Opening theme—So What's New – Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass
Laurie McClain was my guest on the show this morning. She's got a CD out called "Ascend" and she has an upcoming CD release show this Friday night at Fiddle and Pick in Pegram.
But first a couple of personal indulgences, if I may: today marks the first anniversary of the start of "Never Too Old". The show began on Saturday afternoons at 3 p.m. when I first came to Radio Free Nashville. It moved to this time slot at the first of this year. It's been a great journey, I've learned a lot since the beginning of this thing and I really appreciated everyone who has ever listened or read my show blog. Of course I want to thank Beau, Ginny, Greg and Matt here at the station for all their support and as I've always said, the best thing for me about being part of Radio Free Nashville is that I've made some life-impacting friendships here...and you know who you are.
Also, I want to thank everyone out there who came to my birthday bash at the Commodore Grille this past Wednesday. It was a great turnout and there were a couple of other RFN folks who turned out for it, my buddy TJ Kirby and his lovely Rene and Steve Haggard and Kimberly King played that evening and did a great job. So I did a brief set this morning and in honor of my party and Judy and Johnny who took such great pictures for me, I started with Lesley Gore!
Lesley Gore – It's My Party
Beatles – I'll Be Back
Joni Mitchell – Help Me
Sonny and Cher – Baby Don't Go
Janis Ian – Society's Child
Laurie McClain moved here in 1997 with four daughters from Lincoln, Nebraska. She and I had much in common. She grew up loving to watch the old Johnny Cash which always had such great artists as Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, etc. She knew from age six that she wanted to be a singer. And so she has, going on to do that and writing lovely songs. She did very well in the recent Just Plain Folks awards, with "Ascend" coming in third in the New Folk Album category.
Another thing she and I had in common was she had spent time playing in the Twin Cities, where I moved here from. One person we both know is folksinger Jerry Rau, a dear friend of hers who sang a duet on the tribute album to Kate Wolf that she made a few years back.
Plugs for Laurie:
www.lauriemcclain.com
www.myspace.com/lauriemcclain
9/16 Richards Café and French Quarter Cafe
9/18 CD release party at Fiddle and Pick, Pegram, 8 p.m.
Songs:
He Smiled Like An Angel (live in studio)
Somewhere In Kentucky (from the "Ascend" CD)
Rosy Glasses (live in studio)
I do understand what it's like to be on fire for an artist and want to share that music with everyone you come across. Laurie asked if I would play a song off a CD by an artist she met at the JPF awards. He's an Irish-born artist named Danny Ellis, who grew up in an orphanage. His CD, 800 Voices, is made of his songs about his life in that setting. We played a track called "Artane Boys Band". It was quite striking and he has a wonderful voice.
Frequency To The Heart:
When It's Not A Fit – Encouraging Words July 2007
Closer – Soul Serenade – King Curtis
As always with a guest, the time ends up flying and I wished I had more time in the hour for her music. However, I also like to hear the guests talk about themselves and their music. You can always buy a CD and listen to it however often, but it's not as often you get to hear from the arists themselves about their music and their inspiration...so I like to allow a chunk of time for that.
I hope I didn't come across as too self-indulgent today. There were some things regarding the past week that I needed to express. Plus, at times my interview with Laurie was more like a friendly conversation but I hope I didn't focus more on me and less on her than I should have.
Upcoming guests:
September 20 - Dr. Jay and Miss Diana
October 4 - George Adams (strong tentative)
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