Why radio still rules

Scanning the radio dial frequency by frequency turns up the darndest things.
106.7-FM in Harrisburg, which was known for the longest time as Mix 106.7, has an eyebrow-raising new persona: CHANNEL 106.7, HIP-HOP, HAIR BANDS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!

A segue from "Jump Jump" by Kriss Kross ....




into "Down Boys" by Warrant....



was WIGGITY-WIGGITY-WIGGITY WACK, yo!!!

Variety in radio can be like a loaded gun sometimes. It was extreme music style shifts like that that killed top 40 radio circa 1988 through about 1994.
But I said something similar back when 95.7 Ben-FM hit the airwaves in Philly. "A format for radio nerds? It'll never sell," I scoffed. Well, they're still there, so what do I know?
Props to Channel 106.7 for taking a chance with this experiment. With satellite radio, all those iTunes channels, Pandora, and more competing for people's ears, you have to do something to stand out.

Enunciate, please!

Amy Winehouse, who over the weekend joined what Kurt Cobain's mom referred to as "that stupid club," got me thinking about that group of stars that perished at the age of 27.
Jim Morrison, whose larger than life mystique Amy Winehouse will never reach (she probably will in England, but the Brits are weird), was a tremendous writer and showman (or is it shaman?) but didn't always articulate his lyrics. Just what exactly is he singing in the opening line of "L.A. Woman?"
To encourage more commenting interaction here at Talk about the Passion, I'm posting a poll.

WHO HAS THE SLOPPIEST DICTION/ENUNCIATION IN ROCK?

A.) J. Mo.




B.) Mick Jagger



C.) Elton John



D.) John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)


E.) Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)

Free (quality) beer in the mail :-)

It sounded too good to be true.
A beer company, for some reason, needed public relations help in getting the word out about its new brew, and my new friends, KKPR in upstate Pa., wanted ME to have a look at a press kit. Two weeks later, the package from East Coast Beer Company in Point Pleasant, N.J. arrived with three bottles of Beach Haus "classic American pilsner."
My expression here says it all. A crumb had fallen from God's table.
Smooth - check. Golden - check. Full-bodied - check. It's a craft brew without being too pretentious - a difficult balance to strike.
Even more scintillating is the two guys that run East Coast wanted Beach Haus to be something you'd want to leisurely sip at the beach, and something that hearkened back to the German-American type beers that were made before prohibition.
Prohibition was truly a dark time in American history. But then after our nation came to its senses, and the 21st Amendment legalized alcoholic beverages, beers were made with rice and corn. These ingredients did their job in the fermentation process, but made the mass produced American beers decidedly bland.
The skinny on Beach Haus is East Coast Beer Company is finally branching out from being Jersey-only, and into Pennsylvania and New York. I can't wait to get my hands on a case of this at local distributors!
Better still, East Coast's Beach Haus has a spinoff blog site, www.celebratetherealjerseyshore.com.
Haha - take that, MTV!!!

Oh those kooky kids!

Chester County sisters Cassandra, Anna Christie and Beatrice Sadler have been singing in one way or another since they were little. The three sisters - Sisters 3 - also have five other siblings, and Cassandra once told me in 2008 that she and her two younger sisters started singing as a way to keep all those young'uns entertained or lull them to sleep.
Released this month on the New York-based indie record label Modern Vintage Recordings is Sisters 3's second formal album, "Coruscate at the Meadow Gate." The group's quirky, vocal based, alternative folk/pop moves in rather esoteric directions at times, but the first five tracks on this CD are surprisingly accessible. The sisters' harmonies are tight and gorgeous and the production is first rate.
"You are the truest blue I ever knew/Never saw a shooting star fall as pretty as you do," they sing on "Wolfpack."
It's only with track 6, "Apocalypse," where things start veering off in odd lyrical and musical directions. Sisters 3's trademark weirdness comes to a crescendo with "Alien Baby," which ends with the sisters harmonizing the pat-a-cake/jump rope song "Miss Mary Mack," and breaking down in hysterical laughter (guess you had to be there). Closing tracks "My Little Heart" and "Pleased to Meet You" restore order once more.
Gotta give Sisters 3 props for being so fiercely original and individualistic.
Listen to The Sisters 3's "Coruscate at the Meadow Gate" here

Scribbles in my notebook

As The Reporter's Page One Editor, Dan Sharer, recently said, "No journalist enjoys covering Election Day."
However, the primary that was just held contained a chance meeting that sparked a new fire in what I do.
In chatting up Lansdale resident Herman Ahrens on his way in to vote, his wife (whose name escapes me) saw my press badge and recognized my name from reading The Reporter.
She said: "They should give you a column and run your picture with it." Evidently she thinks I'm a handsome fellow.
Not knowing if this charming senior couple that I had engaged were blog readers or not, I said that I already do, sort of, with Talk about the Passion.
I learned that not only did the Ahrens' son write for a newspaper in Ohio, but that at one point, he was blogging daily, comparing and contrasting Christianity, Islam and Judaism, when he was abroad in Spain, Egypt and Israel. The elder Ahrens is an old school journo himself, having gone through the University of Missouri Journalism program in the 1940s.
Mr. Ahrens asked about my career path, remarked that The Reporter's editorial cartoons sometimes don't have much of a point, and almost shared what sounded like were going to be strong opinions on the primary election. That was when his wife gently censored him and guided him toward the voting booths.
"She's my best editor," Ahrens said.

Good old-fashioned bluegrass jamming

Since 2003, the Doylestown Jam has brought live bluegrass music every Wednesday evening to the Hilltown German Hungarian Sportmen's Club, 1622 Hilltown Pike, Hilltown.

Acoustic instrument players of all levels of experience are invited to join in, starting at 7:30 p.m., to pick 'n' grin through bluegrass, roots and Americana tunes. And it's free.

How cool is that? You don't have to be a seasoned musician - just show up. That's true folk music ethos, right there!

Weather permitting, the Doylestown Jam is held outside, otherwise it's in the club's banquet room.

Go to www.myspace.com/thedoylestownjam or e-mail hilltown5string@yahoo.com to learn more.

Philadelphia Folk Festival lineup announced

Fifty years is a long time to be doing anything!

It's been a half-century for the Philly Folk Fest, the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America, they say.

The Golden Anniversary edition takes place August 19-21 at the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, and will very much pay tribute to its musical roots.

“We looked to a theme of 'Past, Present and Future',” says Lisa Schwartz, President of the Philadelphia Folksong Society, which produces and presents the annual summer festival. “We really want to honor our musical lineage and highlight not only the heritage artists, but also the new traditionalists who will help to teach future generations to love folk music.”

Among the top attractions at the 50th Annual PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL celebration is:

Arlo Guthrie – David Bromberg Big Band – Jorma Kaukonen
The Campbell Brothers – The Kennedys – Angel Band
Joel Plaskett Emergency – The Wood Brothers
Tom Paxton – Tom Rush – Dala – Tempest – Madison Violet
Give & Take Jugglers – The Great Groove Band – Dan Bern
Justin Townes Earle – John Hartford String Band – David Amram – The Battlefield Band John Flynn – Elizabeth Butters – Alexis P. Suter Band
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys – Runa
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen – Wilderness of Manitoba
Kim & Reggie Harris – Roy Book Binder – Footworks – Caitlin Rose
Brad Hinton – Burning Bridget Cleary – The Berrys
and more to be announced at a later date!

“Collaboration will be the key focus this year,” said the festival's artistic director, Richard Kardon.

“Imagine the possibilities,” said the other artistic director, Jesse Lundy.

Indeed. What if Arlo was joined on stage by the David Bromberg Big Band?