was working at Kinkos at 39th & Rainbow in 1992. Iris came in to copy press clippings, she was in the process of releasing her debut album. I wasn’t familiar with her music until I saw her on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1995, where she performed her song, “My Life.” I was blown away. I had video-taped the show, and I would replay that song for everyone that came to visit. I wanted everyone to know about Iris DeMent.

I ran into Iris at Classic Cup in Westport. By this point I had become a big fan of her music and I was sort of star stuck, but she approached me and asked, “How do I know you?” Our friendship was able to continue because we shared a mutual friend named Anne Winter, who invited me to a holiday party in Iris Dement’s River Market condo where we sang old fashioned hymns, with members of The Wilders. Anne Winter had become a close friend of Iris and even went out “on the road” with her at one point. Because of Anne, I stage managed a show at the Uptown Theatre with Michael Moore, Iris DeMent and the Wilders all performing. Anne Winter also helped arranged for Iris to play one of our Big Bang Buffet shows in 1999 at The Hobbs Building. In 2002 Iris agreed to do a benefit show for Friends of Community Radio. At this point she was living in Coleman Heights in Kansas City and invited Linda Wilson and I to a home cooked meal at her house, to talk aver the details of the show. In 2004 Iris and Greg Brown performed together in a show with Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!” to raise over $10,000.00 for KKFI. Iris never took a penny from any of these shows, and has always been such a generous supporter of 90.1 FM. She recognized as a singer songwriter how important community radio is for independent artists like herself, and she has always given back, to help keep this radio station alive. Because of Iris DeMent’s generosity, and in honor of our dear friend Anne Winter, who we lost in 2009, I vowed to pay tribute to iris on her birthday, each year, with this radio show.

10:09

3. Iris DeMent – “My Life”
from: My Life / Warner Brothers / 1994

10:13 – Influences of Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent represents that place in the road, where Country and Folk music merged with honest stories, of working class people, not afraid to tell the truth about the times they are living through. Iris DeMent grew up singing gospel music, but in her teenage years, she discovered other music through the radio: country, folk, and R&B, and the music of Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.

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

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

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

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

8. Joni Mitchell – “For The Roses”
from: For The Roses / Asylumn / 1972
[Released between her 2 biggest commercial and critical successes – “Blue” and “Court & Spark”. In 2007 it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. “For the Roses” was Mitchell’s farewell to the business; she took an extended break for a year after. The album was critically acclaimed with The New York Times saying “Each of Mitchell’s songs on For the Roses is a gem glistening with her elegant way with language, her pointed splashes of irony & her perfect shaping of images. Never does Mitchell voice a thought or feeling commonly. She’s a songwriter and singer of genius who can’t help but make us feel we are not alone.” A nude photograph of Joni Mitchell was included on the inside cover of the original LP and is included in the CD booklet. The photograph shows the singer from the rear & was taken from a considerable distance; she is shown standing on a rock and staring out at the ocean. This created some controversy at the time.]

10:27 – Underwriting

10:29 – Collaborations

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

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

Iris DeMent’s first three releases, all on Warner Brothers records, were critically acclaimed, and she received two Grammy nominations during this time, in the “Folk Music” category. Meanwhile country radio completely overlooked her original songs, and amazing voice, that has been compared to Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. For her 1992 debut record John Prine wrote the liner notes.

[Read the liner notes from Infamous Angel, as written by John Prine]

11:37

11. Iris DeMent – “Infamous Angel”
from: Infamous Angel / Warner Brothers / 1992 / 1993
[Infamous Angel is the debut studio album of American country music singer-songwriter Iris DeMent. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1992. In 1995, her song “Our Town” was played in the closing moments of the last episode for the CBS TV series Northern Exposure. “Let the Mystery Be” became the theme song for the 2nd season of The Leftovers.]

11:39 – Greg Brown

Iris followed up her debut record with the autobiographical, “My Life,” released in 1994 and quickly followed with her third Warner Brother’s release, “The Way I Should,” released in 1996, which contains some of Iris DeMent’s most political songs.

