Best of mvyradio's Uncharted Waters 2009

"Townes" is Steve Earle's tribute to the great and troubled songwriter Townes Van Zandt who Earle met in 1972 at The Old Quarter in Houston, TX. Van Zandt became Earle's friend and mentor, and even though Earle has recorded and performed Van Zandt songs throughout his career, with this album, Earle gives himself the opportunity to comprehensively demonstrate Van Zandt's skill and heart by applying his own. Earle's wife, singer Alison Moorer, and his son Justin Townes Earle (named after Van Zandt) contribute to the record, as does Darrell Scott and Tom Morello. The result is an intimate and deeply personal record, an insiders view on this great American songwriter.

Best of mvyradio's Uncharted Waters 2009

I featured Part 2 of mvyradio's Best of Uncharted Waters 2009 last Friday 12/18 (repeated on Sunday 12/20, and now streamed in our program Archves at www.mvyradio.com). What was going to be a 2-parter has become a 3-parter --too many great songs and albums to reprise.

Scroll down and read what I wrote about back in June about one 2009 UW Discovery, and listen to her music...

Listen for Part 3 on 1/1 (repeated on 1/3).

BTW, mvy would like to know YOUR favorites of 2009! Click here to vote.

Check out the Part 2 song list:

mvyradio's Uncharted Waters playlists

Friday/Sunday December 18/December 20 2009

"Fire Escape" Diane Birch Bible Belt S-Curve Records
"Move Along Train" Levon Helm Electric Dirt Dirt Farmer Music
"Sweet Rose" Eilen Jewel Sea Of Tears Signature Sounds
"California Zephyr"" Benjamin Gibbard/Jay Farrar One False Move And I'm Gone Music from Kerouac's Big Sur Atlantic Records
"Great Mistake" Brookville Broken Lights Unfiltered Records
"All The Pretty Girls" Fun Aim and Ignite Nettwerk Records
"It's Gonna Be" Norah Jones The Fall Blue Note Records
"Mrs. Cold" Kings Of Convenience Declaration Of Dependence Mawla Records
"Drops In The River" Fleet Foxes Sun Giant Sub Pop
"I Really Love You" Ruthie Foster The Truth According To Ruthie Foster Blue Corn Records
"Love That Conquers" The Swell Season Strict Joy Anti
"To Live Is To Fly" Steve Earle Townes New West
"Hiram Hubbard" Among The Oak And Ash Among The Oak and Ash Verve Forecast
"Your Gonna Miss Me" The Band Of Heathens One Foot In The Ether Band Of Heathens
"Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" Neko Case Middle Cyclone Anti

Diane Birch's "Fire Escape" started the hour. I loved her from the start in June, recognizing her connection to the songwriting genius and performance of Laura Nyro and Carole King, and now that the year is almost done, I still feel excited when I listen to her music and stand by what I wrote here:

Famous Blue Blog post from June 29th

Diane Birch | "She's Got The Juice"

Soul and R&B legend Betty Wright, one of the producers of Diane Birch's debut album Bible Belt, is the one who's talking about "the juice" here as she describes the young singer from New York City. This is the best album to be released so far this year! And lot's of people are going to jump right on right on in because of Birch's superb songwriting and musical vision. Effortlessly drawing from doo-wop, singer-songwriter, blues, r&b and a life lived all over the world, Birch wants to connect and she does so, instantly, like an old friend.

Listen to Diane's music:

Best Of Uncharted Waters 2009

As I look back over the year in music at mvy, I'm thinking about all the years of album releases that have provided the radio station with it's currency and it's basic structure. There are songs and artists that come along that are a natural fit for mvy, some that are obvious from the start and some that are wonderful surprises. Actually, Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini's 2009 CD "Sunny Side Up" falls into both categories.

We got to know Paolo's music in with the release of his 2006 debut "These Streets". We couldn't get enough of the song "New Shoes", and when the new record arrived in May of this year, we couldn't wait to hear it. I kept returning to the CD and every time I did, I liked it more and more. There's a maturity to the songs and his delivery, and an old soul sweetness that is impossible to resist.

Listen to clips of the album here:

2009 Discoveries | Best Of mvyradio's Uncharted Waters

I started a two-part Uncharted Waters 2009 Retrospective last Friday 12/11, and will continue this coming Friday 12/18. I'm featuring songs from albums that stood out as I went through the music week after week over the course of this year. It has been a very interesting process, looking and listening back, a wonderful return to the initial feelings I had as I listened to these albums for the first time. I have a deeper recognition of the qualities that make these records so NOTE-worthy!! Scroll down and read what I wrote about back in August about one 2009 Discovery, and listen to his music...

BTW, mvy would like to know YOUR favorites of 2009! Click here to vote.

Here's the UW Best list from last week. If you haven't checked out these albums, consider giving them a listen!

mvyradio's Uncharted Waters playlists

Friday/Sunday December 11/December 13 2009

"Two Grains Of Sand" Piers Faccini Two Grains Of Sand Tot Ou Tard
"Wish You Well" Katie Herzig Apple Tree (05557)
"Sweet Inspiration" Derek Trucks Already Free Sony Music
"Fee Da Da Dee" Guggenheim Grotto Happy The Man United For Opportunity
"Baby I'm A Fool" Melody Gardot My One and Only Thrill Verve Records
"Letter From A Flying Machine" Peter Mulvey Letter From A Flying Machine Signature Sounds
"Windshield" Peter Mulvey Letter From A Flying Machine Signature Sounds
"Darkness" Robert Francis One False Move and I'm Gone Atlantic
"My Love" The Bird and the Bee Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future Blue Note
"Master Macqui" Rodrigo y Gabriela 11:11 ATO Records
"Cuckoo's Nest" Lee Harvey Osmond A Quiet Evil Latent Recordings
"The Killer In Me" Amy Speace The Killer In Me Wildflower Records
"High Hopes" Paolo Nutini Sunny Side Up Atlantic Records
"Dead End Driving" Ari Hest Twelve Mondays Project 4

Famous Blue Blog post August 13, 2009:

A New Friend-Peter Mulvey

I have a new friend and his name is Uncle Peter. I never expected to make such an acquaintance on a record but that's exactly what happened. I met Uncle Peter while listening to Peter Mulvey's most enjoyable and engaging new CD "Letters from A Flying Machine". Uncle Peter is Peter Mulvey himself, appearing on the record as a character, a narrator of sorts, offering his worldly wisdom and stories to his actual (I think) nieces and nephews. He does this from his seat on an airplane in the form of several spoken word pieces that serve as the connective tissue between songs on the album. Mulvey's done this in his performances for years, but it's the first time he has presented such pieces on record. The effect is progressive; step by step you are granted wider entrance into a very personal and rich world made all the more substantive and compelling by Mulvey's folksy delivery and language. The songs are fantastic, too, and you forget just how good they are because of the strength of the spoken segments.

A good friend is hard to find --thanks Peter.

Listen to clips of Peter Mulvey's Letter From A Flying Machine:

Daphne Willis | New Music on mvy

I just played "Bluff", a new song from Daphne Willis, on What's New For Lunch. The CD came in earlier this week, and I happily put it in the player to check it out. Things pretty much come to a grinding halt as far as new releases go at this time of year, so any action is welcome. I always thought it was a smart move to get a song to radio this week or next 'cause it's much easier to get our attention when things are so slow!

Daphne is a 21 year old singer-guitarist and songwriter from Chicago and Vanguard Records has signed her to a record deal for the album "What To Say". She and her band mates have been together for only two years, playing lots of gigs in the Midwest, and it was after one of these shows that Nashville based A&R rep Gary Paczosa, who has worked with Alison Krauss and others, lent his talents to recording an EP with Daphne.

Listen to "Bluff" and other tracks on Daphne's MySpace page.

Jay Farrar, Ben Gibbard and Jack Kerouac

It's when you can't tell the difference between art and life that you know you're in good shape, in good company. Jack Kerouac merged his life and art in ways far beyond most similar mergers, and the writing that came of it is uniquely musical and transcendent, and to this day absolutely resonant, touching and important.

Benjamin Gibbard and Jay Farrar are among the many that admire Kerouac and they seized the opportunity to apply their singular talents to providing music for Curt Worden's documentary "One False Move and I'm Gone: Kerouac's Bid Sur". Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Dar Williams and Sam Shepard are also fans and it's great to hear their take in the movie. Gibbard and Farrar stayed with it and went on to make an album of songs inspired by Kerouac's book. The insightful documentary and this wonderful musical by-product are proof of Kerouac's continued and brilliant relevance.

I feature tracks from the album on this week's Uncharted Waters (Fridays and Sundays at 9 ET, and next week in the Archives at www.mvyradio.com)

Listen to clips from the CD here: