Woodsongs Vodcasts

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Woodsongs 579: Morgan O'kane and Becky Schlegel May 24, 2010

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MORGAN O�KANE is a raw, roots, aggresive banjo and old-time musician with something powerful to say. An intensely talented musician from Charlottesville, Virginia, his distinct sound is an evolution of his work with“scum billy� band and time spent playing in the New York Subway system. From the Mountaintop removal protests of West Virginia to the pubs of Belfast and through Holland and back again, these days O�kane�s soulful war cry can be heard for miles., BECKY SCHLEGEL�s music is a gentle mix of folk, bluegrass and country. Becky has come a long way from the Kimball, South Dakota farm of her youth. She began her musical career at the age of five, and began performing in her mother�s band when she was in the 8th grade. She moved to Minnesota in 1993 and jumped headfirst into the vibrant Twin Cities music scene, where she won numerous awards and appeared several times on “A Prairie Home Companion.� She is celebrating the release of her new CD called “Dandelion.�

Woodsongs 578: Janiva Magness and Crooked Still May 17, 2010

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JANIVA MAGNESS returns to the WoodSongs stage as the reigning 2009 Blues Music Entertainer of the Year, only the second woman ever to win this award. Although Magness is now a bona fide blues star, her rise to the top was far from easy. She has been performing for almost three decades, logging thousands of miles on the road and appearing 150 nights a year at clubs, theaters and festivals all over the world. Janiva and her full band will be supporting her latest CD on Alligator Records called “The Devil Is An Angel Too.� CROOKED STILL has established themselves as “the most important folk group to emerge from Boston since the early �60s� (The Boston Globe). Since their last WoodSongs appearance, the quintet became five with the addition of fiddler Brittany Haas and Tristan Clarridge on cello and second fiddle and opened up a new musical chapter for the band. The band�s new CD is “Some Strange Country� available on Signature Sounds.

Woodsongs 577: Jim Byrnes & Steve Dawson and Carolyn Martin May 16, 2010

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JIM BYRNES & STEVE DAWSON are Canadian Juno award winning musicians performing material from the Mississippi Sheiks tribute CD called “Things About Comin� My Way�. Jim is an American-born actor and musician based in Canada, playing blues since he was 13 and acting wise, is best known for his roles in “Wiseguy� and “Highlander.� Steve is an accomplished Canadian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist that has risen to prominence in the Canadian music scene. Between 1930 and 1935, brothers Sam, Lonnie and Armenter Chatmon, who along with Walter Vinson formed The Mississippi Sheiks, recorded nearly 100 singles that would define this band as one of the most popular string bands of all time. The project is nominated for a Blues Music Award. CAROLYN MARTIN is a Texas born, Nashville based swing and country singer and was a member of Nashville�s Time Jumpers, a western swing band comprised of Nashville�s finest session musicians. For 11 years the band garnered two Grammy nominations and two Emmy awards. Besides performing across the country with her own group, Carolyn is gearing up to perform in the new show, "Country Royalty: Jason Petty and Carolyn Martin pay tribute to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline" Carolyn was the 2008 recipient of the Academy of Western Artists� Will Rogers Cowboy Award for Western Swing Female Vocalist of the Year. Her latest CD is “Cookin� With Carolyn.�

Woodsongs 576: Laura McGhee and Gregory Alan Isakov May 05, 2010

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LAURA McGHEE is a brilliant Scottish singer/songwriter/fiddler/guitarist. She first hit the American roots scene while performing with Pete Seeger in New York. Since that time, she has performed with the great Odetta, and with the Pogues & Shane McGowan, Ricky Skaggs, Jim Lauderdale, Oscar Brand, Josh White, Jr., David Amram and with Moby and the Proclaimers. Her two albums, "Green Eyes" and "Celticana" have garnered rave reviews; while her traditional concerto piece "Commemoration� was performed as part of New York City's 9/11 Ceremonies in 2007. GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV was born is Johannesburg, South Africa. Isakov�s family immigrated to the US in opposition to the apartheid. In 1999, he moved to Colorado to study horticulture and simultaneously embark on a career as an acoustic singer-songwriter after being inspired by Bruce Springsteen�s "The Ghost of Tom Joad." His song-craft hints of his influences, Leonard Cohen and Kelly Joe Phelps. He has been described as “strong, subtle, a lyrical genius� and has shared the stage with touring artists such as Calexico, Ani Difranco, Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, and Fiona Apple. His latest CD is This Empty Northern Hemisphere.

Woodsongs 575: George Winston Apr 21, 2010

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GEORGE WINSTON burst onto the music scene in the early 1980�s with his iconic impressionist style and a collection of seasonal-themed recordings. Since 1980, he has released nine other solo albums: “Autumn,� “Winter Into Spring,� “December,� “Summer,� “Forest,� and many others. His next album will be “Love Will Come � The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Vol. 2,� scheduled to be released in February 2010. Winston spends much of his time touring, often playing solo piano, guitar and harmonica. He also studies the techniques of the great New Orleans pianists. In addition, Winston is working on several solo projects, including recording the masters of the Hawaiian Slack Key guitar for an extensive series of albums for Dancing Cat Records; and recording music by his major inspirations for harmonica playing: Sam Hinton, Rick Epping and Curt Bouterse. WoodSongs is honored to have this brilliant master musician on our stage for this special event broadcast!

