Both Kinds Radio

Hoyt Axton was a prolific songwriter and performer, best known for writing hits for others.  “Greenback Dollar”, “The Pusher”, “Joy to the World” and “Never Been to Spain” all charted for The Kingston Trio, Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night, respectively.  Axton also had a pair of duets with Linda Ronstadt  make the Country Top 40, with “Lion in Winter” and “When the Morning Comes”.  Mae Boren Axton was Hoyt’s mother, who famously co-wrote “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Pick Me Up On Your Way Down”.

He may also look familiar to folks who grew up on 70’s and 80’s television, with roles in “Gremlins” and “The Black Stallion”.  And of course, he sang “Head For the Mountains” in the famous Busch beer ads.

Hoyt Axton passed away in 1999.

Asleep at the Wheel has canceled their performance at Southland Ballroom.  From southlandballroom.com:

“The band had a change in schedule and the Asleep At The Wheel show is canceled. They look forward to getting back to the area soon.”

If you still want to catch them, they are performing Sunday March 23nd at The Rooster’s Wife in Aberdeen, NC (about an hour’s drive from Raleigh).

After last weeks shortened return to the air, this Sunday promises to deliver a full two hour broadcast of Both Kinds Radio.  NC State Baseball has a 1pm scheduled first pitch against Florida State, which typically means it will be wrapped up by the time we kick off at 4pm.  HOWEVER, there is a very rainy forecast for Sunday which could mean delays, which would screw with my start time.  Now, if it rains all day, they could cancel the game, giving y’all unobstructed Country Music goodness, but we’ll have to just wait and see.  Follow me on Twitter (@bothkindsradio) and Facebook for updates.  Have a great weekend, everybody!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6MbPWzIFUk

Well, it didn’t go down like I had hoped, but we got a show off yesterday.  Thanks to the lousy weather we’ve had this winter, the NC State Baseball game got moved up to a 2pm start, which meant I could only do about an hour yesterday.  Whatever, man.  Still felt good.  Really drove home how much I miss my weekly dose of this wonderful music.  It really invigorates me and gets me excited for the week ahead.  You can check out the playlist here.

I mentioned it on the air, but big thanks to Vinyl Ranch for continuing to point me toward new (new to me) artists.  Played, “My Nose don’t work No More” by Randy Howard, which I came to via a mix they posted, but I wanted to play this one instead.  Just not FCC ready, y’all.  Give it a play, it’s Outlaw at it’s finest.

We’ll be live next Sunday, 4pm – 6pm, on WKNC FM.

Today would have been Townes Van Zandt’s 70th birthday.  Although, I think Townes himself would have been very surprised to see this late date.  A troubled soul, his bouts with depression, mania and addictions led to a life too brief, but the music he left behind puts him on the Mount Rushmore of songwriters, and probably the first one you would chisel there.  Beautiful, truthful and goddamn heartbreaking, his modest catalog of recordings leave you wondering what could have been, with the proper producers or with some intervention to drive away the demons that ultimately cut his life short.  But to get the real taste of the power of Townes Van Zandt’s words, voice and music, I highly recommend “Heartworn Highways“, the 1976 documentary that profiles the “Outlaw” songwriters movement.  The humor, charm and songwriting genius of Townes really shine here, and it is a great introduction to the man’s music (it was for me).  It is available to stream on YouTube for a mere $1.99.  Watch the clip below, and I think you’ll agree.  Happy birthday, Townes.

51 years ago, Country music lost four bright stars in a terrible accident.  Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Randy Hughes all perished in a small plane accident, in Camden, Tennessee.  Their beautiful music lives on today and we’ll be playing selections from them this coming Sunday on Both Kinds Radio.