Saturday, September 14, 2013

TURNTABLE, CAR RADIO, WALKING AROUND, WORD OF MOUTH



I've seen a couple of shows in KC so far: Hero Worship, a B52's cover band featuring old friends, at Mini Bar. And Drop a Grand, a balls out punk rock and roll band, also featuring old friends, at Record Bar.

I mostly listen to blues and soul shows on KKFI, which is equivalent to Eugene's KRVM or Portland's KBOO. The young band I've heard most about is Radkey, a trio of brothers from St. Joe, all under or around twenty years old, who play rock and roll with kind of a punk angle to it. The singer sounds like Glen Danzig, Misfits-era.

As I was ramping up to leave Eugene, on a pretty compressed schedule, I listened mainly to Brazilian music, because it was soothing and beautiful and a little melancholy. Blues and soul have been my thing since I got here. I've been asking people if there any old timers that a label like Fat Possum would support but so far I'm not getting any hits on that. I also googled Big Joe Turner's birthplace or childhood home and did not get any hits on that, either.

My favorite moment so far was listening to a DJ announce his set. He referred to Michael Jackson as "the late Michael Jackson." Zero irony, zero college-radio smirk, just respect.
The late Michael Jackson, one of the greatest popular music artists, ever. This town is much older than towns in the region I moved from.

It has been humid, in the 90's and topping 100 a couple days. I liked it.