In the 2002 Iris DeMent did a benefit concert for The Friends of Community Radio at Unity Temple on The Plaza. I remember when Iris asked us if it was okay that she have a musician friend open the concert for her, we agreed because Iris was donated her talent to the cause of community radio. And then she told us that this musician friend was Greg Brown, who at this point was know all over the country, but had never before played KC.

Later that year, on November 21, 2002 Greg married Iris DeMent in a private ceremony in the office of Rev. Sam Mann of St. Mark Church in East KC.

Grammy Nominated Greg Brown is one of the most respected singer songwriters working in music today. He started singing professionally at the age of 18 organizing early folk concerts in New York City, Portland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In the 1980s, he worked and toured extensively as musical director for Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion radio program. He also founded his own record label, named Red House Records after a home in which he lived in Iowa.

Greg Brown has released over 30 recordings and has allowed much of his music to be used to raise funds and awareness for environmental and social causes. His songs have been performed by Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Carlos Santana, Michael Johnson, Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Iris DeMent and Joan Baez.

11:41

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

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

Last year Iris DeMent released her 6th album, with national acclaim, and a #5 spot on WMM’s 115 Best Recordings of 2015. The Trackless Woods sets 18 poems by acclaimed 20th century Russian poet Anna Akhmatova to life. Hailed as one of Russia’s finest poets, Akhmatova survived the Bolshevik Revolution, both World Wars and Stalin. When Iris randomly stumbled upon Akhmatova’s work in a book of poetry a friend sent as a gift, she was immediately taken by the sorrow and burden of the poems. Iris recorded the album with co-producer Richard Bennett in her living room over a five-day period. The project also fulfilled a long yearned-for desire to connect with her adopted daughter’s culture and history. Iris and her husband Greg Brown adopted their daughter from Siberia in 2005, when she was 6, and Iris says ”I’d never have made this record were it not for her.”

11:51

14. Iris DeMent – “Listening to Singing”
from: The Trackless Woods / FlariElla / August 7, 2015
[6th album from Grammy nominated Iris DeMent who NPR said was ”one of the great voices in contemporary popular music.” The Trackless Woods sets 18 poems by acclaimed 20th century Russian poet Anna Akhmatova to life. Hailed as one of Russia’s finest poets, Akhmatova survived the Bolshevik Revolution, both World Wars and Stalin. She lost family, friends & fellow writers to political killings and labor in the gulags. When Iris randomly stumbled upon Akhmatova’s work in a book of poetry a friend sent as a gift, she was immediately taken by the sorrow and burden of the poems, juxtaposed with Akhmatova’s lightness and transcendence in the face of inhumanity. ”Anna’s gift of song is so strong, about alI I had to do was get really quiet and listen,” says Iris. After reading that first poem the melodies began pouring out of her, and before she even fully understood what was driving her, Iris was gathering musicians & friends, including co-producer Richard Bennett (Emmylou Harris, Neil Diamond, Steve Earle), to record ‘The Trackless Woods’ in her living room over a 5-days. The result is a pairing of piano and voice in Iris’ style with timeless melodies that are rooted in the American South.]

In his review for WHYY’s Fresh Air, Entertainment Weekly Music Editor – Ken Tucker wrote: “Iris DeMent possesses one of the great voices in contemporary popular music: powerfully, ringingly clear, capable of both heartbreaking fragility and blow-your-ears-back power. Had she been making country albums in the ’70s and ’80s and had more commercial ambition, she’d probably now be considered right up there with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. Instead, she’s lived a contemporary life, a somewhat private life. As she recently told an interviewer, “There’s a lot that goes into life besides songwriting.” And she’s taken her time in composing songs that fit into no genre easily.”

Iris released her 5th album, “Sing The Delta” in 2012, to glowing reviews from the UK publication UNcut, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, and was #1 on WMM’s 112 Best Recordings of 2012.

And Because we have lost so many great folks in 2016, I find it fitting to end this hour long tribute with “Go On Ahead and Go Home” from Iris DeMent’s album, Sing the Delta.
Happy Birthday Iris DeMent. We love you!

10:56

15. Iris DeMent – “Go on Ahead and Go Home”
from: Sing The Delta / Flariella / Oct. 2, 2012
[Her first full-length release of original songs since 1996. Iris was our special guest on our Oct 10, WMM.]

