WWJRD – Page 4 – New City Soundtrack

WWJRD 03: Modern Life

This is my favorite show so far. Things just kind of fell into place with this one and it all seemed to work really well. There’s an old timey quality to the opening tracks that then slips into something a little crunchier later in the set. The whole thing keeps the vibe of last month’s Lazy Sunday thing. Honestly, after this set I was half tempted to lean into that and make the Lazy Sunday vibe the official sound of this project. Then Rhiannon Giddens messed all that up in a really beautiful way.

If you’re not familiar with Rhiannon Giddens it’s worth your time to look into her work. She’s still probably best known as a founding member of The Carolina Chocolate Drops, an ensemble that reasserted black voices in string band music, but her solo work since has been varied (Rhiannon studied opera at Oberlin Conservatory before forming CCD so she has a varied background) and award winning.

Back in April Rhiannon was the first guest on Adia Victoria’s new podcast Call & Response. It’s a wonderful 30 minute discussion that left me thinking about the stories we hear in the music we surround ourselves with. Then a little later I finally got a chance to see Reclaiming History: Our Native Daughters (trailer), a documentary about the Our Native Daughters project that Rhiannon put together (more on that below). That pushed forward a lot of the questions that the podcast had left me with.

After that I found myself wanting to experiment more with this project. To use it as a way that challenges the stories I surround myself with with the music that I listen to. This style of episode will likely continue to be the dominant style, but there will be detours into different areas. The next two episodes are examples of those detours. I’m not sure that they’re as clean as this episode, but I’m excited by the challenge. It’s leading me to dig back into older albums that I haven’t listened to in awhile and dig into my “I need to check that band out sometime” list. Both of which are good things in my book.

Track List/Show Notes

Moon Meets the Sun– Our Native Daughters – Songs of Out Native Daughters
You can probably tell from the above comments that when Rhiannon Giddens drops a new project, I pay attention. When that project includes the likes of Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell; three black women who, in my opinion at least, are some of the most interesting new artists out there right now; I’m all over it! We’re going to hear from Leyla and Amythyst later in this set. Expect to hear something from Allison’s new album in a future episode.
Do Wrong Right– The Devil Makes Three – Do Wrong Right
The Capitalist Blues– Leyla McCalla – The Capitalist Blues
Why’d Ya Do It– Sierra Ferrell – Jeremiah/Why’d Ya Do It
Preacher’s Daughter– The Whiskey Gentry – Please Make Welcome
A Better South– American Aquarium – Lamentations
Family Wars– EmiSunshine – Family Wars
Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time– Becky Warren – War Surplus
Black Myself– Amythyst Kiah – Wary + Strange
There’s a more acoustic version of this track on the Our Native Daughters album. When I first heard Amythyst rerecorded the track for this album I was a little disappointed because I wanted to hear something new. Then I heard this electric take on the song and I’m over the moon. Know that I’ve tried to shoe horn this track into several playlists, and I may have completely reengineered the back half of this set to finally include it here. May be.
Cold Civil War– Matt Woods – Natural Disasters
Paradise– John Prine – John Prine
If this is your first encounter with the singing mailman John Prine, do yourself a favor and pick this album up. It’s a classic album with way to many classic songs for a debut.
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards– Billy Bragg – Must I Paint You A Picture?
Look The Other Way– Katie Pruitt – Look The Other Way
Resist– Rev Sekou – In Times Like These

Once again, thank you for listening and if you’re enjoying this little project I’d love it if you can leave a comment. Is there a track that you really dug? Something that you think I should check out? I’d love to hear it, thanks.

WWJRD 02: Lazy Sundays

The process of creating these playlists is kind of an intuitive process that I just have to let unfold. My first attempts didn’t really work and I realized I was thinking about them to much. Trying to be to clever. Now these things are as much a journey for me as they are for you. May be even more so since I’m drawing you this map after I finally get back home.

