Labor Day
Labor Day
Today’s show was the Labor Day edition of Ramblers’ Retreat. The segments listeners raved about most were the set of logger songs and the “hard times” set. Both are listed below. The full playlist is also available.
The Logger Songs:
- Johnny Cash: “The Frozen Logger”
- The Braun Brothers: “Weekend Logger Blues”
- Kate & Anna McGarrigle: “The Log Driver’s Waltz”
The Hard Times Songs:
- Skip Gorman: “Hard Times”
- Chris Thomas King: “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”
- Don Edwards: “Hard Times”
- Magpie, Dan Schatz, Emma’s Revolution, and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer: “Singing Through The Hard Times”
Here’s a video for “The Log Driver’s Waltz”:
Anthem
An Anthem for Ramblers’ Retreat
Since the first episode of Rambler’s Retreat I’ve had a theme song, “Bonaparte’s Retreat” performed by Skip Gorman. I’ve decided it’s time to declare an anthem for the show: “Singing Through The Hard Times” written by Utah Phillips. Here are the lyrics:
Sometimes our living gets so dark and lonesome,
It seems like there’s nothing we can do.
So we reach out to each other, and raise a song together,
And let our voices carry us through.And when the war clouds gather, it’s so easy to get angry,
And just as hard not to be afraid;
But you know in your own heart, no matter what happens,
You just can’t turn your back and walk away.So hand in hand together, we help each other carry
The light of peace within us every day;
If we can learn to live it, to walk and talk and give it,
That world of peace won’t be so far away.CHORUS:
We are singing through the hard times,
Singing through the hard times;
Working for the good times to come.
We are singing through the hard times,
Singing through the hard times;
Working for the good times to come.
Here’s a video that begins with a brief interview of Utah Phillips and continues with this song.
Bluegrass from Sweden
Bluegrass from Sweden
On yesterday’s edition of Ramblers’ Retreat I featured new music from a Swedish bluegrass group, Downtown Ramblers. A number of listeners let me know how much they enjoyed this band. I hadn’t heard of them until recently, and I’m impressed. You’ll hear more from this new record on my show over the coming months.
The show didn’t have much of a theme this week. I did play Loretta Lynn covers from both Eilen Jewell and Nell Robinson. I also played music from Tradition who will be appearing at the Idaho Sawtooth Bluegrass Association‘s Fall Festival up in Round Valley, Idaho over Labor Day weekend. Feel free to peruse the full playlist.
Here’s a fun video of Downtown Ramblers performing the song I featured this week, “Singing With The Birds.”
Lee Penn Sky
Lee Penn Sky on Ramblers’ Retreat
My guest in studio this morning was Lee Penn Sky. We played some music from his CD Prelude to Hindsight, and he played five songs live including “One and the Same” from Prelude and three new songs, two of them so new they are yet to be named. He also dazzled us with a Rolling Stones cover that he made his own.
In the first hour I played new music from Spring Creek and Hal Cannon. I also put together a set of rodeo songs to celebrate this week’s Caldwell Night Rodeo, and did a brief preview of what you can hear this weekend at the Council Mountain Music Festival including music from Wanigan and High Desert Band. Here’s a link to the full playlist for Ramblers’ Retreat, August 17th, 2011.
And here’s a video of Lee playing “One and the Same.”
Utah Phillips
U. Utah Phillips
U. Utah Phillips is on my short list of the greatest American folk singers. He sang traditional songs of cowboys and miners and working people, the labor songs of Harry McClintock and Joe Hill, and wrote a number of great songs that have been recorded by Rosalie Sorrels, Ian Tyson, and Tom Waits among others. He was a life-long member of the IWW. Phillips died in 2008.
He also hosted a show on community radio station KVMR in Nevada City, California, called Loafer’s Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind. I recently found the Loafer’s Glory archives, and have started listening through them. It’s a great set of songs, stories, interviews, and commentary; I’m picking up some ideas for themes for my own radio show, Ramblers’ Retreat. This type of curation and preservation is what I’d like to see more of on the Internet.
The Buckhorn Mountain Boys
The Buckhorn Mountain Boys
I loved this Boise-based bluegrass band. They’ve gone their separate ways, but there will be a Buckhorn Mountain Boys reunion at the Idaho Sawtooth Bluegrass Association’s Fall Festival which will take place in Round Valley from September 2nd-4th, 2011. Fiddler Rue Frisbee now plays with Chicken Dinner Road. Bassist Donna Bond and banjo player Mike Bond are now part of High Desert Band.
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