Nanci Griffith has been a favorite of mine for years. I think that I first saw her in Philadelphia at a show about 30 years ago with four singer-songwriters, including John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her…
Read moreSong 55 - - Graham Nash: "On the Line"
Crosby, Stills and Nash were (and are!) magnificent. Before they formed Crosby, Stills and Nash, David Crosby was a member of The Byrds, Stephen Stills was with Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash was part of The Hollies. They played together…
Read moreSong 54 - - Imua: "Wonderful World"
On my old school iMac, my iTunes app has a playlist called "Top 25 Most Played." I put that playlist on the other day. And do you know what was the number one song on that playlist? The song that…
Read moreSong 53 - - The Traveling Wilburys: "End of the Line"
Tom Petty died yesterday. He was only 66 years old. Tributes to Tom Petty are everywhere. Newspaper and magazine articles. Online. And, of course, radio stations across the country are filled with Tom Petty songs and memories.
I am a…
Read moreSong 52 - - Josh Ritter: "Thunderbolt's Goodnight"
I went to see Josh Ritter today! It was a jam-packed WXPN Free-at-Noon show. And it was fabulous!
Josh Ritter has been around for a while. He's 40 years old, with a bunch of successful albums to his credit. And…
Read moreSong 51 - - The Avett Brothers: "True Sadness"
Over a year ago, I featured The Avett Brothers in Song Five. They had recently released their True Sadness album, and I chose to feature a song called Smithsonian. I love that song. And I love most every…
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Song 50 - - John Prine / Bruce Rits Gilbert: "How Lucky"
John Prine is pretty much my musical idol. I mean, Paul McCartney was my first musical love and he's still amazing. And The Avett Brothers (the actual brothers) are working their way up the idol chain. And, of course, my…
Read moreSong 49 - - Mudcrutch: "Welcome to Hell"
I had not heard of Mudcrutch back in the day. They were a band formed by Tom Petty and Tom Leadon way back in 1970. And they hung around, apparently, until 1975 or so. But then Tom Petty formed The…
Read moreSong 48 - - Dave Edmunds: "Deborah"
In the late 70s and the early 80s, when the world was disco-ing up, I was spinning records at Deja Vu, an oldies bar in Washington, D.C. It was maybe my favorite job ever. Law school by day, and good…
Read moreSong 47 - - The Dixie Chicks: "There's Your Trouble"
I first heard of the Dixie Chicks in 1997 or so. They were still not very well known, but they were just starting on the road to success.
Before that, sisters Martie and Emily Erwin, along with two other women,…
Read moreSong 46 - - Ritchie Valens / Los Lobos: "Come On, Let's Go"
My nephew, Ben (the Iron Man in Boulder), put up an Instagram story which had a few seconds of some great music in the background: Ritchie Valens singing Come on, Let's Go. Ben said that it came on the…
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Song 45 - - Matt Lyons / The Side Band/The Parameters: "When Will I See You Again"
As we approach Independence Day, the most American of American holidays, it's time to pay tribute to one of America's best. And by best, I mean, one of our best guitarists, best musicians, best teachers, and best guys. Matt Lyons…
Read moreSong 44 - - Zoe Kravitz / Elvis Presley: "Don't"
I don't know much about Zoe Kravitz - - except that she's Lenny Kravitz' daughter and that she was outstanding in Big Little Lies, the awesome HBO series. And, not only was she great in her role on the…
Read moreSong 43 - - Amos Lee: "Sweet Pea"
I've been on the board of WXPN for seven years. My term is ending next week. The board doesn't have all that much influence on the day-to-day operations of the radio station. But every once in a while we help…
Read moreSong 42 - - The Lumineers: "Flapper Girl"
When The Lumineers released their first album, it was kind of a big deal. It was released in 2012 by an independent label, Dualtone Records, and reached number 2 on the Billboard charts. But their success didn't happen overnight.
The…
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Song 41 - - John Prine: "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian"
I started this blog on June 1, 2016. So it's been just about one year since its debut. We started with Buddy Holly, who is my old school rock and roll hero. We skipped around from genre to genre over…
Read moreSong 40 - - Baskery: "Nobody Nice"
WXPN has a impressive number of events featuring live music throughout the year. Free-at-Noons every Friday. The XPN Music Festival every July in Camden, NJ. And others. But, for me, none are as awesome as the NonComm-vention, which is a…
Read moreSong 39 - - Iris DeMent: "Our Town"
I first heard Iris DeMent's Our Town on WXPN about 25 years ago or so. It was love at first sound. And, since it was the CD era, I headed to a record store to buy Iris DeMent's debut CD, …
Read moreSong 38 - - John Gorka: "Holed Up in Mason City"
I saw John Gorka way back in the late 80s (or maybe it was the early 90s). My memory of the show is quite vague. But I think that he was one of four singer-songwriters appearing on stage that night.…
Read moreSong 37 - - Hanson: "Penny and Me"
Who's willing to admit that they like Hanson? Anyone? Okay, I'll be first. I like Hanson. I mean, I like Hanson enough that I very well may snag a ticket to their concert when they come to the Fillmore in…
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