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Celebrating Bill Frisell And The First Day Of Spring

Tuesday, March 12: Listen for selections from Isolation Drills, the 2001 effort from Guided By Voices as well as music from William Bloom’s You Should See You In This Light.

Wednesday, March 13: Varshons 2 is the second collection of cover songs from veteran act The Lemonheads. This new collections features renditions of songs originally recorded by Yo La Tengo, The Jayhawks, NRBQ and Nick Cave. Listen for music from that effort as well as songs from Indie Cindy, the 2014 album from the Pixies.  

Thursday, March 14: Released in 1985, Strength was the sophomore release from Welsh band The Alarm and notable for two singles, one for the title track and the other, “Spirit of ’76,” a Springsteen-esque number that garnered the band major airplay in the U.K. We’ll hear music from that release as well as songs from the recent Guided By Voices album, Zeppelin Over China.

Friday, March 15: Listen for selections from I Used to Be Pretty, the latest album from the Los Angeles-based band the Flesh Eaters. The new recording reunites the band’s 1981 lineup, assembled for the LP A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die, featuring members of The Blasters, X, and Los Lobos. We’ll hear music from I Used to Be Pretty as well as from X’s 1980 debut, Los Angeles.

Saturday, March 16: We’ll mark the birthday of author and musician John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) as well as hear selections from Under the Bushes Under the Stars, the 1996 album from Guided By Voices. We'll remember legendary session drummer Hal Blaine, who passed away on March 11. Blaine played on countless hits in the 1960s as a member of revolving cast of musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. Among his credits were appearances on hits from The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys and Diana Ross.

Monday, March 18: We celebrate the birthday of guitarist Bill Frisell with selections from throughout his career and various guest appearances, including selections from Going Back Home from the Ginger Baker Trio, featuring Frisell and bassist Charlie Haden as well as from Frisell’s own 1997 set, Nashville.

Tuesday, March 19: Texas Piano Man is the latest release from Robert Ellis. Although an accomplished guitarist, Ellis opted to write this new album entirely on piano. The record features meditations on parenthood, dissolving romantic relationships and the cultural taboo that cigarette smoking has become. We’ll hear music from that release as well as songs from Let’s Go Eat the Factory, the 2012 reunion release from Guided By Voices. We'll remember guitar legend Dick Dale, who passed on March 16 at the age of 81.

Wednesday, March 20: We mark the first day of Spring with music from Hot Chip, Thin Lizzy, Prince and Tom Waits.

Jedd Beaudoin is host/producer of the nationally syndicated program Strange Currency. He has also served as an arts reporter, a producer of A Musical Life and a founding member of the KMUW Movie Club. As a music journalist, his work has appeared in Pop Matters, Vox, No Depression and Keyboard Magazine.