"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 5/7/2023

Before Sunday's Bluegrass Cafe, we were actually wondering if it was going to be possible to have a live radio program today.  You see, this is Commencement Weekend at the University of Connecticut and there were THREE separate graduation ceremonies that took place just today -- two of them during our show's airtime.  That means that parking on campus is kind of haywire and also, there was a possibility that the building in which the WHUS studios are located would be locked.  Turmoil!  Still, we found out last-minute that all was fine for our access, so we were able to provide three big hours of Bluegrass music today.  Phew!  :)  Congratulations to all 2023 graduates!

We devoted 17 songs -- a full hour's worth of airtime -- to Bluegrass covers of songs written by the legendary Canadian songwriter/performer who died at the age of 84 on May 1st:  Gordon Lightfoot.  It's no secret that the late Tony Rice was a major fan of Mr. Lightfoot, as over his own recording career, Mr. Rice recorded nearly a dozen and half songs from the pen of Gordon Lightfoot.  There have been loads of other Lightfoot Bluegrass covers over the years, though, and the ones we shared were from performers as varied as Mac Wiseman, Paul Adkins & the Borderline Band, the Front Porch String Band, Sideline, the Gibson Brothers, the Country Gentlemen, Bubba Chandler, Robert Hale, Bill Emerson & Cliff Waldron, Special Consensus, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and, of course, the aforementioned Tony Rice.  Rest in peace, Gordon Lightfoot, and thank you for sharing your music with millions.

(If you'd like to read more about Gordon Lightfoot's impact on many Bluegrass performers over the years, check out this fine recent piece from Bluegrass Today.)

There was also a bit of new or recent music with brand-new tunes from Jana Mougin, Alison Brown (with Steve Martin), and the Dan Tyminski Band, and recent selections from the Little Roy & Lizzy Show, Special Consensus, Rock Hearts, Jason Carter, Larry Sparks, Starlett & Big John, and Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers.

My apologies for those who may have tuned in last week to discover there was no Bluegrass music airing during our regular timeslot.  I was at the Rhode Island Bluegrass Alliance Hall of Fame event (read more about that here), and while I had submitted an older show to be aired in the regular 4-7PM time frame, for whatever reason, it just didn't happen.  

We'll plan to be with you once again with a brand-new Bluegrass Cafe next Sunday afternoon, 4-7PM.  Have a good week!

Amy O.

SONG / PERFORMER / ALBUM / LABEL [Requests are RED]

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• Howdy Neighbor Howdy / Traditional Grass / Howdy Neighbor Howdy / Rebel
• Phone Call Away / IIIrd Tyme Out / IIIrd Tyme Out / Rebel
• Frog On A Lily Pad / Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show / Take Me Back / Pinecastle
• One Day Late And A Dollar Short / Spinney Brothers / Memories / Mountain Fever Records
• This Weary Heart You Stole Away / Stanley Brothers / Select Sides, 1949-1953 / JSP Records
• Close The Door Lightly When You Go / Lonesome River Band / Chronology, Volume One / Rural Rhythm
• Rainbow Stew / The Little Roy & Lizzy Show / Welcome To The Show / Mountain Home
• Close By / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1954-1957 / JSP Records
• Honeycat Hornpipe / Corrina Rose Logston / Bluegrass Fiddler / Patuxent Music
• Milwaukee Here I Come / Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys / The King Of Bluegrass / Audium
• You Are What I Am / J.D. Crowe & the New South / J.D. Crowe & the New South / Rounder [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Long Way Back Home / Gibson Brothers / Long Way Back Home / Sugar Hill [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Sit Down Young Stranger / Country Gentlemen / The Sugar Hill Years / Sugar Hill [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Steel Rail Blues / Mac Wiseman / Mac Wiseman Sings Gordon Lightfoot / CMH [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Go My Way / Front Porch String Band / Front Porch String Band / Rebel [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Did She Mention My Name / Robert Hale / Pure & Simple / Pinecastle [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Early Morning Rain / Bill Emerson & Cliff Waldron / The Best Of Emerson & Waldron / Rebel [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Alberta Bound / Special Consensus  with the Jaybird Trio, Pharis & Jason Romero, Ray Legere, & Claire Lynch / Great Blue North / Compass Records [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Cold On The Shoulder / Tony Rice / Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot / Rounder [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Ribbon Of Darkness / Chris Jones & the Night Drivers / Lost Souls & Free Spirits / Rebel [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Don Quixote / Country Gentlemen / Complete Vanguard Recordings / Vanguard [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• If You Could Read My Mind / Bubba Chandler / Somebody To Sing To / Mountain Fever Records [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Girl From The Canyon / Paul Adkins & the Borderline Band / How Many Roads / Rebel [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Song For A Winter's Night / Sideline / Front & Center / Mountain Home [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Brave Mountaineers / Special Consensus / Great Blue North / Compass Records [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald / Tony Rice / Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot / Rounder [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Redwood Hill / Country Gentlemen / Live In Japan / Rebel [Remembering Gordon Lightfoot:  11/17/1938 - 5/1/2023]
• Ode To Jimmy Martin / Dan Tyminski Band / God Fearing Heathen / 8 Track Entertainment
• Foggy Morning Breaking / Alison Brown with Steve Martin / On Banjo / Compass Records
• If I Didn't Love You / Jana Mougin / single / Dark Shadow Recording
• Keep Your Eye On Kentucky / Dan Tyminski Band / God Fearing Heathen / 8 Track Entertainment
• Pain Of Loving You / Mark Newton with Gloria Belle / Follow Me Back To The Fold / Rebel
• Last Log Drive / Rock Hearts / Wanderlust / 615 Hideaway Records
• The Likes Of Me / Jason Carter / Lowdown Hoedown / Fiddleman Records
• Blink Of An Eye / Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass / Bluegrass Troubadour / Pinecastle
• Prettier All The Time / Feinberg Brothers / Songs We Sing / Cabinwood Music
• Bring 'Em On Back / Larry Sparks / It's Just Me / Rebel
• Like A Bird In A Cage / Bear Bridge Band / Broken Hearts & Better Times / Open Road
• Back Away Little Heart / Starlett & Big John / Living In The South / Rebel
• Before You Miss Me / Authentic Unlimited / Authentic Unlimited / Billy Blue Records
• I'll Go Stepping Too / Earls Of Leicester / Live At The CMA Theater In The Country Music Hall Of Fame / Rounder
• Angels Watching Me / Tennessee Bluegrass Band / The Future Of The Past / Billy Blue Records
• Do You Live What You Preach? / Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys / One Morning In May / Rounder
• I'll Be Going To Heaven Sometime / Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs / Selected Sides, 1948-1950 / JSP Records
• God On The Mountain / Jesse Brock with Greg Blake / Streamliner / Sound Biscuit
• Standing In The Need Of Prayer / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder
• Give Me The Roses / Traver Hollow / Angels Rejoice / Strictly Country Records
• It's A Grand And A Glorious Feeling / Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers / Let Time Ride / Billy Blue Records
• Martha And Mary / Nu-Blu / Nail By Nail / Pinecastle
• Blue Grass Twist / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder