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Released January 20th., 2004.
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2005, and another year of great programming on CHMR-FM.
The month of January started off with an excellent Songwriters episode. I had the pleasure of interviewing Terry Kelly live in the studio, and closed out the holiday season by featuring his album 'Olde Fashion Christmas', a collection of original and traditional seongs of the season, done only as Terry Kelly can. He is an inspirational person, a fantastic guest, and welcome to the Songwriters any time!
Colleen Power was in on January 16th., and shared the stories and songs from her latest CD "Face and Eye's". As always, Colleen was an interesting, lively and charming guest. The new CD is a unique collection of stories and tunes, featuring a who'se who of local music.
The show for the 23rd. was canceled due to the winter storm. (I may be a dedicated DJ, but I ain't drivin' 30 Km in a Blizzard to do it!)
The Rock Can Roll Festival and Conference was held on the weekend of January 14 - 16th., 2005. Presented by Rock Can Roll Records, and The Independent Artists Cooperative, the event was a chance to celebrate Newfoundland's rock scene and to help create stronger touring and distribution networks for local independant rock bands.
One of the acts that appeared as part of the Festival is Bernie Scott's new band "IRONWORKS". "The conference was a great success," Bernie told me, "and our showcase was a Gas!" Bernie will be a guest on a future episode of the Songwriters.
For the month of February, the Songwriters will be prerecorded. One of the people interviewed for the series is the beautiful and talented Ann Burstyn, or Dream Aria. Beyond having an angelic voice, Ann is also a very interesting person to interview and gave some insight's into her role as one of the songwriters, and the voice, of Dream Aria. Their music is a unique melding of Rock, classical and world influences, bound by Ann's powerful vocal style. She also explaned the link between Dream Aria, their song Blue Lady, and the Movie "The Fifth Element".
Curious?
Listen to the Songwriters on February 20th to hear the entire interview!
Mark Knopflers latest CD "Shangri-la" is out! I picked up my copy on Christmas Eve at Fred's Records, listened to it that night, and was totally blown away. I must confess that I wasn't sure what expect, especially since the last album, "Ragpickers Dream" was such a Masterpiece! But Knopfler has done it again! This album is amazing!
Another interview in the works for a show in March is The Reverend Billy C. Wirtz! This man has a duality about him that makes him unique. He is simultaniously the best piano player I have ever heard and one of the funniest comedian's it has ever been my pleasure to witness! His latest album, "Rev-Elation" is now available at his website. (www.reverendbilly.com) Having seen the good reverend perform live, I am looking so forward to this interview! Watch the News update for further details.
As I said earlier, I have completed a series of telephone interviews that will make February's schedule for the Songwriters is an Impressive one. I have all four shows currently in production, and will be broadcasting them as follows;
Sunday, February 6th.; Paul Thorn (Featuring his new album 'Are You With Me')
Sunday, February 13th.; J.W. Jones (Featuring his CD 'My Kind of Evil')
Sunday, February 20th.; Ann Burstyn (Featuring Dream Aria's CD 'In The Wake')
Sunday, February 27th.; Paul Reddick (Featuring his Latest CD 'Villanelle')
So batten down the hatches boys and girls... February's Songwriters will be impressive!
Many of the above mentioned artists have CD's available. If you would like to pick up a copy of any of these CD's, (In person or online), just visit Fred's Records. They have the best selection of local music you're likely to find, along with all your favorites!
In on Air News;
For the Month of January, I tried something different with the Monday Night Epic. Instead of doing single epic songs, I decided to do Trilogies. Three songs, that may not be epic's individually, but when played in order, produce an epic tale. Chris deBurgh, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Pink Floyd have been played so far. Tune into Cosmic Debris to find out whats next for the Monday Night Epic!
As was announced in November, the popular "Feature Album" presented on on The Sunday Morning Hangover Cure will be kept for a second season. Feed back on the idea has been favorable, and it gives us the chance to share and explore more than one song from a given album. If you have a suggestion for a 'Feature Album', let me know via e-mail. My e-mail is [email protected]
Just before Christmas, I produced the eleventh "Filler Show of Epic Proportions". I was thinking at the time that it may be the last, but since then I have collected enough epic's to produce two more shows. I hope to have them produced, and in the can by the middle of February.
The second half of January looks like it could be rough. I have already missed one show due to bad weather, and the long range forcast is looking bad for the next two weeks. If you tune in to one of my regular scheduled live shows and it turns out to be pre-recorded... you'll know whats happening!
Speaking of January... This January I celebrated 28 years as a member of CHMR. I did my first live show on 860 CHMR-AM (Boy that brings back memories) on Friday, January 21st, 1977. Lets see... When I did my first show on CHMR, Frank Moores was Premier of Newfoundland, Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada, Gerald Ford was President of the United States, Elvis Presley was still the King, (Of Rock n Roll anyway!) and I still had alot of hair!
What's really wild is... I am twice as old as more than 90% of CHMR's other DJ's!!!
That's depressing! See you next month!
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