Linda McRae & the Ragged Hearts - Sportsmen's Tavern

     The Sportsmen’s Tavern in Buffalo was the host to a fine show of an old favorite and new to town band June 7, when Linda McRae and the Ragged Hearts returned to play and were joined by Cactus Blossoms for the first time in Buffalo.

     McRae who has been interviewed and reviewed here and elsewhere by your humble author, performed with her Buffalo backing band of Doug Yeomans on guitar, Jim Whitford on bass and vocals and Randy Bolam on drums. Whitford has recorded and toured with McRae, first well known for her time as bassist and vocalist with Spirit of the West.

Linda McRae belts out a song aided by Jim Whitford.
Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

     McRae plays banjo and guitar along with her singing in her band and solo act, and while she started rather talented, her musicianship and storytelling continue to improve, including on the set’s opening song, “This Winding Road.” She sings of the country and folk musicians who traveled the highways of Canada and the U.S., and of the places they played, including some her family operated; the band fell into a strong country groove, and Yeomans supplied strong bluesy country guitar work. McRae followed this with “Living in the Past With You,” a lovely soft country waltz with some cool yodeling. She next sang one of several songs she has written with her husband, poet, writer and rumored roadie extraordinaire James Whitmire, “Doing Life Without Parole.” Many of their collaborations are clever, occasionally funny stories of relationships and why they work as much as don’t work. She dedicated the next song, “Three Midnights,” about a person fighting for their sobriety, sanity and life, to Whitmire, who will soon celebrate his 27^th year of sobriety. The song contains a great line first pointed out to me by my lovely wife Val, “Darker than three midnights in a jar.”

Linda McRae singing, yodeling and banjo picking; sweet.
Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

     McRae has taken to performing some wonderful Hank Williams covers, and included two this night, the first “Rambling Man,” with some more yodeling and fine guitar solos by Yeomans and banjo by Linda. She later sang, with some yodeling, a cover of “Long Gone Lonesome Blues,” and slipped in a portion of J.J. Cale’s “Call Me the Breeze” in the middle of it. McRae did not play a bad song that night, and among the more interesting tunes were “Flowers of Appalachia,” a lovely tune she wrote music for lyrics written by Ken Blackburn, an inmate she collaborated with in a program she and Whitmire are working with in several prisons, in particular here New Folsom Prison. She sings of missing the beauty of nature in Appalachia from a cell, accompanied by only her banjo. A clever tribute song of sorts is “Bad Boy Bad Girl,” a tune about people in trouble with the law she said was inspired by an episode of “Cops” and sounded very much like a nod to the Rolling Stones “Faraway Eyes.” Other excellent song were “The L&M Doesn’t Stop Here Any More” and a new song, “Jesus or Jail,” sometimes the only choices for some people in rural areas, and not only the South.

     Opening the show were the Cactus Blossoms, from Minneapolis, made up of Jack Torrey on lead guitar and vocals and Page Burkum on guitar and vocals. The band has been gathering a serious buzz, including a performance on Prairie Home Companion, and for good reason, The duet’s vocals were excellent as leads and amazingly beautiful in harmony with each other; the sounded like a slightly more countrified/bluegrass Everly Brothers, playing both a fine selection of covers and some original material.

Page Burkum, left, and Jack Torrey, the Cactus Blossoms.
Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

     The Cactus Blossoms opened with Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms,” and their covers included songs by Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams (Your Cheatin’ Heart”) and the Beatles (“This Boy”), as well as, naturally, the Everly Brothers, while their originals included songs such as the humorously dark “Slow Poison” and “Change Your Ways or Die (The Buffalo Song).” Along with the great singing, Torrey’s guitar playing blended jazz, blues, country, folk and early rock and roll that never turned flashy despite his obvious talent. Torrey and Burkum quickly warmed up to the audience and told some road stories, including spending time with Dale Watson on his tour bus in NYC before heading to Buffalo, the whole time flashing modesty between some jokes. The band can be contacted at thecactusblossoms.com.

     Also on the bill was John and Mary and the Valkyries, normally led by John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey of 10,000 Maniacs and John & Mary fame, but Ramsey, as well as the band’s regular drummer, Rob Lynch, were not present. We had to leave early in the set, but the band did get the crowd going with a cover of “Brand New Cadillac.”

