Folk This & Folk That

My favorite song right now is this country-punk barnburner by Vandoliers out of Dallas, Texas. Might be because it has some of that hyper and melodic Replacements and Old 97s energy. Might also be because Vandoliers singer, Jenni Rose just came out as a transwoman, and this writer can certainly relate. It's a great song and I feel it deeply. "Life Behind Bars" is an anthem for anyone who has struggled to be themselves in this ever oppressive society. It's an anthem for anyone who's ever held a dead-end job. It's an anthem for anyone who has literally done time. It's an anthem for the times. Good luck Jenni. Thanks for the song.

Folk Weekend Favorites: "All You Fascists Bound To Lose" by Resistance Revival Chorus

America's great folk hero, Woody Guthrie, wrote this song way back in 1942. Over 80 years ago, it seems like a pretty long time. Unfortunately, this protest song is just as relevant as ever.

The tune was fleshed out as part of the Mermaid Avenue sessions with Billy Bragg and Wilco in the late 90s. British folk provocateur Billy Bragg and a very young Wilco teamed up to provide music for some lost Guthrie lyrics that his family had. Those Mermaid Avenue records are fantastic.

Fast forward to 2017. Resistance Revival Chorus features more than 70 women and non-binary singers who formed in the wake of the 2017 Women’s March. Since then the group has been involved in numerous activist causes, following Guthrie’s example of using music as a tool for social change.

The multi-talented Rhiannon Giddens takes the lead on this one, and it's a triumphant rallying cry.

Fast forward even more until now. Turn this one up. Play it every day. Loudly. Play if for everyone. Don't let them win.

-Kyra Dean, Folk Weekend.

Folk Weekend Recommends

I recently had the pleasure of hearing an advance of the new Samantha Fish record, Paper Doll, due out this week. I was also lucky enough to talk with Samantha and you can hear our conversation on Folk Weekend this Sunday evening 7-9 pm (April 27)

If you are familiar with Samantha Fish (a fellow Aquarius), then you already know that she is super-cool, has a deep, extensive knowledge and reverence for blues and rock music. You also well aware that she knows her way around a fretboard. We talk about how she got started, Freddie King, Kansas City, writing and recording her great new album, working with folks like Anders Osbourne, Mick Collins, and Jon Spencer and more. She’s a delight and her music, an ever-evolving blend of blues, garage rock, soul, Americana etc, is most definitely worth digging into.

Paper Doll is Samantha Fish’s 9^th studio album, I believe, and it finds her in fine form. The defiant and anthemic “I’m Done Runnin” sets the mood for a few more tight, bluesy rockers before the laid-back country electric blues of “Sweet Southern Sounds” has you singing along.

My favorite is the dark and moody “Off In The Blue”, with Sam’s bluesy, twangy, soulful voice floating above some really cool underwater guitar effects. It wouldn’t sound out of place on a late 70s-early 80s Fleetwood Mac album.

Another highlight is the garage rock banger “Rusty Razor”, featuring the legendary Detroit rocker, Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs. I’m happy to say that all nine tracks are worth repeated listens. Pick this one up, however you listen to your music, and enjoy. Crank these sweet southern sounds up at your next barbeque and get ready to answer your neighbor’s question; “This is great! Who is this?” and you can answer proudly; “It’s Samantha Fish, and she’s awesome”.

Paper Doll is out this Friday, April 25^th. Enjoy!

-Kyra Dean, Folk Weekend

Folk Weekend Favorites: "$13 Beers" by Chicago Farmer

 
We have all been there. If you haven’t, I commend you. You are either well-behaved, or a wise consumer, keep up the good work. Whatever you're in the market for, the prices don’t seem to be getting any lower. Quite the contrary, as far as I can tell.

There is a silver lining: The perils of late-stage capitalism inspired this catchy and witty little inflation protest anthem by Chicago Farmer.

Chicago Farmer isn’t a band, it’s a person. No, his mama didn’t name him Chicago Farmer. Cody Diekhoff hails from the black dirt of the small Tazewell county city of Delevan, IL. (Population 1541, as of 2023)

Cody grew up listening to the same things a lot of us who were teenagers in the 90s were listening to, Nirvana and, um…Hank Williams. With his love for the simple tunesmithery of those two seemingly disparate artists, and his knack for storytelling and poetry, Diekhoff became Chicago Farmer, and he’s been at it for the past 20 years or so. As the years advance, so does the ever-evolving music and songs of Chicago Farmer. His songs are slightly reminiscent of a younger, downstate version of another great Illinois songwriter, the late great John Prine. Yes, his songs really are that good.

