Deeper Roots Radio Podcast

Someone once suggested that country songs about heartache and lost love sound the same as country songs about good times and happy days. Is it just the wailing fiddle intro often referred to as the “fiddle kickoff” that neutralizes the emotional jar of joy or grief that causes a reaction like that? Or is it just country songwriting is geared towards the simple task of expressing emotions in the terms of everyday life? No matter the reason, we'll be taking on a country-themed collection of songs about heartaches this week in the show. We'll do this by walking through some of the golden greats from the Golden Age of Country Music where the ways of the heart were a common theme and, thus, the heartache was an easy rhythmic mark for the country songwriter. We'll share the Walkers' Charlie and Billy, Jimmie Skinner, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizzell, Patsy, George and Stonewall among a couple dozen others, all with a message that speaks to country heartaches; and may we also say that there was plenty of fodder to draw from. Drop in…and don't forget the hankies.

Jazz, rhythm and all the very best of blues and swing from the past century, reaching as far back as the thirties and taking in some of rock royalty from the early fifties. This week we're snapping fingers and cutting the rug with some of the very greats including Wynonie Harris, Buddy Johnson, The Five Royales, The Cadillacs, and a touch of gospel vocal majesty from Marie Knight and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The themes are wide-ranging, taking us from the woodshed to the urban streets and some Cadillac competitions and we'll also get with the stuff that's arrived and is oh so mellow. Night trains, sugar lumps, boogie woogie daddies and tall skinny papas rule the roost. Don't miss out, even if you're a night owl you'll want to take these sounds with you into the early hours of tomorrow. Let me off uptown, would ya?

A curious theme, indeed! We're talking ‘questions', naturally. And don't you think it's time we got around to this theme? There was no shortage of ammunition…songs that end with that curly-que that has been the topic of many theories. One such theory suggests that it originate from the Latin word “quaestio” which, shortened to “qo”, would evolve into the symbol we recognize today. Each and every track in the show today delivers that terminating mark in search of an answer. We've heard of answer songs, but what about these question songs and most demand good answers because, well, they're good questions. Jazz, country, rock ‘n roll, and everything in between with selections from The Lovin' Spoonful, Dan Hicks, The Robins, Joe Liggins and Bo Diddley are just a sampling of the nearly three dozen songs with “good questions” theme. Where would we be without music? Don' have that answer but I'm guessing I don't want to know.

 It's finger poppin' time…time to have a blast with some breakout party rockers from the mid-century.  All for a good time with soul and roll and rhythm as the main course in today's show. It's all about those percussive rocking beats. Call it a party full of boogie, mojo, twistin' and shaking. We've lit the fuse for a dynamite celebration of rebellious rock and cool upbeat soul rhythms with the music of Freddy Cannon, The Swingin' Medallions, The Showstoppers and Ann Cole with an out of control party mix…just in time for our first show of May. KOWS Community Radio brings the fresh sounds of today, yesterday and tomorrow 24/7, with the very best of political and community discourse. You can tune us in on 92.5 FM in West Sonoma County or just drop by our stream on your Radio Rethink app, Alexa, Radio Garden, Tunein, or Radio Box. We're here for you and Deeper Roots will be pitching a wang dang doodle this coming Friday morning here on member-supported radio for planet Earth. 

This week‘s show brings us echoes of resistance from the past because there's a storm brewing, stirring from the louder voices of people recognizing that fascism has settled in. People in this country are getting organized around a common anger that democracy and freedom is being taken from them. The political fortification led by Republican leadership co-opted by white nationalism and support for the gestapo tactics must be held in check and the voices of the ballot box will be the final determination; that is, if there is time. Music this week features Roy Zimmerman, Billy Bragg, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and a whole host of sounds from the past century whose musical voices raged when fascism and autocracy attempted to take hold. Money is the root of this evil, make no mistake. There is always hope, however, and we need to be here for each other while practicing self-care with family and friends. The storm clouds are now above us and it's up to all of us. Now. Not later.

From a song about dirty little religions to a song about Joanie the Jehovah Witness Stripper, we'll be going all out from up and down with genre celebrations from the past century where music reflects the inspiration from church on Sunday mornings following the barroom sinners of Saturday night. This week's Deeper Roots takes a bit of a free form shuffle featuring Bo Diddley, The Ramones, Johnny Mercer, and a whole host of rhythm makers. Performances this morning will span some covers from Chris Smither, David Lindley and an answer song from Barbara Lewis. KOWS radio wants to thank all of you who came out to the Comedy fundraiser at Barrel Proof Lounge last week. It was a great success for us and also a validation of community radio here in the North Bay. KOWS is free form, free speech, no bull community radio; just the kind of thing we need in a country gone mad with lies, deceit and hate. There is always hope. Tune into your radio voice, any time of the day or night. We'll always welcome you.!

