Hey, y’all. I missed this by a few days but, well…had a few things keeping me busy! First of all, if you don’t read every single word of my blog or social media, I am now bethrothed!
Actually, Rosa and I talked about it ahead of time like most queer couples do. We already have a date and venue booked. But I had had this plan in mind for how to propose to Rosa since mid-2019, and of course, the pandemic slowed me down.
But it turned out I had to stay flexible. My original plan was to propose to Rosa before her birthday party on the Q train as it passes over the Manhattan Bridge, which has a gorgeous view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we’d celebrate with all our friends. But between weather and other people’s vaccination appointments, the picnic kept getting postponed. In fact, we had to postpone it again today.
So we went out to dinner with her parents this past Tuesday for her birthday, and since she had been teaching in-person we took a cab home. So I asked the driver to take us over the Manhattan Bridge — not the most direct home, but Rosa was fine with it. And…it was also the night that the Chauvin verdict was announced, and so the protestors took over the Manhattan Bridge to signal that true justice hasn’t been achieved yet. Which I whole-heartedly support! But in the moment I was internally head-desking. So I proposed while we were driving OVER the Brooklyn Bridge. I was so nervous about getting the moment perfect, but of course any moment would be perfect in that situation.
After that, I got a real bad stomach bug. So here we are: recording on Sunday. Let’s get into some scorching hot tunes with my album of the week, Dance Songs For Hard Times by the Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. You gotta watch the music videos for both these songs: you won’t be disappointed. We’ll start the set out with “Ways and Means,” and Patreon subscribes will get a load of “Dirty Hustlin’”.
- Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band — “Ways and Means” (Dance Songs for Hard Times) (3:01)
- DL Rossi — “Whiskey” (Lonesome Kind) (6:39)
- Under the Rocks — “Palm of Your Hand” (Single) (10:17)
(15:05) In the middle of that set we listed to DL Rossi’s “Whiskey” off his brand-new album Lonesome Kind. Most of the album gets into a more traditional country and folk sound, but “Whiskey” sounds most like what Rossi’s been up to over the past few years: a very cool integration of pop and classic country; almost like rockabilly but without the camp. Patreon listeners were treated to “Tumbling,” which I thought showcases the spectrum of sounds Rossi goes for in this album. If you want to learn more about Rossi, check out his interview on Adobe & Teardrops from last week. I linked to it in the shownotes.
And we closed the set out with a bluegrass (or newgrass?) band from British Columbia, Under the Rock, and their ode to smartphones, “Palm of Your Hand.” That song’s been stuck in my head since I heard it two months ago, so now I gotta get it stuck in yours.
Next up is Veronique Medrano, a Mexican-Americana South Texas musician who’s bridging the gap between country and tejano music. She sent me two covers: we’ll all listen to her version of Freddy Fender’s “Wasted Days & Wasted Nights,” in which she includes a Spanish verse. She retitled it to “Wasted Days.” Patreon subscribers will also listen to “Tamale Man.” About that song, Veronique writes, “I chose to do a SOUTH Texas rendition of this song as a means of reclaiming a story that is very typical for our area. Our relationship with food is very important and to have a song in a country that felt typical of the Mexican/:Latino experience made it imperative that I add my own flavor to it.” You can find both these songs on Spotify and anywhere else streaming music is to be found.
- Veronique Medrano — “Wasted Days” (Single) (16:49)
- Brightwire — “Tears Through the Sunshine” (20:41)
- Edwin — “Face in Chrome” (West) (23:53)
(27:42) Keeping on with Texas musicians, we dug into Brightwire’s album Cracked, Flawed, and Frayed a little bit more. I played a single of theirs a few weeks ago and wanted to make sure you got a crack at the rest of their sound. We listened to “Tears Through the Sunshine,” and Patreon subscribers got “Before the Ghosts,” both songs are good old haunted Americana rock from Samuel Barker and his wife.
We kept the haunts happening with the duo Edwin and “Face in Chrome,” which is seriously one of the best songs I’ve gotten off of SubmitHub. I can’t stop listening to it and will definitely return to their album West at some point. The song had a sort of updated Wallflowers feel, which makes sense because two members of Bright Eyes played on the track.
We’ll close out with some indie rock, including Lande Hekt, whom I think I learned about from Lauren Denitzio’s newsletter. If you don’t know, Denitzio is the lead singer of Worriers. This album is in a similar vulnerable punk vein, so we’ll jump in with “December” off of Going to Hell, and Patreon subscribes will continue on with “Hannover.”
- Lande Hekt — “December” (Going to Hell) (28:39)
- Blowboater – “clever weather” (Blowboater) (31:37)
- Max and the Martians — “Death Dance” (All The Same) (35:56)
(38:40) I found out about Blowboater through the excellent queer music podcast Homoground. One of these days I’ll get it together to record another episode for them, but we keep missing each other in the e-mail process. Anyway, go listen to Homoground: there’s some really excellent musical breadth there though of course I tend to gravitate more towards the punk artists than the pop and dance folks. We ended the set with Max and the Martians’ “Death Dance” off their new album All the Same.
Before I close out, thanks as always to Alma Contra for the opening and to Two Cow Garage for allowing us to use “Stars and Gutters.” You can click the linktree in the shownotes to find me on social media and learn more about my comic Artema. I also have the website for my queer country zine Rainbow Rodeo set up and will link to that once we’re ready to take orders! You can send me music through SubmitHub, though I’m now only doing blog posts since we’re about to switch podcast formats.
Speaking of which, next week is the LAST episode in this style, where I play new music that I like. Starting in two weeks, each episode is going to be themed, starting with a discussion of anti-racist country music.
So let’s close it out with Jess McIntosh and Aaron Smith and a song from their self-titled album. The pair are a Chicago-based old-time duo who have been working as session musicians and got together to cut their own record. This is a traditional song called “Dinah,” and I think the duo’s chemistry here is just gorgeous.
Stay safe out there, everyone. In music we trust, in music we believe.
- Jess McIntosh and Aaron Smith — “Dinah” (Jess McIntiosh and Aaron Smith) (40:15)
Next Week’s Topic: Final Grab-Bag!
Podcast intro by Alma Contra, music from Two Cow Garage’s “Stars & Gutters”
Send me music via SubmitHub! Send me money via Ko-fi or Patreon. Find Rachel and her comic via https://linktr.ee/rachel.cholst