Ever have a month in which chronology is sped up? The past three-four weeks have been like that for me... I'll play a quick game of catch up:
Feb. 27th - Blues History professor and author of "South Carolina Blues," your Blues Moon Radio host put on her mortarboard to lecture on the subject at the kind invitation of the lovely Donna Ciriello of the Cayce West Columbia Library (Lexington County Library System). Donna was warm, welcoming and we had a great crowd to play a historical Palmetto State Roots Music Trivia Game, entitled, "Twelve Things You Might Not Know About South Carolina Blues History (Midlands Edition)." It was fun and I gave away posters to the top three winners and sold a lot of books, too. Donna even had a package of blues related giveaways as a grand prize! It was a wonderful evening. My next speaking gig is June 12 at the Irmo branch of the same library system. 6-ish p.m.
March 6th - we were on the air. Had technical difficulties accessing the internet and could not post. It was International Day of the Pig for some weird reason, so how would a normal, Southern Blues host prepare a feast of bluesy songs? All about that BBQ, baby. That's how. OINK. It also kicked off Women's History Month, so we heard the first six or so songs from the Women-A-to-Z playlist that we're using again this week. For the sake of continuity, I'll try to post the OINKer playlist we chose from immediately below and the WHM one further down under today's possible selections:
March 13th: The university (the USC in WUSC) took spring break and, thus, so did we. We did not spend ours reveling in the Florida sea and sand, sadly, but we did get a lot of great things done around the ranch, including a lot of patting of Kee Kee, the Wonder Horse. We'd say we missed you, except... Kee Kee assuages a lot of missing the show with his wondrousness. Sorry, that might sound harsh but it's true. Nothing a horse cannot cure except saddlesores.
That brings us to tonight's show, which will feature the usual March theme of women in roots music; also while we were going to feature Cherry Blossoms - with this Sunday being the festival in DC (moved from Saturday), we decided to focus on the original date that the Cherry Blossom Trees were gifted to the USA, so that is actually on next Tuesday, 3/27 around a century ago.
This week we will concentrate on "Wilder and Women"... it will add a festive aspect, in that we have tix to give away for the upcoming Webb Wilder show at the Legion; and of course it is smack dab in the middle of Women's History Month... sooooo, yeah. We're going there.
In a sad turn, Columbia SC lost a national folk treasure, Merrily May, who passed away in her adopted hometown a day after her 70th birthday this past Saturday. She was a kind, dear and talented soul who extended the hand of friendship to many, including me, and we'll send her off with one or two of her own compositions - leaving us with hope for beauty and love to flow on as we admire her beautiful, lilting voice. A celebration of her life will be held this Thursday (3/22/18) at Foxfield Bar and Grill on Howard St. (off Rosewood) in Columbia. Covered dish - bring a dish, a song or a poem or a memory to share.
I get a little misty when we lose someone in the fold, so please allow me to thank you for being a part of Blues Moon Radio - whether for short or long, we appreciate your being with us - it is why we do what we do, as opposed to sitting and listening to our vast reserves of music by ourselves in the living room. We fight that university traffic and commit to the vulture parking lot hunts to share the messages of these beautiful musicians with you. It matters that you are there to hear it. Please connect with us on Twitter and Facebook - and like our FB pages at: Blues Moon Radio; South Carolina Blues and Music of the Carolinas - thanks again; please tell your music-loving friends.
Tonight... tonight's show is for Merrily May and all her friends.
PHOTOS: Merrily May (left) seen below singing with Emmylou Harris; early in her career; two other early photos; then the last photo is of late.
Tonight's playlist options (always subject to change with the phases of the moon and NASA's refusal to call Pluto a planet again despite that it clearly has an active volcano and is not a dead orb and it just isn't smart to mess with a volcano, now is it? I rest my case - thank you!):
Some women in the Blues and their music
Some of the men's viewpoints ABOUT the women:
And as promised, we'll play some Webb Wilder (and have a tix giveaway); and some of Merrily May's own music as her sendoff to the folk festival in the sky. Go in peace - you are an angel now.
WUSC-FM
Papa Jazz Record Shoppe
Word of Mouth Productions
South Carolina Blues on Arcadia Publishing
and yours truly:
"Sonny Boy Red" Jackson and me - we look forward to serving you up some red hot Blues!
Clair DeLune
Our supporters:
As always we thank our long-time underwriters, who help bring great music to the Midlands all year around, because we could not imagine our show without their input and support: Papa Jazz Record Shoppe, Word of Mouth Productions AND South Carolina Blues.
You can link to these orgs by clicking on the visuals...
You can link to these orgs by clicking on the visuals...
This blog is brought to you in part by:
South Carolina Blues
500 years of roots and blues music history in S.C.
by Clair DeLune
on Arcadia Publishing
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