Rock Garden Tour

Anti Gravity Tater Tot Hot Dish!

Huge show last night, big time, though I can't remember much about it now. We talked about anti gravity gardening and other popular garden variety trends of 2009. I also seem to recall some witty banter about the EU ban on wonky fruit, the Sioux Falls Canaries, Hub City dinner theater, and wonky tater tot hot dish. And then somehow, again I can't remember how, but we brought all back around to gardening, and it was classic. At least thats the way I remember it. One thing I do remember about last night's show is the free range rock and roll. Have a look at the play list and keep it rural.

Nugget - Made For Chickens By Robots

Galactic - Friends Of Science

Drive By Truckers - Gravity's Gone*

Mumford And Sons - Little Lion Man

Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything*

Surfer Blood - Floating Vibes*

Pavement - Gold Sounds

Horse Feathers - Hardwood Pews

Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning***

Frightened Rabbit - Floating In The Forth*

Lifter Puller - The Langelos

Randy Newman - The Natural**

The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society

Young Fresh Fellows - Rock And Roll Pest Control

Dr. Dog - Hang On*

The Mountain Goats - Island Garden Song

Steve Martin - Late For School

Tonic - Flowerman

* Tunes inspired by anti gravity gardening trends

** Tunes by the guy that discovered gravity in the fist place

*** Awesome tunes about fast motorcycles

The Revolution Will Not Pass Out On The Lawn

News from Pierre informed me this past weekend it had been 48 hours since his last cup of coffee out at Marlin’s. Asked to explain the hiatus, he simply said, “It’s overwhelming.”

Overwhelming? What in the Bijou Hills was he referring to? The caffeine? Doubtful. The man likes his mud. The Olympic coverage spanning every cable news channel? Laughable. C-Span runs 24 hours a day.

No, News from Pierre was talking about the cold. The Deep Freeze Nasty. It’s not annoying or unseasonable. It’s overwhelming. No fancy hyperbole or linguistic puffery needed here. This winter is winning.

In the Tavern Belt, you can do two things when winter descends: try to hold up your local convenience store with a plastic shovel as your leverage, or put on some fight-the-hibernation, cabin fever-busting pop music. Like catnip to the senses, a straightshot of pop music cuts through the icy veneer of our souls.

Every winter, inevitably, I find myself coming across some brave band, one dependable, power-pop Pez-dispensing melody maker to depend upon to keep from delving into a sad reenactment of The Shining.

This winter, folks, it’s Benji Hughes and “Love Extreme.” Hughes actually released this album the fall of 2008. But the man delivers a California-flavored nerve injection of lush, harmonic, sun-glistening pop music. Plus, it’s moody enough that it won’t jar you out of your winter lull—instead it will gently and good-naturedly rustle you awake, like a fluffy dog licking your face in the morning when you’ve slept in too long.

Certainly, it’s tempting to put on Bon Iver’s “For Emma, For Ever Ago” on the iPod and wander aimlessly through the streets, the lonely crooning echoing the crunching of your feet on the packed snow. But, by now, we’re past semantics. We need a chance. And with weather reports promising more snow and wind and desperation for the next week at least, we can’t take any chances with subtlety.

Benji Hughes, particularly on “If,” may not melt the snow. But he’ll turn your cabin fever into disco fever. Or at least make life bearable for the foreseeable extended forecast.

 
The revolution will not pass out on the lawn.

Cousin Christopher teaches college in Minnesota, plays the keys for the Golden Bubbles and the Rock Garden Tour Family Band, he also writes about rock and roll.

Rock Garden Tour 62: Grumpy Old Gardeners

 
This week's Rock Garden Tour on SDPB Radio featured a whole lot of action - everything from Burgess Meredith impersonations to an ice fishing adventure at Richmond Lake. Twas great fun. You'll note that we've changed up the format of our podcast. If you like what you hear, and you'd like to listen to the whole show, click the link warp for a live stream of the show.

Rock garden tour 62 podcast

 

Less talk, more witty banter about olympic male figure skating glory.

Last night when we dropped in I had know idea that we'd be talking about Scott Hamilton for the next 2 hours, but thats how these things go. The show was supposed to be about high brow gardening, and we did our best. We talked about classical music and how it affects plant growth. I interviewed Telly of the ColtCockers about his experience at the South Dakota Symphony. It looked great on paper, but paper doesn't win gold medals. At least the music kicked like a fightin' canary, we spun everything from Joe Pug to Exploding Seagulls. Take a look at the playlist and keep it rural.

Faron Young - Live Fast Die Young

The Thermals - Now We Can See

Golden Shoulders - A Short And Fleeting Feeling

Mumford And Sons - Little Lion Man

Nneka - Walking

Joe Pug - Unsophisticated Heart

Beach Fossils - Desert Sand

Willie Nelson And Leon Russel - Don't Fence Me In

Christian Kiefer - Joh Adams: Armed Only With The Wit And Vigor Of The US Navy*

Los Chijuas - Changing The Colors Of Life

Pearl Jam - The Fixer

War On Drugs - Taking The Farm

David Bazan - Curse Your Branches

Chuck Prophet - Let's All Help The Cowboys Sing The Blues*

Exploding Seagulls - Johnny Runs For Paregonic

Noah And The Whale - Death By Numbers

The Mountain Goats - Alpha Double Negative: Going To Catalina*

Alborosie - One Sound (feat. Gramps Morgan)

Tonic - Flowerman

* Worth while tunes that have long titles

Rock Garden Tour 61: Herbal Legends

Trying something new this week. Take the podcast for a spin and see how it feels. If you like what you hear, this link will take you to where you want to go. In this week's show we discussed popular herbal myths, everything from kidney bean thieves to sasquash to the spring breaker who caught a narly flesh eating virus from a carnivorous plant in Florida. All of that plus we broke out the kazoo. Enjoy this week's Rock Garden Tour podcast and keep it rural.  

Download Rock garden tour 61 podcast

Less talk, more witty banter about hallucenogens.

Last night's live show on KCFS 94.5 began with a rant from Flowerman about The Who and how their performance at the Superbowl was nothing short of legend, the show ended with a rant from Oil Can about hallucenogenic Jimsonweed, and I can't really remember what happened in between. We'll just have to wait for the podcast I guess. We can discover the middle of last night's show together. Last night's show featured some intense free range rock and roll, that is something that I can remember. Have a look at the playlist from last night's show and keep it rural.

The Kinks - Introduction*

Wesley Willis - Feel The Power Of Rock And Roll*

Gil Scott Heron - I'm New Here

Malachai - Snowflake

The Various Artists - Original Mixed Up Kid

Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear

Bob Wills And The Texas Playboys - Big Balls In Cow Town*

Electric Guitars - Work

Port O'Brien - My Will Is Good

Magnetic Fields - We Are Having A Hootenanny Now*

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Family Band - Tell All The World John

Gil Scott Heron - New York Is Killing Me

Beach Fossils - Desert Sand

Coconut Records - West Coast

Fleshtones - American Beat*

JJ - Let Go

The Mountain Goats - Distant Stations*

Steve Martin - Pretty Flowers

Tonic - Flowerman

* Artists that I'd love to see play the Superbowl Half-Time Show, even though some of them are dead now.

  

Rock Garden Tour 60: New American Gardener

 
This week's Rock Garden Tour podcast features a whole lot of me, Flowerman. If you listened to the show last Sunday night on SDPB Radio you would have heard a whole lot of me, Flowerman, but with free range rock and roll mixed in there. Unfortunately, we can't include all of that music in the podcast. Its what they would call "illegal." So, in this week's podcast, you get a whole lot of me, Flowerman. I interview a former geranium sales person. I chat with the Coach. I impersonate the muscle head army guy from Avatar. And I rant for a good while about tree faces. What more can you ask for? Enjoy this week's Rock Garden Tour podcast and as always, keep it rural.

Download Rock garden tour 60 podcast

Kidney Bean Theft In Ipswich South Dakota

On last Thursday night's Rock Garden Tour on KCFS we talked herbal legends, some of the most popular ones, like the one about the kid that goes to Ipswich South Dakota on spring break and ends up naked in a bathtub full of ice without any kidney beans. I'd tell you more but its just easier if you wait for the podcast. In addition to the legends, we jammed some most righteous free range rock and roll. Take a look at the playlist and keep it rural.

John Lee Hooker - Roll 'n' Roll*

Hurray For The Riff Raff - Slow Walk*

Surfer Blood - Catholic Pagan

Serge Gainsbourg - Le Claqueur De Doigts*

The Whitefield Brothers - Safari Strut*

Bruce Springsteen - Jesse James

Blitzen Trapper - Big Black Bird

Sea Wolf - You're A Wolf*

Magnetic Fields - We Are Having A Hootenanny*

Exploding Seaguls - Johnny Runs For Paregoric

Devo - Gut Feeling

Beach Fossils - Desert Sand*

The Stingrays - Exceptions

Art Objects - Hard Objects

Rock Garden Tour Family Band - Hip Hip Murdo (Live In Deadwood, SD)

Hanoi Janes - Skeleton Girl

The Mountain Goats - Pure Sound

The National - Fake Empire

Tonic - Flowerman

* Instant herbal legends, these tunes are so good that I'm not sure they even exist

The Revolution Will Not Be iPadded.

