Category: Folk Music

We Close Out The Work Week With Our ‘Ode To Morning’ EP and Etta James In the Spotlight Later, Friday, June 10, 2022

Happy Friday, Weekenders! It’s the end of another work week for most of us, but I have just one more day of servitude. Nevertheless, your musical journey is bright today!

Here’s your Friday lineup:

11:00 a.m. Ode To Morning: Various Artists

I don’t know what it’s like where you are this morning, but it’s very early here and the sunrise is magnificent today. It’s a perfect day for an ode to morning from Joni Mitchell, The Move, Fleetwood Mack, Foreigner, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Nina Simone, Cat Stevens, Hoyt Axton, The Beatles, Neil Young, The Rascals, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Gram Parsons, Simon & Garfunkel, Taj Mahal, Dan Fogelberg, Harry Chapin, Three Dog Night, Ry Cooder, Tim Buckley, Muddy Waters, Linda Ronstadt, Jonathan Edwards, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Chris Hillman, Badfinger and many more!

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Etta James

Etta James’ career spanned nearly six decades and, in that time, she stamped her name all over a variety of musical genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Tonight we put her In the Spotlight.

Here we are as we approach ‘weekender’ status. Technically speaking, Fridays are the official start to weekend. The only question still up in the air is ‘what time does it start’. How about right now? We are on 24/7 and we’re totally free. Every single day. Because life is far to short to listen to bad music.

Don’t ignore the button.

We Hit Our Midweek Stride With a Case of ‘Travelin’ Fever’ and the Promise of TLA Later, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Good Morning, Music Lovers everywhere! We are at midweek with our great ‘Travelin’ Fever’ multi-artist EP and our answer to Monday’s heartbreak.

We start our musical journey with our multi-artist ‘Travelin’ Fever’ EP!

Here’s your midweek lineup:

10:00 a.m. Travelin’ Fever: Various Artists

Yes, sir. We’re on the road for this musical journey. It’s all about location, location, location and how we manage to get to those locations. You’ll hear Canned Heat, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jackson Browne, the Steve Miller Band, Bonnie Raitt, Dan Fogelberg, Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney & Wings, The Doors, The Eagles, Little Feat, The Band, Willie Nelson, Edwin Starr, Janis Joplin, Guy Clark, The Travelin’ Wilburys, Asleep at The Wheel, The Byrds, Joan Baez, Mudcrutch, Loggins & Messina, Buffalo Springfield, and more!

7:00 p.m. True Love Always: Various Artists

On Monday, we heard from the lovelorn. Today, it’s the opposite side of the coin. You’ll hear The Hollies, Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush, Jackson Browne, George Harrison, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Boz Scaggs, Delaney & Bonnie, The Band, Buffalo Springfield, Van Morrison, Carly Simon, Stevie Wonder, Basia, Bonnie Raitt, Guy Clark, The Mamas & The Papas, Dusty Springfield, Maria Muldaur, Valerie Carter, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Swing Out Sister, Donovan, and more!

We have two great multi-artist playlists for you today, one an EP and one not. Either way, we’ve got some seriously good material here for you with a theme. We have fun putting them together for you so, dammit, you’d better have fun listening to them. For free. And we’re free and running 24/7.

Travelin’ Fever!

Welcome to Tuesday Bluesday With Gov’t Mule, Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth, and James Cotton, June 7, 2022

Good Morning, Bluesologists! We’ve got a full slate of da blues today. Even our AOW is bluesy today. Gov’t Mule has been included now in our standard rotation, and they open the day In the Spotlight!

Gov’t Mule is Warren Haynes, Matt Abst, Danny Louis and Jorgen Carlsson

Here’s your Tuesday Bluesday lineup:

11:00 a.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Gov’t Mule NEW!

We’ve featured ‘live’ Gov’t Mule on a Tuesday Bluesday not long ago, but now they’re airing it out In the Spotlight. We’ve added them to our standard rotation, and we’ve got plenty of ‘live’ mule in the hopper for the future. Does it get any better?

