WRTC FM

On Sunday afternoons, Dean Farrell plays 1950s rock ‘n’ roll on Roots Rock Radio.

He usually sources his music from a laptop with D.J. software, but that all changes on the Dec. 22 edition as Farrell will completely produce his show from vinyl.

The program airs 4-6 p.m. Click here to listen live.

“The last time I did an all-vinyl show was before I got my first CD player, circa 1989,” said Farrell. “I’d say I’m overdue.”

He added that much of his vinyl collection is “old enough to collect Social Security!”

Legendary bluesman John Hammond was featured on the Dec. 7 edition of Greasy Tracks.

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

In addition to diving deep into Hammond’s catelog, the show focused on the just-released You’re Doin’ Fine which captures Hammond in two shows at the Boarding House in San Francisco. Recorded by Owsley Stanley in 1973, the three-CD set is part of the on-going series of Bear’s Sonic Journals by the Owsley Stanley Foundation.

Hammond only did a few interviews in conjunction with the release and WRTC got one of them. He shares insight on how this live collection came to be as well as some memories from across his 60-plus year career.

To follow is WRTC’s list of Top 100 rock albums for 2024.

This was based on numbers of spins between Dec. 1, 2023 and Dec. 1, 2024.

The Nov. 29 edition of Crashing the Ether featured an extensive interview host Rob Farrish recently conducted with legendary musician Tony Levin.

Here’s the archive,

Best known for his work with Peter Gabriel — with whom he has played for five decades — and as a member of King Crimson, Levin is also a veteran session musician appearing on hundreds of albums by artists such as David Bowie, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Richard Thompson, Lou Reed, Seal, Todd Rundgren, Laurie Anderson, Tom Waits and many others.

The bassist is currently touring with a new band, BEAT, which celebrates the music of the 1980s era of King Crimson, focusing on such classic releases as Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair.

Along with former Crimson frontman/guitarist Adrian Belew, the line-up also features guitar virtuoso Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey.

BEAT’s tour has been playing to sold-out crowds and receiving rave reviews since hitting the road in September. The band visits The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford on Dec. 3.

In addition to being highly in demand for his unique, inventive style of playing, Levin was also instrumental in popularizing the Chapman Stick, a 10- or 12-stringed instrument that covers the range of both a bass and a guitar.

The “Stick” is featured prominently on Levin’s latest release, Bringing it Down to the Bass (Flatiron Recordings). The album includes collaborations with many of the musicians Levin has worked with over the years, including members of Gabriel’s band and King Crimson.

In addition to discussing the BEAT tour, Levin provided some interesting insight to how he started working with Gabriel and the Robert Fripp-led Crimson, including some of the varied line-ups and musical approaches the band has taken over the past four decades. He also shares some memorable studio experiences.

The Nov. 15 edition of Crashing the Ether spotlighted Low Cut Connie.

Hailing from Philadelphia, Low Cut Connie is the alter-ego of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Adam Weiner. Low Cut Connie’s albums and high-energy shows have earned them a dedicated fan base that includes Elton John, Steve Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen and Barak Obama.

Rob caught up with Weiner before the band’s Nov. 7 performance at Daryl’s House — Daryl Hall’s club in Pawling, N.Y. The two discussed politics in music, anti-Semitism, the new Low Cut Connie movie Art Dealers and new “companion” album Connie Live (Contender) as well as their mutual love of Prince and Lou Reed.

Rory Gallagher’s iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster recently fetched more than $1 million at auction, but the bigger news is that the guitar will remain in Ireland.

This was a perfect excuse to spotlight the incredible career of Gallagher and that’s exactly what happened on the Nov. 9 edition of Greasy Tracks.

The program was co-hosted by Vintage Guitar correspondent/Mambo Sons guitarist Tom Guerra. Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

It was a deep-dive in Gallagher’s catalog, including tracks from the recently released 18-disc collection of Rory live at BBC. Best-known for his electric playing, the feature included a number of acoustic tracks by Gallagher to highlight his oft-overlooked ability on “wooden” instruments!

Insight was provided by those who knew and played with Rory as well as an industry expert who has vast experience acquiring instruments for one of the world’s largest, most wide-ranging collections.

Those interviewed included: Dónal Gallagher and Daniel Gallagher — Rory’s brother and nephew, respectively — who have overseen the guitarist’s estate; bassist Gerry McAvoy who spent nearly 20 years playing with Rory; and Marc Johnson, chief guitar curator of the Jim Irsay Collection .

While Irsay’s collection is widely regarded as one of the finest on the planet, a largely overlooked part of his passion for music is his family’s charity, Kicking The Stigma, which focuses on mental health and drug addiction treatment awareness.

Reponse to the feature was been outstanding. One listener wrote: “Rory Gallagher was beyond guitar solos. He made me proud to be Irish!”

