Words Out West

In this episode, we'll hear a dramatic reading about two boys growing up in the Atomic Age, and how they changed their small town forever Writer: Jay Kettering. Dramatic reading by Teresa Waldorf of Jay Kettering's short story The Nuclear Baby Boom: A Children's Story for Adults.

In this episode, we'll hear songs from the duo Toy Box, comprised of Beth Melody and LaBarre Bankshot, and learn of Beth's collaboration with lyricist Gwen McKenna. Songs: Big Guy In the Sky, Cold April, Leave Me Alone (On the Sofa), Somebody Ought to Slap Your Face, Edge of the River, and Too Bad. Episode sponsor: The Bell Pipe & Tobacco Shop at 216 West Broadway in downtown Missoula. When you need the Otis—tobacconist—problem solver.

In this episode, writer Ednor Therriault takes us on a mental road trip through Montana with his stories and songs and even shares some marital advice from Mr. Bubble. Non-fiction excerpts from Big Sky, Big Parks: An Exploration of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and All That Montana in Between: A Forgotten Hero in Glacier and Playlists for the Road, and original songs from his various albums: A Cut Above, Mr. Bubble, and Go Butte!

In this episode, we'll hear from a singer/songwriter/musician who says he's wholly unfit to pursue a conventional lifestyle, but musters a peculiar existence relying largely on music, art, luck, and the love of his community.

In this episode, the writer talks about the politics of fishing in Montana, reads about his life and friends, and sings just to make us laugh. Greg Keeler with Greg Owens Greg Keeler: Memoir excerpts: Trash Fish: A Life; Waltzing With the Captain; poetry: variety of poems/sonnets; and songs The Ballad of Billy Montana, Indian In-Law, Little Bitch Creek, MCH, A Song To Go, and Neon Dream. Greg Owens: songs: The Greek Drama Song and Umbrella Song   This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, live performances from the March 26, 2023 Words Out West Songwriters Showcase featuring four singer/songwriters who lent their time and talent for our Season 3 fundraiser. Featuring: Rebecca Kelley, Read Barbee, Maria Zepeda and Gabrielle Tusberg with Bethany Joyce This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. This episode was sponsored by Gallery 709 (at Montana Art & Framing), The Bell Pipe & Tobacco Shop, Rockin' Rudy's

In this episode, we celebrate the fruits of a teacher's labor. You'll hear from Professor Robert Stubblefield, along with three of his University of Montana students. A selection of poems and non-fiction, with Robert Stubblefield, Jade Taylor, Donna Arganbright, and Cass Sissel. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, writer, geologist and professor Rob Thomas explains how the amazing history of rocks is related to the mining town of Butte finding its place in the sun. Selections from Roadside Geology of Montana. This episode is sponsored by Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula's independent publisher for over seventy years. Mountain Press publishes nontechnical books for adults and children on geology, natural history, western US history, and more. For more information go to mountain-press.com or call toll-free at 800-234-5308.

In this episode, novelist Claude Alick introduces us to a place of mystery in the island country of Grenada—a village that appears on no map—a place that resides only in wilting memories.

In this episode, we pair writers who were born to be storytellers—poet Mara Panich, and singer/songwriter Margi Cates, accompanied by guitarist Nick Barr. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, a struggling writer has a breakthrough when she accidentally steals her neighbor's laundry. A short play written by Bozeman playwright Greg Owens, directed by Missoula's own Reid Reimers and read by Missoula actors Hamilton Clement and Az Sacry.

In this episode, writers Chris La Tray, Fred Haefele, and Chris Autio take us on three distinct and heady road trips. Chris La Tray: Comet (poem) Three . . . Two . . . One . . . Blast off! Fred Haefele: excerpt from A Life in 12 Pickups (vehicular memoir) When a pickup truck transcends mechanical essence, rises to become comrade, ally and intimate. Chris Autio: Truck Topper (poem) We go on an archeological dig. Chris Autio: Bad Auto Points in Augusta (poem) We find a stranger in a strange land.

In this episode, singer/songwriter Spencer Kellum performs some ‘modern spirituals' as Separate Circles, with piano accompaniment by Cole Grant.

In this episode, Joan Melcher finds her perfect saloon, and chats with the bartender who has the same name as his bar—Moose. A selection from her non-fiction books Watering Hole: A User's Guide to Montana Bars and Montana Watering Holes: The Big Sky's Best Bars.

