The Ledge #590: S.W. Lauden Takeover!
A few days ago, power pop expert S.W. Lauden reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in helping promote his new book, Remember The Lightning – A Guitar Pop Journal, Vol. 2. Duh, of course as a big fan of Lauden’s writing I was honored at the request. But I had a better idea. I asked him if he’d like to take over the show for a couple of sets. So tonight’s episode includes eight tunes from bands covered in this fabulous book, along with Lauden’s commentary.But obviously that’s not tonight’s entire show, and honestly I had to do a quick change after news came out earlier this week that power pop legend Dwight Twilley had passed away. A big fan of is first hit, “I’m On Fire”, along with his comeback albums of the early 80s, I quickly put together some originals and covers to help tell the story of a man who deserved a better fate in the record business.It’s also story time on this week’s Ledge, as I recently attended the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not only was I honored to be a part of the induction of the publication I […]
The Ledge #544: Power Pop, Pt. 2 (The Present)
Last week’s show featured classic power pop tracks from the past. This week, we take a look a the current state of the genre with 40 tracks of fabulous guitar-driven pop music. In fact, the vast majority of these tracks are from 2022, with a handful of tunes from 2021 and 2020. The oldest song of the bunch dates back to 2014, and that tune from The Cry! was selected to be paired with the brand new single by lead singer Tommy Ray. It should be to nobody’s surprise that a good portion of the show compiles highlights from Big Stir Records as they are the without a doubt the gold standard of new music of this type. Author S. W. Lauden’s influence also extends beyond the books he compiled with co-author Paul Myers. Not only does he appear on a couple of the Big Stir tunes broadcast in this episode, his suggestions resulted in quite possibly the most exciting set of the show. 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 […]