Mr. Diekhoff employs that midwestern farm work ethic as he tours the land, playing his Illinois anthems to audiences throughout the midwest. There is a very good chance that Chicago Farmer, either solo or with his kick-ass band, The Fieldnotes, will be coming to your area, playing all sorts of venues, big and small, with varying beer prices. Do yourself a favor, and GO! It’s a good time.

In the meantime, crack open a (insert your cheap beer of choice here) and enjoy this week’s Folk Weekend favorite, “$13 Beers” by Chicago Farmer

https://chicagofarmer.com/

Hear great tunes like “$13 Beers” on Folk Weekend this Sunday evening at 7.

SongSisters will be traveling to our neck of the woods and performing at the Hickory Ridge Concert Series this Saturday. It promises to be a great night of live music. Sue Fink, Amy Dixon-Kolar and Patti Shaffner each have a distinct and unique singing and songwriting style. Add these three ingredients together with some fine harmonizing and you have SongSisters. Their songs can be both light-hearted and humorous and/or deep, philosophical, and thought-provoking. I had the pleasure of talking with the trio on Folk Weekend recently. You can listen here….
https://www.tspr.org/podcast/folk-weekend-on-demand

https://www.chrisvallillo.com/hickory-ridge

Since our skies will be illuminated by a pink moon this weekend, it seems like a good opportunity to shine some light on a Folk Weekend favorite: “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake.

English singer-songwriter Nick Drake released his 3^rd and final album in 1972. Though probably it wasn’t intended to be the last, that is just how things turned out. Drake had used a backing band with other musicians on his prior two records. This time, the sound was more sparse, just a gently picked acoustic guitar, a simple piano melody line, and the beautiful voice of then 23 year-old Nick Drake. A simpler sound that was no less powerful.

The title track, “Pink Moon” is one of the most comforting songs I have ever heard. It always feels good to hear “Pink Moon”. Like a hug from an old friend. Short and sweet, the song simultaneously conjures up feelings of melancholy and hope, loneliness and calm, happy and sad. For such a sparse recording, “Pink Moon” brings a welcome sense of joy.

I have to wonder if the sad part comes from knowing that Nick Drake would pass away two years later. He suffered from depression and had withdrawn from performing and recording. He was found dead at the age of 26 of an overdose from antidepressants.

Drake was not a big success in his lifetime, but over the years gained critical acclaim and influenced artists like Elliott Smith, Beck, Kate Bush, Robert Smith of The Cure, Mark Lanegan, Aimee Mann and many more. His songs appeared in films such as The Royal Tenenbaums, Garden State, Serendipity. Many a sensitive soul have come to appreciate the music of Nick Drake.

This weekend I encourage you to cue up “Pink Moon” and look up at the sky and enjoy two minutes of bliss.

Of course, you can hear "Pink Moon" and other great songs on Folk Weekend, Sunday night at 7pm on TSPR.

Pink Moon

Folk Weekend is honoring and celebrating Black History Month. We would not have this music that we love without the pioneering contributions of these great artists. Early folk and blues artists like Lead Belly, Elizabeth Cotten, Memphis Minnie, Blind Willie Johnson and so many others. Chicago blues greats like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy etc. give us Illinoisans something to be proud of. Then there are the folk singing heroes of the civil rights movements in the 1960s like Odetta, Harry Belafonte and the Staples Singers. So many contemporary African-American artists making big waves in the world of Americana music these days include Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, Shemekia Copeland, Charley Crockett, Sunny War, Kingfish Ingram and more. Folk Weekend is dedicated to enlightening and entertaining our listeners with songs and stories from these trailblazers.

Tune in to Folk Weekend all month long to hear these great artists and more.

A second Black History Month special will air on February 23rd.

As always, thanks for listening.

Hello. We are days away from entering spooky season. No, not election day, it's Halloween!

The Halloween season is always fun on Folk Weekend. Especially is your idea of a good time is listening to murder ballads, songs about werewolves, witches, vampires, and other imps and demons.

