NOT THAT YOU ASKED

But I'll tell you anyway.

TRADITIONS: I am planning on returning to the program for our year end program wherein Ron and I present the recordings of the past year that we found very meaningful. While we will also recall the people we lost this year I will offer my thanks for not being among them and also offer thanks to all of you have kept me in your thoughts and prayers. The letters and cards more were touching and meaningful. I do notice that with the poor auto sales none of you rushed out to buy a bargain gift for me.
In all honesty; your thoughts and cards were more meaningful. I was not able to drive for a time in any case.

SUNDAY SIMCHA: All of the above. You may have noted that since the end of Oct. the programs have been "encores"---fancy word for "repeats". Starting Dec. 14 the shows will once again be new. Don 't forget we have to have a Hannukah (spell it anyway you like) party. So get out the dreydls and lets place a few large wagers.

Finally, please look at the new videos on the right. My sincere sense of loss with the passing of Odetta. A few nice videos of Junior Brown brought to mind by one of our listeners to whom I promised more of him last time I was on in October

A PERSONAL UPDATE

First off, my sincerest thanks to my co-host, Ron Olesko for his caring and concern for my illness and for covering the program he created these many moons ago. Also my thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and concerns--- as Julie Gold wrote to one of my doctors---"...he's got a good heart, no wonder he needed a brain adjustment"

I am in good company---thankfully, Reggie Harris is recovering, as is Odetta. Also, yours truly.

I expect to be back at WFDU in about a month. Meanwhile I will recuperate at my daughter's house, and spend quality time with my kids and grandkids.

Again, my thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts==especially my daughters who insisted on my going to the ER and finding out why I had this ongoing headache. Turns out it was more serious than I thought and my surgeon was an amazing artist-=--hell, I never played the piano before---and still don't (I guess my surgeon wasn't that good).

Seriously, this is a life changing experience and really puts life and its meaning into perspective. Luckily, I have no diminution (like that $5 word?) of motor skills and am counting my blessings. Now, I finally have something impressive to say at the thanksgiving dinner table.

See you on WFDU shortly.

AN XM UPDATE

The program I mentioned for airing on 10.28 has been re-scheduled for November 8.


FROM XM RADIO:
======================================================
Village Liberation w/ Bill Hahn of WFDU
Tues, Nov 8 12 noon

Join us to celebrate folk radio in North America with The Village Liberation. XM15 will bring you the best folk DJs in the US and Canada as only Satellite Radio can do. Travel across the land right with your favorite folk DJ from the comfort of your coffee table. This week (11/8) at 12 noon: Bill Hahn of WFDU!
=====================================================
Eastern Time:
Tuesday Nov 25, noon,
Friday Nov 28, midnight
Pacific Time:
Tues Nov 25, 9 AM,
Friday Nov 28, 9 PM
2 hour

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?