So I didn't mention this last week (couldn't stand the pressure of thousands and thousands of extra people tuning in I suppose ;) but last Thursday night my mate Jerry and I kicked off our new latenight radio show, Lost Highway. I mentioned it in passing last Wednesday but from there gears and wheels started turning rapidly in the 2XXfm behemoth and before we knew it we were being parachuted in to the slot.
I have to say, it was a lot of fun. Jerry has a phenomenal knowledge of music in this genre (primarily the North American stuff not surprisingly as a Canuck, but still...) and an enthusiasm to match and in many ways it was just like an extended chat which just happened to involve playing a whole bunch of music in a "have you heard much of these guys" kind of way.
Co-presenting was pretty cool, it can get a little boring sometimes doing a radio show ( for those who came in late, I also present Monday Sunset on 2XXfm - 4 to 6pm) but having someone to chat to during tracks - particularly when you're able to share a bit of info about a new artist - is great.
(Incidentally, I was chatting to the Pussycat last night about the possibility of some kind of weekly radio serial for Sunset, stay tuned for more on that down the road.)
The response to the debut show was encouraging - well Pussycat said she really liked it - and it was fun (and my musical repertoire is slowly growing) so it's all good.
We haven't entirely worked out who will be on when - Jerry is out of town a bit and I've been caught up with the joys of study (2 down and 1 to go :) but we'll either alternate or co-present when possible.
I can't remember what Jerry played - I don't think I'd really heard much of many of the artists (there was some Neko Case I'm pretty sure and a bit of Lucinda Williams) but my contributions included:
- Woke up this morning(acoustic)-Alabama 3 (the opening track for the show)
- Shark Fin Blues - The Drones
- Chinito Chinito - Ry Cooder
- My Tennessee Mountain Home - Dolly Parton
- Make it count - Barb Waters and Kim Salmon
- Ramblin' Man - The Beasts of Bourbon
- California Stars - Billy Bragg and Wilco
- Smokin' Johnny Cash - The Black Eyed Susans
- My Margherita - The Cruel Sea
- Ring of fire - Ed Kuepper
If you like your tunes with a little twang (or blues/roots/etc - probably not a lot of synth or sampling) then why don't you flick on the wireless tonight and check it out. (No streaming as yet I'm afraid - one day though I'm assured)