Halloween episode airs live on Oct 27th

You can listen to the murder ballads episode on demand. Heck, I'll even post a link to make it easy. Listen at your own peril.

You can also get you a cool Folk Weekend "Music For The People" T-Shirt at our pop-up store. Featuring Dobro The Banjo Playing Cat Limited time only, while they last ... https://tspr-fall2024.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Howdy. I’m sure you are all having a great summer. I’m just here to say thanks for listening, and update you on some upcoming stuff.

I have some cool shows in the works, where I will focus on music from different cities and regions in America.

New York City, Texas, California, The Midwest, the South….

It’s fun to dive in and listen and learn about the fascinating musical history of this great nation.

I’ll start on August 4^th with a show about New York City. That’s where many a great folk singer came from and/or got their start…Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Art Garfunkel, John Sebastian, Dave Van Ronk, Suzanne Vega and so many more. In the early 1960’s, a fella named Robert Zimmerman moved there from Minnesota, changed his name to Dylan, learned how to write songs and changed the world.

On August 14^th, we will head on down to where the stars at night shine big and bright. Texas blues, country, and Tejano sounds deep in the heart of Texas. Everybody from Lightnin’ Hopkins, Larry Davis, and Townes Van Zandt to the Texas Tornados, Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett, and Daniel Johnston hail from the Lone Star State. Giddy-up ya’ll.

Hope you can join me for this journey. Folk Weekend is every Sunday evening at 7. You can also listen on demand at tspr.org.

Thank you.

"I'd take better care of myself
I'd stop drinkin' from the bottom shelf
But my old wheels keep spinnin' and I cannot make them stop
I've been American dreamin'..."-Sierra Ferrell

Hello folk buddies and bunnies. This is your old gal pal Kyra, host of Folk Weekend. I hope ya'll are having the swell-est summer since whenever. I hope you are making Folk Weekend part of the soundtrack.

I'm going to take this opportunity to sing the praises of West Virginia born singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell. First of all, she is the coolest. Look at her in that pic up there. Miles and miles of style. But that's not why we are here.

Her latest album, Trail of Tears, is an absolute delight to my ears. The way she blends elements of folk, country, bluegrass, calypso, "gypsy jazz" and more is perfect for an eclectic gal like me. Most important, these are catchy, passionate tunes that you will not soon forget. Case in point, the first single, "American Dreamin'" has been burrowed deep in the pleasure center of my brain for a couple of months now, and it ain't goin' nowhere. The whole album that proceeds it is equally excellent.

Buy Sierra latest album, go see her show, buy her t-shirts. Let's show her love, so she keeps doing what she does, because she does it well.

Thanks for listening and for being cool.

Love, Kyra

Hello. I want to talk about this while it is still fresh in my mind.

I had the pleasure of seeing Chicago Farmer and the Fieldnotes at the historic Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, IL and it was most excellent.

Galesburg locals, The Memphis Dives, got the festivities started with a rollicking set of energetic rock-n-roll about love, PBR, and whiskey. They sounded great.

Cody Diekhoff has been performing as Chicago Farmer for two decades now. In that time he has amassed quite a catalog of great songs. Diekhoff, who grew up in Delevan, IL, writes songs about small town living and the working class that don’t sound forced or pandering. Like other songwriters who move me (Bob Dylan, John Prine, Jenny Lewis), Chicago Farmer’s songs can make me laugh and cry, often in the same song.

Chicago Farmer is usually Diekhoff performing solo, but for this event, he brought along his band The Fieldnotes., and holy moly!, did they jam.

I spoke with Diekhoff before the show, and he spoke of how he got into both Nirvana and Hank Williams during high school and that some may find that to be on an odd combo (not me). A highlight of the show was a song about the Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin 1971. He introduced the number as being influenced by Nirvana and Hank Williams. Of course, it worked perfectly. Did I mention that the Fieldnotes can jam?

So, my friends, I highly recommend that you go see Chicago Farmer and buy his records. I anxiously await to see what he and his band do next.

