Uncle Jeff has been busy transcribing newly acquired 78s for use on the show. He had a good selection to share today. Some of the styles were so random that they never got very popular in their day, but now standout as prime examples of the progression of musical styles. Jeff used these tunes to his advantage in showing the crossover of bluegrass to country, and eventually rock and roll.

A new favorite of Jeff's is Billy Starr and I got a good taste from Jeff's A, B side pick, after which the big 2 of the Appalachian old time style, The Delmore Brothers and The Blue Sky Boys, were played back-to back.

The combination of smooth percussion, great guitar licks and ear catching vocals of "I Like It" by Sid King and The Five Strings got my vote for the most interesting trak of the show. Uncle Jeff described it as Rock-A-Billy, Western and Do-Wop wrapped up into a single tune... besides, it was a recommendation from Doc Martin.

"Death May Be His Santa Claus" mixed over Pet Drake's ,"Theme Drive" brought some real live religion to the show. Some of us need religion more than others. You know who you are.

Buffalo Springfield's "Kind Woman" had some superb pedal steel and was one of the early examples of its use in the rock and roll music scene. After that a Springfield fledgling, Neil Young, methodically pounded out a bluesy "Leave The Driving", new from the just released Greendale CD. If you read these notes then my approval of NY is nothing new. The last 2 minutes of this tune go to raw, blue chords backed by the big blue beat. In the September 4th Rolling Stone article, "The News According to Neil Young", he spills his guts about politics, creativity, and the current health of the music industry. Neil admits that the last album he bought was by Jimmy Reed and says, "I'm interested in the roots of the blues and folk music". He commented that 3 or 4 more albums would come before he's 6 feet under.

Several nice surf traks mixed in with the Spaghetti Western and a pedal steel instrumental by Japancakes moved the show to a more modern era. A drawn out Bob Dylan trak went on unchecked... Loki could not fight it from Pennsylvania. A few more traks including "Turn Your Radio On" and "Barndance Polka" brought the show to the final tune, "Skidrow", oddly enough a Richmond Fontaine sound check.

DeVotchKa will be playing at the Fox Theater on September 5th. I recommend this show... get your tickets asap! Make sure to check out Jesse Malin at Tulagi's on Sept 6th. Also, look for Pedal Steel Transmission, Sept. 20 at The Climax Lounge in Boulder.

Post show at the cabin.