In this episode, we get up close and personal with Bobby Lee Springfield, a singer/songwriter who gives us the skinny on the ups and downs of show biz. This episode contains some adult language and themes, with references to alcohol, tobacco and drugs, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. This episode is sponsored by The Bell Pipe & Tobacco Shop, located at 215 West Broadway, across from the courthouse in downtown Missoula. Home to the Otis—tobacconist—problem solver.  

The narrator in Sean Gallagher's short story laments the damage done to his older brother after becoming a soldier — the brother who taught him, "That no one wins a fight." Morning Is My Favorite Time, short story from the podcast MT3K. This episode contains some adult themes, violence, and references to combat and war wounds, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. 

In this episode, playwright Jay Kettering, introduces us to a couple recounting how they met, fell in love, and ultimately broke up, and let's just say, it gets a bit noisy.   This episode contains some adult language and themes, and sexual references, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, Caroline Keys and Nate Biehl share their original songs along with poems from Caroline and her young student writers.

Chris La Tray doesn't need many words to tell a damn fine story. In this episode featuring Métis storyteller Chris La Tray, we celebrate words, and the way even very few words, in the right hands, can capture the wonder in every single day. (from One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large and Descended from a Travel-Worn Satchel: Haiku & Haibun, as well as other poems.)

In this episode, novelist Richard Fifield puts us in a car going way too fast up a narrow mountain road, and that's only the beginning of our troubles.

In this bonus episode, Words Out West's own Jay Kettering writes about a kid who's willing to blow up his world for love.

In part one of his radio play trilogy, My Dad and Pre-Socratic Thought, Jay recalls the crazy stories his father told him in an attempt to find meaning.

In this bonus episode, Words Out West's own Jay Kettering looks back to a time when everything was a mystery—especially time. Jay Kettering: How I Learned To Tell Time: part 2 of his audio trilogy Notes From the Huntley Project (radio play) (Dramatic reading by Missoula actors David Mills-Low, Rebecca Schaffer, Will Tilton, Jessica Adam, and Aaron Roos) Only one thing is for sure—time is on his side.

In this episode, our season finale, Words Out West's own Jay Kettering writes about a mysterious relationship. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.    

In this episode, Mark Gibbons, Shaun Gant and David E. Thomas explore their own personal landscapes. One ventures to where there are no fences, one observes an explosion of life in her own backyard, while another stays close to the tracks.

In this episode, David Allan Cates, Sheryl Noethe and Robert Lee mull over the fleeting nature of time. One takes a nostalgic leap of faith, another explains how life never stops, while another makes a plan for when he's a ghost.

In this episode, we hear from Shane Wheeldon, Freya Jones and Chris Sand, three writers who are hard to put in a box. Therefore, it's our first installment of the Grab Bag.

In this episode, writers Sheryl Noethe, David E. Thomas, and Sarah Aronson are in the process of searching. One is searching for stories from strangers, another seeks magic from a natural phenomenon, while the other is tracking those who want to get to their destination in the quickest way possible.

In this episode, writer Beth Judy documents a real life — and in this case — a real glamorous life: Myrna Loy.

In this episode, writers David E. Thomas, Sarah Aronson and Mark Gibbons meditate on self-reflection. One ponders which technological time-zone he belongs in, another celebrates the things that cannot be understood, and the other uses the mirror behind the bar to reflect. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, writers Shaun Gant, Mark Gibbons and Sheryl Noethe reflect on the many forms that true love takes, like an enduring marriage, the flicker from a candle's flame, and even a drug-induced coma. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, writers Brian Laidlaw and Sarah Aronson have come to understand how the nature of love can connect to the love of nature.

In this episode, writers Jay Kettering, Chris Sand and Robert Lee have tuned into their sense of sound. The sound of memory, the sound of solace, and the sound of place.

In this episode, writers David E. Thomas, Sheryl Noethe and Mark Gibbons are talking about booze, and the effect it has from the view of a bus seat, a bar stool, and a lawn chair. This episode contains some adult language and themes, which may be unsuitable for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, writers Chris Sand, Freya Jones and Robert Lee are on the path to self-discovery. While on their journey, they run into things like girl traps, peacocks and rattlesnake juice.

Hear from three writers who have put together puzzles—all made up from the pieces of human relationships. One will tally the cost of family, another the toll of an affair, and the other ignites romance.

Welcome to Words Out West, a podcast where we hear voices from the literary landscape of Big Sky Country and beyond. We spotlight both established and emerging writers of the contemporary West. A rapping cowboy, a river guiding novelist and a bus-riding Poet Laureate are just a few of the folks we'll hear from on Words Out West