WOODSONGS (Old Time Radio Hour) is the TV broadcast of an internationally syndicated radio program hosted by folksinger Michael Johnathon and recorded before a live audience each week at the historic Kentucky Theatre in downtown Lexington, Kentucky.
The mission of the program is to inspire the audience to make music part of their lives by introducing them to a contrast of styles such as blues and bluegrass, country and Celtic, folk and rock, modern and classical. Interviews with the artists allow the audience to explore the artist's background and discover what inspires them to sing and play.
The TV program allows the viewers to watch the radio show production and experience the event in much the same way as the live theatre audience. The next season (#600) of 13 episodes is currently in production.
NOLA Code: WOOD 0500 K1
Program Title: WOODSONGS – 500 series
Program Length: 13/60s
Feed date/Time: Mondays, beginning June 8, 2009 @ 2100 – 2200ET/SD 07
Closed Cap: Yes
Stereo: Yes
DVI: No
Format/version: SD Base
Video: 4:3
TV Rating: TV-G
Show Description:
WS501: Richie Havens
RICHIE HAVENS is an icon of the folk world who first rose to fame in the music scene that also fostered Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. In 1969 Havens opened the Woodstock Festival. His performance received continuous ovations and he kept playing encores until he ran out of songs. Finally, he decided to improvise a version of "Motherless Child"; the song was featured in the Woodstock film, and became an international hit. He will be performing material from his new CD Nobody Left to Crown.
WS502: Chuck Leavell & Tori Sparks
CHUCK LEAVELL is one of the most respected piano players and keyboardists in music, as well as one of the most dedicated and revered conservationists in the world. His work both as a solo artist and as a musician with The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, Train and many others is among the most accomplished of any living keyboardist. Tagged as the "fifth Rolling Stone," he appears with the band on their new CD and Martin Scorsese film, Shine A Light. He's now finally home after two years on the road with the Stones and focusing on his latest CD Live In Germany which was just released on Evergreen Arts Records.
TORI SPARKS calls Nashville home, but spends most of her time on the road in the U.S. and Europe. Called “a knockout” by the Village Voice, her dynamic live show is equal parts soulful singing and zany stand-up-style humor. Tori’s latest album Under This Yellow Sun is released on her own record label (Glass Mountain Records).
WS503: Celebration of the Music of Kentucky
THE CHARLIE SIZEMORE BAND are based out of Eastern Kentucky. Charlie is the son and grandson of banjo players, and he became fascinated by the sounds of bluegrass and mountain music as a child. He toured in Ralph Stanley’s band as lead singer, replacing Keith Whitley, for 9 years. Charlie has made seven critically acclaimed albums.
ROB McNURLIN has the distinction of being the very first artist to perform on WoodSongs very first broadcast. Rob is known as “The Beatnik Cowboy” and just released a new album called Rhinestoned.
HEIDI HOWE is singer/songwriter from Louisville, KY and could be the love child of John Prine and Dolly Parton. She writes irreverent, witty songs. No Depression says her voice is "from the deep end of the Kentucky holler."
MAGGIE ESTES is an 18 year old fiddler from Hopkinsville, KY. Maggie started playing fiddle when she was four. At 17, she had the honor of performing on the Grand Ole Opry. She also won the 2006 Georgia State Fiddle Championship.
JUDGE RAY CORNS has been warming up the WoodSongs audience every week since 2003 with his tales from WoodSongs Holler. During the day, he’s an actual highly respected Judge.
WS504: Celebration of Robert Johnson
ROBERT JOHNSON is among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. His vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Jack White and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson "the most important blues musician who ever lived". He was also ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
RORY BLOCK is the winner of five Blues Music Awards. She studied the blues as a teenager with the legendary Son House who told Rory he taught Robert Johnson how to play guitar. In 2007, she released the award winning CD titled The Lady and Mr. Johnson. The recording is comprised entirely of Robert Johnson’s music. She has also released two instructional DVDs that teach the guitar of Robert Johnson and is currently working on a tribute CD to Son House.
SCOTT AINSLIE heard Virginia Bluesman and grave digger, John Jackson play a couple of songs in the middle of a Mike Seeger concert just outside of Washington, DC, back in 1967. He started playing guitar a month later and has now spent nearly forty years studying and playing traditional music, visiting and documenting senior musicians in America’s old-time banjo and fiddle music, Blues and gospel traditions. With four CDs, a teaching DVD on the guitar techniques of Delta Blues legend Robert Johnson, and a book on Johnson’s music Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads to his credit, as a performer and a teacher, Ainslie continues to present programs that are vital and entertaining.
WS505: Beoga & Nick Ogawa
BEOGA is the Irish word for ‘lively’. The group is a five-piece traditional band based in County Antrim, Ireland. Their unique sound features the twin dueling accordions of Seán Óg Graham and Damian McKee, along with four time All-Ireland bodhrán champion Eamon Murray, pianist Liam Bradley, and one of Ireland’s premier young singers, Niamh Dunne. Their latest CD, mischief, was released on Compass Records last year.
NICK OGAWA is a cellist and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. His new album, Introduction, travels through blues, folk, and pop styles on the way to his distinctive contemporary sound. We loved his haunting rendition of the traditional Appalachian ballad “Shady Grove.”
WS506: Jen Chapin & Natasha Borzilova
JEN CHAPIN returns to the WoodSongs stage with a brand new double disc release titled Light of Mine. This Brooklyn, NY native is a singer, songwriter, activist and daughter of the late folksinger Harry Chapin. Her songs are urban folk stories. She has been featured on “Late Nite with Conan O’Brien,” appeared on stage with Bruce Springsteen, and opened up for Bruce Hornsby and the Neville Brothers.