Catching Up on WBNY Alumni Weekend 2014

      Now that it has been a month since it happened, I guess it’s time to print my article/play list on my air shift on the WBNY 91.3 FM Alumni Weekend Shift Bidathon, which raised funds for the WBNY Alumni Association, which, in turn, is used to help the station.

       I was privileged to open the Alumni Weekend, from 9 AM-Noon Friday, April 25, with the fourth edition of “Death Or Glory,” this year subtitled “One More Time in the Ghetto.” For those of you who haven’t read my previous writing on this, briefly, I was an on-air staffer at WBNY 91.3 FM at Buffalo State College in 1984-1985; the station started in 1982, after existing as WSCB. Along with serving as a news anchor and reporter, talk show host and producer and executive producer of All Talk Monday, I was a DJ there, with my first regular shift from 2-6 AM Sunday mornings, and then I moved up to 6-10 AM Wednesdays, hosting the “Loudest Morning Show in Buffalo.” We were proud to be a radio station that actually broadcast into the community and wasn’t just available in the Student Union/on campus; indeed, we happily shocked some people when we began showing up in Arbitron books.

Once again, my WBNY show was brought to you in part by...

      Anyway, I enjoyed the opportunity to present some music rarely heard elsewhere in Buffalo/Western New York, and made some great friends who are still close friends today. The music geek bug bit hard during that time, and still has a hold of me today.

     My Alumni Weekend shows have featured much of the same music I played when a student, namely punk, new wave, hardcore and the start of cow punk and Americana, as well as original similar Buffalo music and other guitar-oriented music that had nowhere else to be heard. I used to feature more recent music, but the music I love and listen to most falls into the 1975-2000 period.

     You can tell this from my play list from April 25, which follows:

     9 AM – “Death or Glory,” the Clash; “Start,” the Jam; “Holidays in the Sun,” the Sex Pistols; “Wartime,” Nullstadt; “Disconnected,” the Enemies; “Put It Out,” Tension; “South of the City,” the Jumpers; “Earth Died Screaming,” Tom Waits; “Broken English,” Marianne Faithfull; “Midnight and Lonesome,” Buddy Miller; “Something About What Happens When We Talk,” Lucinda Williams; “Damaged Goods,” Gang of Four; “12 XU,” Wire; “Poptones,” Public Image Limited.

     10 AM – “Girl Power,” Electroman; “I Can Walk Away,” Pauline and the Perils; “Rumble Down,” the Rain; “Indy 500,” girlpope; “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” the Ramones; “Cool Metro,” David Johansen; “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo),” the Patti Smith Group; “Hangin’ on the Telephone,” Blondie; “No Action,” Elvis Costello and the Attractions; “Antmusic,” Adam and the Ants; “Do the Strand,” Roxy Music; “Another Nail in My Heart,” Squeeze; “Good Luck, Money and Gasoline,” the Pine Dogs; “Crash All Night,” Jim Whitford.

     11 AM – “John the Revelator,” Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers; “Love Comes in Spurts,” Richard Hell and the Voidoids; “Tell That Girl to Shut Up,” Holly and the Italians; “Teenage Riot,” Sonic Youth; “See No Evil,” Television; “Tattooed Love Boys,” the Pretenders; “Heart of the City,” Nick Lowe; “Click Click,” the English Beat; “One More Time,” the Clash; “JJ,” Oui73; “Words in Red,” Peter Case; “When You Find Out,” the Nerves; “Bang Bang Bang,” Gurf Morlix; “Give It to Me Yesterday,” Pegasonics; “Turn on the News,” Husker Du.

     While I got to lots of bands and songs I intended, even with three hours, I was unable to get to and/or locate the vinyl or CDs in my collection for such bands as the New York Dolls, the Heartbreakers, the Replacements, Black Flag, Jason and the Scorchers, the Pixies, the Dream Syndicate or the SplatCats, among others, but I suppose some variety from year to year is needed. As always, I look forward to next year’s WBNY Alumni Weekend, and thank the station’s staff, management, alumni (especially Andrew Kat) and the listeners who made and continue to make WBNY what it is today.

Gurf Morlix to Perform at Pausa Art House May 1

     Western New York native singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and Austin and Buffalo Music Hall of fame member Gurf Morlix will perform a solo evening of music at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Pausa Art House, 19 Wadsworth Street, Buffalo.