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Living With the Animals by Mother Earth

This is our second airing of this fine blues effort by the amazing Tracy Nelson and her early band, Mother Earth. Don’t miss it.

7:00 p.m. James Cotton Live at Antoine’s, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 1987

You can seek, but sometimes you simply cannot find. We’ve searched high and low to put a date on this particular James Cotton performance, but we’ve not been able to nail it down to a day. We figure July 1987 is about as close as we’re getting. Either way, we know it happened, and you will too if you tune in tonight.

It’s a great Tuesday Bluesday here in the lounge. It’s what we here call the full magilla. Before, in between and after, we’ve got our wide Open Stream to get you through life’s 24-hour onslaught. What more could you ask for. Oh, yeah, we’re totally free 24/7. No subscription required. That’s why we simply say, tune us in.

Tuesday Bluesday!

The Workday Week Begins With The Heartbreakers’ Deep Cuts & B-Sides, and Nothing But Heartbreak Later, Monday, June 6, 2022

Good Morning, Musicologists! We kick off the work week in style with some lesser-played Heartbreaker songs, and our multi-artist heartbreak playlist bringing up the rear.

Danger! Heartbreak dead ahead!

Here’s your Monday lineup:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Deep Cuts & B-Sides

We’ve got a few hours here of some great Heartbreakers’ music that you probably don’t hear much, at least on traditional radio. Even if you’re a subscriber to Tom Petty Radio, some of these may not be heard with frequency. But we’ve got them here today, and they are always in our rotation.

7:00 p.m. Nothing But Heartbreak: Various Artists

This one is for the lovelorn, something I’m pretty good at, by the way. To say that my skills in choosing the right person are lacking would be an understatement. But nevertheless, you’ll know that I’m not the only one when you hear Carole King, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Tom Rush, the J. Geils Band, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Mudcrutch, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Dan Fogelberg, Aretha Franklin, The Band, Cat Stevens, The Bee Gees, Lucinda Williams, The Walker Brothers, Them, The Pretenders, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and more!

There is no better way to start your week than by pushing this little button below. You don’t need your wallet. Your money’s no good here. Got it?

Just Push Play.

On Sunday, We Feature Our New AOW by Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth, Plus ‘The Female Species’ EP Later, June 5, 2022

Here’s your Sunday lineup:

11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Living With The Animals by Mother Earth NEW!

It’s tough to find a decent photo of Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth, believe me. We tried mightily but the best we could come up with was this poster. Etta James once called Nelson, “a bad white girl.” And she certainly is bad in the best sense of the word. One of the absolute best combinations in music happened when Ronstadt sang Tracy Nelson’s Down So Low, and you will hear Nelson’s version on this album. While Mother Earth is often presented as merely a vehicle for Nelson, that’s an unfair characterization. The band was more than that, and you’ll see that on this album.

3:00 p.m. The Female Species: Various Artists

Not to be confused with our ‘Ladies Day Out’ EP. While we certainly include woman artists in this playlist, this one’s about the use of the word lady, girl, woman, chick, whatever the term, in the title, lyrics, or both. You’ll hear from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Jackson Brown, The Boogaloo Swamis, John Mayall, Hot Tuna, The Eagles, Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Electric Light Orchestra, Percy Sledge, The Beatles, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Roy Orbison, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, The Temptations, and more!

Sunday. It’s a day of rest, people. Even the big guy (whomever that might be) took the day off from the entitled masses. That’s what you should be doing now. And what better way to spend the day than right here. Because life is too damned short to listen to bad music.

Sunday Funday!

The Original Sixties Rotation EP, the Final Airing of Our AOW, and LIVE DEAD! is On Tap for Today, Saturday, June 4, 2022

Good Morning, Weekenders. It’s a rare Saturday that I get to hang out with The Music Mermaid, but I am indeed off from retail hell this weekend and enjoying the tunes.

