Zack Walther "If Love Was Enough"

Pronunciations can be tricky. I am working weekends on the air at KNBT 92.1 in New Braunfels, Texas, and whenever you start at a new radio station, you have to be very careful to pronounce things properly.  It adds to the mystique that you actually know what you are doing.  I've worked in several areas of the country that have a wealth of Native American names, and it can be really hard to ascertain where the emphasis should be. Like Osceola, for instance, which is pronounced “os CEE ola”, not “O cee ola.”  These kinds of things make for blink moments...“You’re not from around here!”  

Sometimes it's even difficult nailing the names of the artists you play.  For instance, Roger Creager is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, and with the “A” present and accounted for, so Creager sounds like ‘CRAIG er.’ And Zack Walther is pronounced Walter, without the ‘H'. Now I wish I would have known that a couple of weeks ago when I played a tune of his, and Program Director Mattson Rainer called to correct me.  Whoops! Well, at least now you know.  The Zack Walther Band put out "Into The Fray" in May.  Back in January, we had a smashing time with them during The MusicFest at Steamboat Springs.  Zack on mellifluous vocals and guitar, Robert Cherry on guitar, David Pettit played bass, Tory “Thumper” Childers was on keyboard, and Don Dulaney was on drums.  The song?  “If Love Was Enough,” a cut off the new album, done Music Fog style.

-- Jessie Scott 

Midnight River Choir "Light of the Moon"

As a teenager, I used to hear stories about the American Southwest in summertime; how it was so hot that you shifted your life from day to night. It all seemed very exotic to me then. Shopping, socializing, miniature golf, all were much more comfortable when the sun went down. As this summer’s heat wave has spread to engulf 17 states, I wanted to revisit the concept of “we only come out at night.” Seriously, when the thermometer tops 100 in Texas, I don’t even get my mail until the sun goes down. Ice cream, fruit smoothies, snowballs from New Orleans, sprinkler systems to run though, pool, springs, tubing, the beach, AIR CONDITIONING. And water, water, water, every which way and for every application. It’s so important to keep hydrated.

The Midnight River Choir have it right. First off, the vision their name alone conjures up immediately cools you off. Their second album is upon us, Welcome to Delirium?, with a release date of August 2nd, and that’s a very cool thing. And then it is driven home further by the time and place we recorded them, which was at MusicFest in Steamboat Springs this past January, and it was massively snowing outside. OK, all together now...AHHHHHHH! What can I say, the grass is always greener.

Let us bask now in the glow- today’s tune is “Light Of The Moon.” There are some dates to catch up with the MRC boys in air conditioned comfort. They play at Billy’s Ice in New Braunfels, TX tomorrow night. That sounds about perfect!

- Jessie Scott

Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers "Banditos/King of the Hill"

I had a pure New Orleans red beans and rice dinner a couple of days ago, during which I was regaled with the history of this traditional Monday dish in South Louisiana. You might know that Monday was laundry day, so it was a good day to slow simmer dinner, adding the ham bone from Sunday’s leftovers. Voila, you have a cheap and mighty tasty complete protein. I love the foods along the I-10 corridor. From Florida Cracker, Gulf Coast, Cajun and Creole Country, to Tex Mex, Hatch Chiles in the "Land Of Enchantment," to the further Southwestern cuisines of Arizona and California, it makes for varied bounty for sure. A friend of mine, John Wooler, produced a couple of tasty albums just over a decade ago. He called them I-10 Chronicles, which started from California to Texas, and then moved eastward in volume two.

Roger Clyne starts his biography by referencing food. He doesn't like serving the musical version of junk food. "I like to put a little more heart into my cooking than that," Clyne said. To continue the theme, Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers most recent album is called Unida Cantina, and Roger has put out Mexican Moonshine, which is a for-real tequila This all makes for a recipe to eat, drink, and be merry.

Today’s tune comes from our 2011 MusicFest at Steamboat Springs sessions, from the Steamboat Grand. “Banditos” originally came out as a Refreshments tune, the band Roger was in before he started RCPM. You will find the coda is “King Of The Hill,” yes, the theme music from the TV show, which Roger penned. They were cooking. (But, as I recall, so were we!)

-Jessie Scott