Author: Richard Gordon

Juan de Fuca should’ve been cowboys

Richard Gordon

Juan de Fuca in the WVUD studio

The Athens, GA, band Juan de Fuca at WVUD: Jack Cherry, Jack Webster, CJ Brown, & Howard Stewart (l. to r.)

For the second year in a row, Jack Webster stopped by the WVUD studios with one of the bands he plays with in Athens, GA. On Memorial Day, Juan de Fuca — Jack Webster (bass), Jack Cherry (vocals, keyboards, guitar), CJ Brown (guitar & keyboards), and Howard Stewart (drums) — stopped by WVUD to visit with us on their way home from playing in and around New York City.

We learned about the Athens music scene, Jack Cherry’s song-writing, Jack Webster’s talented sister, the lack of air-conditioning in CJ’s apartment, Howard’s drumming with multiple bands, and all the band’s current obsession with Toby Keith.

Their current music is available at their JuandeFucaMusic site at Bandcamp. They expect to release a new record called Solve/Resolve in late June.

Check out this fun conversation with an inventive Athens band. And keep listening until the very end of the podcast for a surprise Juan de Fuca station ID!

Listen to the interview

Juan de Fuca, recorded at WVUD, May 29, 2017, first aired June 6, 2017.
29:54
57. MB

The music

Artist Track Album or source Year released
Juan de Fuca AA single 2016
Juan de Fuca Instructional Video single 2017
Juan de Fuca A Place to Wait Solve/Resolve 2017 (forthcoming)

June 6: New jazz music!

Richard Gordon

During the summer, The Music Room will usually run for an hour, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This week, we played new jazz records for the first 30 minutes, then played an interview with the Athens, GA, band Juan de Fuca.

Playlist for 6:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Artist / Song / Disk / Disk Released

Daniel Bennett Group / John Lizard Comes Home / Sinking Houseboat Confusion / 2016

Ron Sowell / Dead Egyptian Blues / Little Movies / 2017

The Andrew Collins Trio / Fish & Fowl / And it was Good / 2016

Yellowjackets / Shenandoah / Cohearence / 2016

Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan / Wildwood Flower / Small Town / 2017

Aziza / Aquila (feat. Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke, Eric Harland) / AZIZA / 2016

SONiA disappear fear

Richard Gordon

SONiA Disappear Fear

SONiA Disappear Fear

On May 30, we had a blast talking with SONiA Disappear Fear, a folksinger from Baltimore, prior to her appearance at the Jewish Music Fest at the Siegel JCC on Sunday, June 4.

Sonia Rutstein and her sister Cindy used to call themselves “Disappear Fear,” and when Cindy decided to stop touring, Sonia and her record label decided to keep the name. She sings traditional folksongs, new songs (written in English, Spanish, Hebrew, German, and even Arabic), and tours with her guitar, looping pedal, and harmonica. But some of her records have attracted a lot of great musicians. Her music is absolutely engaging.

One quote from her website sums things up nicely:

One voice, one guitar, bending sound and light into songs helping fans leap to their feet. “Her songs are a vivid celebration of the human spirit in all its infinite manifestations,” said Don Kening of the Chicago Daily Herald. “Her music has a singular sound that makes labeling and categorizing a waste of time.”

Listen to the interview

SONiA disappear fear, recorded live on WVUD, May 30, 2017.
29:59
57.6 MB

The music

Artist Track Album or source Year released
SONiA disappear fear L Kol L Vavcha Live at Maximal 2015
SONiA disappear fear Washington Work Song DF 05 Live 2005
SONiA disappear fear Ari Ari Live at Maximal 2015