11:00 – Station ID

11:00 – Wednesday MidDay Medley Celebrates David Bowie

16. Nico Gray’s Bowie Story – “Thank you Bowie!”
recorded by Nico Gray, Sunday, February 28, 2016

17. James Murphy – “Golden Years”
from: While We’re Young (Original Soundtrack) / Power Elite / March 23, 2015
[Born February 4, 1970. James Murphy is a musician, producer, DJ, and co-founder of record label DFA Records. His most well-known musical project is LCD Soundsystem. James Murphy was influenced by Bowie and remixed songs for Bowie’s The Next Day Extras, and is credited as a percussionist on Bowie’s Backstar.] [“Golden Years” was written and recorded by David Bowie in 1975, and originally released in a shortened form as a single in November 1975, and in its full-length version in January the following year on, Station to Station. It was the first track completed during the Station to Station sessions, a period when Bowie’s cocaine addiction was at its peak. “Golden Years” was more similar in style to the Young Americans funk/soul material from earlier in 1975 than the rest of Station to Station, that foreshadowed the Kraftwerk-influenced Euro-centric and electronic music that Bowie would move into with his ‘Berlin Trilogy’.]

David Bowie seemed to be from another world. I thought he was immortal. His art kept coming. His influence so vast. He was a guide. So much of my journey, as a queer kid finding my way in the world, was influenced by Bowie.

David Bowie was born January 8, 1947. In school he studied art, music, and design before embarking on a music career in 1963. Over a span of 5 decades, he sold over 140 million records and released 27 studio albums, if count Tin Machine, which you should. His career is notable for his reinvention, his pushing of the boundaries of gender, art and music. He was the first to create a concert tour that was a big as a broadway touring show. He was also an actor in many films including: The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Hunger, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Basquiat, and 20 other films. He also played John Merrick in The Elephant Man on Broadway. He influenced multiple generations with his music, films, music videos, and concert tours.

Bowie was a gateway to other discoveries: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, T-Rex, Iggy Pop, Andy Warhol, Glam Rock, Electronica, Brian Eno, William S. Burroughs, Kraftwerk, Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti, Klaus Nomi, Bauhaus, Gender Expression, and much more.

A year ago on January 10, 2016, two days after he released his 25th solo album, Blackstar, on his 69th birthday, David Robert Jones passed away at home surrounded by his wife Iman, son Duncan Jones from his marriage to Angela Bowie, and daughter Alexandria from his marriage to Iman. David Bowie’s death sent shock waves of grief across the world.

Wednesday MidDay Medley Celebrates – David Bowie with selected songs from some of David Bowie’s studio albums, and songs performed by musicians he influenced: Joan As Police Woman, and Soft Reeds. We started with James Murphy.

We will also feature short stories about David Bowie, from three of his biggest fans: Ben Grimes, and Krystle Warren. We started the show with Nico Gray.

And in just a few minutes, Michelle Bacon & Kyle Dahlquist join us to share info about: The Band That Fell To Earth, a Tribute to David Bowie, Sat, Jan 7, 2017, at recordBar.

For his song, “Sweet Thing,” Bowie first used the William S. Burroughs’ “cut-up style” of writing. Sweet Thing was from Diamond Dogs, Bowie’s 8th album, released May 24, 1974.

