Brace yourselves, tomorrow's a marathon...

Well tomorrow's show is chock-a-block with talk and some music crammed into every nook-and-cranny. I rarely do this because it makes my ninety minutes a juggling act, but due to a jam-packed calendar of events in and around Winnipeg in the next week there are 5 (yup, 5) interviews on the show tonight. Justin Olynyk - host of Play It Again on UMFM - joins me for the second straight week to discuss the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. The man has been holed up in various venues for several days watching and reviewing fringe plays and he'll be giving me the rundown on the best and the rest of the fest.

Earlier this week I had Saint Kris in to do a live session and interview (co-interviewed by Roger Kimbeni of the great new show The College Draft). Kris dropped a brand new song and talked about where he's headed musically after the B.Y.O.B. mixtape. Kris will be opening for The Happy Unfortunate's July Never Dies CD release show at the Urban Forest this Friday.

Speaking of The Happy Unfortunate, I spoke with one half of the hip-hop duo by phone amidst his busy schedule getting ready for the release show. Malcolm-Jamal Wilson talked about the more balanced split of production and lyric-writing that he and his partner Envoy (Daniel Caneda) managed on this new record. After playing their release show, The Happy Unfortunate will be helping to kick off Islendingadagurinn in Gimli on August long - and on that note, we have our annual talk with Robbie Rousseau about Icelandic Fest and all the free entertainment on the docket [** full disclosure: I'm responsible for programming the Friday night at the pier "Islendingarock" for the first time this year. Little House, The Happy Unfortunate and Cannon Bros. will all be playing that night].

My final interview is with BBQ legend Ted Reader - seriously the dude has BBQ sauces with his name and face on them, that makes him a legend in my book. Ted's coming to town next week (July 31st and August 1st) to promote his new cookbook, Beerlicious Vol. 1 which is all about combining beer and BBQing - who can't get behind that? The cookbook is great and includes lots of recipes involving microbrews and even a few things you can find at the MLCC on the regular. I'll be doing a giveaway on air so definitely keep your dialing fingers primed to call in to win.

How It Went Down: July 22, 2011

So I talked to Charlotte Cornfield, who'll be playing the Times Change(d) on Thursday with my guests for August 5th, The Crooked Brothers, to start the show. Then we had Justin Olynyk checking in to wrap up his reports on the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. I managed to connect with Ryan from The Sheepdogs earlier by phone to discuss their headlining gig at the Brandon Folk Festival this weekend and then Rob Rousseau came in to talk about what he's got planned for this year's Islendingadagurinn Saturday Night @ The Pier and Alternative Folk Festival.

Here's what was played:

Set One: 6:30 PM - 7 PM

Box Of Wolves - "Secret Affair" [Venom Blog]
Charlotte Cornfield - "Construction On The Street" [Independent]
The Weather Station - "Came So Easy" [You've Changed Records]
Marijosee - "Comme la route" [Independent]
Portugal The Man - "You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun)" [Atlantic]

Set Two: 7 PM - 7:30 PM

Interview with Justin Olynyk
Interview with Ryan from the Sheepdogs
The Sheepdogs - "Catfish 2 Boogaloo" [Independent]

Set Three: 7:30 PM - 8 PM

This Hisses - "Keep What's Good In Your Heart" [Transistor 66]
Royal Canoe - "Me Loving Your Money (Gonna See Us Through)" [Independent]
Ingrid Gatin - Take These Walls" [Pipe and Hat]
Brown Bag Allstars - "What It's All About (DJ Brace remix)" [Nostomania Records]

How It Went Down - July 15, 2011

This Hisses joined me in the studio to discuss their album release show at the Pyramid on July 23rd, and to play some of the songs from Surf Noir live. [Speaking of which, UMFM's Live Sessions page is now up, and features This Hisses and more!].
I was joined on the phone by Justin Olynyk, Fringe-fest phenom, who gave us the low-down on the early goings of the fest. And while I had hoped to talk to The Burning Hell, a robbery and assault in Eastern Europe while on tour meant they were talking to the police instead of me. Instead, I spoke to Dean Tzenos of Odonis Odonis prior to that band's show at the LO Pub on July 18th.

