Due to the high volume of fun this summer, I have been a little bit behind in posting these blogs and playlists for my radio shows. The show on Saturday, 8/17, just piled even more fun on the already prominent heap of fun that I’ve been involved with lately. This was the day, long planned, where folks from several Big Stir bands would visit me in my Sacramento radio studios.

These guys and gals were all traveling from the Los Angeles and Fresno areas to San Francisco, to be part of the IPO (International Pop Overthrow) music festival, and took a side trip to Sacramento for some radio fun. So here’s the lineup of who we crammed into my studio on that epic day:

Christina Bulbenko, Rex Broome, Larysa Bulbenko of The Armoires.
Blake Jones of Blake Jones & The Trike Shop
John Borack of Popdudes and The Test Pressings, who was filling in on drums for The Armoires on this tour.

In addition, Dean Seavers of Sacramento’s The Decibels hung out for a while, because he wanted to meet the Big Stir folks, and Evan Palley traveled up and down the state with the Big Stir delegation as well.

This was kind of an auspicious date as well. This particular weekend was the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock music festival. So to kind of honor this tradition–we had lots of people in the studio, and several live performances. (No drugs or mud, though.) This show was epic in every way, and you’ve got to listen–if only for the live performances and the laughter. These are a bunch of amazing musicians who do what they do for the love of the music, and I’m proud to call them all friends.

After two hours with Big Stir, they had to hit the road back to San Francisco. I tried to carry on all by myself for the last hour, but man, the afterglow of a wonderful visit kept going for hours. Check the bottom of this post for some bonus photos and videos from the day. Enjoy the show!
bigstirrecords.com
blakejonesmusic.com
John Borack’s Goldmine Magazine column
thedecibels.bandcamp.com

Artist | Track | Album
Pete’s Copter | Magic Circle | The Fowl Tone Sampler
Bellygunner | Negative Kid | Machine Gun Built For Two
Don Hawkins | Pricks And Stones | Stutter Step
Natalie Cortez & The Ultraviolets | She’s Better | Stupid Fresh Or Stupid Bad

Big Stir studio invasion
Blake Jones | Wednesday | (Live in studio)
Blake Jones | Soft Rock Girlfriend | (Live in studio)
The Armoires | Appalachukrainia | Zibaldone
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | Alchemy C’mere | MAKE
In Deed | Heart Attack | Everest
The Armoires | Pushing Forty | (Live in studio)
The Armoires | When We Were In England (And You Were Dead) | (Live in studio)
The Armoires | The Laws Have Changed | (Live in studio)
Popdudes | Desperation Time | Maximum Rock Stupidity
Trip Wire | Act Fast | Once & Always
The Morning Line | Nostradamus | North

Salt | A Song For Jerome | The Loneliness Of Clouds
Lannie Flowers | Good | (Single release)
JonEmery And The Unconventionals | If You Think You’re Heartbroken Now | Wrecked
Felsen | BFF OMG | Breaking Up With Loneliness
Rachel Taylor Brown | Up You | Run Tiny Human
Sean O’Brien and His Dirty Hands | Final Say | Risk Profile
Girls On Grass | Down At The Bottom | Dirty Power
The Corner Laughers | For The Sake Of The Cat | Ultraviolet Garden
Duncan Faure | Man Of A Thousand Dreams | Pronounced “Four-Uh”
Chris Church | Bell The Cat | Limitations Of Source Tape
The Bobbleheads | Do You? | Myths And Fables
Krista D | Penny For Your Thoughts | Look At Me I’m Krista D
Elk City | 25 Lines | Everybody’s Insecure

August 25, 2019
Categories: Playlists, Twirl Radio Events . . Author: twirlradio . Comments: Leave a comment

This week’s show was kind of epic. It had everything going on: thrills, spills, chills, and Doan’s Pills (old timey reference)! Ok, maybe not all of that, but still, a pretty big show. Lots to unpack here, so let’s take it from the top.