March is going to be a fun month musically. We've already kicked it off with a mostly new music episode on March 3rd. So much great new stuff already in this young year. I have some fun themes in store for March, starting with Folk Weekend Goes To The Movies on March 10th. Skip the Oscar's and listen to some Academy Award nominated songs from Bob Dylan (he won) and Elliott Smith (pictured below. He did not win.) Stuff from great film soundtracks like O' Brother Where Art Thou? and Pulp Fiction. Music from actor/musicians like Dwight Yoakam, Harry Belafonte, Dolly Parton, Tom Waits, Jason Isbell & more. It's gonna be a fun one.

Other themes will include St. Patrick's Day (it's on a Sunday this year, same time as Folk Weekend...fun!) and Women's History Month.
So many amazing women in the world of folk, blues, Americana, bluegrass, roots, alt-country and beyond, past and present. I really look forward to that show on March 24th. The hard part will be deciding what to play.

Join me for Folk Weekend every Sunday evening at 7 on Tri-States Public Radio...or listen on-demand at your leisure.

Thanks for listening!

Hello. Two thing to talk about to start of February

1st: Silently, The Mind Breaks is the eleventh(?) album by the Iowa singer-songwriter, William Elliott Whitmore and it makes me feel all of the things. I don't always beg for raw honesty and deep perspective in the music that I listen to, but when it is delivered in such a powerful way, I am all in. Will has a way of compelling a listener using very little. Just a banjo or guitar and that voice, and those brilliant words. He's been doing this for years and lucky for us, he keeps getting better and better at it. The performance and production are downright flawless. Nothing gets in the way of Will's songs of existential anxiety. Sound bleak? It's not. One minute you may fear for our future, but the next you may crack a smile. In short: You should own this record.

Which leads me to the 2nd thing: Buying records

Remember buying records? Of course you do, you are reading this, and probably a cool person. I'm just here to encourage everyone to support and preserve the music that you love by buying the physical media. Go to the shows, buy whatever the merch booth is selling. These people are out there doing the hard work, making our lives better. Go to the record store. They still exist! I'll be discussing this more in the near future, but right now I'll point you in the direction of Macomb Square Music and Dusty Bins Records and More. Maybe make a trip to Ft. Madison to Pool 19 Plants and Records or Weird Harold's in Burlington. Take a scenic drive to rural Cuba, IL and seek out Shandi's Music and More. One might even have to travel out of our listening area to Ragged Records in the Quad Cities, Pizza Records in Jacksonville, IL, Dumb Records in Springfield, Co-op in Pekin... These stores still exist. Shop them often. Maybe more will pop up. Keep it alive.

Thanks for hearing me out...

Hello listeners and hello 2024.

I have a feeling this is going to be a weird year. Might as well have a great soundtrack for it.

I've been working on some cool new Folk Weekend themes for this year including local music, the songs of Hank Williams, New York, Chicago, The South, Black History Month, Women's History Month, Valentine's Day and more.

Of course, I will do my best to keep you up to date on the latest in folk, Americana, blues, bluegrass, roots music, alternative country and beyond.

Don't forget that you can listen to Folk Weekend ON DEMAND right here https://omny.fm/shows/folk-weekend

Tell your friends!

Hello! I'll start this blog post with a lame cliche: "can you believe it's already December 2023? The year went fast etc. etc. yadda yadda..."

Now that we did that, let's talk music...

Make sure you listen to Folk Weekend every Sunday in December. I have some good stuff for you. Folk Weekend will air on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve this year. Naturally, I will be getting festive with the tunes, so it should be a good time...

Also, December is when music nerds make lists. Here's some of my favorite albums from the year 2023 that I recommend. I'm sure I missed a few, but, deadlines.

11. The Rolling Stones-Hackneyed Diamonds

10. Milk Carton Kids-I Only See The Moon

9. (tie) The Fly Birds/The Cleverlys-The Band Is Playing Covers/Solid Butter

8. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit-Weathervanes

7. Yo La Tengo-This Stupid World

6. Lucero-Should've Learned By Now

5. Lucinda Williams-Stories From A Rock and Roll Heart

4. Margo Cilker-Valley Of Hearts Delight

3. Cat Power-Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert

2. Sparklehorse-Bird Machine

1. Sunny War-Anarchist Gospel

also: The Let It Bleed Edition: reissue/Ed Stassium mix of The Replacements' album, Tim. It sounds amazing and serves as a reminder of the Mat's influence on many of the alt-country artists we love today.

Seek out all of that stuff for your listening pleasure.

Tune in all month long for more!

