Past  Episodes

Episode 42 featured, of all things, a set of four songs that highlighted yodeling in each one. Rodney Crowell’s new album was featured and the theme of the cover set was songs that had been written by one person has an instrumental and we’re covered by someone else who added lyrics. Other artists featured were James McMurtry, Jake Scott, John Hiatt, De La Soul, Arctic Monkeys and David Bowie made his first appearance on the show.

My initial idea for the 41st episode was too work all five versions of the Tom Waits song “Way Down In The Hole” that had served as the theme song for all five seasons of the HBO crime drama The Wire into the show and it evolved into a tribute to the songs of Tom Waits and it became an entire show of covers of his songs performed by over 20 artists that included Rosanne Cash, The Ramones, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and three foreign language covers.

Episode 40 started off with a track from Tommy Malone’s second solo LP and featured John Cowan, Collective Soul and Humble Pie to name a few. The cover set Warren Zevon and I searched high and low trying to find the absolute best rendition of the last song he wrote and recorded; “Keep Me In Your Heart”. Welland, Ontario’s The Mandeville’s version won the day.

We began episode 39 with two sets of country music duos who are/were couples in real life. This week set featuring miscellaneous covers of plastic soul songs. Artist featured include Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Dan Auerback, Jack White, Arctic Monkeys, The Wrights, The Gregg Allman Band, Dori Freeman and others.

Show number 38 featured return engagements from BR5-49, Paramore and Aretha Franklin. Also featured were Ry Cooder, Meghan Trainor, Fantastic Negrito and Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations. The covers set featured three excellent Bruce Springsteen tracks by The Band, The Mavericks, and Big Head Todd & The Monsters

Our first show of 2024 was also our first top five of 2024. We featured Catherine Calame of Sheffield, Massachusetts Top 5 Desert Island Discs. But it also what’s the story of how music helped her overcome two battles against cancer. We also spoke with music therapist Grace Lauzon about music as a healing modality. Artists featured were Van Halen, Boston, Pink Floyd, U2 and more.

It’s always a lot of fun when Christmas lands on the same day as the show. 2023’s Christmas episode featured original versions of Christmas standards (which were hard were hard to find!) and selections from my Top 5 Christmas albums. Artists featured were the Vince Guaraldi Trio, Steve Earle, Smokey Robinson and the miracles, Stevie Wonder, John Cowan and more.

Installment number two of Can You Steal It made it’s appearance on Episode 35 where Parker Millsap’s new single “So Far Apart” stood accused of taking too much from Wilco’s “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”. Other featured artists included The Devlins, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Australian Crawl, The Beatles, Ren and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

CYFI Listener Silvio’s Top 5 songs were featured on episode 34. Silvio is a native of Argentina who now splits his time between New York City and Sandisfield, Massachusetts and submitted a list of international music from Argentina, France, Great Britain, Mali and Sweden. We also featured some early and present day Argentine rock ‘n’ roll and the Talking Heads were the artist featured in episode 34’s cover set.

Episode 33 began with a strong dose of country music that included Angaleena Presley, Rodney Crowell, Marty Robbins, the Louvin Brothers and Kelly Willis. We also heard from The War and Treaty, Khrungbin feat. Leon Bridges, Del Amitri, Todd Rundgren and NRBQ. The cover set featured Al Green songs which included an excerpt from an interview I did with Tommy Malone of The Subdudes where he talked about the daunting task that is the covering of an Al Green song.

Episode 32 featured a set of four Bee Gees covers and further discussion of the New York Times article written by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco where he gave an excellent analysis of how it is that we come to dislike certain artists and their music based purely on peer pressure. That article is linked in the show notes also featured songs by The Weather Station, Fatboy Slim, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Todd Snider, Haley Williams, Arcade Fire and more!

We featured our third listener submitted Top 5 in episode 31. Jack Fortune Royce of Louisville, Kentucky submitted his Top 5 Love Songs. Jack’s selections included songs by Tower Of Power, Orleans, The Beatles, Earth, Wind and Fire and Al Green. The show also featured a special 36 minute documentary on Leonid and friends, a rather remarkable Russian Chicago tribute band.

Episode 30 featured some Louvin Brothers sounding music and a set of Louvin Brothers covers as well as tracks by Albert Lee, My Morning Jacket, David Byrne, Thomas Dolby, Jason Isbell, Angaleena Presley, The White Stripes, The Handsome Family and The Louvin Brothers themselves.

Episode 29 began with three sets of minimalist rock which I soon abandoned as my tongue grew fatigued repeatedly saying "minimalist". The cover set featured covers I like of songs that I don't. Among the artists featured were Paramore, Joe Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Morphine, The Shins, The Meters, Say She She and Etta James to name a few.

Episode 28 starts out with country and goes on to feature sets of blue collar rock 'n' roll, my favorite top 40 songs of the week as well as a homemade mash up that combines the Avalanche's "Because I'm Me" and Honeycone's 70s soul hit "Want Ads”. Featured artists included BR5-49, Garth Brooks, The Kinks, Soon E Mc, The Roots, Hope TD Janelle Monáe and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

Episode 27 was just music for music’s sake. No particular special features but we did look at Sturgill Simpson’s pandemic released Cuttin Grass albums that feature bluegrass versions of his earlier work in several different genres and compared and contrasted his vocal stylings between two different versions of the same song. Also featured were Bobbi Gentry, The Coasters, The Vaughn Brothers, Citizen King, Talking Heads and more!

Another archived show as I’m still on the road. This one aired last April and I decided to play songs from every decade from the 1950s right through to the 2020s. We had a set of modern day Southern rock, a set of Elvis covers and two jazz guitarists who sing along with their picking. Some of the artists featured were Teresa Brewer, Betty Wright, Level 42, The Jam, The Beatles, Eric B & Rakim and Sonny Landreth

This episode ran the gamut from George and Tammy to Public Enemy. Aerosmith got the cover set and there seemed to be a strong presence of Stax Records artists. Just some of the artists featured were John Cowan, Willie Dixon, Sam and Dave, Southern Avenue, 7Horse, Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Alt-J

The second listener submitted Top 5 list was featured on episode 24. Listener Butch Ellis of Louisville, Kentucky submitted his top five favorite songs from the Beatles, Paul McCartney, Heart, Weather Report and Joni Mitchell. We also revealed the cover of the mystery original from last week’s episode. Also featured were The Newbees, NRBQ, Nellie McKay, Prince, Willie Chirino, Southern Culture On The Skids and more!

In Episode 23 we looked at the difference between a version and a cover through the lens of the originals for three different songs which were really big hits and that most people did not know were, in reality, covers. The originals were from Linda Lyndell, Sam & Dave and Ednaswap. We heard a set of “cryin’-in-my-beer” country songs, heard a cut from the brand new album by Blur as well as hearing cuts from The Damnwells, Gabi Hartman, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Diablo Swing Orchestra and more!