Photo of Gurf Morlix by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

     Tickets are $15 at the door or $16 online at www.pausaarthouse.com/gurf-morlix-51.html, and according to the Pausa Facebook page at 10 a.m. Wednesday, “just a few more reserved seating spots with advanced tickets” remain. Along with his solo work, Morlix is best known as the guitarist, arranger and producer of Lucinda Williams’ best work, her self-titled album and “Sweet Old World,” and partially “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.”

     Morlix’s most recent album is “Finds the Present Tense” (Rootball Records), and the electric full-band sound is utilized extensively and with excellent results, while some of his more acoustic/solo approach remains. Even the full band sounds of standout songs such as “Lookin’ for You,” “Bang Bang Bang” and “Present Tense” are compact and not overdone. “These Are My Blues” may be the meanest, dirtiest, gut-wrenching blues he has ever recorded, and demands repeated listening.

     Of course, this shouldn’t hide Morlix’s more personal side, even when another species seems less than approving. At about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, after the NBA playoff games had ended, I let our dog Harold out for a final backyard visit before going to bed. Morlix, who often stays next door at the house of our neighbor, Buffalo Music Hall of Fame guitarist, singer, songwriter and Morlix childhood friend and bandmate Jim Whitford (the Pine Dogs, Twang Gang, Canal Street String Band), was outside with their dog, Nuala.

     While the dogs peed, howled and whined a bit, Morlix and I talked about a bunch of things, including how Gurf and Nuala were adjusting to each other. “I don’t think she likes my singing or guitar playing; I sat down in the room she was sleeping in and started to sing one of my songs, and she looked at me, got up and left. I later carried my guitar into the room she was in, and she took one look and got up and walked away again.” A moment later, Nuala, a vizsla/red coon hound blend, howled as she usually does; she basically never barks, just howls, which, as dog people ourselves, is no bother to Val or me. “She only howls one note,” Morlix said with a smile, and as Nuala howled again, he added, “See? The same note, a B.”

            Go see what Nuala was howling about Thursday night.

Dad's Records: From Elvis Presley to Spike Jones

I wrote about it a bit on The Buffalo Roots blog a few years ago, and my processing of my late father Edward's record collection continues.
This time, it is a major step. While I have been inventorying and discussing many of the other boxes and cases of records (33s, 78s and a couple of 45s) from Dad's collection, I am finally going to open what was described to me as a case of either his favorites or important/valuable records, which were kept in a14-inch tall, 18-by-14-inch wooden and cloth case with some leather on the top cover.
It is the case that my father's sole Elvis Presley record, a 78 RPM recording of "Baby Let's Play House," b/w "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (RCA Victor 20-6383), which was moved to after it was found, without a cover, standing in one of those old wire record holders. Sadly, the record is very damaged, with a crack that runs through the middle of the record, leaving it held together basically by the label.
There are about 120 records in this case, and I haven't run across anything that seems overly valuable and/or famous/important yet as I start this project. Among the artists I've encountered so far are Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Tony Martin, Xavier Cugat, Dinah Shore, Danny Kaye, Vic Damone and Margaret Whiting. Dad was a major big band jazz and jazz vocalist fan, as you can probably tell.

As I go through my father's record collection, the one surprise and concern I have is that I have barely found many recordings from his favorite two artists. Dad was an immense Stan Kenton fan, particularly of his "Artistry in Rhythm" and related artistry recordings. Indeed, my father once helped arrange the Lancaster High School Band Boosters bring Stan Kenton and His Orchestra to the high school for a fundraiser, and proudly took us to the show; I still remember how happy he was that night.

Dad's other standout favorite was Spike Jones and His City Slickers; if you knew my father, you'd easily understand this, with his liking for incredibly corny puns and jokes and slapstick humor, as well as big band jazz. I can still hear Jones and his orchestra's recording of "Beetlebaum" to this day, especially when I hear the "William Tell Overture." So far, I haven't found a single one my father's Spike Jones recordings, but I do have a few boxes left to process.

