Peter Thompson’s Bluegrass Signal is a celebration of music from Northern California and a showcase of the stylistic diversity of bluegrass music from all over. So each week, you get a lot of context with background information and themes to go with the songs. For this episode of On Repeat, Peter brought his favorite songwriter, Black string band music, and a surprise treat from South Korea. Listen through the button above.
“We've got a lot of great players around here, and I think it's my job to showcase them.”
Intro: John Reischman - “Bluegrass Signal”
Song 1: Kathy Kallick Band - “Just Lonesome Ol’ Me & the Radio”
“A lot of the songs dealt with her response to the pandemic and ways to make community during that time.”
Song 2: New Dangerfield - “Dangerfield Newby”
“You say bluegrass and you think old white guys from the South, but in fact, those old white guys were playing a lot of music with old Black guys, making this new kind of music, which really is a combination of blues and Celtic music.”
Song 3: Country GongBang - “Born To Be Chicken”
“This is global music, this bluegrass and old time stuff, and mostly to me what's exciting is they're making up their own songs, and they're singing it in their own language.”
Catch Bluegrass Signal with Peter Thompson Saturdays at 4 p.m. on KALW 91.7 FM and kalw.org.