 Every year about this time there's a quick burst of blossom, a promise of renewal and that first pitch of the national pastime. I don't know about you but it's my favorite time of year, a time when winter's cold is shut down and we've got that Spring Fever. This week's show will take time out for a couple sets celebrating and remembering baseball's past through music with the likes of The Treniers, Danny Kaye, and Dr. John with some early rapping from Mel Allen of all people. And that's just the half of it because the fever goes beyond the diamond: we'll share songs of April love with Shirley Jones, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White with Perez Prado, Nina Simone, Martha Tilton, and a run of classic country with Johnny Horton, Sons of the Pioneers and the Sons of the San Joaquin. From stickball to kite-flying to the first frisbees of the year in the local park. Let's get away from it all. 

The downstream wave of sounds that flooded the charts seemed endless in the year 1960. As was exhibited in last week's Deeper Roots exhibition of ‘also rans' from that year, it was a very, very crowded field. That field was spread far and wide across genres and levels of production, songwriting and performance quality. We take on that same strata this week in the show. More teen crushes, tragedies, soulful exchanges and instrumentals that bore earworms galore. That's what we've got in store with performances from Fats to Jackie, Smokey to Etta, the Burnette Brothers and Ricky, Dean Martin, Freddie King and Linda Laurie…all giving it their all and doing their very best to crawl to the top of their respective charts. We're getting ready for a wild Sunday night here in Santa Rosa, celebrating KOWS Community Radio at the Barrel Proof Lounge in downtown Santa Rosa. Hope you can make today's Deeper Roots show and Sunday's benefit!

 We're at it again! Excavations below the crust of some pretty simple-minded teenage pap that seemed to occupy the Billboard Top 100 in the year 1960. Marketers had found the right blend of country, rhythm, pop, sentimentality and rock and this led to a churning out of as much and as they could as fast was possible. The result was a mixed bag:  quantity over quality in most cases. We call it spit-balling these days. We'll dig into the substrate of popular music that did not make the Top 40, and in some cases, the Top 100. We'll hear from Wanda Jackson, Billy Bland, Donnie Brooks, Johnny Preston, Esther Phillips, and a few dozen others in this week's show. Not withstanding what we do here, we have to consistently remind ourselves of the classic Tony Soprano quote: “'Remember when' is the lowest form of conversation.” So, we're mining for the ones we don't necessarily remember. And the big news? It's a rare two-parts-over-two-weeks extravaganza. Hope you can join in 

Spring is knock-knock-knocking…and our Supreme Court is push-push-pushing back on the idea of Emperor Grandpa McFuddlepants. And why not? They created it. But here, we're busy painting the town with hope and there's a sense that there's something in the air as this week's show leans on the fabric of Americana sounds to get us through yet another week of hate speech from Pennsylvania Avenue. We'll apply an salve of sweet sounds from Jerry Garcia, Jackie Wilson, Townes Van Zandt, Billie Holiday, and that late local luminary and bard about town Dan Hicks in this week's show. It's a free form dance we're taking on so I hope you make time or, if you can't catch us live on KOWS, you can catch up on our archives posted on Podomatic at https://deeperroots.podomatic.com

There's an echo in the well of Americana and it reverberates from tradition and some of the early songsmiths and blues masters who delivered the blues proper through the depths of the past century of America's music. We'll be pulling some of the classic blues covers of songs composed by just a small collection of the great blues masters: Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Blake and beyond in this week's episode. There is seldom enough time to make a dent in only two hours but we'll do our best with covers from some of the inheritors like BB King, Carl Perkins, Bob Dylan, Jorma Kaukonen and a couple dozen others. We're excavating some deeper roots this week and then tilling the airwaves with freshly turned songs of the earth; a landscape of blues cutting a deep swath across the musical landscape of the past 100 years. Celebrating blues and those who brought it home this week on KOWS Community Radio. 

Put another nickel in that nickelodeon ‘cause rhythm saved the world. This week on Deeper Roots we're spinning up songs about the jukebox, hit records, little bitty records, disc jockey pleas, and swinging syncopated rhythms from across the past century. That's right, we're taking a trip across ninety years featuring jazz from Jimmie Lunceford, country from the Sons of the Pioneers, gospel from the Chuck Wagon Gang, and swinging send-ups from Louis Armstrong, NRBQ, Slim Gaillard, and The Sensations. Well, you can also count on more from the usual suspects in this week's thematic celebration of the very best of Americana. Whether that's reaching out to the jukebox, the DJ or that record hawker…we've got two hours of rhythm here on KOWS Community Radio. Spend your time with music, not your hard earned dough on this day of resistance.

