23.02.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Al `n` Ant'

My colleagues in London always get to have cool artists doing live radio sessions at Maple Street Studios, and I get a little jealous out here in the hinterlands. I mean, I`m the farthest outpost of Recharged Radio civilization that there is—all the way out in Sacramento, California—5,295 miles from the home office (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distanceresult.html?p1=217&p2=136).

Well, recently, my fortunes have changed for the better. Two of Sacramento`s most well-known musicians visited me recently, and did a fun interview and great session: Allyson Seconds and Anton Barbeau. Allyson has been a fixture on the local scene in such bands as Go National, playing lead guitar and backing vocals. She`d been looking for the opportunity to try lead vocals, and anchored by a batch of songs penned by Anton, put together a project called Bag of Kittens. Anton`s roots are also in Sacramento, but he relocated to England some years back, where he`s been successfully making music from his Cambridge base. (Hmmm, a guy with connections in both Sacramento and the UK—sound familiar?)

Anyway, Anton made his annual visit to his hometown, and did a slew of shows, including the session in our studios. And we`ve got that for you on this week`s Tuesday Night Diner!

But that`s not all. How about a pre-release track from Suzanne Benorden`s Eugene, Oregon-based band Boomchick? It deals with imperialism, and pretty much blows the doors and windows out! And whaddya say we have a Mad Tea Party with some Handcuffs? Hey now, it`s not what you think. We`ll play a track from Asheville, North Carolina band Mad Tea Party, featuring Ami Worthen and Jason Krekel, and another track from Chicago, Illinois` own The Handcuffs, featuring Chloe F. Orwell and Brad Elvis.

I can`t wait for you to hear all this.

The Decibels - That's When Happiness Began
Beth Thornley - You're So Pony
The Taters - Right B4 My Eyes
Boomchick - Operation Imperialism
Mad Tea Party - Found A Reason
Tippy Canoe & The Paddlemen - Champs Élysées
Winzenried - Soul is Mine
Natasha Davies - Giggle
Two Sheds Jackson - Gettin High
Chariots of Tuna - A New Beginning
Michael Miller - I Made You Up
The Corner Laughers - Shrine Of The Martyred Saint
Joey Oskys - See It 2000000
Chancellorpink - Three People Care
Field - I'm the Enforcer
Maxi Dunn - Seattle In The Sun
Allen - Hold Me Tight

Session with Allyson Seconds and Anton Barbeau
Session Tracks:
I Used To Say Your Name
Plastic Guitar

Allyson Seconds - On A Sunny Day In Summer
Rich McCulley - The Last Song
Thinking For Tuesday - Girl In The Red Dress Too
Heiskell - The Death of Knoxville Cool
Laurie Biagini - Gonna Do It My Way
50ft Woman - (Strictly) Only Swinging
Charlie Cheney - Giant Chicken
Joseph Swidenbank - Back Home
Jimmy Catlett - The Stupid Things
Handcuffs - Somebody Somewhere
Soundserif - John Titor

16.02.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'California Gold'

This week has truly been an embarrassment of riches for me. I have received so much good new music, I feel that I`m not worthy! But you are, and that`s why I`m going to share it with you on this week`s Tuesday Night Diner.

Most of this week`s batch of new music comes from right here in California. The world has been waiting for a couple of years for the new Rich McCulley album, “Starting All Over Again”, and I`ve got a prerelease copy in my hot little hands. I`ll be playing a great track from this L.A. singer-songwriter—and this may well be its radio debut (and even if it isn`t, this baby doesn`t come out for another month, so it`s kind of like an exclusive!).

More goodness from the Corner Laughers—a song they thought might be too “weird” for radio—I think it`s too gorgeous to not play on radio!

A guy who used to be a big fixture on the Sacramento scene—he even played on one of Cake`s albums—Ben Morss, and his band Chariots of Tuna—absolutely rawk with a new track that he sent me from his New York City base of operations. He`s a brilliant keyboardist, but he added some electric guitar to this song and really upped his game a notch or two!

Speaking of expatriate Sacramentans—Anton Barbeau, who now lives in Cambridge, UK, graces us with another song this week. If you like Robyn Hitchcock, you`ll like Anton. And if you don`t—well, you still might like Anton anyway! I`ll be featuring an in-studio session with Anton and Allyson Seconds in the next week or so on Tuesday Night Diner, so stay tuned for that.

A couple of L.A.-based singer-songwriters with whom I`ve just become acquainted—Michael Miller and Beth Thornley—have both sent me their new CDs, and they are really good. They`re both in the folk/pop/Americana vein. They`ll be gigging up here in Sacramento in a few weeks, and with any luck, I`ll have them on the show, so this is a good chance to get to know them.

