Weekend on the Radio 4/9

All Weekend Long: 

• Baltimore Tattoo Convention, Baltimore Convention Center, check website for details

Thursday, 4/9:

• Greg Ketterman Opening, Wharehouse 518, 6 to 9 p.m.
• Stevie Wonder, Royal Farms Arena, 8 p.m.

Friday, 4/10:

• Live Lunch: Greg Holden, WTMD Studios, 11:30 a.m.
• Orioles vs. Blue Jays, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 3:05 p.m.
• Stars, Ram's Head Live, 8 p.m.

Saturday, 4/11:

• Bob Dylan, Lyric Opera House, 8 p.m.

Dylan Knocking on the Door

Can you believe the voice of not just a generation, but EVERY generation turns 70 today? We're celebrating by playing plenty of songs from the maestro himself plus some choice covers.

I stumbled across this one this morning from Baltimore's very own uke strumming mouth trumpeter, Victoria Vox.

Mix Tape Thursday, 6/25/09

WTMD listeners take over the airwaves with three-to-five song sets on Thursday.

7 a.m. Jill Bucolo

This is actually the first five songs of the mix tape my boyfriend at the time--who is now my husband--used to listen to on the way to All Good when it was at Wilmers Park

* "Carnival," by The Band
* "Hurricane," by Bob Dylan
* "Road to Nowhere," by Talking Heads
* "Dear Mr. Fantasy," by Blind Faith
* "One More Saturday Night," by The Grateful Dead


9 a.m. Jean Tansey

Girls and summer, celebrating the first days of summer!

* "Girls In Their Summer Clothes," by Bruce Springsteen
* "Vacation," by The GoGos
* "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," by Cindy Lauper


11 a.m. Beth Lacey Gill

Five songs I didn't know before Virgin Fest 2007. I still listen to them constantly!

* "Narc," by Interpol
* "Fidelity," by Regina Spektor
* "I Turn My Camera On," by Spoon
* "Young Folks," by Peter, Bjorn & John
* "Your Hand in Mine," by Explosions in the Sky


1 p.m. Sarah Morgan

Some of my favorite songs for summer.

* "Sausalito," by Conor Oberst
* "Fat Man in the Bathtub," by Little Feat
* "Salvation," by The Avett Brothers
* "The Underdog," by Spoon
* "Wagon Wheel," by Old Crow Medicine Show


5 p.m. Miranda Sinicrope

I chose these songs because I feel that they represent the diverse sounds of what is coming out of the indie genre. It's exciting for these artists who, for the most part have been around and touring for years, to be succeeding while bands such as Passion Pit and the Harlem Shakes are creating a new exciting sound.

* "The Reeling," by Passion Pit
* "High Lonesome," by The Gaslight Anthem
* "Two Weeks," by Grizzly Bear
* "1901," by Phoenix
* "Sunlight," by Harlem Shakes


7 p.m. Tom Geary

These five songs were my favorite performances of the past two Virgin Festivals in Baltimore. It's moments like these that remind me of how much of a blast I had in '07 and '08 at Pimlico and get me excited for this year's festival!

* "Honeybear," by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
* "Your Touch," by The Black Keys
* "Ain't No Easy Way," by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
* "Fortunate Son," by Cat Power
* "Pioneer to the Falls," by Interpol

What Defines a Great Recording Artist?

It's relatively easy to rattle off a list of great songs or albums, but what defines a great recording artist? Is it record sales? #1 songs? A showcase night on American Idol?

Producer Brian Eno once noted, The Velvet Underground never sold a lot of records, but everyone who bought one went on to form a band.

Ani DiFranco, on the other hand, sells a lot of records. But she does it on her own terms. DiFranco founded Righteous Babe, an independent label, long before the Internet was a series of tubes while reimagining an artists' business model--and redefining the role of the singer-songwriter--for the MySpace generation.

Bands such as the Grateful Dead and Phish reinvented their songs and set lists every night, creating a new concert experience for fiercely loyal fans and introducing a series of live albums and bootlegs that, arguably, are just as important as their studio work.

Jeff Buckley is fondly remembered for one amazing album. And, like a lot of artists who died too young, a catalog of posthumous releases (and an assembly line of vocal imitators) has tried to fill the void.

George Clinton receives royalties every time someone samples Parliament-Funkadelic. When does he ever get credit for the originals?

Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits are enjoying a renaissance in the twilight of their careers. They never experienced the mass adulation (and scorn) as when Bob Dylan plugged in an electric guitar, but where would popular music be without Various Positions or Rain Dogs?

Are younger songwriters like Jack White and Ryan Adams so prolific--with so many incarnations--that it's hard to identify a career-defining album?

How many of these artists qualify as the Greatest Artists of All Time?

That's up to you to decide.

Cast your vote for up to 15 artists by 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 19th, and tune in as we start the countdown of the 897 Greatest Artists of All Time later around Memorial Day.

Vote Wilco

As Wilco prepares for a tour with Neil Young--as well as a sold-out, headlining show at the Lyric Opera House on December 14th--Jeff Tweedy and company are hitting the polls and handing out free downloads to promote everyone's civic duty.

Stop by Wilco's voting page to pick up a free download of the Wilco and Fleet Foxes' cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." And then send them photos of your polling place for an upcoming web feature.

Living Legends Duck Walk Into Pimlico

By now, you probably have learned of the entire V-Fest 2008 lineup. And if there's a story line, aside from the diversity of the acts, and the trademark formula of two main stages and a dance tent, returning for a third year, it may read like this: The Virgin Mobile Festival 2008: Your Chance to See Three Living Legends!

Aside from artists such as Wilco, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, The Black Keys, Duffy, and Cat Power to get excited about (with previously announced headliners Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Nine Inch Nails, and STP), the BIG news is that you'll have the chance to see THE greatest songwriter of all time, Bob Dylan, punk legends Iggy Pop and the Stooges AND one of the pioneers of this thing we call rock & roll, Chuck Berry! In fact, Chuck likes to have a local band back him up during his whistle stops- this time, it's a Japanese Beatles cover band out of DC (Silver Beats)!

I think the lineup has turned pretty great in a hurry, hasn't it? Your thoughts?