11:07

13. Joan As Police Woman – “Sweet Thing”
from: Real Life (B Sides) – EP / Cheap Lullaby Records / June 12, 2007
[Extra tracks from the solo debut recording of Joan Wasser, born July 26, 1970, known by her stage name, Joan As Police Woman. She is an American musician and singer-songwriter. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders. Throughout her career, she has regularly collaborated with other artists as a writer, performer and arranger. Kansas City artist Krystle Warren has toured around the world with her.] [“Sweet Thing” or “Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)” is a suite of songs written by David Bowie for the album Diamond Dogs. Recorded in January 1974, the piece comprises the songs “Sweet Thing” and “Candidate” and a one-verse reprise of “Sweet Thing.” In the opening line, “Sweet Thing” contains the lowest note Bowie had recorded in a studio album (C2) until “I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spacecraft” for the album “Heathen” (2002), where he growled the word “Well” (G1) towards the end of the song. Diamond Dogs was the 8th studio album from Bowie, was released May 24, 1974, after the ‘retirement’ of Bowies’s Ziggy Stardust, character. Diamond Dogs featured a new lead character named Halloween Jack, “a real cool cat,” who lives in the decaying “Hunger City”. Bowie, however, still wore the Ziggy haircut on the cover of Diamond Dogs, and the first single, “Rebel Rebel” continues his glam rock sound. However, with the rest of the album, music writers noticed a new Bowie. For his song “Sweet Thing” / “Candidate”/ “Sweet Thing (Reprise)” Bowie first used the William S. Burroughs’ cut-up style of writing. The song “1984” reflected the “plastic soul” sound of Bowie’s next release, Young Americans, from 1975. The Diamond Dogs Tour of 1974 was one of the first huge Rock and Roll, bus and truck tours. Bowie produced the show with a giant set, like a big Broadway production.]

“Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” was originally recorded in July 1981 as the theme song for the film “Cat People,” released in 1982, from Director Paul Schrader. The song was written by Bowie with producer Giorgio Moroder, who recorded most of the music for the film’s soundtrack. The single of this film version went to number one in many countries and charted in many others. In December 1982, Bowie re-recorded the song, for his album Let’s Dance, that was released in 1983. This new version of the song was released as the B-side to the “Let’s Dance” 7″ single, and Bowie performed the song on his Serious Moonlight Tour. He had originally planned on using the original version of the song, but Moroder’s label MCA Records refused to license it to EMI America.

11:11

19. David Bowie – “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)”
from: Let’s Dance / EMI / April 14, 1983
[Let’s Dance was co-produced by Chic’s Nile Rodgers, the album contained three of his most successful singles; the title track, “Let’s Dance”, reached No. 1 in the US, “Modern Love” and “China Girl” both reached No. 2 in the UK. “China Girl” was a new version of a song which Bowie had co-written with Iggy Pop for the 1977 album The Idiot. The album also contains a re-recorded version of the song “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” which had been a minor hit for Bowie a year earlier. Let’s Dance was a stepping stone for the career of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who played on it. Let’s Dance has sold over 10.7 million copies worldwide, making it Bowie’s best-selling album. Let’s Dance is Bowie’s 18th official album release since his debut in 1967, including two live albums, one covers album (Pin Ups, 1973), and a collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra (1977). The success of the album surprised Bowie, who felt he had to continue to pander to the new pop audience he acquired with the album. This led to Bowie releasing two further solo albums in 1984 and 1987 that, despite their relative commercial success, did not sell as well as Let’s Dance, were poorly received by critics at the time and subsequently dismissed by Bowie himself as his “Phil Collins years”. Bowie would form the hard rock and grunge-predecessor band Tin Machine in 1989 in an effort to rejuvenate himself artistically. David Bowie had planned to use producer Tony Visconti on the album, as the two had worked together on Bowie’s previous four studio albums. However, he chose Nile Rodgers for the project, a move that came as a surprise to Visconti, who had set time aside to work on Let’s Dance. Visconti called [Bowie’s personal assistant] Coco and she said: “Well, you might as well know – he’s been in the studio for the past two weeks with someone else. It’s working out well and we won’t be needing you. He’s very sorry.” The move damaged the two men’s relationship and Visconti did not work with Bowie again for nearly 20 years (until 2002’s Heathen). Rodgers later recalled that Bowie approached him to produce his album so that Bowie could have hit singles. Rodgers reported that Bowie came into his apartment one day and showed him a photograph of Little Richard in a red suit getting into a bright red Cadillac, saying “Nile, darling, that’s what I want my album to sound like.”]

