The Ledge #522: Covers
As I’ve stated before, I have a special folder where I toss in various great cover tunes as I come across them. It was pretty much perfect timing that my folder became “show-length” just in time for this holiday weekend. What better way to begin the summer with revved-up remakes of some of our favorite tunes? Plus, I’ll take any opportunity to give more airplay to my pal Dave Scarbrough, especially when the one remake on his brand new album, Happy Ever After, is a Paul Westerberg tune! You all should check this album out! Also included in this broadcast are tracks from Steve Earle’s new tribute to his friend and mentor, Jerry Jeff Walker, Eric Ambel and Greg Hoy’s remakes of Neil Young tunes, The William Loveday Intention’s teardown of Bob Dylan tunes, and a few of our friends (The Short Fuses, New Rocket Union) from Minneapolis! Oh, and we have the exclusive covers by the Hoodoo Gurus that are only found on the vinyl version of their new Chariot of the Gods album. Speaking of Minneapolis, Cindy Lawson’s fabulous new record on Rum Bar Records, New Tricks, includes a tune written by the recently-deceased Lori Wray. I’m not […]
The Ledge #519: New Releases (Pt. 1)
Once again, I have so much new music that the monthly new release episode has to be a two part extravaganza. Part one is dedicated to “friends” of the show. There’s new releases from friendly labels such as Big Stir Records and Rum Bar Records. There’s tunes from quite a few artists that routinely submit their tracks for inclusion. And there’s material from a couple of actual friends, most notably the long-awaited return of power pop maestro Dave Scarbrough. I’ve known Dave for pretty much my entire live music life, and nobody in my little city can turn a melodic phrase like Dave. I’m so happy to see that he’s got a great new album (“Happily Ever After”), and obviously I’m even more pleased that he included a Paul Westerberg cover (“As Far As I Know”). Do yourself a favor and grab it from his bandcamp. I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist […]
The Ledge #467: Rum Bar Records
Loyalty is an important word in my life. I try to be as loyal as possible to not only friends and family, but also the bands that I love. I’m even loyal to certain record labels. In the 80’s it was Twin/Tone and SST. Merge and a few others fit that category in the 90’s, and I’ve got a handful of current labels these days whose artists I will always check out. One of those is Rum Bar Records. No label has been more loyal to what I do with The Ledge than Rum Bar Records. Head honcho “Malibu” Lou Mansdorf has not only kept me in the loop with his constantly growing stable of releases, but he also routinely tosses a care package of physical releases to my mailbox. It’s because of people like Lou that this show has continued to prosper for over a decade. But it also turns out that loyalty is an important word to Mansdorf, as proven by the testimonials from his artists that pop up throughout this marathon all-Rum Bar broadcast. Most have been his friends for decades, but even recent signing have nothing but glowing words for him. Tonight’s show features tracks from the entire […]
