Episode 201: Shawn William Clarke & The Young Novelists

This week’s Folk Roots Radio featured interviews with both Shawn William Clarke and The Young Novelists who will be sharing the bill in Guelph for a double CD release at the wonderful listening venue Silence on June 26. We also included a fair selection of new music we’ve received alongside our mystery theme and guilty pleasure.

Our mystery theme featured seven songs in honour of “Dads Day” starting off with “My Dad”, from 1976, by the late great North-East of England singer-songwriter Alex Glasgow. The description of the Dad in this song is absolutely not at all like my own father who didn’t drink much, smoke cigars or spend any time sitting in his under clothes, but as I grew up in the North East, the song and it’s parent album “Tyneside Songs Old and New”, are favourites of mine. We also found time to include ‘Dad’ songs by Restless Heart, Colin Hay, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family, Matthew Barber and Gordie Tentrees with “Dead Beat Dad” (from his new album “Less Is More”) – a rallying cry for absent fathers to make good for their kids, and a fabulous live version of Jonathan Byrd‘s “Father’s Day”.

This week’s guilty pleasure featured The Pointer Sisters from 1978 with their version of the Bruce Springsteen song “Fire”. Springsteen originally wrote “Fire” for Elvis Presley in 1977 but Elvis died before Bruce could deliver the song. Bruce actually recorded a demo of the song during the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions but decided not to use it because it did not fit with the overall feel of that album. He then gave the song to new rockabilly star Robert Gordon who released a version just before The Pointer Sisters picked it up and made it a hit. Fire reached #2 in the US in 1979 easily beating any of the singles Springsteen had released up to that point. However since that time and the release of the “The Promise” Darkness Sessions boxed set it’s become a staple in the live show.

Thanks to Sophie for suggesting we play “Fire” on this week’s show. If you have a guilty pleasure you’d like to share – that song you still love though you think other people would find it unfashionable (believe me, they won’t), get in touch. We’d love to play it for you! And, if you have a good story about why you love that song, so much the better.

Among the new music we played we included four songs from Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited, out now on Sony Legacy. Orthophonic Joy re-imagines the iconic 1927 sessions in Bristol, Tennessee that introduced America to country music and launched the careers of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The original sessions were set up to promote the ’s new record player from the Victor Talking Machine Company, the Orthophonic Victrola. Orthophonic Joy Revisited recreates those sessions with a fine selection of modern country roots and bluegrass artists, It’s definitely worth checking out.

Well, that’s all we have time for this week. Check out the full playlist with artist links below and share your love for all the great folk and roots music out there. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week! You can listen to this show again on Mixcloud by following the link below.

Folk Roots Radio: Episode 201 by Folk Roots Radio on Mixcloud

Mystery Theme: “Dads Day”

Nicolas & The Iceni (Theme)
Lucy She Rises (Demo)
Roll Right (expected 2015)

Alex Glasgow
My Dad
Now And Then / Songs Of Alex Glasgow Three (1997, MWM Records)

Restless Heart
That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine
Boots Too Big to Fill: Tribute to Gene Autry (2007, Rainyday Records)

Colin Hay
Dear Father
Gathering Mercury (2011, Compass Records)

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family
Don’t I Fit in My Daddy’s Shoes
Go Waggaloo (2009, Smithsonian Folkways)

Matthew Barber
Father And Son
Songs For The Haunted Hillbilly (2012, Self) CDN

Gordie Tentrees
Dead Beat Dad
Less Is More (2015, Self) CDN

Jonathan Byrd
Fathers Day
Live at the Red Wing Roots Music Festival (2013, Self)

Booker T. Jones
Father Son Blues (feat. Ted Jones)
Sound The Alarm (2013, Stax)

Shawn William Clarke
Tranzac Club
William (2014, Self) CDN

Interview: Shawn William Clarke discussing his latest release “William” and Guelph show on June 26.

Shawn William Clarke
Ballad Of A Boorish Man
William (2014, Self) CDN

Kevin Breit
Dance With Delilah
Ernesto And Delilah (2015, Poverty Playlist) CDN

Murder Murder
Sweet Revenge
From The Stillhouse (2015, Self) CDN

The Pointer Sisters (1978)
Fire
Cover Me – Songs Of Bruce Springsteen (1989, Rhino)

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit
I’m On Fire
In Good We Trust (2007, Dog My Cat) CDN

Ruth Moody
Dancing In the Dark
These Wilder Things (2013, True North) CDN

The Mavericks
All That Heaven Will Allow
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best of The Mavericks (1994, MCA)

The Young Novelists
Hear Your Voice
Made Us Strangers (2015, Self) CDN

Interview: Graydon James & Laura Spink from The Young Novelists discussing their new album “Made Us Strangers” and Guelph show on June 26.

The Young Novelists
Always Make The Same Mistake
Made Us Strangers (2015, Self) CDN

The Young Novelists
Brothers In The Garage
Made Us Strangers (2015, Self) CDN

Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers
Sweet Heaven When I Die
Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited (2015, Sony Legacy)

Emmylou Harris
Bury Me Beneath The Willow
Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited (2015, Sony Legacy)

The Chuck Wagon Gang & The Orthophonic Choir
Shall We Gather At The River
Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited (2015, Sony Legacy)

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
I’m Redeemed
Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited (2015, Sony Legacy)

Rob Lutes
It’s Not Over
The Bravest Birds (2012, Self)

About the author

JAN HALL

Host of Folk Roots Radio, Jan Hall started in Radio in 1993 at WEFT 90.1fm in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Folk Roots Radio (formerly Royal City Rag) debuted on CFRU 93.3fm in August 2005 before developing into a syndicated radio show. As the host of Folk Roots Radio, Jan focuses on bringing new folk, roots and blues music and the voices of upcoming and independent artists to the airwaves. Jan is also a much sought after stage host and festival emcee. In 2019, Jan Hall received Folk Music Ontario's prestigious Estelle Klein Award for her contribution to Ontario's folk music community.

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