We're revisiting a show from 2019 and it just happens to be our first show in the new Santa Rosa studios. It is one that celebrates that Old Chisholm Trail and other prairie passages that resemble all things that follow those romantic icons whose life on the range was less than what their songs usually embellish. In the western sunsets where John Lomax first went out in search of the ‘cowboy song', we'll explore more enlightened performances from the silver screen to the deep folk traditions that have become so laminated with romance that it's hard to see the images beneath. This week's show will take us from Carl T. Sprague, the original cowboy crooner, to Johnny Horton, Fess Parker, Rex Allen, and Roy Rogers. The music is sometimes sappy (Rick Nelson's My Rifle, My Pony, and Me), sometimes light (Roy Rogers' My Chickashay Girl), and other times full of storytelling and history. So many performances to light up the evening sky…just before dusk…just before that ceiling of stars appears in the night sky.

Country, gospel, and rhythm and blues are the major arteries that flow to the heart of Americana musical traditions, each influencing the other through shared themes of storytelling, emotion, and spirituality. Gospel's uplifting harmonies and spiritual fervor inspired both the heartfelt narratives of country music and the soulful expressions of rhythm and blues. Similarly, rhythm and blues infused gospel energy into secular music, while country music borrowed melodic and vocal elements from both genres. The "golden age" of these genres is often considered to be the mid-20th century, roughly the 1940s through the 1960s, when their innovation and cross-pollination laid the groundwork for modern popular music, including rock and roll. This week on Deeper Roots we're going to flip through some classic old records (as we love to do) and highlight the morning with performances from the likes of Otis Spann, Merle Travis, Sue Foley, Sturgill Simpson, and a few dozen others.

 He was a member of Nashville's A-Team. He invented the electric guitar ‘fuzz' effect by accident in a Marty Robbins recording session. He played on some of the most recognizable hit songs and landmark albums; not just country but rock, soul, folk, country rock and released some jazz guitar albums of his own. You can hear his work day in and day out: the Spanish-style acoustic work on Marty's El Paso, the opening and unforgettable lick on Roy Orbison's Oh Pretty Woman, plus dozens upon dozens more. He was one of the most sought after session men in the industry. Oh, and his jazz work with Mancini, Hirt and Fountain were followed by a gig as session leader for Vanguard Records' album releases of Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Country Joe. If there's a word that goes a step beyond prolific, it describes Grady Martin. Join us for a show that celebrates the legend. 

A sleepy time themed collection this week as we take a deep dive into classic sounds from the past and present, all with a blend of sentiments we hold close as midnight approaches. We'll have some old doo wop and early rock chestnuts from Jesse Belvin, The Fleetwoods, The Valentines and The Spaniels with just the right amount of rock, R&B and country. That means a little bit of Fats Domino, some rockabilly from Charline Arthur and Sonny Burgess, middling pop from Doris Day, Jimmy Durant and Dean Martin in store. Little Jimmy Dickens, Milton Brown and Swamp Dogg will also fill the air with country and blues. Friday mornings are the time to tune in for a fresh dose of America's music from the past 100 years hear on KOWS-LP, Occidental, streaming to all of Planet Earth on kowsfm.com/listen. Be sure to install the Radio Rethink app on your Apple device and look us up. We'd be glad to have you.

It was without question a natural progression. All of the attributes that country inherited from gospel, blues, and jazz resulted in what amounted to competition in the charts (and in some mid-century cultural clashes). Although The Beatles had suggested a kinship with mid-sixties tributes to Buck Owens and Chet Atkins, the only comfortable way to make the marriage work was to have it come from other directions…specifically from cultural prods of Nudie suits, coupled with folk and country nudges, and the inevitable respect for the music. Gram Parsons' influence on the late sixties rise of something they called ‘country rock' is easy to find but Dylan's John Wesley Harding album from 1968, The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and Leon Russell's alter-ego Hank Wilson opened the doors to a sound that swept the charts. We'll hear some originals, covers, and a whole lot more in this week's Deeper Roots. Hope y'all can join us.

While we often touch on the contemporary songs of our own and subsequent generations in the show, we also like to drill into the performers and sounds that contributed to our musical heritage. The foundation of America's music is not just a single flavor. It is a melting pot of many from all corners: the British Isles, the African continent, the islands of the Caribbean, and points south and north. The resulting harmonies, topics, and musical celebrations have further woven themselves into the fabric of our culture. This week's show leans on some pieces that were suggested by a listener and this allowed me to take liberties when digging a bit deeper for the show. We'll hear from Pete Seeger, The Million Dollar Quartet, Buck Owens, Alison Krauss and Mississippi Fred McDowell. We'll also take in the American Songbag's In The Pines and then proceed down the river and over the hill in the show this week.

This week we'll take some time away for a celebration of Americana sounds from every corner. It's a mixed bag of jazz, blues, country, rock, and everything in between in another of our free form eclectic romps here on Deeper Roots. Count on some wild swings and some quiet moments reserved for the corner booth in the show today. Aretha, Cat Power, Etta Jones and Gale Garnett are some of the female vocalists that we'll feature this morning. We'll also visit that ‘boulevard of broken dreams' with Esquivel, some lighter instrumentals from Ethel Smith and Herb Alpert; classic softer side Americana from Chris Isaak and Pokey LaFarge and the polar opposite from Creedence and BB King. What a way to blast on into 2025. Join Dave Stroud as he begins yet another year with the promise of doing the right thing...always. 