All of this is to say that this one took a quick turn early and led me off somewhere I didn’t expect. That’s my explanation for that little shift between the second and third song. I thought about smoothing that out a little, but decided it was part of the process and so I’ll leave it in. It made sense at the time, though now I’m not sure why.

Track List/Show Notes

Revival– The Allman Brothers Band – Idlewild South
Mercury in Retrograde– Sturgill Simpson – Sound and Fury
Cheap Silver– Mike and the Moonpies – Cheap Silver And Solid Country Gold
May Your Kindness Remain– Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain
When Doves Cry– Sarah Jarosz – Spotify Singles
A little set of three covers. I found this track on a exclusive Magnolia Record Club album that collected about a dozen covers that had been recorded for Spotify. There were several that I thought about including here, but in the end I went with this one because I liked how stripping the song down to it’s bones really brought out how solid a song this is.
Rockin In The Free World– Larkin Poe – Kindred Spirits
The sisters behind Larkin Poe have been releasing little videos for awhile now where they cover different songs, just the two of them. In the beginning of 2020 they announced that they were going to collect several of their favorite covers and release them as the album Kindred Spirits. What drew me to this song in particular is the same thing that grabbed my about the previous track. By stripping out the noise and fury the words that Neil Young wrote are front and center. And that trash can haunts my dreams.
Standing on the Moon– Molly Tuttle – …but i’d rather be with you
Here we have one of my favorite Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia tracks from the Grateful Dead. And again, the stripped down nature of the performance really puts the spotlight on Hunter’s words and reminds us of the poetry that came out of that man.
Take Me Away– Morgan Wade – Reckless
I Could Have Been an Angel– Sean McConnell – Secondhand Smoke
My first exposure to Sean was when this album popped up in my mailbox as the Magnolia Record Club Record of the Month. I remember listening to it, thinking it was ok and then shelving it away. Flash forward to the next summer and I’m sitting in the beer garden at Floyd Fest on a beautiful day, drinking blackberry wine and listening to Sean’s set. The album has been a favorite ever since. A perfect example of the role that Set and Setting play in music and why I do not understand people who listen to an album once or twice and then write it off. Some of my favorite artists took me years to get into.
When You’re Ready– Brian Fallon – Local Honey
Be More Kind– Frank Turner – Be More Kind
Half Alive– Hey King! – Hey King!
Then there are people like Hey King! Wannabe posted the video for thier song Road Rage on Facebook in advance of his review of the album. I watched the video once, per-ordered their debut album and then went and listened to anything else I could find from them.
Giant– ZZ Ward – Giant
I don’t remember how I first found ZZ Ward, but it was sometime between her first and second albums. She dropped three singles before the shut down (and before she had her first kid) and I have to admit I’m really intrigued with where this is going. It’s still ZZ Ward, but there’s a maturity to the song writing that feels really fresh and interesting. Giant is a good example of this and why I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes.
Crowded Table– The Highwomen – The Highwomen

Once again, thank you for listening. If you’re enjoying this little project I’d love it if you can leave a comment. Is there a track that you really dug? Something that you think I should check out? I’d love to hear it, thanks.

WWJRD 01: Beginnings

It all started as an idle thought, what would it sound like if Columbia had its own radio station? This lead to the follow up question, what kind of show would I do for this station, if given a shot? I mean, what’s the point of a music fan inventing a hypothetical radio station if not to give themself a show on that station? Fast forward through a couple months of quarantine and the idea morphed into something different. Just because Columbia doesn’t have a radio station, doesn’t mean I can’t do a radio show. Inspired by music podcasts like Nine Bullets Radio, I started putting together playlists with the plan of eventually doing a little radio show podcast thing to keep from going crazy. Then work got in the way and another project came up. I kept making playlists, but I didn’t have the time to record breaks and edit it all together. So I came up with WWJRD as a way to get the idea out there and not die on the vine while I work on other things.

