Weekend on the Radio

All Weekend Long:

• Maryland Wine Festival, Carroll County Farm Museum, check website for details

Thursday, 9/19:

• J. Roddy Walston and the Business, The Fabulous WTMD Studios, noon

Friday, 9/20:

• J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Ram's Head Live, 8 p.m.

Saturday 9/21:

• Sheer Terror, Charm City Artspace, 7 p.m.
• Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Ram's Head Live, 7 p.m.
• Mickey Hart Band, Baltimore Soundstage, 7 p.m. 

Sunday, 9/22:

• Willie Nelson, Pier 6, 5:50 p.m.

CD of the Week: We Walk This Road

Robert Randolph and the Family Band's fourth studio album started with a musical education. To find new material, Randolph teamed with legendary producer T Bone Burnett to delve into more than 100 years of music.

"T Bone brought in old archival songs from the twenties and thirties," Randolph writes. "I had songs that I had written with the band, or that other artists had sent me, and we sat down and starting sifting through history." 

The resulting album features a musical gumbo of covers and traditional songs that Randolph and Burnett reworked musically and lyrically, including the single, "If I Had My Way." Based on a Blind Willie Johnson tune, guest Ben Harper contributes guitar work and shares vocal duties on Randolph's new lyrics. More contemporary tracks include covers of John Lennon's "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier Mama" and Prince's "Walk Don't Walk," adding additional fuel to Randolph's already incendiary live show.

Mix Tape Thursday, 5/14/09

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

6 a.m. Tyler Waldman

Four very different songs by awesome local artists. Sure, only one of these acts has really hit it big, but all of them certainly deserve to.

* "Copy Write," by Caleb and Saleem
* "OK Apartment," by Oranges Band
* "Cyberspace Lip Gloss," by Karmella's Game
* "My Girls," by Animal Collective


8 a.m. Doug Desmarais

Roberta Flack's version of "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," found on her debut LP "First Take," is the definitive version of this Cohen classic. Breathtaking. Roberta Flack's cover of "Suzanne" is another classic. She is a masterful interpreter. (I'd love to see her do an entire album of Cohen songs . . . ) And Johnny Cash's acoustic resurrection included a great take of "Bird on a Wire." Fantastic.

* "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," by Roberta Flack
* "Suzanne," by Roberta Flack
* "Bird on a Wire," by Johnny Cash


10 a.m. Stanley Feldman

Five songs I've had stuck in my head recently.

* "Perfect Skin," by Lloyd Cole
* "Vicious," by Lou Reed
* "Spanish Bombs," by The Clash
* "Beercan," by Beck
* "Big Time Sensuality (Fluke Minimix)," by Bjork


12 p.m. Beth Homa

These songs are random, as random as my life is. Each reminds me of person or an experience that have been pivotal in my progression of life. Plus they are just really good songs.

* "Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo," by Grateful Dead
* "Another Saturday Night," by Cat Stevens
* "Memphis Train," by Buddy Miles
* "Ain't No Sunshine," by Bill Withers
* "Crying," by Roy Orbison


4 p.m. Kevin Majoros

Heavenly songs.

* "Sheep Go to Heaven," by Cake
* "Just Like Heaven," by Kate Melua
* "Come On Get Higher," by Matt Nathanson
* "Heaven," by Los Lonely Boys
* "Heavenly Day," by Patty Griffin

6 p.m. Raffi Creech

* "Shimmer and Shine," by Ben Harper and Relentless 7
Ben Harper has played All Good several times and the crowd always loves him.

* "Ain't Nothing Wrong with That," by Robert Randolph and the Family Band

* "Wrong Way Feeling," by Bob Weir and Ratdog
One of my personal favorites. I recently saw him and Jeff Chimenti (keyboardist) with the Dead in DC and NY and he was awesome with them. This will be my first time seeing him with Ratdog.

* "Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist," by Sound Tribe Sector 9
Everyone loves STS9's electronic jams.

* "Garden of Eden," by Donna the Buffalo
Donna the Buffalo will bring the folkish-bluegrassy jams to All Good this year and I'm really excited to see them.

John Mayer Rocks / Robbers & Cowards Don't Pass The Hat To The Kids

Saw John Mayer tonight in D.C. and it was great. The man is a great musician and has a great band to back him up. Played a lot of hits and the show was pretty low key. Finished up by covering Cream's version of Crossroads. John mentioned just before, that he would be playing the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago this weekend. This festival also features guitar gods of the past and present including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, and Robert Randolph. WTMD favorites like Los Lobos and Alison Krauss & Union Station will be there too. Can anybody say All-Star jam?









Got some not so great news as well.

Looks like the Cold War Kid's won't be gracing us with their excellence at Virgin Festival. Aiden won the hard fought out battle between groups including Mute Math, Say Anything and The Higher and CWK. See you at the Patriot Center everybody.

Current Mood: Bummed yet hopeful