Monday, March 27, 2017

Keep the Circle Turning (TOTR 292)



Chuck Berry - I’m a Rocker
Chuck Berry - Have Mercy Judge
Marc Benno - Speak Your Mind
Stephen Stills - Isn’t It About Time
Leon Russell - Stranger in a Strange Land
Spirit - Dream Within A Dream
Love - Dream
Lee Michaels - Can I Get A Witness
Lee Michaels - Hold On To Freedom
Lee Michaels - What Now America
Lee Michaels - Keep the Circle Turning
Country Joe & the Fish - Death Sound Blues
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fresh Air
Moby Grape - It’s A Beautiful Day Today
The Electric Flag - Going Down Slow
It’s A Beautiful Day- Essence of Now
The Sons of Champlain - Things Are Gettin’ Better
Stoneground - Great Changes Since I’ve Been Born
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - Laurel Canyon Home
The Byrds - Change Is Now
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Mystery Train
Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation
Grateful Dead - New Speedway Boogie
Chuck Berry - I Still Got The Blues
The Staple Singers - Samson & Delilah

Little Richard - Dancing in the Street

Monday, March 20, 2017

Listen To The River (TOTR 291)



(Photo of Calfkiller River & Waterfall (c) Chuck Sutherland.)

Johnny Cash - Big River
Doc Watson - Deep River Blues
Mason Jennings - How Deep Is That River
Kevin Morby - Harlem River
Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
The Tallest Man On Earth - Rivers
The Head and The Heart - Rivers and Roads
Run River North - Run River Run
The Collection - You Taste Like Wine
The Collection - Birds
The Collection - The Listener
The Oh Hellos - Bitter Water
Caamp - Down the River
Cereus Bright - River Run
The Black Atlantic - I Shall Cross This River
Fleet Foxes - Drops In The River
Nick Drake - River Man
Railroad Earth - Mighty River
Warren Haynes - River’s Gonna Rise
Van Morrison - Every Time I See A River
Sublime - Rivers of Babylon
My Morning Jacket - Like A River
Leon Bridges - River
Bruce Springsteen - The River

Monday, March 13, 2017

Trip Through Your Wires (TOTR 290)



The Impressions - People Get Ready
John Lennon - Stand By Me
The Beatles - Help
U2 - Helter Skelter
U2 - Maggie’s Farm
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
The Doors - Riders On The Storm
The Dubliners - Springhill Mining Disaster
Hot Buttered Rum - Where the Streets Have No Name
The Persuasions - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Scala & Kolacny Brothers - With or Without You
Absinthe - Bullet the Blue Sky
Earl Pickens & Family - Running to Stand Still
J Scott Bergman - Red Hill Mining Town
U2 - In God’s Country
Jamestowne - Trip Through Your Wires
Whitewater Ramble - One Tree Hill
U2 - Exit
Susan Aglukark - Mothers of the Disappeared
U2 - The Electric Co.
U2 - 40
U2 - Sweetest Thing
The Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
U2 - All I Want Is You

'Teacher on the Radio' turns 10 by Hannah Barger

by Hannah Barger, reprinted by permission of the author;
originally appeared in the Tennessee Tech Oracle


Since 2007, Professor Andrew Smith has been a fixture of Tennessee Tech's airwaves (and downloads) with his weekly Teacher on the Radio series. As the show, which draws its name from the Brooklyn indie band TV on the Radio, nears its tenth anniversary, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Professor Smith in TTU's recording studio (adjacent to the scenic Oracle office) to discuss the show's past, present and future. 

Let me start by saying I'm probably biased. Professor Smith is honestly one of the coolest and most genuine people I know, and I'm not just saying that because I liked his Bible as Literature class. That put me at ease, so with my less than stellar interviewing skills, I started from the beginning, asking Smith about the early days of his DJ career. 
Radio comes as naturally to Smith as teaching does. From the early days as a "high school celebrity," who got free tickets to local shows in Michigan, Smith has always felt at home in a recording studio. So it seems fitting that in 2007, he began his radio tenure here at Tech. 

Smith's playlists are themed, and when I sat down with him on the night of the twentieth, the theme was "Bless this mess," and the musical selection was, fittingly, full of songs about hope and revolution. Artists like Green Day, Chance the Rapper, and Depeche Mode were featured, filling the airwaves with voices of dissent. Smith suggests that college radio is subversive by nature, and I have to agree with him. No one turns on their local university station to hear about how cool it is to listen unquestioningly to authority and do your homework (though I guess he would advise you to do the latter). It's noteworthy that not every artist on the lists are artists Smith is personally very familiar with- he chooses music that fits in with his theme, be it love, blessings, rebellion, or religion. This fact is one thing I love about his series' style- Smith makes the show accessible to everyone and sidesteps the "if it's not a white guy with a guitar it sucks" elitism that some rock n roll-loving DJs are inclined to. 

At the risk of sounding all "let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya,"  I'll say now that music is undeniably something that brings people together. It articulates the things we feel but can't really express on our own. It MAKES us feel. That is why, in my opinion, people like professor Smith are so important. In a world that seems incredibly uncertain, listening to one of your favorite teachers playing great music as though it was his calling in life and speaking words of wisdom can make you believe that the world isn't such a bad place. 


The world is changing, for better or for worse. But at Tennessee Tech, the Teacher on the Radio is here to stay.