Happy Holidays!

Is it really November?....Just checked the calendar, and the temperature...yep, it's very much November.

Folk Weekend got pretty dark and gloomy in October with the Halloween, devil, and murder ballad episodes. The plan for November is to lighten up a little...

Of course you'll get a Thanksgiving episode of Folk Weekend. I like food. I also like songs about food. I suspect that I'm not alone in this.

I also intend to give you another Beatles episode. That's when you'll get to hear a bunch of cool songs from the Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/and even Starr songbook.

There is plenty of exciting new music being released, and I'll be serving up plenty of that as well.

Also, the times they are a changin' on Novewmber 5th. Don't forget to set your clocks back.

A reminder that Folk Weekend is now available on demand with a 2 week archive! Listen whenever you want! Check it out! https://omny.fm/shows/folk-weekend

Confession: October is my favorite month. Mainly because I have an excuse to listen to dark and spooky tunes (and some fun ones too). Show themes this month will include the devil, murder ballads, and Halloween. It will probably get weird. Make sure you tune in every Sunday at 7.

You can also listen on-demand, in case you miss the original broadcast. You can find that here on our website.

Speaking of music, here are some recent releases that I recommend:

Lydia Loveless-Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way (album)

Every few years Lydia re-emerges to remind us why they are one of the best voices in Americana music. This may be their best yet.

The Replacements-Tim: Let It Bleed Edition (album reissue)

Big, multi-disc reissues can be for suckers, rich kids and completists. They can also make an album that suffered slightly from it’s 80’s production sound like a revelation. If you don’t hear a strong Replacements influence in today’s alternative country greats Lucinda Williams (Drive-By Truckers, Lucero, Lydia Loveless, Lucina Williams and many more) then I suggest an armada of Q-tips be dispatched to your ear area forthwith. It’s undeniable. Tim just happens to be one of the best albums ever. It just got even better.

The Milk Carton Kids-"Body & Soul" (song)

Just 2 voices harmonizing like their names are Paul and Art, some acoustic guitars, a whole lotta words, and a heck of a lot of fun.

Drive-By Truckers-Welcome To Club XIII- (album)

This came out last year, but after hearing these songs performed live, I had to revisit. It rules.

The Cleverlys-Hot Butter (album)

I'm easily amused by fun covers of familiar hits, especially when it is done with such finesse and joy as The Cleverlys do on Hot Butter. Bluegrass renditions of hits from Dr. John, Silk Sonic, B-52s, Psi, Radiohead and more. It's a good time

Margo Cilker-"I Remember Carolina" (song)

An outstanding barn burning American travelogue about Montana fisherman, Bob Dylan concerts, the best burger in Texas and a whole lot more. Yes please. From her fine new album, 'Valley of Hearts Delight'

Rodriguez-"This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst or the Establishment Blues" (song)

Better late than never discovering this 1970 gem. RIP Sixto Rodriguez.

have a great October, and thanks for listening.

Eric Schaal/Life Pictures/Getty Images

Howdy. I'm Kyra Dean and I host Folk weekend. I am also a blogger, starting right now. I'm just going to take this opportunity to say hello, and thank you for listening, or thinking about listening. I'm also going to tell you about the show. It's called Folk Weekend. It's 2 hours of folk, blues, Americana, bluegrass, roots, alternative country and beyond. I like to mix up the genres, styles, tempos and what have you as much as possible. On Folk Weekend, you are going to hear artists from the early 1900's all the way up to music released this week. Sometimes I have a theme that unites the songs and artists on a particular show.

I have some fun themes planned over the course of the next couple of months...Labor Day, various renditions of traditional folk songs, the devil, murder ballads, Halloween...and we will have a very special 4 hour fundraising all request episode on September 24th, raising funds for Tri-States Public Radio, so we can keep bringing you news, information, and diverse music . I hope you can tune in and help out. We sure do appreciate you.

More good news: We are in the process of making Folk Weekend available ON DEMAND, so you can listen, even if you miss out on Sunday night. Here's a little sample of that.... https://omny.fm/shows/folk-weekend?fbclid=IwAR2FLmjS11nJtzs7yR_PlUIS1Uanm5hvyAmiukPiLA2cDt34Oa6wVMTwZrs

Thanks again and I hope that you have the greatest September of your lives