Community Radio – A Love Letter

Community Radio Love-Letter

This year’s Wintergrass Program Guide 2023 includes a special feature: Community Radio, A Love Letter.  Local DJs representing community radio share moments of their radio experience and creativity.  From KBCS Bluegrass Ramble host Tom Kenney, DJ Emeritus Pete Goodall, and Music Director Iaan Hughes to other local talents KSER DJ Nicollete Roberge and Mike Meyer of KMUZ Island Earth Radio.  Thank you to them and all of you for supporting community radio and the music and message it shares to so many.     

Wintergrass Community Radio Love 1

Wintergrass Community Radio Love 2

Please review the entire Wintergrass Program Guide 2023

Remember and Resist 2023

February 19, 2023 was the 81st anniversary of Executive order 9066.  It ordered the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent from throughout the west coast. 

In commemoration, an event was held at the Washington State Fair Events Center in Puyallup, Washington.  The organizers were Minidoka Pilgrimage, JACL Seattle Chapter, JACL Puyallup Valley Chapter, La Resistencia and Tsuru for Solidarity.

Over 7,000  people were incarcerated in make-shift shelters and animal stalls on the fairgrounds in 1942  for about five months until the incarceration sites were completed. 

The event also included a gathering at Tacoma’s Northwest detention center to support the detainees inside and call for an end to immigrant detention and deportations.

Listen in on the voices and sounds from Remember and Resist 2023. 

Producer: Yuko Kodama

Photos: Widder Sessions

Wintergrass 2023 and KBCS!

Wintergrass 2023 and KBCS 91.3FM over 30 years of celebrating Bluegrass, Folk and Americana, Roots and Acoustic music

KBCS is honored to share another year with the long running music festival, Wintergrass!  This year Wintergrass marks 30 years celebrating and sharing Bluegrass, Folk, Acoustic, Americana and Roots music to the community. Tune into these upcoming shows for the sound of KBCS, the spirit and music of Wintergrass, and the curatorial music magic of KBCS DJs:

MONDAY – 7pm to 9pm – Soul Folks with Mike Biggins

TUESDAY – 7pm to 9pm – Folksounds with Jean Geiger and Eric Hardee

TUESDAY – 9pm to 11pm – Road Songs with Rus Thompson

SATURDAY – 9am to 12noon – Our Saturday Tradition with Ginger Hopper and Jim Page, (w/ occasional visits from Jean Geiger and longtime folk DJ, Larry Lewin.)

SUNDAY – 6am to 9am – Walkin’ the Floor with Iaan Hughes

SUNDAY – 9am to 12noon – Sunday Folks with Auntmama and Mike Biggins

SUNDAY – 12noon to 3pm – Bluegrass Ramble with Tom Keeney and Tom Voorhees

SUNDAY – 3pm to 6pm – Sunday’s Hornpipe with John Gibaut

SUNDAY – 6pm to 8pm – The Real Folk with Richard Gillman

MONDAY through FRIDAY – Iaan Hughes hosts Roots, Rock and Soul 12noon to 4pm and 4pm to 7pm 

We are so thankful for all of their volunteer time and continued support to KBCS and the Wintergrass communities.  KBCS is excited to share in this banner year for both KBCS’s own 50th milestone and Wintergrass’s 30th!  Thank you for the support and dedication to keep these community organizations reaching so many for so many years.

DON’T MISS OUT!! – KBCS at Wintergrass 2023

Join KBCS at Wintergrass on Saturday Feb. 25th from 9am to 12noon.  Check out the KBCS Stage at the North Grand Hallway for featured Wintergrass musicians: Joe Craven and Joe Troop, Anna Tivel, Cedric Watson and Dirk Powell, Tray Wellington Band, Never Come Down and The Deslondes!

For a full schedule of Wintergrass please review the entire Wintergrass Program Guide 2023

Northwest African American Museum

Children’s Film Festival Seattle

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Tommy Emmanuel! Feb 25, 2023

“Songs are our teachers. They show us the depth of the human race and its unrelenting desire to create.” – Tommy Emmanuel

 Anytime you talk to any of Tommy Emmanuel’s fans, whether musicians or civilians, invariably they will speak of not one but two qualities that define his greatness. The first, predictably, is his extraordinary guitar playing. Considered by those in the know to be among this planet’s greatest guitarists, his playing is simply miraculous, as it would take three musicians, or more, to do what Tommy does solo. Who else, for example, when playing “Day Tripper,” can lay down the rhythm part, dig into the riff and sing the melody all at once on just one acoustic guitar? 
            

Which brings us to the other aspect of his music always mentioned, and without which the first might not be as powerful or as infectiously appealing: the joy. Yes, joy. Because it’s one thing to play these multi-dimensional arrangements flawlessly on an acoustic guitar. But to do it with that smile of the ages, that evidence of authentic, unbridled delight, is an irresistible invitation to feel his music as deeply as he does. “The joy, he says, “is there always because I’m chasing it through music. Seeing the surprise in peoples’ eyes is worth living and working for… I can’t help but play to the people with all my heart, which is overflowing with joy of being in that moment that I’ve worked all my life for. And here it is!”
            

Although his expression is instrumental, he comes to the guitar much more like a vocalist, positively singing melodies through the strings. He inhabits the tunes he performs, delivering every nuance and turn of phrase. His own songs are also illuminated always with lyrical melodies that go right to the heart, such as his beautiful ode to his daughter, “Angelina,” or his great “story without words,” “Lewis & Clark.” That they resonate so deeply without words makes sense, as words only go so far. But music, coming from a genuine and joyful source, can go so much farther. Now with The Best of Tommysongs, he brings us a complete collection of his own songs, all rich with ripe melodicism and rendered with joy in real-time. 

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be in show business. Now, I just want to be in the happiness business. I make music, and you get happy. That’s a good job.”  –Tommy Emmanuel

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Jerry Douglas Band! Feb 25, 2023

Dobro master and 14-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas is a bandleader, producer, session musician, instructor, and a very funny guy! He’s produced over a hundred albums and he’s featured on over 1,600 studio albums. He’s a member of Alison Kraus & Union Station, co-bandleader for Transatlantic Sessions in the United Kingdom, founder for the Grammy winner bluegrass super-group The Earls of Leicester, and he leads The Jerry Douglas Band.

Since 2017, The Jerry Douglas Band has been forging new paths into the musical horizon with deep roots in bluegrass and folk that spreads out into the Americana and jazz landscapes. In 2021, The Jerry Douglas Band released an album, Leftover Feelings, with legendary singer songwriter John Hiatt. The album was nominated for a 2022 Grammy for “Best Americana Album,” and their previous record What If also received a Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.” They perform at some of the top US festivals such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Pilgrimage Music Festival, Big Ears Festival, DelFest, FreshGrass, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Merlefest, and many others. In addition to Douglas, The Jerry Douglas Band includes Daniel Kimbro on bass, Christian Sedelmyer on fiddle, and Mike Seal on guitar.

Daniel Kimbro — DanielKimbro.com

Raised on American Roots music in and around Appalachia, Daniel Kimbro is a multi Grammy-nominated bassist with numerous stage and studio appearances to his credit. Currently touring and recording with The Jerry Douglas Band, The Earls of Leicester, the Transatlantic Sessions and many others, Daniel utilizes his extensive experience within Jazz, Folk and Bluegrass genres to maintain a busy freelance career from his twin homes of Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Christian Sedelmyer — linktr.ee/ChristianSedelmyer

Christian Sedelmyer is a daring and diversified musician who brings a 21st-century vision to the five-string violin. Raised in Erie, PA and based in Nashville since 2008, he’s been a member of the Jerry Douglas Band since Summer of 2014. In addition, he’s forged two successful bands (The Farewell Drifters and 10 String Symphony) and become a valued side musician and collaborator in contemporary string band music. Sedelmyer contributed to the IBMA Award winning 2018 Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. He regularly collaborates and records with Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse), and his debut solo instrumental album, Ravine Palace, featuring Douglas, Marlin, Eli West (guitar) and Clint Mullican (bass) was released in 2020.

Mike Seal — MikeSealMusic.com

Mike Seal is a twice grammy-nominated guitarist and composer based in Nashville, TN. Originally from Bridgewater, Virginia, Mike has been touring and recording with a wide variety of bands including: The Jerry Douglas Band, Sierra Hull, Bob Lanzetti, Viktor Kraus Band Jeff Sipe Trio, Sarah Siskind, Danny Barnes, The Jeff Coffin Mu-tet, Ike Stubblefield, Yonrico Scott, Keith L. Brown, The Black Lillies, and many others. Mike’s first solo EP, Dogwoods, released in 2018 and is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Wintergrass Music Festival Presents: Westin Concerts – Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar! Feb 25, 2023

Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar are making some rare duo appearances in 2022 and 2023.  The Louisiana slide guitar wizard’s trademark bottle-neck chops and Cashdollar’s dobro and steel string talents culminate in world renowned showcases of guitar virtuosity. 

