WHAT'S IN A NAME? And 2 INVITATIONS

First an invitation---to tune into XM Radio on October 28 at 12 Noon (if you have XM) for a 2 hour version of TRADITIONS. You are able to get a free trial subscription at the XM Website.

The second invitation is to scoot over to THE ALMOST DAILY ROOSTER and have a peek at some telling topical videos.

Now, What's In A Name? It has struck me over some time that the name Kate seems to belong to a lot of truly wonderful singers and composers. Think of three that come to mind to me immediately---

KATE WOLF---much has been written about her in previous postings; along with some of her videos. Truly another one of the unique "Kate" voices with unique "Kate" thoughts.

KATE CAMPBELL who, as many of you know, was my guest on TRADITIONS on October 19 which coincided with the release of her 12th CD. Kate had not been on the program since 1998. The response to her appearance was just great. Besides great music---read my earlier review of the latest CD---she is one wonderful teller of tales and surely offers us great insights into what her muse is and her deep feelings about the things she writes about.

Best of all she is still awed by her peers. You may recall her excitement when she mentioned in the interview about her opening for John Prine soon. Also her thrill of having him on her new CD; and how it came about.

KATE LONG who you have heard many times on the program. Her unique voice brings the most emotion in to the works she has composed or covered. You may recall her wonderful version of "Corinthians" and, most moving of all, "McNamara's Tear".

Speaking of "McNamara's Tear"; through the good offices of Julie Gold who has been so taken by the piece after I sent it to her she has gotten her friend Nanci Griffith to take a good long listen to it and it is hoped recording of that will come out at some time.

Kate has a new CD out now with her musical partner, Robin Kessinger---"What We Do". You will be hearing pieces from it on November 2. Just brilliant work---amazing picking by Robin Kessinger, the unique voice of Kate in this live album from a concert in the Appalachian area from which they hail. One particular piece I am saving to play near the sad anniversary of the JFK assassination.

Well, there you have it----Kates. Three of them. Surely there are more. So, what's in a name? If you have any Kates you know of that I have neglected let me know---but please do spare me Kate Smith since the moon came over the mountain many years ago.

By the way a trivia question since Kate Smith came up---her announcer on radio (and more perhaps---mgr.?) was Ted Collins---anyone recall the slogan that started her daily radio shows in those long ago years? I do.

A PROGRAM UPDATE

This Sunday afternoon on TRADITIONS it is my pleasure to say that KATE CAMPBELL will be visiting the program She wrote me a day of so ago and suggested stopping by. We had last done an interview some 10 yrs ago and she felt this a good "anniversary" time for this.

Our first encounter was when her 3d album was released--"Visions of Plenty". Now---her 12th is here--"Save The Day". You can read my comments on that below

Rest assured she will, as always, prove to be the wonderful story teller she always is and also give us some insights into her life and career. Truly an artist not to be missed.

So, as the title of her CD suggests--"Save The Day"---October 19 from 3-6 PM. Or join us on the web at http://www.wfdu.fm/

KATE CAMPBELL --The Star Keeps Rising

I guess it was back in the late '90s when I first met Kate Campbell when I met her a New Jersey hotel for an interview. Her CD "Visions of Plenty" had just come out and it just blew me away. After viewing the cover of the CD I admit to trepidation because of all the tattoos on her hands---which she explained were just Red Henna.

We talked, then, of her southern roots and all the wonderful songs she had been composing about southern history and also how she had taught that for a time as well---at a college. Up to this point, if my count is correct, she has released 10 albums. She now gives us the 11th. It is another brilliant piece of work with some of the "greats" in this genre joining her. Among them---Nanci Griffith, John Prine,Pierce Pettis, Tom Kimmel and more.

Let's talk of this CD in a moment. A reminiscence, if you will, of her earlier work. From the recordings of Visions of Plenty, Moonpie Dreams, Monuments, and more her work has always changed---I won't say evolved. It is not better it is always excellent and different. Unlike, say, some novelists who write, basically, the same story she always offers us new insights and totally different thoughts and words. She knows how to paint word pictures ever so well--from things like Bus 109 and Funeral Food (Visions of Plenty) to a moving tale of a man who purchased Joe Louis' Furniture (Monuments). From religiosity in "For The Living of These Days" and "Wandering Strange" to the joyful "Twang on A Wire" (my own opinion---her composition was the best on that disc)

KATE CAMPBELL

The latest CD--Save The Day--is a piece of work to be savored for every individual track on it along with the insights and stories they offer. The booklet gives some insights into what her inspirations were for the songs she has composed; and I am still amazed at the volume of songs she has composed since the time I met her and before. Volumes of songs and not just quantity---quality.

