The Stoners' Serenade

You Should Know

Fall Music In NC Looking Good!

• Blandwood, located at the corner of Washington and Edgeworth in downtown Greensboro, is putting on a truly great series of free (that's right, I said FREE) bluegrass shows on every Sunday afternoon in Sep. Performers include the roots duo Polecat Creek, Kari Sickenberger and Laurelyn Dossett. One of Laurelyn's songs (Anna Lee) was on Levon Helm's Grammy-winning "Dirt Farmer" CD. (If Levon Helm thinks you wrote a great song, I'd call that high praise.) Also included are The Biscuit Burners, Andy Eversole, and my best ol' bluegrass buddy, extraordinary picker, singer, and songwriter, Mr. David Via.
• The Allman Brothers Band and Phil & Friends making a couple on NC stops first weekend of October.
• More North Carolina festivals announced: Day Glo in Sep. and Loki in Oct. (but, dammit, the same weekend as Fall Shakori)

Check out the Shows and Festivals page.

Violence, Anger, Frustration, Chaos, Volume.

Great interview with one of the Gods of improvisational music and one of the few icons of the 60's still walking the walk; Neil Young

WQNR, Auburn Alabama, To Change Format

That headline may not seem to be important here in North Carolina, but it is important to radio nationwide. For about 5 years now WQNR has been the only commercial station in the US using a format that featured jam bands, Americana, new grass, folk and.... well, you get the idea. They were playing real music and actually making a buck or two. My old friend Wild Man Steve was doing a successful morning show playing that kind of music when it was a classic rock station, one among many in the market, and the money guys decided to let him program it all. It was a breakthrough everyone who loves this kind of music thought might be a sign of things to come. Well, it's not, and the dream came crashing down. I don't yet know what they are switching to, but apparently there's not enough Carrie Underwood, Boston, or Maroon Five in that market.
Update #1; The new format is a Classic Rock oriented towards females called Radio Kate. Whatever.
Update #2; The Wildman has started an internet radio channel he calls, with all his usual modesty, Wildman Steve Radio . Check it out.

The Administration Of George W.: man, it just keeps getting stranger.

The more that comes out about the inner workings of W.'s staff, the scarier it seems. You might get a giggle or two on the Liberty Watch page.

New Local Music Website

Some local music freaks (my favorite kind of people) have started a new website, Support Live Music , that does a great job of keeping up with what going on locally, especially at smaller venues that, to be honest, I don't do a good enough job of covering.

The main thrust of The Stoners' Serenade is to expose and promote bands that play local clubs and festivals, especially those regional acts that go virtually unnoticed on even the best radio station.

That is my mission, to boldly play those bands that have never been played in my area before.

I love brilliant musicianship and it does not matter to me whether it would be classed as blue-grass, jazz, jam bands, new-grass, rock, or reggae. Whatever you call it if it jams I will play it.

Some thanks are in order here. I could not do the show I do without the help of people who love to record live music. Some who stand out in their kindness to me are Tom Delage, "Tie-dye" Jim Montanya, Debra Jones, and most especially Joel Hudson of jamlive.org. In a separate category all together is long-time Smilefest archivist Kelly Breed.

My unindicted co-consprirator is, and always will be, Chris "Papa Bear" Kempf. Our saturday nights of getting drunk and listening to music real loud formed the backbone of the early days of the show. His dear wife Siobhan has been our DD to more shows than I can count. for that, and for so many other kindnesses, Siobhan, thank you.

There are only two rules I try (and sometimes fail) to follow; 1) some Jerry Garcia in some form every week. 2) close the show with something long and old and good.

Grady