Episode 158: The Marrieds, Young Novelists & Elephant Revival

Folk Roots Radio on July 12 2014 (Episode 158) featured interviews with The Marrieds, Graydon James and Elephant Revival. Fortunately we found time to squeeze in a new mystery theme and guilty pleasure, and, of course, lots of great music.

It was good to be back in the saddle after a week away at the Mariposa Folk Festival. I do love going to festivals and especially Mariposa but I also love doing this show. Fortunately I have a very able deputy in DJ MacDee and, judging by his playlist for July 5, he clearly enjoys the fill-in. The fact that he chose ‘Cowboys’, ‘Cowgirls’ and the ‘Calgary Stampede’ for his mystery theme also explains why I chose to start off with a reference to being back in the saddle.

For this week’s mystery theme, as it’s summer festival season, I decided to go with a festival theme, starting off intensely locally with The Funky Mamas and “Festival”. Who knew they rapped? I’m fairly sure that they were singing about the Hillside Festival though they sing about many of the attributes that make many of Canada’s summer music festivals such a great experience. Getting the only festival song I could come up with out of the way so early I was left chasing a ‘live music’ theme courtesy of songs by the Rattlesnake Choir, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson & Family.

Kate Reid‘s “My Baby’s In The Beer Tent Again” got things back on track although the less said about that the better. Certainly the beer tent is an important part of the festival experience. I just wish that Mariposa would make an effort to get in some better beer (our only gripe); They could learn a lot from Hillside who do the festival beer experience perfectly by focusing on local craft brewers. Gregory Pepper & His Problems tongue in cheek “At Least I’m Not A Musician” also deserves special mention. It certainly isn’t easy being a jobbing musician and when you hear stories about how they are sometimes expected to play for tips, well you understand where I’m going with that. “Musicians Unite!” That’s all I can say.

This week’s guilty pleasure was “The Poacher” by Ronnie Lane, bassist from two famous British bands, the Small Faces, famous for mod era hits like “Itchycoo Park”, “Lazy Sunday” and “All or Nothing”, and, the Faces, probably best known as Rod Stewart‘s band before he hit solo fame (but also a great band in their own right). The English pastoral roots song was written by Ronnie during his very fertile solo period after the Faces split, during a time when Ronnie ‘retired to the country’ to write and play surrounded by a group of great roots musicians. The music he produced may not have received the exposure it was due during Ronnie’s lifetime (he sadly passed away in 1997, after a twenty years struggle against Multiple Sclerosis) which is why it feels more like buried treasure than anything else. A new compilation of Ronnie’s solo material (predominantly with his band Slim Chance), “Oh La La – An Island Harvest”, has recently been released on the UK’s Island Records. Definitely check it out – and thanks to Ivan for the suggestion.

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.

I should also thank my good friend Phil Allt for suggesting we play “Monsoon” from Rockwood singer-songwriter Ian Reid. Its one of the lesser known tracks from the “Tiger School” album, and although a nod to Ian’s time teaching in South Korea it’s also an apt description of some of the weather we’ve experienced this summer. Which reminds me, if you have a request you’d like to play, get in touch. We’d love to play that for you too!

We played three interviews on today’s show with Jane and Kevin from The Marrieds, Graydon James from Graydon James & The Young Novelists and Bridget and Daniel from Elephant Revival. If you missed them, you can find them elsewhere on this site. They’re definitely worth checking out.

Among the new music we played this week were songs by Eliza Gilkyson (from new album, “Nocturne Diaries”) and The Barr Brothers from their soon to be released album “Even The Darkness Has Arms”. Montreal’s The Barr Brothers were great at Mariposa, as were the JD Edwards Band. JD’s album “This House Will Stand” is not new (20111) but their good time roots rock is definitely worthy of more exposure. We’ll be tracking JD down for an interview. We had one planned at Mariposa but then his wife decided to have a baby… (fortunately at a hospital in Winnipeg, not Mariposa) which meant that JD needed to make a quick getaway. We also played Michael Jonathon‘s “BAN-jokes”, a song for banjo lovers everywhere and my good friend and political show co-host Oliver Rockside. More banjo jokes in one song than I’ve ever heard before. I hope you enjoyed it.

Well, that’s about all we have time for this week. You can find the full playlist for the show below. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week!

Mystery Theme: “Festivals /Live Music”

The Funky Mamas
Festival Rap
Rollin’ Along (2008, Self) CDN

Rattlesnake Choir
Live Music
Live Music (2008, Cousin Jeb Records) CDN

Gregory Pepper & His Problems
At Least I’m Not A Musician
Crystal Skull Mountain (2012, Fake Four Records) CDN

Waylon Jennings
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
Dreaming My Dreams (1974, RCA)

Kate Reid
My Baby’s In The Beer Tent Again
Doing It For The Chicks (2011, Self) CDN

Willie Nelson & Family
On The Road Again
Stars & Guitars (Live) (2002, Lost Highway)

The Marrieds
Come To Bed
Saving Hope (2013, Self) CDN

Interview: Jane Carmichael and Kevin Kennedy (The Marrieds) discussing their Thursday residency in July at Magnolia Café, Guelph.

The Marrieds
Rest Of My Days
Saving Hope (2013, Self) CDN

This week’s Guilty Pleasure;
Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance
The Poacher
Anymore For Anymore (1974, GM Records)

Ian Reid
Monsoon
Tiger School (2008, Self) CDN

Michael Jonathon
BAN-Jokes
Looking Glass (2014, Poetman Records)

Graydon James & The Young Novelists
Small Town Hymns
In The Year You Were Born (2012, Self) CDN

Interview: Graydon James (from Graydon James & The Young Novelists) discussing their noon hour show in Guelph on Friday July 18 and plans for their new album/tour.

Graydon James & The Young Novelists
Hear Your Voice (Single) (2013, Self) CDN

Elephant Revival
Remembering A Beginning
These Changing Skies (2013, Itz Evolving Records)

Interview: Daniel Rodriguez and Bridget Law from Elephant Revival at the Mariposa Folk festival

Elephant Revival
Birds And Stars
These Changing Skies (2013, Itz Evolving Records)

JD Edwards Band
This House Will Stand
Roads And Roads (2011, Self) CDN

The Barr Brothers
Even The Darkness Has Arms
Sleeping Operator (2014, Secret City Records) CDN

Eliza Gilkyson
Where No Monument Stands
The Nocturne Diaries (2014, Red House Records)

Theme:
Mary Margaret O’Hara
Anew Day
Miss America (1988, Virgin) CDN

Background Music:
Bob MacLean
Rose Of Allendale
Six Strings North Of The Border Volume 2 (2005, Borealis) CDN

Jayme Stone
Andrea Berget
Room of Wonders (2005, Self) CDN

Lawrence Blatt
Into the Abyss/Infra Red
The Colour of Sunshine (2009, LMB Music)

Dave Clarke
Katherine
Six Strings North Of the Border Volume 1 (2005, Borealis) CDN

Nicolas And The Iceni
Lucy She Rises (Demo)