Woodsongs 574: California Guitar Trio and Patty Larkin Apr 06, 2010

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The CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO (CGT) is Bert Lams from Belgium, Hideyo Moriya from Japan, and Paul Richards from Utah. Together, their technical wizardry is breathtaking, as is the wide range of instrumental music the group renders... everything from unique originals to dazzling, cleverly-arranged interpretations of jazz, classical music, and surf rock. The members of CGT met while studying under Robert Fripp and performing with Fripp's "League of Crafty Guitarists." In 1995, CGT toured worldwide with King Crimson. CGT�s new CD is called Andromeda. PATTY LARKIN has been redefining the boundaries of folk-urban pop music for 25 years with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics. Her songs run from impressionistic poetry to witty wordplay. In 2010, Patty Larkin releases a collectible collection of 25 love songs in celebration of 25 years in the recording industry. Here Patty has reworked 25 of her favorite songs in an acoustic, “unplugged� release, joined by friends along the way.

Woodsongs 573: Jakob Dylan & 3 Legs featuring Neko Case & Kelly Hogan� and Jayme Stone & Yaccouba Sissoko� Mar 27, 2010

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JAKOB DYLAN returns to the WoodSongs Stage with his NEW solo album “Women and Country� on Columbia Records. Soulful yet striking and ripe with sublime beauty, it is the follow up to the artist�s 2008 critically acclaimed debut, “Seeing Things.� This new collection finds him reuniting with acclaimed Grammy and Golden Globe winning producer T Bone Burnett (Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Crazy Heart), who produced the Wallflowers' 1996 breakthrough album Bringing Down the Horse which featured the massive hits “One Headlight� and "6th Avenue Heartache." Jakob will be performing on the show with 3 Legs featuring Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. JAYME STONE & YACOUBA SISSOKO will be performing material from Jayme�s award winning project for “Africa to Appalachia.� Jayme is a banjo virtuoso from Canada who traced the origins of the banjo to Mali, Africa. He will be onstage with Malian kora master and singer Yacouba Sissoko as well as fiddle phenom Mike Barnett, innovative bassist Brandi Disterheft and percussionist extraordinaire Nick Fraser.

Woodsongs 572: Exile and Carla Gover Mar 26, 2010

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EXILE is Kentucky�s own supergroup made up of J.P. Pennington, Sonny LeMaire, Les Taylor, Steve Goetzman and Marlon Hargis. The band's hits include "Give Me One More Chance," as well as the 1978 pop hit, "Kiss You All Over" which was recently named by Billboard Magazine as the number 9 on its 50 Sexiest Songs of All Time. This band that got their start in the small town of Richmond, KY, will be performing on WoodSongs in an intimate “unplugged� performance. CARLA GOVER plays clawhammer banjo, guitar and piano, writes songs, clogs, and is an aspiring Appalachian Diva. She is from the Eastern Kentucky coal town of Whitesburg, Kentucky, where she grew up idolizing her grandmother as well as Emmylou Harris and Loretta Lynn. Her music is full someone full of spirit and heart, someone who has the mountain sounds right in her blood. Her new CD is called Gypsy Ways.

Woodsongs 571: The South Memphis String Band and Quebe Sisters Band Mar 25, 2010

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THE SOUTH MEMPHIS STRING BAND is a trio composed of Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Alvin Youngblood Hart (Grammy-winning bluesman) and Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers). Although they�d known each other for years, the South Memphis String Band was greatly influenced by the Mississippi Sheiks, Gus Cannon & the Memphis Jug Band and other string bands and jug bands of their ilk, as well as Mississippi Delta and Hill Country blues. They will arrive with a passel of guitars, mandolins, banjos, lap steel guitars and harmonicas. QUEBE SISTERS BAND is an American fiddle western swing group from Fort Worth, Texas. The band began their musical journey in 1998 when the three sisters started taking fiddle lessons. Shortly thereafter, the girls began entering fiddle contests and had success early on; winning several State, regional and National fiddle championships. Add the swinging rhythm guitar of World Champion fiddler Joey McKenzie and the upright bass of Drew Phelps, and the Quebe Sisters Band becomes a force of nature. Recently named Group of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists and recipient of the Crescendo Award by the Western Music Association, as well as nominations for Country group of the year by both the Dallas Observer and Ft. Worth Weekly, the QSB is performing coast to coast in support of their latest cd, “Timeless.�

Woodsongs 570: The Dust Busters and Moreland&Arbuckle Mar 24, 2010

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THE DUST BUSTERS are an old-time string band based out of Brooklyn, New York. They strive to integrate a wide range of old-time songs, ballads, fiddle tunes and jug band blues into every performance, infused with the old-time feeling and freewheelin� high energy that characterized early string bands. They are influenced and inspired by the direct fusion of Scots-Irish and African music that took place in Appalachia, the Western states and the Deep South from the earliest colonial times through the Second World War. The Dust Busters have recorded their first album, currently available for sale only at live shows. MORELAND & ARBUCKLE have spent nearly a decade exploring American roots music. Guitarist Aaron Moreland and harpist/vocalist Dustin Arbuckle with help from the driving beat of drummer Brad Horner have forged a relentless and haunting sound that merges Delta blues, folk, rock, traditional country, and soul. In addition to the more typical Telecaster and Les Paul guitars, Moreland arsenal also includes a hand-crafted instrument consisting of four strings stretched across a cigar box. Moreland & Arbuckle make their debut on Telarc International with the release of “Flood.�

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