It's our annual look back paying respect to some of the greats who we lost this past year. We find ourselves saying goodbye to a number of artists who contributed in their own way to America's popular culture…in music. I'll be sharing the names of the many contributors from the halls of country, jazz, pop, rock, and beyond. Time demands a filter which is based on direct lines of roots descent; either by song selection, expression of a genre, or by Americana popular cultural influence. I'm going to try to keep the talk to a minimum so I can catch you up on many of the artists…and I'm also going to be limiting some of the music to 30 second clips because, frankly…this was another year of loss. ….and I'm sure there are more of the obscure that we just couldn't fit into our roll call. Tune in for a journey through the past century of America's music on community radio for West Sonoma Country, streaming to all of planet Earth at the same time on kowsfm.com/listen. We'd love to have you.

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future…and it's tickin' tickin' tickin', too. Steve Miller certainly summed it up and our theme this week is all about the passing of time, events that take place in time, biding our time, and recalling a time. We'll be making a swing through a number of genres and performers including Little Joe, Booker T., Bobby Bare, Evie Sands, Tom Waits and Harry James. But there's plenty more including classic country, mid-to-late century rock n' roll, folkie business, and the sweet torch songs that take us back. We've chosen to forego the Christmas celebrations because, for the most part, we can hear it elsewhere and the season is a short one with some desperation on the doorstep. Tune in for a journey through the past century of America's music on community radio for West Sonoma Country, streaming to all of planet Earth at the same time on kowsfm.com/listen. We'd love to have you. 

On this Friday the 13th, our show takes on the constructs of heaven and hell as its chosen theme. Songs that explore the debatable and sometimes fantastical concepts that, while they vary significantly across cultures and tradition, still remain human constructs rather than universal truths. Or are they? I sure don't know and I doubt that you do. They have no doubt been formed as symbolic or metaphorical ideas formulated to help humankind find a straight path to that ‘great morning'…or something like that anyway. We're not here to practice heresy or blasphemy, only to observe…and there's plenty of music to call this theme one of mixed metaphors. Tune in for some Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Eric Clapton, Solomon Burke, Bill Neely and a whole crowd of other sinners and saints pounding out the concepts of heaven and hell in song with melodies both fierce and solemn. Tune in for quite the time.

Soul music's roots come from the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the late fifties and early sixties. Young black musicians, often nurtured in black churches, enjoyed and listened to R&B sounds and began a fusion of R&B, blues and gospel that would later take on the moniker “soul music”. The term “soul” had been used in African American culture, particularly among musicians, to emphasize the feelings of power, spirit and creativity found in its culture. Regional acts and labels took this genre into different directions that included, among other things, vocal interplay, gospel rhythms and themes that were translated from the sacred to the secular, all with mix heavy on standard rock or brass rhythm sections. The blend and variety brought out the contrasting tones of grit and pop-infused sounds. From Sam Cooke to James Brown and Etta James to Brenda Holloway…we'll take a journey through the rise of soul music.

The 1950s were an incredibly vibrant decade for music, clearly a reflection of a post-war energy and relief. Urban jazz, the bright lights of broadway, and the crooning magic moments that lept off the silver screen were a paradox to the golden age of country music, the passionate rhythm of swing and R&B and, of course, the new audiences celebrating youth at sock hops, malt shops and sleepovers. It was an age of celebration and discovery if you were young; an age of culture shock if you weren't. This week on Deeper Roots, we'll tiptoe through the sounds of Dave Brubeck, Dion, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry and a host of others who planted their flag in the decade of the fifties. An unusual playlist for sure. Drop on by and try to get past the fact that Black Friday will soon be over and holiday madness gets into full swing. 

The past century's puritanical interlopers, better known as the ‘thought police', have had their way with music. And we're not talking about just the lyrics (which will no doubt be the source of most of the songs in the show today)…whether that be the sound of the saxophone or Link Wray's sinister fuzz and feedback…telling us how to think or suggesting that your children would be swayed to the dark side due a mention of Susie getting home past curfew. It's an age old problem. It's really stinkin' thinkin' if you'd have asked Frank Zappa. And someone did and summarized his opinions thusly: “Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are, in my opinion, more dangerous than songwriters who celebrate their sexuality.” All the songs this week suffered from some form of censorship, whether corporate or governmental. And we're going to play them…damned be the fools. 