Here’s your Saturday lineup:

10:00 a.m. The Original Sixties Rotation: Various Artists

More than five hours of uninterrupted bliss from Del Shannon, Little Eva, The Drifters, The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Hollies, The Walker Brothers, Mary Wells, Dusty Springfield, The Searchers, The Monkees, Sonny & Cher, Petula Clark, Glen Campbell, Johnny Rivers, The Dave Clark Five, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Harry Nilsson, The Band, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, Simon & Garfunkel, Blind Faith, Janis Joplin, Tony Joe White, Barry McGuire, The Who, Procol Harum, The Temptations, Fats Domino, and more!

7:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Forget About It by Alison Krauss FINAL AIRING!

We bid farewell to Alison Krauss’ 1999 release today. This is the final airing of Forget About It. Tomorrow morning when you roll out of bed, there will be a brand new Album of The Week.

10:00 p.m. LIVE DEAD! The Grateful Dead Live at The Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, July 31, 1971 NEW!

Yet another new full-show soundboard from our Deadhead friends. This one is in familiar territory, New Haven, Connecticut, a rather conservative but neighboring state. Never cross that state line unless you’re passing through to points more liberal.

Join your friends from Chile, Greece, Germany, Spain, the UK, Australia, France, Portugal, The Netherlands, Faroe Islands, Belgium, South Africa, Poland, Trenton, San Francisco, and Dallas this morning. You can’t go wrong here in The Mermaid Lounge.

Tune Us In!

We Close The Work Week With Our ‘Here Comes The Night’ EP, and The Original All-Girl Revue, Friday, June 3, 2022

Well, here we are again at the end of another work week. And this time it really is the end of the work week for me because I am taking Saturday off. We’ve got a great EP and a visit from the women of music for you today. A great way to end the week.

These are just some of the women you’ll hear tonight at 7:00 p.m.

Here’s today’s musical landscape:

10:00 a.m. Here Comes The Night: Various Artists

You know, some of us are night owls. Some of us are at our best in the morning. This one’s for the night owl in all of us. We’ve got songs about the night from Warren Zevon, the J. Geils Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Them, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, The Electric Prunes, Phoebe Snow, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, The Ronettes, John Cougar Mellencamp, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, The Doors, Poco, Neil Diamond, The Animals, The Band, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Steve Winwood, Cat Stevens, The Traveling Wilburys, and more!

7:00 p.m. The Original All-Girl Revue: Various Artists

This was the very first all-girl playlist we ever put together, and it remains the same since. You’ll hear Ann Peebles, Aretha Franklin, Bobbie Gentry, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, Carole King, Chi Coltrane, Trio (Dolly Parton/Linda Ronstadt/Emmylou Harris), Dusty Springfield, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Lulu, Mary Wells, Nicolette Larson, Patti Smith, Shawn Colvin, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and more!

As always, we run 24/7 totally free. That means before, in between and after our programming, we give you our great wide Open Stream from our 27,000+ song rotation. You’d be hard pressed to hear the same song twice in a week, let alone in a day. Tune us in. You won’t know unless you try. And it won’t cost a cent for you to find out.

TUNE. US. IN.

On Thursday, We’re Talking About Money, Honey, We Have Our AOW, and Laura Nyro In The Spotlight Later, June 2, 2022

Good Morning, Music Lovers! We’ve got a great Thursday lined up as we talk about one of the planet’s favorite subjects: Money. We also have our Album of The Week and Laura Nyro up later on

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Money, Honey: Various Artists

I confess that Money, Honey is one of my favorite songs in all of rock n’ roll, and I heard it on this very radio station one day and decided to create a playlist around it. You’ll hear Elvis Presley, The Guess Who, The Beatles, Warren Zevon, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, Allen Toussaint, The Wallflowers, Chuck Berry, Laura Nyro, Willie Nelson, The J. Geils Band, Tom Waits, Pink Floyd, J. J. Cale, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Tom Rush, Albert King, The Traveling Wilburys, Barrett Strong, The Kinks, and more!