Revered for his unique slide guitar technique, Sonny Landreth has collaborated with many legendary performers including John Hiatt, Jimmy Buffett, Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton. Summer of 2013, Sonny was part of the Peter Frampton led Guitar Circus tour, often closing the night playing with Frampton on an extended “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Cindy Cashdollar’s expertise is in great demand on both steel guitar and dobro. She has worked with many leading artists in various genres including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart and Ryan Adams. With the iconic western swing group Asleep At The Wheel, she garnered 5 Grammy awards and was the first woman to be inducted into the Texas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in  2011. 

Performing a mix of original songs with contemporary and traditional blues and roots music, the show is electric, virtuosic, and tastefully delivered by these two great instrumental masters.

NW African American Museum’s African American Cultural Experience Choir

The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) is possibly the only museum in the country to house a choir.  NAAM was closed for renovation until January, 2023. During the pandemic, the African American Cultural Experience choir became the mobile arm of the museum. The choral group shares Black/US history  with the community through music that expresses the Black experience. 

Listen in on this excerpt of a KBCS interview with NAAM President and CEO, LaNesha DeBardelaben about the significance of this choir.  

Producer: Yuko Kodama Special thanks to Jalisa Bass for contributing to editing

Photo: NAAM

Music Clips: NAAM ACE Choir and KNKX

Margo Price at The Showbox! Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Margo Price has something to say but nothing to prove. In just three remarkable solo albums, the singer and songwriter has cemented herself as a force in American music and a generational talent. A deserving critical darling, she has never shied away from the sounds that move her, the pain that’s shaped her, or the topics that tick her off, like music industry double standards, the gender wage gap, or the plight of the American farmer. (In 2021, she even joined the board of Farm Aid.)

Now, on her fourth full-length Strays, a clear-eyed mission statement delivered in blistering rock and roll, she’s taking onsubstance abuse, self-image, abortion rights, and orgasms. Musically extravagant but lyrically laser focused, the 10-song record tears into a broken world desperate for remedy. And who better to tell it? Price has done plenty of her own rebuilding—or as she shout sings in explanation on “Been to the Mountain,” the set’s throat-ripping opener, “I have to the mountain and back alright”—and finds herself, atlong last, free. Feral. Stray.

Moving from the sparse folk of her 2016 debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, into the rollicking roots of its follow up, All American Made, the following year, and, in 2020, into classic rock with Rumors, Price has established herself as a sonic explorer of the finest ilk. Still, she says, “This could be too out-there for people. But I just have this morality where I feel like, it has to be this.

”And this does sound different. Louder, lusher. More layered. Price and her bandrecorded the set across a blissful week in Topanga Canyon, California, at producer Jonathan Wilson’s Fivestar Studio in the summer of 2021. (A smaller second batch would get tracked in Music City, months later.) Wilson, who has helmed sets from Angel Olsen, Father John Misty, and Dawes in recent years, created a space for Price and her band—a longtime troupe that’s been honing their kinetic, even raucous, live show since before Midwest Farmer’s Daughter—to traverse new sounds and influences confidently.

Album opener “Been To The Mountain” showcases her “hard-living swagger” (The New York Times), while the Mike Campbell-assisted “Light Me Up” lays down a searing, explicit epic. “Radio,” a buoyant guitar track featuring Sharon Van Etten, embraces sunny pop melodies. While the dobro-and pedal steel-laden “Hell in the Heartland,” which Price penned in the immediate, uneasy aftermath of quitting drinking, builds towards a cacophony of distorted vocals and synthesizers.

Rock and roll, psychedelic country, rhythm & blues, and even bright shiny pop, they’re all there on Strays, but as each refract through her artistry, that delicate vocal and unhurried delivery, they come out sounding singularly her. While the last few years have seen remarkable moments of acclaim—a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, Americana Music Honors, a Saturday Night Live performance, and just about every outlet and critics’ year-end Best Of list—Price is still hungry. “I still have a lot of drive inside of me,” she says. “I have a chip on my shoulder. It feels like I still haven’t been able to fully realize all my dreams yet, and that eats me up.” Just wait.