There's hope in music. And if we need something to carry us forward over the coming years it's hope. So we'll take all we can get with all the music we can get. This week's Deeper Roots show takes us through a blend of genres, making a free form journey across the landscape of America's music from the past century. We'll bring you Cannonball Adderley right alongside Hank Thompson and The Neville Brothers, The Doors, Patsy Cline and Mink Deville to start. Dave Stroud's done some scouring through those dusty digital archives for well- (and little-) known gems with stories and ballads. He'll be taking you to where country meets soul, jazz meets boogie woogie and where there's an unlikely fusion of reggae, folk, and zydeco. Topics include wedding days, jiggers of gin, honeydrippers, and the topic of Texas and some big blue diamonds. Tune in this week. Take your mind off the grifters and haters that have polluted the pond. 

 This week it's a rock-a-beatin' boogie extravaganza. Vintage tracks from the rocking archives of the fifties and sixties, all meant to make you feel good. Hand-picked sizzlers and twenty flight scorchers set alongside some of the more familiar sounds of the Everlys, The Dixie Cups and Shirley & Lee. First, second and third helpings of some of the very best of the day including tributes to Kansas City, Caldonia, Peggu Sue, Jim Dandy and a host of others, all brought to you from the sock hop to the rent party. Tune in for some LaVern Baker, Elvis, Nappy Brown, Wynona Carr and Big Joe Turner. They've all got a place in this week's show here on Sonoma County Community Radio in yet another Deeper Roots barn burner. Hope you can join us and spend two hours leading off with Boston's favorite son, Freddy Cannon. All of this coming your way from the outskirts of the Cherry Street Historic District of downtown Santa Rosa. Will there be reason to celebrate? We're countin' on it. 

There are a handful of common story threads that run through classic country songs. I'm not talking about trucks, beer the ‘merica that seems to have overwhelmed modern so-called country with autotune and synth pop. The heartbreak of cheating situations that were among the most common storylines in the Golden Age of country at a time when family unity was of paramount importance. It was country music's frank portrayal of infidelity that offered a counterpoint which was both relatable and controversial. Cheating songs became a central theme, reflecting the complexities and emotional intensity of love, betrayal, and heartbreak. Dave will share as many as will fit in two hours in this week's episode with early tearjerkers from Kitty Wells, The Louvin Brothers, Billy Walker, Bonnie Owens and George Jones. There will also be the very best of the classics from Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn to take us into the 70s and beyond. . .

We'll be sharing a Wake Up call with everyone out there…no…not election day. Although it's just around the corner. There's an alarm clock buzzing or ringing or chiming that is bent on a theme…that of ‘waking up'. That's our theme in the show todays as we excavate the mines of rich Americana ore from the past century, sharing songs whose thematic tone demands that our eyes open to the brighter days ahead. Dave has a boatload of sounds that include the rockabilly sounds of Mac Curtis and some country bop from Billy Briggs. That's not all…there's the brothers Everly, Merle Haggard, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Richard Thompson, Nat King Cole, Bob Dorough and a couple dozen others. Join Dave for a thematic romp on Deeper Roots this Friday morning on KOWS Community Radio.

Much of Kris Kristofferson's musical narratives put you on the opposing seat in the confessional while all the while there are fleeting glimpses of your own story reflecting back.  Kris was more than a renaissance man. He was an individual whose values and beliefs were held close but easily parsed in the music that made him who he was. There was all that we want in our own selves: honesty, forthrightness, certainty, humor, and a social conscience like the one he shared with the late Sinead O'Conner. A poignant and aspirational tribute from a man who was army ranger, a helicopter pilot, firefighter, a Golden Gloves boxer and Rhodes Scholar in literature who credited a philosophy professor as his greatest influence. We'll spend time with his words and music this October morning. Here's hoping you can join us.

The Bear Family label, headquartered in Germany, has long featured deep track dives into American music of the past century. Whether that be rock, country, rhythm and blues, or Americana; much of it is as far off the beaten track as you can imagine. Their selections and the high quality of the liner notes and ephemera have long been the top shelf standard for collectors and aficionados of American music. This week on Deeper Roots we'll be diving into their delightful ‘theme' universe prefaced with the perfect title of “Destination”. We'll be digging into the themes of ‘freeway', ‘outer space', ‘beach parties', ‘ocean cruise', ‘lust' and ‘sex'. The music you'll be hearing is an unusual ‘bucket of nuggets' representing some of the very best of camp pop and rock. Tune in for a raucous blend of ‘never heard'.

Seven years after our community was ravaged by three different wildfires, we're going to focus on the theme of rain in our show today. Call it a rain dance if you must but we're hoping that not only will the weather give us one more year of respite from the flaming torrent of climate change-induced wildfires but also make it two years in a row with reservoir replenishment. So why not a theme that promotes rainy weather? We'll go to every genre corner in the show today: gospel, jazz, country, rock ‘n roll, soul and rhythm & blues. Tune in for a themed collection this morning that includes the likes of Glenn Yarbrough, Percy Sledge, Leon Russell, Lonnie Johnson and Billy “The Kid” Emerson. There's a whole lot more so join in and find out. A sunny September morning leads us to our rain dance…or whatever you call it.