In the first hour, we met NYC-based singer-songwriter Janet LaBelle. We spoke about her exquisite little EP “I Only See You”, and her career as a songwriter in general. She started in the punk-pop band Avery in her teens, but moved into a style that was more suited to showcasing lyrics and her vocals. Her role model for production and arranging is Brian Wilson, and her attention to detail really shines through. Our chat was fun and lively. Check out Janet’s work at janetlabelle.com.

In the second hour, we were scheduled to chat with Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome of The Armoires and Big Stir Records. They literally released their second album, Zibaldone, the day before, so we wanted to talk about that. But The Armoires and I have an interesting history of phone interviews conducted from inside their car. The last time that happened they were in San Francisco, in the Haight district, and Marty Schneider of Trip Wire just happened by and said hello to them. This time, Christina and Rex were parked outside the site of the IPO (International Pop Overthrow) Festival in Los Angeles, and a couple of music luminaries not only said hello, but jumped into the car with them, and joined the interview, already in progress. So we got to say hello to writer John Borack, and the impresario behind IPO itself, David Bash! The conversation soon took a turn for the sillier–and I loved every second of it!
bigstirrecords.com goldminemag.com/blogs/power-pop-plus internationalpopoverthrow.com

And if that weren’t enough, the third hour brought us a visit with Lannie Flowers and Danny Wilkerson, two of the artists on Arlington, Texas’ Spyderpop Records, ahead of their Sacramento area appearance the following day. Lannie has been the flagship artist for the label for a decade, and is nearing completion of his next album, Home. Last year, Danny released his magnificent solo debut, Wilkerson, which made many year end “best of” lists (Editor’s note: including mine), and is just now starting to perform these amazing songs live. Those two, along with the legendary Bill Lloyd and the great Chris Church, are touring different parts of the country (currently in California), backed by the ace Lannie Flowers Band. We chatted about life on the road, and the current tour. (Editor’s other note: the show on Aug. 4th in Woodland, CA, was magnificent!)
spyderpop.com.

That’s a whole lot of radio show. I hope you enjoy it!

Artist | Track | Album
The Cherry Bluestorms | Roy Wood | Whirligig!
Holiday Flyer | It Shouldn’t Hurt So Bad | Blue Harvest
JonEmery | Britney Spears & Beers | Americana
The Bangles | In A Different Light | Different Light
The Imperial Sound | Yesterday | The New AM
Trip Wire | Bottle Rocket | Once & Always
R. Stevie Moore | Hurry Up | Afterlife

Janet LaBelle interview
Janet LaBelle | I Can’t Believe You Did That | I Only See You
Janet LaBelle | I Only See You | I Only See You

Bud Rogers | Intercity Mars | Starman
The Who | Pictures Of Lily | Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
Irene Peña | Must’ve Been Good | Single release
Richard X. Heyman | If You’re So Inclined | Pop Circles
Girls On Grass | Down At The Bottom | Dirty Power
The Chandler Travis Philharmonic | That’s What She Said (Clean) | Let’s Have A Pancake
Drunken Prayer | Cordelia | Cordelia Elsewhere

Christina Bulbenko, Rex Broome, John Borack, David Bash interview
The Armoires | Pushing Forty | Zibaldone
The Armoires | (How Did You Make) A Mistake Like Me | Zibaldone

Danny Wilkerson & Lannie Flowers interview
Bellygunner | Negative Kid | Machine Gun Built For Two
Bill Lloyd | What Time Won’t Heal | Working The Long Game
Wilkerson | Too Much Of A Good Thing | Wilkerson
Lannie Flowers | Flavor Of The Month | Single release

Anton Barbeau | Magazine Street | Natural Causes
Sunshine Boys | John Cage | Blue Music
Squeeze | Cool For Cats | Cool For Cats
Maxi Dunn | Change The Record | Edmund & Leo
Jody Porter | Valerie Sometimes | Pacifier
Rachel Taylor Brown | Up You | Run Tiny Human
Lost Leaders | People Like Us | Promises Promises

August 7, 2019
Categories: Playlists, Twirl Radio Events . . Author: twirlradio . Comments: Leave a comment