NATASHA BORZILOVA was born in Russia and moved to Nashville as the lead singer and acoustic guitarist of the band Bering Strait, a group of classically trained musicians playing bluegrass music. Bering Strait had two CD releases on Universal South Records, receiving critical acclaim, and a Grammy nomination for country instrumental of the year in 2002. She just released her debut solo CD Cheap Escape.
WS507: Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
EDGAR MEYER & CHRIS THILE are two of the most respected and accomplished acoustic musicians on the planet.
Chris Thile is making his 5th appearance on WoodSongs. By the time he was 20 he was attracting a worldwide following as a member of the Grammy Award– winning bluegrass super group Nickel Creek. A Washington Post critic recently said Thile “may well be the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin.”
Edgar Meyer is a master of the double bass and has been called “the best bassist alive.” Meyer began studying bass at the age of five, and throughout a lifetime of performing and composing he has turned the double bass into a modern virtuoso instrument that is equally at home in classical music and in the American vernacular. In 1994, Meyer became the first bassist to win the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He is also a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award and three Grammy Awards. The entire one hour broadcast will be devoted to Edgar’s and Chris’s album released on Nonesuch Records.
WS508: The Grascals
THE GRASCALS return to the WoodSongs stage with a brand new release Keep on Walkin’, on Rounder Records. They are already among the most beloved and acclaimed bands on today’s bluegrass scene. They were the IBMA’s Emerging Artist of the Year in 2005. Since then they won the IBMA Entertainer of the Year honors in 2006 & 2007.
WS509: The Refugees
THE REFUGEES are a band of critically-acclaimed singer-songwriters performing their award-winning songs in glorious three-part harmony with high energy, humor, and stellar musicianship. Each successful in her own right as a solo artist, Cindy Bullens, Deborah Holland and Wendy Waldman formed their unique and innovative group in 2007, and have released their first CD, Unbound, to rave reviews. Described as the female version of Crosby, Stills and Nash with a humorous twist, The Refugees have more than three decades of experience in the industry between them, nineteen solo albums, and multiple Grammy Award nominations.
WS510: Sonya Kitchell and The Slip & Doug MacLeod
SONYA KITCHELL is an American jazz singer-songwriter from Northampton, MA. Her songs are a true showcase for Kitchell's worldly voice, which, with its intimate tone and feathery falsetto, has earned her attention not only from critics, but also from one of the most respected figures in jazz: Herbie Hancock. The contemporary avante-rock trio band The Slip will be Sonya’s backing band for the show.
DOUG MacLEOD is one of the last remaining bluesmen who learned from the old masters, lived the music, survived the life and carries forward that valuable tradition. Over 24 years, 12 studio albums, several live records and two DVDs, MacLeod has consistently earned raves. His songs have been covered by Albert King, Albert Collins, Coco Montoya, Joe Louis Walker and Eva Cassidy, and featured in many TV movies and the hit TV shows like In the Heat of the Night. Doug’s latest CD is The Utrecht Sessions.
WS511: Janis Ian
JANIS IAN returns to the WoodSongs stage for a one hour Special Event Broadcast. Janis will not only be performing but will also be reading passages from her long awaited autobiography Society's Child. She stunned a generation in the 1960's with her dramatic song "Society's Child”. She returned in the 1970's with the equally powerful "At Seventeen". Roberta Flack had a mammoth hit with another Ian song, "Jesse". She is a brilliant artist, amazing performer and she has a huge story to tell. In addition to her book, she has also just released the new album Best of Janis Ian - The Autobiography Collection features all the songs mentioned in the book and many never before released tracks.
WS512: The Wood Brothers & Railroad Earth
THE WOOD BROTHERS are made up of Oliver and Chris Wood who grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Both brothers moved away from home and explored different musical paths. Chris went to New York City and soon formed Medeski Martin Wood. Meanwhile, Oliver soaked up the roots of blues, the soul of the south. Now The Wood Brothers have begun a collaboration that combines their influences of blues, folk, and rock music. The brothers’ new album, Loaded, is released on Blue Note Records.
RAILROAD EARTH is a bluegrass band whose music also incorporates folk, Celtic, jazz, and rock music. The band started out in 2001, and earned a spot at the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival that June. The band has never looked back and have just released their fourth studio album Amen Corner on SCI Fidelity Records.
WS 513: Celebration of the Nyckelharpa
PETER HEDLUND is considered Sweden’s leading traditional player of the modern chromatic nyckelharpa, having won the title World Champion twice, in 1992 and 2000. He earned the designation Riksspelman - Fiddler of the Realm - while still in his teens (1975). Peter's technique is unsurpassed. A current venture close to Peter's heart is his collaboration with Rita Leydon in the development and production of a three volume interactive Nyckelharpa Workshop in DVD format.
BLUE MOOSE & THE UNBUTTONED ZIPPERS are dynamic young string band based out of Boston. This quartet takes from the rooted traditions of many cultures including the nyckelharpa. Bronwyn Bird plays the traditional bowed stringed instrument from Sweden, where she lived and studied the instrument for a year. The evocative sound of Bronwyn's nyckelharpa and Mariel Vandersteel's hardanger fiddle, the traditional string instrument of Norway, is held together with the fiery tone of Andy Reiner's fiddle and the dynamic force of Stash Wyslouch's guitar. The band’s latest CD is The Antler Sessions.
Coming soon: WoodSongs Season 600 ...
PROGRAMMING and MEDIA CONTACT:
PBS and Public Radio Program Directors contact: radio@woodsongs.com or call 859-255-5700
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