Deeper Roots Radio

November arrives which means winter is fast approaching with (we hope) a need to break out the umbrellas, clean the gutters, and let the cycle of renewal begin. Our show this week is a free form collection of sounds from the past century highlighted by a couple of topical sets, some somber, some hopeful, but all with a blending of Americana. We’ll visit with Tom Waits’ on the low side of the road, hear from Nina Simone and her brilliant delivery of Langston Hughes’ Backlash Blues, some songs about bluebirds, rainy nights, bright lights and big cities. This week’s episode on KOWS Community Radio gives room to breathe and reflect on what is important with country, gospel, blues, jazz and everything that falls in between, fresh from the digital ether…all coming your way, for today, on KOWS 92.5 FM Occidental.

 We’re recovering from a pretty substantial rain from an atmospheric river and bomb cyclone. What those meteorologists won’t come up with in the way of scary names. Well, the creek did rise and we’re stillin a drought. Imagine that. Smaller doses more consistently would be the answer to that. And speaking of scary….Halloween offers some fun in the dark and Friday morning’s show is going to bright out the ghosts, goblins, zombies, and witches as we go whistling in the graveyard of a century of America’s music. Dr. John, Fats Waller, Tom Waits, Tommy Collins and (of course) Bobby “Boris” Pickett entertain us two days ahead of the tricking and (the much preferred) treating. Join Dave Stroud once again on KOWS Community Radio Friday morning. 

The year 1948 saw the price of a first class stamp at three cents and unemployment in post-war America was at a low 3.9%. The Hollywood Ten were jailed for contempt of Congress when they refused to disclose Communist affiliations. And Columbia Records introduced the 33 1/3 LP at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The LP is still the standard by which physical listening is measured with album sales booming, with LPs sold rising 108% in the first six months of 2020. But we’re going to be sharing the music of 1948 this week:  Eddy Arnold, Peggy Lee, Dick Haymes, Louis Jordan, Blue Lu Barker and Mahalia Jackson are just but a few we’ll be hearing from in this week’s episode on KOWS Community Radio.

This week, we pay a long overdue tribute to John Prine while celebrating the 75th year of his birth which came up on the calendar this week. One of the losses that reverberates among us all is the loss of John Prine to COVID in April, 2020, at the beginning of this long and painful pandemic. We’re paying our tributes at the same time that a his label Oh Boy Records releases Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows, Volume 2, a collection of Prine covers that hits the marks and follows the first volume, released over ten years ago. Our show will feature a chronological look back at the legacy of this national treasure, a songwriter whose bite followed along on the arc of his storytelling that looked into matters of the human heart. We’ll hear covers from Nanci Griffith, Yarn, and a few others but we’ll follow the path along John’s career in performances especially selected for a two hour journey of John’s music.

A bit of a departure this week as we celebrate a mix of mayhem from the fuzzed out garage bands, greasy ducktails, oddball instrumentalists and mostly mondo misses tempered with a good dose of surf confection this week. We’re celebrating the three chord sensibilities of mid-century rock and roll rockabilly, surf, and proto-punk spit-ballers. They’re pulling out some wailing sax solos, fuzzed out bass beach thumpers, and some tongue-in-cheek easy listening to spin you around in your chair on an October Friday morning. You’ll be entertained by the likes of Tony Casanova, Sparkle Moore, Little Carolyn Sue, and Wild Bill and the Blue Denims…a forgotten list of lost culture that will take you down a rabbit hole that you hope might never end…or maybe just the opposite. This week’s show is dynamite from the dustbin of minor labels and first time producers that can only make the grade on Community Radio. Tune in for some mondo fuzz mayhem.

It’s a deep dive we’re taking today into the digital dustbin of the past century with the focus being on fretwork, string bending, bottlenecks and tripping the lap steel fantastic.  That’s right…a collection of fascinating tonal embellishments that cross the genres of country, jazz, blues, folk and pop. Our show this morning will feature some Lonnie Johnson, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, John Fahey, Grady Martin and a few others. It’s a trip with a few well knowns but more not so much  and you’ll just have to make room in your day because the sounds can’t be ignored. We’ll hear standards like Guitar Rag, Riders in the Sky, Black Mountain Rag, Indiana March, and a special playlist highlighting the work of Grady Martin in both country and rock.  We’re once again hoping for the best as October and November approach. 

September is waning as we share our last show of the month. Join Dave Stroud live at 9 Pacific from the KOWS studios in downtown Santa Rosa for a free form stream of sounds as we make our way across to visit an eclectic collection of sounds. This week we’ll share a little bit of soul with Sugar Pie DeSanto and The Four Tops, some throwback sixties sounds from The Marvelettes and Sam The Sham, seventies deep cuts from Steve Miller, Jesse Colin Young and John Prine, and a host of your favorites from under that great Americana sideshow tent including Ry Cooder, Willie Nelson, and Los Lobos. Yes, it’s a free form show once again as we celebrate recent improvements to our streaming presence as we have signed on for Live365 hosting. Big things come in little, community bound packages. Tune in, unwrap and unwind on a Friday morning.

Drop by to play along with the second of a two-part episode exploring an eclectic blend of boogie woogie, in the key of rhythm and blues. There will be enough piano pounding, toe-tapping, and slick percussion to feed the need for musical speed in our show this week. The usual suspects will keep the line moving and we’ll also bring out some old favorites including performances from Hadda Brooks, Gladys Bentley, Oscar’s Chicago Swingers, Rosco Gordon and Albert Ammons. This second episode keeps true to the sound that surfaced in the early century, blending juke joint rhythms and house party dance celebrations. Be sure to check us out on our new web site player or at the Live365 web site.

 While the origin of the term is in debate, there are numerous stories that almost make sense but cannot be verified. However, 20th century blues, country and rock and roll were rife with the reference and it turned into a guitar lick, a piano run, and a salty reference on the standup. Deeper Roots will be spending time with the country versions, inherited (nee appropriated) from the rhythm and blues form … and a little bit of history as well. We’ve got the classic country sounds of Sheb Wooley, Johnny Tyler, and The Delmore Brothers paired up with higher octane country Americana from Dale Watson, Robert Gordon, and Asleep at the Wheel. Chuck Berry once said “It used to be called boogie-woogie, it used to be called blues, used to be called rhythm & blues…it’s called rock now”. You can quote me in enlightening that observation by calling it “one nascent stream that emptied into a swift river.” Tune in Friday evenings here on Sonoma County Community Radio. 

Deeper Roots goes free form this week with some classic country and blues right alongside tradition. From Pee Wee King to Memphis Minnie and Robert “Barbecue Bob” Hicks to Chuck Wills…we’ve got the goods. We’ll fill our Friday two hours with a delightful collection of music from the past one hundred years, live from the Cherry Street Historic District in downtown Santa Rosa, California. Got some sugar, radio memories, gospel rafter-raisers, and a track from Luke the Drifter…and remember….ninety-nine and a half just won’t do when you’re listening to the radio. Which is why we give you a hundred percent here on community radio. An eclectic blend of sounds that takes you back to the little Zenith or Silvertone that you put up to your ear, driven by that two-pronged nine-volt heart. Join us for some memories.