Continental Reunion, WBNY Alumni Weekend

It seems that the weekend of April 25-27 will be a rather busy and fun one in the Dunne Hosey Estates.
The formerly annual WBNY 91.3 FM Alumni Weekend will be held from Friday through Sunday, April 25-27, at the studios in the Student Union at Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, and of course, on the airwaves at 91.3 FM, with a revised fund-raising effort included. I am very proud and humbled to have been a DJ at WBNY form 1984-1985, as host of the loudest morning show in Buffalo (6-10 AM Wednesdays), and I was lucky to get to play a lot of original local music as well. Details are still being finalized, and I will post them here as they become available.
The second annual Continental reunion, cleverly called Continental Reunion II, will be held Saturday, April 26, at the Town Ballroom (the site of the first reunion last year) on Main Street in downtown Buffalo. The event, which drew about 900 people last year to a night that no one present wanted to end, will again be produced by Bud Redding (Continental DJ, booker, virtual manager and musician) and Hard Productions, with lots of help from Jennifer Shanley.
The band lineup alone is amazing, including Nullstadt (who blew away everyone last year), the Enemies, Pauline and the Perils, Terry Sullivan and Friends, Tension. the Kevin K Band (former Toys, etc.), Johnny Revolting and Skinbound, and there will be nine classic DJs returning. In particular, Andre Frazier, DJ Andre, etc., should be performing double duty that weekend at both the WBNY Alumni Weekend and the Continental Reunion.
As we get closer to the reunion, I will be talking with Redding for a more extensive article and update, and for tickets or more information, visit the Town Ballroom box office or online at www.ticketfly.com. Also, for information on hotel packages for the weekend, check the Continental Facebook page. BTW, Continental Reunion II artwork courtesy of Bud Redding.

Rush to (Commercial) Judgment

Take off with Walmart, it's a beauty way to go.

Well, it seems that my continuing commentary (harping) on musical choices being used in commercials, mainly television, has taken an unexpected turn.
While I was watching the Winter Olympics from Sochi (and seeing little non-man made snow except February 18), I caught a commercial for Walmart, mentioning how allegedly committed the company is to the American (as in USA) workers it employs at its stores, warehouses, etc., as well as American factory workers and its acquiring of their products.
When I finished spitting out my snack and stopped laughing and shaking my head, I noticed that the music being used in the television commercial was..."Working Man," by Rush. That's right, Walmart was spraining muscles patting its own back for "supporting" American workers with a song from the proudly and unmistakeably Canadian progressive rock band which has set a course of independence, musically and politically, for years.
Of course, as well as this use of the song by one of the most vile mega corporations around, I am still confused with and trying to find more about Rush, its members and its licensing agents and staffers allowing the use of this song, even for money.
We have assumed control, we have assumed control.

Decided the Yogurt Sings the Song

Use of this photo of Simon LeBon proves how much I love my wife Val,
even though she is a bigger Jonathan Taylor fan

Yoplait yogurt has taken the lead in the use of music that surprises some people in advertising sweepstakes, most recently causing a mini controversy of sorts, at least among its fans, with the use of Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" in a commercial that aired last year and early this year.
The band claims that it was unaware that the song was going to be used in a yogurt commercial and said it would never have agreed to its use, but please, don't try to tell me the band and its management, legal team and licensing staff didn't know of and allow this. The band members asked that the advertising campaign using "Hungry Like the Wolf" stop, and Yoplait eventually ended using the ads, whether because of the request or the campaign simply ran its course I can't tell (although the latter seems more reasonable).

I think Depeche Mode now has more than enough.

Yoplait then cleverly used "More Than a Feeling" by Boston in its next commercials, which pushed the Boston Cream Pie variety of yogurt, and has been using other bands' music.
Last night, for the first time I caught the newest Yoplait ad, using "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode. I assume the campaign using this song has been out for a bit (I don't usually spend much time looking for yogurt advertising), but I have yet to hear any wailing or grinding of teeth or beating of breasts over this.
That's kind of surprising, considering that, while I enjoy both bands' music, I would certainly think of Depeche Mode as being a more cerebral and more serious band than Duran Duran.
 During my days as a DJ at WBNY 91.3 FM at Buffalo State College (1984-85), I played a lot of both bands and got way more requests to play their music. I remember that some early fans of Depeche Mode were kind of surprised and almost offended at the poppy sound of "Just Cant' Get Enough" compared to songs such as "Black Celebration," "Blasphemous Rumors," "Master and Servant" and "People Are People."  Somehow, I didn't expect the fans of the band that brought us "Girls on Film," "Rio," "Planet Earth" and "Hungry Like the Wolf," all songs I like, to get more publicly offended that Depeche Mode fans.
Maybe God does have a sick sense of humor.