Happy New Year!  And looking back, Happy New Music on WUMB.

My “Top 10″ new songs of the year typically expands to 38-40 tracks, basically a double album’s worth.  But for whatever reason, I got lazy in the middle of 2014 and did not write down songs as they hit me.  You know, the “I don’t have to write it down I’ll remember it” syndrome.

I’ll wait while you say, “famous last words.”  I deserved that.

Just the same, I still got a good list of only 19 songs that would make a fine traveling companion whether on a long drive or listening on the sofa through headphones.

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They played it on Showtime again this week. It’s called  “Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the music of  ‘Inside Llewyn Davis'”,  but it’s really a celebration of American Folk music in general. Put together by T-Bone Burnett,  it features musicians and actors who were in the movie, like Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, Marcus Mumford (who recorded a duo with Isaac for the soundtrack), and a whole bunch of musicians that Burnett has produced or used in other movie projects.  That includes Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, The Secret Sisters, The Punch Brothers and Rhiannon Giddens, who has a new album produced by T-Bone that will be out shortly. In addition,  there are performances by Joan Baez (!) Dirk Powell (from Joan’s band) Elvis Costello,  Keb Mo and Bob Dylan’s friend and road manager, Bob Neuwirth.

There is a new CD of music from the show, which is why I mention it at this point in time.  It means that Showtime will probably be airing the show to promote the album a few times in the near future and I thought you could catch it that way.  Of course you could always buy the “Instant Video” from Amazon.  If you decided to do that, you know the deal by now, visit WUMB.ORG first and click on the Amazon logo so a portion of the proceeds of your purchase will be donated to the station.

Thanks and enjoy……

Dave Palmater

Caitlin Canty is a singer songwriter originally from Vermont who now resides in Brooklyn and has a killer new album set for release on January 20^th called Reckless Skyline.  I remember the first time I heard Caitlin’s music a few years ago when I was (of all things) cleaning my office.  This is where you have to picture literally hundreds of cds coming into the station month after month.  It’s very fun but at the same time a very tedious job of going through and trying to spot those that will be hits, those that are duds, and those that are the proverbial diamond in the rough.  After cleaning off my desk I stumbled upon an album called Golden Hour.  I can’t remember WHY I put the cd in…but I do remember being pleasantly surprised.  I realized at that moment that Caitlin is a very gifted singer songwriter and she recorded this album with grace and precise production, the kind of record that sounds perfect on a Sunday morning. Read More…

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Summer Acoustic Music Week (SAMW).   We kicked off the celebration on January 10th with a stunning concert with Kate Campbell here at the UMass Boston Campus, and our annual reunion on January 11th.  This coming year will be jam packed with fun activities on and off campus, leading up to our weeks at Geneva Point Center this summer.   Bennett Hammond has been writing a blog of SAMW memories from the past 20 years.  You can check it out on the SAMW homepage!

Registration is now open for SAMW, and we only have a couple of spots left for WAMW!  You can register here.

To stay informed about SAMW happenings, be sure to register for the SAMW ListServ.  For instructions, please email samw@umb.edu

Stay tuned for more exciting news about the SAMW 20th Anniversary celebration!