After ten years at a National Public Radio station in Chicago, Mike Lidskin returned to California in 1997 and created Twirl Radio, a weekly two hour radio program which features the finest independent music and artists from the rock era. Mike’s on a mission to not “just spin rock music, but to educate listeners about this vital art form.” Indeed, he doesn’t just announce the songs, but gives histories about some of the artists, the albums, and the songs themselves.
You can catch Twirl live each Saturday afternoon, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM PST on Sacramento’s Voice, KUBU 96.5 FM, and archived right here, as well as at http://www.twirlradio.com. If you haven’t headed into your Saturday night with an earful of Twirl, you’re doing it wrong!
Artist | Track | Album
Lisa Mychols | Domino | Sugar
The Gold Needles | My Summer’s Angel | Pearls
Pugwash | Everyone Knows That You’re Mine | Silverlake
Krista D | You & Me | Look At Me I’m Krista D
Bud Rogers | Caught In A Wheel | Whiteout
Maxi Dunn | Always Be My Friend | Welcome To Soonville
Dave Weckerman interview
Yung Wu | Spinning | Shore Leave
Yung Wu | Big Day | Shore Leave
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | Alchemy C’mere | MAKE
Lannie Flowers | Good | Single release
Gretchen’s Wheel | Tatyana | Black Box Theory
Steve Barton | Gimme Your Hand | Tall Tales & Alibis 3
Duncan Faure | All At Once | Pronounced “Four-Uh”
Sunshine Boys | Caroline Yes | Blue Music
Little Jimmy Giant | I Think You Think I Think So | The Fowl Tone Sampler
Anton Barbeau | Magazine Street | Natural Causes
Jesse Ainslie interview
Jesse Ainslie | Back To Texas | Only In The Dark
Jesse Ainslie | Only In The Dark | Only In The Dark
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS:
This week’s show featured a pair of interviews. We started off with Dave Weckerman, percussionist of the legendary New Jersey band The Feelies. The Feelies have always been known for their propulsive, minimalist sound, and have amassed quite a following outside their local area–that’s why folks like me have heard of them and enjoyed their music over the years. Back in 1988, they started doing side projects, and spin-off groups.
The first of these was Yung Wu–pretty much the same Feelies lineup, but led by Dave Weckerman, who wrote most of the songs on their album “Shore Leave”. Well, things being as they were, the original vinyl album went out of print. The great Bar/None Records decided to re-release Shore Leave this year, and now, it’s finally available for we lovers of excellent indie music. I had a fun little chat with Dave about the album, and we played a couple of tracks from it. You should get it for yourself, and support this great band and great record label. http://www.bar-none.com/yung-wu/
In the second hour, I had the chance to meet Jesse Ainslie. The former Phosphorescent guitarist and vocalist started his career in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina punk rock scene. He traveled the country for a couple of years, migrated to New York City, and then, about a year ago, migrated again to yet another musical capital, Los Angeles.
He even had the distinction of playing on stage with Willie Nelson. How do you follow that up? Well, he just released his first proper solo record, “Only In The Dark”, and it is really good. Mixing rock ‘n’ roll with some Americana influences, it ventures into some personal themes for Jesse. Soundwise, if you think Neil Young and Crazy Horse, you’re kind of in the right neighborhood. It’s a strong record jam packed with great songs, so check it out here: https://jesseainslie.bandcamp.com/
Oh–and we also heard new music from Lisa Mychols, played song 6 of 6 from Krista D’s ep, and even heard from Little Jimmy Giant’s dad, Big Jimmy! I’d say we got our money’s worth out of the two hours we’re allotted each week for Twirl.