10:16 – Interview with Michelle Bacon & Kyle Dahlquist

Michelle Bacon, is incredibly versatile and multi talented. In the last 5 years she has played and recorded music with The Philistines, Dolls On Fire, Dirty Electric, Deco Auto, Freight Train Rabbit Killer. At one time she was playing in 4 bands at the same time, but recently she has decided to play with just one band, the Kansas City based, Chris Meck and The Guilty Birds, where she plays drums and sings harmony. Michelle is Content Writer at 90.9 The Bridge, where she helps to shine a light on area musicians and events. Michelle recently completed the Artist Inc. Live – 8 week seminar training and she works as a freelance writer, and has written for The Kansas City Star, The Deli Magazine KC, Folk Alliance International and Midwest Music Foundation.

Michelle is also the producer of The Band That Fell To Earth: A Tribute to David Bowie 2017, Saturday, January 7, at doors open at 8:00 and show starts at 9:00 pm, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd, KCMO.

Michelle Bacon, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Kyle Dahlquist learned piano starting at age 4 after watching his older sister’s piano lessons. Along with piano and keyboards, Kyle plays trombone, french horn, trumpet, pedal steel, accordio n, and theremin. He is a much sought after musican and collaborator who is a member of The Band Who Fell To Earth, he also plays with The Hardship Letters, Victor & Penny, Amy Farrand and The Like, The Liz Finity Affair, Johnny Hamil’s GAv7D Project. Other bands he has played in include alacartoona, Mongol Beach Party, Grumpy, and Mr. Marcos V-7. Kyle has also contributed to the recordings of Howard Iceberg, Cher UK, Dollar Fox, The Quivers, Under The Big Oak Tree, The Cocktails, The Sexy Accident, and Dead Voices. As Overton Woolridge from the band alacartoona, Kyle Dahlquist is incredble photogenic and illuminating in the band’s documentary fantasy film, Night is the Mirror, from 2009.

Kyle Dahlquist, thanks for being with us again on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Back by popular demand, The Band That Fell To Earth is a tribute dedicated to David Bowie Powered powered by Kansas City musicians:

Michelle Bacon – bass
Alex Alexander – guitar
Nathan Corsi – vocals/guitar
Kyle Dahlquist – keys/brass
Steve Tulipana – vocals
Stephanie Williams – drums
Matt Ronan – percussion
Christine Broxterman – cello
Betse Ellis – violin
Rich Wheeler – saxophone
Havilah Bruders – backing vocals
Camry Ivory – backing vocals

Special guest appearances from:

Ben Grimes
Katy Guillen
Ernie Locke
Michael Tipton
Michael Byars

Two sets of music from Bowie’s career, along with a few surprises in between

Video projection by Steve Gardels of XO Blackwater.

American Sign Language interpretation by E. Peige Turner.

Commemorative David Bowie prayer candles & pillows will be sold by Kitschup Creations.

Delicious food will served by The Casual Foodie Truck right outside the venue.

We also have a couple of other very special surprises in store.

Part of the ticket sales will be donated to the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater KC.

10:24

5. David Bowie – “Velvet Goldmine”
from: Ziggy Stardust / Rykodisc / 1990
[1 of 5 additional tracks from those sessions that were not included in the original June 12, 1972, RCA Records release. “Velvet Goldmine” is a song written by David Bowie and recorded during the The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars sessions. Recorded on November 11, 1971, the song did not make it onto the album despite being chalked up on the original master tapes running order. Its slot was effectively replaced by “Starman” after Bowie was told by RCA’s A&R department that they needed a “hit single” for the album. “Velvet Goldmine” was eventually released as the B-side (along with “Changes”) of the UK re-release of “Space Oddity” in 1975 which went to Number 1 in the UK singles charts and gave Bowie his first UK chart topper. Bowie, who had moved to LA at the time of the release said later of the song’s inclusion “The whole thing came out without my having a chance to listen to the mix. Somebody else had mixed it – an extraordinary move”. The song title inspired the name of the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine starring Jonathan Rhys-Myers but Bowie refused to license the song to the film makers after reading the script and realizing it was a blatant parody of his Ziggy Stardust character.]

The Band That Fell To Earth: A Tribute to David Bowie 2017, Saturday, January 7, at doors open at 8:00 and show starts at 9:00 pm, at recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd, KCMO.

Two sets of music from Bowie’s career, along with a few surprises in between

Part of the ticket sales will be donated to the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater KC.