The charts for the year 1956 were overtaken by Elvis. No question. There were a few others that illuminated the jukebox namely Fats Domino, Webb Pierce, Little Richard, and The Platters. Rock ‘n roll's impact swept the floor with most burying some fairly incredible performances in it's wake. Call it an avalanche. Call it a mudslide. Call it what you like. As I began to assemble a show looking at the top of the charts for the year, I found that starting at the bottom and working my way up was a revelation. Whether it was country, rhythm & blues, rock ‘n roll or pop…there were some delicious also-rans that I could not ignore so chose to ignore the Top 30 and focused today's show on the so-called losers below the waterline of the Top 40. And what a joy it was! We'll hear from some of them including Big Joe Turner, The Dells, LaVern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, Carl Smith and Kitty Wells in today's show. I hope you'll find some time, morning, noon or night, to listen in.

The debate is over; what's say we have ourselves another. There's certainly no debating democracy at work. Today's Deeper Roots show will find us circulating through the connective tissue of song: themes that connect with one another. A little bit of eclectic free form fused with all the delightful sounds of country, pop, rock and tradition. Our guiding light will be the truth and the American way. Yes, there's always bubble gum, apple pie, and Sunday church but then we also have the bats**t crazies who will blame all the good, the bad and the ugly on those who don't resemble themselves or their own views. So take a break with us on this summer of broken hearts and we'll share country from Don Gibson to Rosanne Cash, rock and roll from The Stray Cats to Fats Domino, and a little bit of sass and blues from Etta James and Charles Brown. Summer's almost over and election day is fast approaching. So make sure you vote. 

It's a mellow, laid back collection of sounds from the past century for you this morning. The “ember” months have arrived and we're winding our way through the last sunsets of summer. So lay down your burdens and join us on another Deeper Roots Friday morning as we share some sweet sounds from near and far, all anchored in an American landscape of dreams and waning nights of warmth. And warmth is what we'll focus on…from JJ Cale and Leon Russell to Leo Reisman's Orchestra, Sam Cooke, Randy Newman and Levon Helm. All of this and more, as they say, as we approach the final two months of election promises. I'm hoping that everyone's placed a high value on truth and goodness because the hate, the lies, the gutter talk all need to be evaporated at long last. Send the vermin back into their holes of hate and let's get on with the business of making our lives better. Because it's not politicians that can do that. It's us. 

Some dynamite gospel this week that leans heavily on the influencers, but we won't let that lock us in. We'll be cutting a broad swath across the Americana landscape, with deeper gospel tracks from some of the greats like the Selah Jubilee Singers, the rollicking Reverend Robert Ballinger, The Bronzeman, and some other greats you may or may not know. But we'll also share tracks from the next generation secular branding with just a taste of gospel in their music: Johnny Taylor, Edwin Hawkins, and Curtis Mayfield. We'll also share a couple of Marty Stuart gospel tracks in another look at the deepest roots from the past century. So grab the headphones and get ready for a revival without beating you about the head with any false fundamentalism. All for our favorite listeners, beaming down from the ether on KOWS Community Radio 

A little bit of good, a little bit of bad, and a whole lot of Americana classics. This morning's Deeper Roots show runs the gamut from boogie Woogie to country ballads, classic rock, soul, blues, gospel and everything but the kitchen sink. Dave Stroud will be featuring songs that celebrate the band of gold, bad boys, bad girls, schooldays nostalgia, and the silly notion that black cats are no more than a warning when, in fact, they are a sign from on high of the very best being yet to come. Tune in for the likes of Stephen Stills, Johnny Cash, Cleo Brown, NRBQ and…yes, Billie Eilish as we celebrate America's roots from then until now where no ocean is wider nor mountain is high. Celebrate a free form extravaganza with us as we push our way through August, well past the dog days and into the breezy, cool nights of summer's waning. All for you and the neighborhood on KOWS Community Radio. 

Join Dave Stroud for two hours of the very best of country swing music on Deeper Roots Radio: A Century of America's Music. He'll excavate the archives for a show from over eight years ago, reminding us that the west had been long-settled when a new sound exploded. It blasted its way out of the dance halls and barn-dance venues of the Midwest with an upbeat blend of jazz, hillbilly, and down-home blues. The arrangements blended strings, guitar, fiddle and bass, with the rhythmic sounds of urban jazz to reveal something catchy and danceable…and marketable. Before the beat was modernized into the mass market country blandness that paralleled mainstream pop, there were the pioneers including Milton Brown, Bob Wills, Adolph Hofner, Spade Cooley, Light Crust Doughboys, and a host of others. Drop in and celebrate this classic fusion of America's best.