From her opening track on this CD--Save the Day to the very last one Sorrowfree there is not a moment that one is not hooked on each piece and the story it tells. How many people knew of Henry Ford's strange vision of a city in South America to supply rubber for his cars--Fordlandia-- explains it all. The duet with John Prine--Looking For Jesus--is written (co-written w/ Walt Aldridge) is a true winner right up the alley of John Prine fans--of which I am one. Whereas, he writes simple lines that make a subtle point Kate writes longer lines that paint a great word picture. On the order of looking at a Matisse or a Monet and always seeing something new in there.

I will surely be featuring her newest work the next time I get to haunt you on TRADITIONS (10/5) but in the meantime you might want to visit her website and see about getting this recording---you really do need a Kate Campbell collection to go with the collections you may already have. Think about this---different genres of music have different stellar artists. In the classics one has to always think of Bernstein---or Lenny. Well, in this genre---let's call her Kate.

The website for Kate: http://www.katecampbell.com/ . Pretty original--right?

Topical Topics Continued---along with an ANNOUNCEMENT

We will let the announcement go for the end.

In the previous post you noted a link to a video on Sarah Palin on The Almost Daily Rooster. The video is from YouTube.

On You Tube one is able to make comments about the videos being presented---and some are truly awful ones submitted by people with, I assume, either a lot of time on their hands or really huge egos. Yet, there are some great ones---entertainers, programs, and all kinds of interesting material from the past and the present. Sorry--the future is not there yet--who knows maybe they can do that as well soon.

Sadly, there is a bit of censorship going on. I don't mean about obscene material because that is properly banned---though there is one piece labeled "Sarah Palin" that did get through--shamefully. The censorship comes from a video of her acceptance speech at the RNC. Many comments---all favorable. Any comment that would be negative (I tried) does not get posted. This is exactly what the Chinese Government does with Internet access. Albeit this is on a smaller scale. Another video is one submitted by CBS featuring Matt Damon---complimentary comments on Mr. Damon are posted. All others are not and the note on top says that the site is not accepting comments. Matt Damon, by the way, was negative about The Huntress. So who it is that denies negative comments I cannot say. What I can say, however, is that the ultimate responsibility lies with the purveyors of YouTube---and, yes, they are a part of Google as is this site.

If you have been waiting for the announcement---I sure know how to make the headline the sub-text---here it is:

XM RADIO--on October 28 I have been invited to air a 2 hour version of TRADITIONS on their Channel 15 (The Village Liberation). I believe it will air at 12 Noon Eastern Time. Best check on the web if you have access to XM and if you are interested. If you are not interested I fault you not---we'll still be compatriots in this area of niche interests.

Topical Topic

Always intrigued when people can write great parodies and even more impressed when they address some topical issues.

Click on the right side for The Almost Daily Rooster and see one of these brilliant pieces.

Nice and brief today---as Shakespeare once told us "brevity is the soul of wit"--strangely it was said by the one character who never kept his mouth shut. Anyone recall (without Google) who that might be?

OH--kids just don't dress that nicely anymore!

SOME NOSTALGIA AND SOME COMMENTS

Thinking about the segment on the program of late regarding the WPAT program of the 1950s (and late 1940s) by Dave Miller---slogan Thrills of The Hills, Tops in Pops, and Best in the West I got to thinking of something that I wondered about when cigarette advertising was going to be verboten on radio and TV. What would replace it? We surely have found out--we own luxury cars, our breath must be better, our sexual functions are enhanced, and our teeth are ever so much whiter.

I found this great clip on YouTube that I really think you might enjoy as a look at the past and how advertising could make us believe all that great scientific evidence ---through double talk---about the healthy attributes of tobacco. I also, then, was a believer.

A little nostalgia with Perry Como, Hank Snow (best part of the program) and the main reason for this the commercials.



We had the country, Perry Como, but most important how advertising insinuated itself--and still does---into our minds. I hope your Chesterfields gave all the ads promised---other than emphysema. Well, they did not promise that anyway. Truth in advertising.

Might I know urge you to scoot over to THE ALMOST DAILY ROOSTER by clicking on the right side of the page and we can talk of other things not related to the radio program(s).