Opening the "Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia," Part 4 -- Winding up our four-part miniseries in conversation with Rick Pender, author of "The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia," and featuring selections from such classic musicals as "Follies," "Gypsy," "Into the Woods" and "Company."

The Sundilla Radio Hour for the week of 04/22/2024.

The Burgundians knew how to party, and the Feast of the Pheasant has gone down in history as one of the most extravagant social occasions of the 15th century. This edition of Early Music Now features a recreation of music that might have been heard at the feast, which took place 570 years ago.

This week on Beale Street Caravan we have a star-studded lineup, joined together for an important cause: to defend the integrity of Memphis’ drinking water. Grammy nominated artists Shemekia Copeland and Jim Lauderdale, along with Nashville singer-songwriter Will Kimbrough, iconic singer-songwriter and folk musician, Livingston Taylor, as well as Reba Russell, Joe Restivo and John Nemeth, and others, all got together for one night to sing, play, and raise money to make sure that our water remains a fresh, suitable source of life in our community.

Listen for selections from Keo & Them, The Bird and The Bee, Vehicles, Rudy Love & The Encore, John Martyn, and Us3.

Ozark Highlands Radio is a weekly radio program that features live music and interviews recorded at Ozark Folk Center State Park’s beautiful 1,000-seat auditorium in Mountain View, Arkansas.  In addition to the music, our “Feature Host” segments take listeners through the Ozark hills with historians, authors, and personalities who explore the people, stories, and history of the Ozark region.

This week, a special road trip episode.  OHR visits Rogers, Arkansas’ Railyard Live Concert Series featuring singer-songwriters Will Gunselman & Ashtyn Barbaree recorded live at Butterfield Stage in Railyard Park in historic downtown Rogers.  Also, an interview with Ozark original Will Gunselman.

Rogers, Arkansas’ Railyard Live Concert Series began in 2021.  Held on the city’s Butterfield Stage next to Railyard Park in historic downtown Rogers, it features live concerts every weekend throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall.  All of the Railyard Live events are either free to the public or at very low cost of admission.  The concert series features a wide array of musical styles and interests designed to appeal to the diverse population of Rogers and invite them to experience the newly revitalized Railyard Entertainment District.  The Ozark Folk Center State Park and the City of Rogers, Arkansas partnered to bring Ozark Highlands Radio to capture a little slice of this modern Ozark culture.

Will Gunselman is a singer-songwriter from Bella Vista, Arkansas.  Will’s vivid writer’s voice along with his unique style invents an honest and authentic Ozark story.  Honing his art through decades of live performance, Will has crafted a simple sound that is modern and relatable but reveals a rich patina of life lived.  Although plaintive, his music, rooted in folk, country and blues, dwells on the positive nature of experience and seeking joy in the everyday.  Like traversing the river Will ardently describes in his song Buffalo River Run, sitting with a set of his music is a journey bent with scenic vistas of the soul.

Ashtyn Barbaree is an internationally touring gritty Americana singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Fayetteville, Arkansas.  Sweet, soulful, charming and relatable, her lyrics have found their way into the hearts of folks from all walks of life.  She has a smokey, yet silky voice accompanied with harmonies, guitar, tenor 8-string ukulele, upright bass, pedal steel, drums and piano.
https://www.ashtynbarbaree.com/about

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1981 archival recording of bluegrasser Lenny Wallace performing the tune “Take Your Shoes Off Moses,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In this week’s guest host segment, renowned traditional folk musician, writer, and step dancer Aubrey Atwater explores the theme of riddles and trick questions in traditional folk music.

Originally from Mexico City Rodrigo y Gabriela, the acoustic guitar duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, met as teenagers while playing in a thrash metal band called Tierra Acida. By 2000 the formally became a duo act and moved to Dublin Ireland, where with the support of musician Damian Rice, the talented pair participated in the renowned Oxegen music festival in Ireland, where they attracted significant attention. From the beginning, their reputation as killer musicians - Rodrigo with the faster-than-lightning lead guitar and Gabriela with her unique, rhythmic, strumming-and-drumming style - started to spread across the country.

The high-energy international duo's music harnesses the flash, power, and speed of death metal filtered through the passion, soul, technique, and discipline of nuevo flamenco. Their showy, emotional sound is marked by Quintero's syncopated, hooky, percussive rhythms and rapid-fire strummed vamps framing Sanchez's incendiary, melodic, single-and dual-string leads. Following a successful live album in 2004, their debut self-titled studio album, produced by John Leckie of Radiohead and Stone Roses fame, was released by Rubyworks in February 2006 and charted at Number One on the Irish national charts, keeping the Arctic Monkeys off the top spot. Having established themselves in their adopted home, the duo started to spread their magic across the rest of the world. They headlined the Jazz World stage at Glastonbury in 2007, which was broadcast live on BBC TV. The Rodrigo y Gabriela album went on to sell over 100,000 records in the UK. This episode features recordings from the acclaimed duo's 2019 performance at Big Top Chautauqua.

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2023 TENT SHOW RADIO SPONSORS
Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce - https://www.visitashland.com/ 
Bayfield Chamber and Visitor Bureau - https://www.bayfield.org/ 
Bayfield County Tourism - https://www.bayfieldcounty.wi.gov/150/Tourism 
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SPECIAL THANKS
Wisconsin Public Radio - https://www.wpr.org/ 

Elmore James: 1951-55

Elmore James never tried to have crossover success. He was a bluesman through and through; an ambassador of the Mississippi Delta Blues with a modern, 1950s electric twist. Elmore's blues was as pure as his ambitions when starting out as a sideman for now legendary blues harpist Sonny Boy Williamson II. James played on several Williamson sessions held in 1951 at Trumpet Records in Jackson, MS, until he was coaxed into playing the Robert Johnson tune, "Dust My Broom" in August. Trumpet gave James one side of the original 78 RPM release and in early 1952, "Dust My Broom" became a national R&B hit! Ike Turner, who was scouting for the Bihari Brothers of LA's Modern Records, found Elmore and got him signed to a four year deal with the Biharis. They issued his first record on their Meteor subsidiary and "I Believe," a reworking of "Dust My Broom," also became a top 10 national hit. Elmore James wouldn't score another hit record until 1960, but in those years in-between, James issued some incredible and highly influential blues sides, featuring his legendary slide guitar style. James would go on to inspire The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, early Fleetwood Mac and others, but would not live to see it. This week, Matt The Cat dusts off some prime Elmore James 78s from several labels and in many blues styles. Many of these records built off the original "Dust My Broom" guitar lick, but they are also good enough to stard firmly on their own.

And this is it. To quote Commander Cody, this is the “bendin’ end.” The last episode of Geezer Rock. To close out the series, I’ve got a new single from Yes, other goodies from Rundgren’s Utopia and Kansas, and a few different incarnations of Journey’s Neil Schon, who has a new live album out, looking at the early days of Journey, with help from original Journey organist Greg Rolie. Thanks for listening over the years. Peace and love.

My good friend Kevin Iliff joins me this week to take a deep dive into the music of Scottish musician Gerry Rafferty!