We're taking a trip up into hill country to celebrate a true Americana sound. From it's simple roots rolling out of Appalachia, celebrating music and culture going back even further, bluegrass music evolved from many different corners with a combination of many styles, including old-time mountain music, square dance fiddling, blues, gospel, jazz, and popular music. You can count on high energy, fast tempos and a most distinctive sound. This week's show has the syncopated rhythms moving along like a freight train, those nostalgic remembrances, and heel-kicking improvisations…not to mention those high lonesome vocals. We've got Blue Highway, Bill Monroe, Mac Wiseman, Earl Scruggs, The Rice Brothers and a couple dozen others in a Friday morning bluegrass extravaganza, sharing both classic and contemporary performers. If you're close by, tune into KOWS 92.5 FM or, better yet, stream us almost anywhere on planet Earth at kowsfm.com/listen.

It's a cover show. It's a celebration. It's a reconnaissance regarding a renaissance. To what do we owe this week's offering? The answer is clearly the songs of Bob Dylan who, at one time recorded under the non de plume Blind Boy Grunt and we've got a track from the Broadside Ballads collection to prove it. But this week's show will focus primarily on covers of Dylan tracks going back to Sam Cooke live at the Copa to an oddball cover by The Grass Roots. We'll also share some fresh takes from Eric Clapton, Raul Malo, Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers, and a lovely cover of a rare but popular piece called Walkin' Down The Line. We're celebrating a multi-generational master of his dominion where his words and melodies honor the past and carve a well-defined path leading into the future of America's songwriting craft. Tune into Community Radio for Sonoma County on another Friday morning…via the stream at kowsfm.com/listen.

Looking back over the past fifty-or-so years, we find a large gathering assembled under a large, all-inclusive tent, called Americana. There's hardly a definition that's been assigned and it's hardly what we'd term ‘a genre'. It is, rather, a mood of the music and a narrative of the storytelling defines it. Like the dozens of genres that line it's walls, we've come to know what we're listening to: blues, gospel, folk and tradition, jazz, and everything in between. This week we'll be stepping into that tent to congregate and celebrate that ‘sound we know' called Americana. The digital bins will take us only so far back, celebrating the music of Bob Dylan, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch, Joe Ely, Old Crow Medicine Show and a couple dozen others. Just what's needed and built on playlists worthy of the very best of the Americana Hours broadcast each morning here on KOWS Community Radio. If you're a fan…or want to know more about what's under the tent…drop on by this coming Friday morning here on Deeper Roots.

We've heard them all, the quotes about money being the root of all evil, you can't take it with you, money can't buy happiness…but there's this one little thing that is seldom expanded on and that is the story of ‘dirty money'. There's plenty of fodder in that area…from the banker CEO to the coal company CEO…there's never an effort to help raise all boats, only the yachts. Capitalism is our theme. No, wait, is it bank robbing?  No, most likely the working man trying to put bread on the table. Hold on, I know. It's runaway inflation and the blame game. In any event, we'll be all over the board in today's show, bringing you music about money cravin' folks from Blind Alfred Reed, working down on Maggie's Farm and we'll also have ourselves a hint of a fireside chat to make us feel better. We'll also head down to coal country and Bonnie and Clyde, Woody Guthrie, and “Voila! An American Dream” from Rodney Crowell. Tune in. Should be fun. 

Storytelling in song is not new. It's mankind's way of conveying, in both accuracy and reflection, the narrative from one perspective. Embellishments and hooks have long been the best way to make the story easy to digest and, if need be, to get a point (likely sociopolitical) across. We'll be doing just that in this Friday's episode: stories based in war, natural disasters, national tragedies and personal conflict. We'll take a hundred year tour of storytelling from Bessie Smith to the Drive-by Truckers, from Memphis Minnie and The Tex-I-An Boys to Calexico, The Staple Singers and Marty Robbins. There are floods, murders, environmental catastrophes, bombings, and some wartime solemnity to be shared today. Tune into KOWS Community Radio every Friday morning for some fresh musical linens, curated by the outdoors and streaming to all of planet Earth on KOWSFM.COM/listen

Summer's in full tilt and we're not ready quite yet for the heat. But that won't stop us cartwheeling down the musical halls as we take an eclectic ride on a free form Friday. Themes and tradition will rule today's playlists, making way for some great roots rock favorites from Elvis, Chuck Berry and Roy Orbison. Country music is well represented with a lonesome George Strait train song, some hellbound Billy Strange, and a trip to Texas with Iris DeMent. KOWS Community Radio features Deeper Roots each and every Friday morning at 9 Pacific and this particular morning is no different save for a few snowflakes in the wind. We'll also dig deeper for some tracks from The Ravens, The Golden Nuggets, The Beach Boys and a little bit of Dr. John. Join us on our free form journey! 

With its ever-changing course, its flowing waters and historical significance, the Mississippi River serves as a powerful metaphor for the American story. The river is a lifeblood nourishing the land while also serving as a path to freedom itself, symbolizing the pursuit of freedom and progress from the North to the Gulf of Mexico. Additional to all of this are its routes of trade and commerce that highlight both the American spirit and prosperity. This week's Deeper Roots show celebrates the river that got its name after the northern Minnesota people, the Ojibway, and their name for ‘big river' as well as songs of the namesake state and delta as well. Performances include mid-century recordings from country favorites the Delmore Brothers and Jimmie Skinner, blues from Charlie Musselwhite and the Rufus Thomas, as well as classic recordings of Bob Dylan, Charley Pride, Pops Staples and the Boswell Sisters. Tune into West County radio each Friday morning at 9 Pacific.