Canadian rock band The Sheepdogs were featured on the Nov. 4 edition of the Devo Rock Show.

Here’s the archive.

The group, which hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, recently spoke with Devo during an appearance in The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., discussing how they formed and about their recent EP release, Paradise Alone (Right On Records).

Formed in 2004, the initial line-up — featuring Ewan Currie (guitar/vocals), Ryan Gullen (bass/vocals) and Sam Corbett (drums) — was known at The Brakes. The trio were students at The University of Saskatchewan and had an affinity for classic rock which wasn’t being played much in their local music venues.

They decided to begin making their own music and released their self-titled debut EP in 2006. Later that year, they added an additional guitarist, Leot Hansen and changed their name to The Sheepdogs.

They then recorded their self-released debut long-player, Trying To Grow at Cosmic Pad Studios in Saskatoon. After two years of touring, they followed with The Sheepdogs’ Big Stand in 2007. In 2010, they followed with the independent release, Learn & Burn.

In 2011, they caught a break by winning a contest with Rolling Stone magazine of unsigned bands and were featured on the cover. This led to their being signed by Atlantic Records.

In 2012, they teamed up with Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney who produced their self-titled album which was released in September of that year. The album went platinum and hit No. 1 on the Canadian charts. This ushered in long stretches of tours in the U.S. and Europe.

The band added Currie’s younger brother, multi-instrumentalist Shamus, to the lineup. Following Hansen’s exiting the band in 2014, they added guitarist Jimmy Bowskill. Two more albums would come out in the ensuing years: Future Nostalgia (2016) and Changing Colors (2017).

In early 2020, they were slated to tour with The Black Key,s but that was up-ended by the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, they went into the studio and began work on their next album, No Simple Thing, (Warner Music Canada) which was released in 2021. In 2022, they put out Outta Sight (Warner Music Canada).

Personnel changes continued as Bowskill left the band in 2022 and was replaced by Ricky Paquette.

The band plans to release another EP, Hell Together, on Nov. 7.

It was a curious combination of roots music, swamp rock, hill country and classic electric blues as the Sept. 21 edition of Greasy Tracks featured Do The Rump! (Forty Below Records) by JD Simo and Luther Dickinson which was released on Sept. 20.

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

In addition to tracking through the entire album, there were interviews with Simo and Dickinson who discuss how the project, featuring their interpretations of chestnuts by Junior Kimbrough, John Lee Hooker, Bobby Charles, J.J. Cale and R.L. Burnside, came about.

On Sept. 18, the pair opened a tour at The Katherine Hepburn Performing Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Conn., to support the album.

Hailing from Chicago, but based in Nashville, Simo blends blues, rock and soul in his playing and in addition to fronting his own band, has been a go-to guitarist for decades be it for road or studio work.

He’s currently working on the soundtrack for Deliver Me From Nowhere. The Bruce Springsteen biopic, based on the book by Warren Zanes documenting the recording of Nebraska, is being directed by Scott Cooper and is scheduled to start filming this fall. Previously, he worked on the score and soundtrack for the 2022 Baz Luhurmann-directed, Elvis.

Like Simo, Dickinson is a respected guitarist and throughout his career has proven his versatility — not only as a band leader, but in the studio as a player or producer as well as filling a key role as part of a touring band.

Born in Memphis, but raised in North Mississippi, Dickinson is best-known for his work — with multi-instrumentalist brother Cody — in the multi-Grammy Award-nominated North Mississippi Allstars. He also did spells with the Black Crowes and Phil Lesh & Friends.

The duo first played together when Simo was part of the Phil & Friends line-up that included the North Mississippi All Stars.

Do The Rump! marks the first recording collaboration for Simo and Dickinson who were joined by drummer Adam Abrashoff who has worked with Simo for many years.

In addition to the vast musical chops of the trio, their embrace of spontaneity and literally refusing to tinker with the tapes was what makes this release such a gem.

Simo, Dickinson and Abrashoff knocked the album out in short order with a series of live-in-the-studio performances at Simo’s House of Grease studio in Nashville. The speedy recording process was spared any overdubs or production trickery.

Connecticut rockers John Street performed at WRTC during the Sept. 14 edition of EsoteRock.

Check out the archive of the show here.

The five-piece line-up — with members hailing from New Britain, Newington, North Branford and West Hartford — released a handful of singles this summer as well as a re-issue of their 2022 debut album, Re-Imagination, which has been remastered.

The band includes Alan Bruce (bass), Stanley Grala (drums), David Lawson (lead vocals), Shawn Mangan (guitar) and Jacek Olejnik (keyboards). They joined host “Bungalow Bill” Walsh to talk about the album and perform tracks from it.

Despite being known primarily as a “classic rock” cover band, John Street’s album is all original material.