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Forget About It by Alison Krauss

We’re on our next-to-last airing of this fine album. On Saturday, we’ll have the finale, and then a brand new album come Sunday morning. Get on it while you can!

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro’s songwriting helped out many artists over her career, like Three Dog Night, The Fifth Dimension, and Barbra Streisand, to name just a few. But there’s nothing like hearing Laura Nyro sing them herself. Tonight you get the opportunity.

We’re on the downslide to the weekend, and it’ll be a three-day weekend for me. I have radio station musical upgrades on the “to do” list on my desk. We’re beefing up for summer with new playlists and new music for the general rotation. Join us. We’re free and we’re on 24/7 unmolested by commercial advertising. What’s not to love?

Cursor Here, Please!

We Kick Off a New Month With Our Big, Bad ‘M is For Motown’ EP and Linda Ronstadt In the Spotlight, Wednesday, June 1, 2022

“M” is indeed for Motown today!

Here’s your musical landscape:

10:00 a.m. M is For Motown: Various Artists

Every month is Black History Month here in The Mermaid Lounge. We have more than one soul and R & B EP in our collection, but this one focuses strictly on Motown artists. You’ll hear Barrett Strong, Eddie Kendricks, Eddie Holland, Edwin Starr, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Jackson Five, Kim Weston, Jr. Walker & The All Stars, Marvin Gaye, Martha & The Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, The Temptations, The Contours, Mary Wells, Rare Earth, Tammi Terrell, Diana Ross & The Supremes, the Marvelettes, The Spinners, Jimmy Ruffin, and more! That amounts to just about five hours of uninterrupted music from Motor City.

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Linda Ronstadt

The music world is full of judgment. In fact, you can look to the word ‘judgment’ as an example. Nobody can really definitively tell you the correct spelling, so fuck it. Some people in music are made to write. Bobbie Gentry, for example, never wanted to sing. She wanted to write songs for other people. Linda Ronstadt, on the other hand, has proven that she can write, but she didn’t think it was necessary since there were already so many great songwriters out there. All she wanted to do was sing. And that’s just fine with me because that voice can sing anything. She’s simply the greatest female vocalist of all time. If you have not yet had the chance to see the documentary, The Sound of My Voice, you need to. The fact that she can no longer sing is a travesty. But we have an amazing body of work from Linda Ronstadt, and it is on display here tonight.

This is a most excellent day to tune us in. I mean, it doesn’t get much better than this. We’re totally free. We do not accept or air advertising. And we’re on the air 24/7. What more could you ask for?

M is For Motown!

It’s Tuesday Bluesday With Live Music From the B.B. King Blues Band, Johnny Winter In The Spotlight and Our AOW, May 31, 2022

Good Morning, Bluesologists! What better way to close out the month than on a Tuesday Bluesday? The only thing possibly better is that we also have live B.B. King!

Today we’ve got B.B. King and his blues band live from Rotterdam!

Here’s your Tuesday Bluesday line-up:

11:00 a.m. The B.B. King Blues Band Live at The North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, October 7, 1987 NEW!

We’ve got some brand new ‘live’ music today from the master…and, of course, his famous sidekick, Lucille. Settle in for a couple of hours of great blues.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Forget About It by Alison Krauss

We take a short break in the blues proceedings for the second airing of Alison Krauss’ 1999 release here, and it’s a good one.

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Johnny Winter

The blues side of the great Winter brothers. Johnny Winter was not only a great solo artist, but his guitar work was in demand by some of the greatest, including Muddy Waters. Today we put him alone In the Spotlight.

Let’s go kids! We’ve actually got The Netherlands already on board this morning, along with Spain, Portugal, Greece, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Russian Federation, Brazil, and points beyond. Join your friends. We’re free. We’re broadcasting 24/7. And we never ask for a “subscription.”

Tuesday Bluesday!