The idea is to release new playlists on Spotify and 8tracks. I have three playlists done already and those will be going up soon. After that, I need to figure out how often these go out. Show notes will be released here when they do go out, so this will be the place to check if something has been dropped.

If you enjoy this please leave a comment. I’m just doing this as a hobby to occupy myself, but I’d still appreciate any comments folks have.

FAQ for a project that no one knows about yet

I figured the station would be a cross between 90s WAMU and 70s WHFS, though I confess I’m not sure exactly what that would sound like.
WWJRD stands for What Would Jim Rouse Do? It seems to be the question that defines Columbia more then any other.
These playlists will likely lean heavily on a broad definition of Americana. Some country, some folk, some retro r&b and soul, etc. Most of the songs will be newer tracks, but older stuff will be peppered through out and may get more prevalent if I can remember more of them.

WWJRD Episode 01: Beginnings

Track List/Show Notes

Love Like There’s No Tomorrow – The War and Treaty – Healing Tide
I feel like if we’re going to do this, this is an appropriate place to start. Consider it a mission statement of sorts, or may be a goal is a better term. Something to strive for, if not always achieve.
O Be Joyful – Shovels and Rope – O’ Be Joyful
Ancestors – Miko Marks and the Resurrectors – Our Country
The WS Walcott Medicine Show – The Band – Live At The Academy Of Music 1971
The album Rock of Ages was made from live recordings of The Band with a four piece horn section. This box set collects the rest of that run at The Academy of Music in ’71. If you love the group already, this is a good box set to pick up. If you’re not already a fan, pick up Rock of Ages and then come back to this after you realize how good that album is.
Family – Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors – Dragons
Riding High – NEEDTOBREATHE – Out of Body
Jackpot – Nikki Lane – Highway Queen
You Don’t Mess Around With Jim – Jim Croce – Photographs and Memories
Jim Croce is an artist that I first heard in the backseat of my parent’s station wagon. When I was young, it was songs like this one and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown that caught my eye. The swagger of the beat and the colorful characters grabbing hold of my imagination. As I got older I developed an appreciation for the artistry of songs like Operator or Time In A Bottle. Jim was a master of the form.
To Rise You Gotta Fall – Nicki Bluhm – To Rise You Gotta Fall
Give You Up – Morgan James – Memphis Magnetic
I had tickets to see Morgan James at The Soundry but for some reason didn’t make it. If memory serves, it would have been the last show I saw at that place before the new owners of Clydes decided to close both places down. As things are opening up, I’m really missing that place. I hope someone decides that’s a hole that needs to be filled and does so quickly. Listening to shows coming back to The Chrysalis from my balcony leaves me thinking that the new Merriweather District could be a natural fit, but I may be biased. I could literally see The Soundry from my old balcony and living that close to live music is a wonderful thing, even if I didn’t take advantage of it enough.
Rican Beach – Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator
If you were a fan of the TV show Treme, you may remember the coffee shop that Sofia Bernette worked at in the second season. There was a group of train kids who hung outside the shop and played music. In one episode a young woman in this crowd plays a song. That woman was Alynda Segarra of Hurrary For The Riff Raff. That was my introduction to her and it’s one of the reasons I loved that show. Seriously, that show was a master class in the full extent of the New Orleans music scene.
Llano Estacado – Carrie Rodriguez – Lola
South Gotta Change – Adia Victoria – South Gotta Change
Love And Trust – Mavis Staples – Live in London
There’s no other way to properly end this inaugural episode of WWJRD then to hand the pulpit over to Mavis Staples and let her preach. Only a fool wouldn’t listen.

Thanks for listening and as I said before, if you enjoyed this little playlist and would be interested in hearing more, please leave a comment and let me know, it really would be appreciated. I’d love to hear what you thought of the artists that were in this first batch. May be who you would like to hear in a future playlist. Or anything else that you feel like throwing out, I’d love to hear from you.