Finally, Allyson Seconds brings it all home with her loving tribute to Sacramento, off of her new Bag of Kittens release. In my opinion, there aren`t nearly enough songs which mention Sacramento (Cake and Robyn Hitchcock both did, and after that, the pickins are slim), so she ignites some hometown pride in this radio diner chef`s heart.

A big state with some big music. California. And I`m glad to share this musical goodness with you this week on Tuesday Night Diner, 8:00-10:00 p.m. only on Recharged Radio. See you there!

Playlist is as follows -

Jimmy Catlett - The Big Beat

Chariots of Tuna - Seven Miles Away

Go National - Until It's Good And Over

Field - Saturday Soldier

The Corner Laughers - Space Echo

Karim Fanous - So Long Jenny J

Soundserif - Brianadams

Michael Miller - Carolina Skyline

The Ks - 13 Steps

Allyson Seconds - I'm Just A Country Girl

50ft Woman - Ultra Violet

Splitsville - Pretty People

Rich McCulley - Tell Me, I'm Listening

Mad Tea Party - I Went Out

Laurie Biagini - You're A Dangerous Thing

Jointpop - Please Don't Tell My Inlaws...I'm An Outlaw

Joseph Swidenbank - Harsh Words

Handcuffs - Baby Boombox

Anton Barbeau - I Used to Say Your Name

Beth Thornley - There's No Way

Kaz Murphy - Midnight Fire

Hail The Size - Crazy Girl

Tom Alford - Look To The Stars

Kat Jones - One More Second Chance

The Furbelows – Pleasure Machine

Sarah Stanley - Here I Am

The Taters - Spend a Little Time With Me

21:45 :: Goodfinger - Radio Perfecto

Domus - Es Mi Ola

Maxi Dunn - Don't Look Back

Thinking For Tuesday - Falling

Terese Taylor - The End

02.02.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Snow In The South and Stomach Flu'

More than a foot of snow in Richmond, Virginia. Stomach flu. What do these (hopefully) unrelated conditions have in common? Well, they can both keep you at home.

What`s that crazy DJ from California talking about this time? Well, last Saturday, as I stayed home with the stomach flu, my friends in Virginia, decidedly in the southern part of the US, got socked in by 14” of snow. That`s the part of the country that`s not supposed to get winter weather. I was supposed to do an on air CD release party with my friends The Taters, but it got scrubbed due to both reasons, although the folks in Richmond are heartier than I am. They would have come out in the snow, but alas, I didn`t come to my radio studio here in California with my little flu thing.

How does that all affect you? Well, in this week`s Tuesday Night Diner, we`ll have a great track from The Taters. Picture ELO gone Americana, and you`ll get the idea. And I planned this playlist while in the throes of the flu. The ravings of a madman? Perhaps, but I think you`ll find some method here. A rockin` new track from Chariots of Tuna—this keyboard-driven band breaks out the guitar, and goes berserk on my show. Karim Fanous with our Track of the Week—as announced on the Friday Forum. And a spooky, lush track from Kat Jones that will absolutely send shivers up your already chilled spine—but makes you want more. Now that`s a song! And finally—a listener request from Colorado.

One more thing—if you want to find out who were some of my favorite artists, songs, and albums for the year 2009, before I joined Recharged Radio, you might want to check out my other radio show, Twirl Radio.

Kat Jones – The Night Is A Veil

Anton Barbeau - Bending Like a Spoon

Handcuffs - I Just Wanna' Be Free, Man

Joey Oskys - Better Days

Hail The Size - Booze, Pills, & Her

Yours Til Death - Cut And Paste

Charlie Cheney - She's Made For Sunshine

Karim Fanous - Mad Masters

Birgit - Tsunami

The Corner Laughers - Stonewords

Cy Taggart - Once Is Now Was

Allyson Seconds - Tie My Laces

Goodfinger - Untouchable

Chariots of Tuna - Seven Miles Away

The Taters - Such A Good Day

Katelyn Berreth - The First Time

Soundserif - John Titor

Laurie Biagini - Leave Me Alone

Field - Oh, My Desperate Soul

Mad Tea Party - Blues Slip In

Chad Neaves - Something In My Soul

The Scratch - Teen Idol

Splitsville - The Kids Who Kill For Sugar

Tom Alford - Wasp Lands On Sunflower

Go National - NYC

Maxi Dunn - Welcome To Soonville

Joseph Swidenbank - Coming Up For Air

Jono - Stuck In The City

Terese Taylor - I'm Here

The Ks - Election Night

Laura Pharoah - Sweet Apple