 We took a journey to the south in last week's show and this week, we head further west where we'll share a vibrant and dynamic genre that reflects the rich cultural fusion of its geographic origins, combining traditional Mexican folk music with contemporary American influences of country, rhythm and blues, and rock. With the accordion and bajo sexto, drums, bass and guitar punching a hefty rhythm whose lyrics are often filled with catchy hooks and danceable beats, it is prominently featured in festivals, celebrations and public events across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We'll share some of the influentials from across the border like Lydia Mendoza as well as the mainstays and popular artists of the past half century including Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm, The Texas Tornados, Flaco Jimenez, The Mavericks and a dozen others in this week's Deeper Roots fest. 

Swamp pop. What is it and where does Tex Mex begin and country blues end? Well, just listen for that Louisiana backbeat, a taste of torch song and rocking rhythm. We'll take on the music of Tex Mex next week but this week we'll be sampling some of the greats of that splinter genre referred to as ‘swamp pop'; music that was grafted from a number of different root source sounds. Swamp pop remains an important cultural expression of the Acadiana region, celebrated for its heartfelt and nostalgic qualities. While it never achieved the widespread commercial success of other genres, swamp pop has maintained a dedicated following and continues to be performed by contemporary musicians. We'll share the sounds of some of the genre's most popular:  Warren Storm, Tommy McLain, Rod Bernard, Clint West and so many others. Drop on by.

When J.J. Cale's first album came on the scene in 1972, it exuded something different…some kind of “timeless cool” with it's imposing John Bunyan raccoon album cover and understated country sound setting it apart from everything else out there. Not psychedelia, not rock exactly, and certainly not the LA sound that was hip at the time. It was, as it has since been coined, the “Tulsa sound”. Many have covered John Weldon Cale's music and many have become rock standards while others languish only to be rediscovered year after year by new listeners who hear that “timeless cool” and those breezy treasures he left us. We'll feature a number of covers today, as well as his own originals in a show that will take you down a river whose currents are slow but determined.

Cocaine is one of a few substances that have served as a muse, both in word and effect, in various forms of art throughout history, particularly in the 20th century. Its influence can be found repeatedly in the music industry, peaking in use during the 1980s when it was used by performer and listener as the disco and party-going atmosphere exploded, Contributing to this bacchanal were films depicting its use (and abuse) with plot themes embracing the white powder in storytelling. Cocaine's impact is predominant in the genres of rock, jazz, and hip-hop and many performers have openly discussed their cocaine use, and its influence can be heard in lyrics, musical styles, and even album artwork. This week's show looks at this muse with sounds from Margo Price, The Reverend Horton Heat, Lucille Bogan, Fred Neil and a host of others from 1929 to the present.

It's been a while since we went free form so today's show takes our regular breather from genre-focused explorations, theme, retrospectives and artist-inspired shows. There will be all of that found in the mix this morning. Interspersed between some fresh sounds from the likes of Dylan LeBlanc, Charley Crockett, and a newly revealed Johnny Cash nugget, we'll be sharing everything from Dave Brubeck to Los Indios Tabajaras, Marvin Rainwater, and Johnny Thunder in our show today. From a pair of Memphis Minnie covers, some country classics from Patsy Cline, swinging rhythm from Louis Jordan, and straight-ahead rock from The Doobie Brothers and The Georgia Satellites…it's a Friday morning full of Duane Eddy tributes and we've even got Slim Whitman…just for you on Sonoma County Community Radio, broadcasting on the FM airwaves out of Occidental, California, and streaming to the whole wide world on kowsfm.com/listen. KOWS-LP 92.5 FM is “Free Speech. No Bull” Community Radio.

There's hardly a branch or root extension of American music that is not somehow connected the gospel. The themes of love, betrayal, birth, death, and the soul's redemption have all long been played out repeatedly in the pulpit each and every Sunday. Thoughts and prayers are easily spent when the hard work isn't as palpable to deal with. This week's show blends the gospel of the Baptist, Pentacostal and Church of Christ as they were the big leader of the rafter shakers on the way to “Beulah Land” with a little bit of swing and country favorites. Tune in for music that runs the gospel gamut from the Soul Satisfiers of Philadelphia and the Gospel Songbirds to Sister Oda Mae Terrell and the country pairings of the Chuck Wagon Gang, Mac Wiseman, Kitty Wells, and of course, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Deeper Roots revisits some gospel classics in another Friday morning blend of the past 100 years of America's music. Here on KOWS Community Radio. Free Speech. No Bull.