This Friday (August 22nd) I'll be talking to Charlotte Cornfield prior to her July 28th appearance at the Times Change(d). Justin Olynyk will be back with Fringe Fest wrap-up giving us his best (and the rest) of the fest. And I'll be talking to Rob Rousseau about all the great music he's got planned for Islendingadagurinn this August long.

Here's what was played:

Set One: 6:30 PM - 7 PM

My Tiger My Timing - "Endless Summer" [Snakes & Ladders]
This Hisses - "Swagger" [Live at UMFM]
This Hisses - "Sparrow" [Live at UMFM]
Interview with This Hisses
This Hisses - "Gold On Fire" [Transistor 66]


Set Two: 7 PM - 7:30 PM

This Hisses - "Lycanthrope" [Live at UMFM]
This Hisses - "Bad Vacation" [Live at UMFM]
Handsome Furs - "Damage" [Sub Pop]
Interview with Justin Olynyk
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Even In Dreams" [Slumberland]
The Express - "Nobody Knows" [Independent]


Set Three: 7:30 PM - 8 PM

William Elliott Whitmore - "Don't Need It" [Anti-]
Interview with Dean Tzenos of Odonis Odonis
Odonis Odonis - "Mr. Smith" [Palmist Records]
Zomby - "Natalia's Song" [4AD]

How It Went Down - July 8, 2011

Relatively quiet on the guest front on Friday as I was joined by Eric Wood and Joe Kalturnyk to discuss Post No Bills, an outdoor commercial art gallery the duo have developed to run in conjunction with the Winnipeg Fringe Festival (speaking of the Fringe fest, I'll have the first of two talks with Justin Olynyk of Play It Again this coming Friday at 7pm to give us the scoop on the best and the rest of the fest...), but other than that, I just played a lot of music.

This coming Friday is a busy one though. In addition to Justin's Fringe report, I'll be joined in studio by This Hisses, who will play a live set and talk about their new record Surf Noir, which gets its CD release on July 23rd at the Pyramid. I'll also be talking to The Burning Hell who have a great new record called Flux Capacitor. In addition to quizzing them about whether they're Back To The Future fans, we'll be talking Brandon Folk Festival where they play July 22nd and 24th.

The following week I've got the second of two Fringe reports from Justin, wrapping things up with his top picks, and I've also confirmed an interview with Charlotte Cornfield, who will be playing the Times Change(d) on July 28th. Mark your calendar because this is an up-and-comer you don't want to miss. Still waiting to hear if I'll be talking to the Sheepdogs, who will be closing off the Brandon Folk Festival on the 24th, but fingers-crossed I'll be talking to frontman Ewan Currie about beards and baseball... stay tuned.

Here's what was played:

Set One: 6:30 PM - 7 PM

Teddy Wilson - "Air Mail Special (take 5)" [Black Lion]
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Ffunny Ffriends" [Fat Possum]
Hooded Fang - "ESP" [Daps Records]
Revelstoke - "We Stood Staring At The Lights" [Independent]
Daniel Isaiah - "Anita On The Banks" [Secret City Records]

Set Two: 7 PM - 7:30 PM

Interview with Eric Wood and Joe Kalturnyk
Bon Iver - "Holocene" [Jagjaguwar]
Kris Ellestad - "November Steppes" [Independent]
Christa Couture - "The Most Lovely" [Independent]
Tom Waits - "Briar & The Rose" [David Lynch Foundation Music]

Set Three: 7:30 PM - 8 PM

Frank Tuner - "Rivers" [Epitaph]
Arctic Monkeys - "Brick By Brick" [Domino]
Ministers of Cool - "Line Between The Lines" [Independent]
Cousins - "Secret Weapon" [Urbnet]
Joan Of Arc - "Howdy Pardoner" [Polyvinyl]
Forged In Fire "Scatter The Riches" [Independent]
KEN Mode - "Obeying The Iron Will" [Profound Lore]