“Local music” is one of those euphemisms, like “farm-raised salmon” and “retirement community,” that sensible people learn to distrust. The other night I was at the Sauce Bar in Minneapolis and I watched carefully as after-hours Office look-alikes partied onward as the bar transitioned from background music to live bands. I predicted to a friend: “Two songs. No more.” Sure enough, by the crunchy guitar growl of the third song, the wingtips and stiff blouses exited the scene. No hard feelings here, they almost seemed to say as they left. It’s just, well, you know, this is “local” music.

Now, there certainly is an element of Darwinism that plays into mainstream perceptions of “local music.” Let’s just say I have seen an inordinate number of cat-themed punk rock bands and power trios dedicate songs to trousers. Who am I kidding, I’ve played in them. In these instances, the road less traveled is—as Seinfeld said—less traveled for a reason.
But, often, you have a local music scene that—thanks to a music industry in the tank—is often more creative, engaging, and relevant than what you will hear from the DJ, the jukebox or the cover band. I know this may sound like the kind of argument that is recycled every 4-6 years, but let me give you some specifics.

Last Friday night I rolled into downtown Sioux Falls around 6 p.m. Note: I did not intentionally seek out music. But, it found me—a whole sonic spectrum. At Touch of Europe, I struck up a conversation with one of the jazz musicians who moonlights in Queen City’s own alt-country rockers Snakebeard. Then he handed me a business card and told me he was a professional “luthier,” which is a fancy word for stringed instrument repairman. I spied another local musician in the band, the talented keyboardist for Sioux Falls-based funk and blues hybrid Solution. It may be a scene where everyone plays in everyone else’s band in dimly lit root-cellars, but the collective musical output is ill-proportionately diverse and electric.

Walking down the street back to the car, I passed by a piano troubadour inside some smoky bar on Phillips—the air was frigid but the warm glaze of the chords was like an artificial space heater. At Latitude 44, another Sioux Falls piano balladeer—Janae Sturma—played a score of originals and clever covers to an intimate and deeply appreciate crowd. As the train rumbled past as she closed her set, however, one couldn’t help but wonder how many people were filling out song requests at some oily karaoke bar instead of filling her tip jar. It’s not for the musician’s sake that I lament this fact; most have long ago given up on this gig making any money.

No, it’s for the audiences who miss out on a genuine, original, even sometimes powerful music experience.
Past midnight, we retired to Monk’s House of Ale Repute, where a member of We All Have Hooks for Hands told me about sleeping in a rest stop for four days while on tour on the East Coast. He wasn’t in the least bit fazed. This is part of the “business.” And musicians won’t complain. They love the gigs. Even if the bar does date your check for a month later. But, there really is quite a significant music scene right under the nose of a lot of people, not just in Sioux Falls, but in a lot of communities across the Tavern Belt and beyond. And it’s really worth listening to.

Of course, we ended the night by listening to Hall and Oates’ “Rich Girl” three times on repeat in the car. But, that’s because the song is less than three minutes long, and because no one cooks up a blue-eyed soul hook like Daryl Hall and John Oates. Not even in the Queen City. Maybe Rowena.

The revolution will not be iPadded.

Cousin Christopher writes about rock and roll for the Rock Garden Tour. He also plays keyboard in the family band.

Rock Garden Tour 59: The Bird Is This Week's Topic

 
Less talk, more witty banter about birdwatching. Thanks to our favorite painter Liz Heeren (you might know her as Letwan from Pest Control) for letting us use this image in today's post. You can see more of Liz's work at www.lizheeren.com. This week's Rock Garden Tour podcast darts around like a rare and glorious muted hornbill, hovering over topics such as the Surfin' Bird, the Indigo Bunting tragedy of Norway Center, mutant bird feeder stalkers, and a heart warming story from News about a blind man that builds blue bird houses for the Army Corp. Of Engineers. I'd tell you more but I've already said too much. Enjoy this week's Rock Garden Tour and as always, keep it rural. 

Download Rock garden tour 59 podcast