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Why they do what they do. . . .

This week's show includes a big Mitten (Michigan block) and a big block of XXX Outlaw artists, both in the second half of the show: The Great Tribulation, Rachel Brooke, String of Ponies, Doop and the Inside Outlaws, Ty, Scott H. Biram, Hellbound Glory, High or Hellwater, Have Gun Will Travel, Jimbo Mathus, Nick 13 and more.
I was asked why do what I do. Good question, why? It's simple, really. These artists don't get played on commercial radio, don't get played anywhere except satellite or the Internet, and they don't compromise. They're visceral, real, authentic, passionate, raw and every other adjective in that vein I can think of. They deserve it. I do it, because I can't hear the music I love, unless I do this (and I think you'll love too), or at the least, a very small number, a very few Internet stations that do it too. I do it because the music "industry", is just that, an industry. They couldn't care less whether or not they were selling you cans of tomato soup, boots or a CD; to them it's all about profit margin, units moved and using their consultants and profilers to make sure that the "product" they're pushing fits the right parameters, has the right notes, in the right sequence that have been focus group tested to make sure that it will sell the maximum number of units, period. Most music industry executives don't think much of you, don't think much of their musicians and bands, don't know that much about music, and don't know shit about rock and roll, and in fact, know that the particular product they're hyping isn't worth a heaping, smelly pile of dung, but it's all about the corporate profit margin.
So that's why I do what I do, make sure that people who haven't been bought and sold by the system get played and get heard, and for that, I can only thank you all for a growing listenership who appreciates real music, good music and understands that American roots music; music that touches on the blues, on rock and roll, on country, on bluegrass and gospel is the most important form of art that American culture has ever produced.
The first half of the show pretty much will twist your head around and whip back and forth between the blues and roots music that touches on the American landscape. Incredible songwriters like Joe Henry and Tom Russell. Musicians like Steve Cropper, B.B. King, Garland Jeffreys, John Doe, Gary Clark, Jr., Ryan Adams and more. Bands like American Taxi and musicians like Jim McCarty, they're all here this week. A long gone forgotten cut from The Hourglass Band, Duane and Greg's first band and one you may have forgotten about from Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on tour with Eric Clapton.
Thanks for being a listener and supporter, thanks for being part of something that is important, real and vital.
Remember to support people like Shooter over Give Me My XXX and Bryan over at Ninebullets radio.
Please comment and rate, and most importantly. Share it! Share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and e-mail. The podcast is also available now on iTunes as free subscription, and most important of all, TURN IT UP and DANCE!
Peace out,
Kip

From the heart(land) . . . . .

This week, a playlist full of the music that we always play here: raw, authentic, passionate and close to bone and down in the blood. Music close to home and close to the heart.
Michigan music makers who pour it all out in that renegade, outlaw style that draws outside the lines and refuses to color with the right crayons. The Inside Outlaws; Ty Stone, Doop and the Inside Outlaws, String of Ponies and people like Rae Rae, Jeni Lee Richey and The Great Tribulation, String of Ponies, Mike Struwin and Bone Orchard Revival
GiveMeMyXXX artists like Scott H. Biram, Rachel Brooke (another Michigan girl), High or Hellwater, Have Gun Will Travel
Music from old masters like Willie Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis and contributions from Ryan Adams and others.
My commitment is this to you. The show stays commercial free, sponsor free and will always play true music, not commercial crap. You won't hear Top 40 hits here, you won't hear Young Country and you won't hear Classic Rock, but you will hear it the way music flows through an artist's soul, you'll hear their aural and sonic vision the way they want you hear it. If you're from Michigan, the Great Lakes somewhere, if you're an artist who doesn't fit comfortably into a category but gets thrown into Americana/Roots/Country/Rock/Blues as one big mishmash, this is your home.
Remember to Share this anyway possible; FB, Twitter, Email whatever. It's not about me, it's about these artists and making sure people hear them, keep them eating and playing. You can always find me, Kip Williams on FB or on Twitter as kip_williams. It's important to remember that music didn't die with the Baby Boom, it wasn't born in the 60's and finished in the '70's. It's vital, alive and right now and real.
Peace out,
Kip

That's how it's done

ATTN: Guitar shredders, harp players, blues aficionados, those of you who have the music down in your hearts, blood and let it take the wheel of your passion. Disciples of soul, acolytes of the altar of the High Church of Rock and Roll, this is how it's done.
Albums, artists and bands you haven't heard in a while, or heard from:
Johnny Winter, Steve Cropper, Ana Popovic, Joanne Shaw Taylor, George Thorogood, Jimmy Vaughan and Ry Cooder
The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Band, Joe Cocker with Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Merle Haggard
Alvin Youngblood Hart, Chris Whitley and Dan Baird
And a salute to Michigan (Thank you, Tigers and Lions) with Bob Seger, The Rockets and Ty Stone.
And a list of guest stars sitting in; Buddy Guy, BB King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Brian May, Lucinda Williams and more
And an old "lost" vinyl cut, from Cowboy (the Hourglass Band) with Duane sitting in.
If you're a guitar player, a band member, a singer or songwriter who goes for the music that we play here; raw, authentic, passionate, close to the bone, true to the blood music, and this is how it's done. Consider it a tutorial.
As always, free and podcasted up from the broadcast, straight to you commercial-free and advertising free. The cost? Share the hell out of this, use the little Green share button below, use "Share" on FB, use Twitter, Google+, whatever, but share it, it's about the music and these artists.
Support these artists, go see them on tour, buy their CD's straight from their websites. Go check out Shooter and GiveMeMyXXX over at their website there, and support it all.
Thanks for being part of this, and being part of the music and part of my life. It's all good
Kip

The ties that bind. . . . .

It's in the blood. Period. That's the way it is.
This week's show takes on the family ties and how music runs in the blood and through the soul. The everyday, blue collar, sweat, grime and blood folks that through hard work, authenticity and staying true to what they believed, became royalty in American music.
The Williams (all 3 Hanks), the Jennings family (Waylon, Shooter and Struggle), the Cash-Carter-Crowell gang, the Nelson's (Willie and Lukas). 6 string guitar gunslingers from the Allman-Trucks connection (Skydog, Duane and his nephew, Derek), The Vaughan's (Stevie Ray and Jimmie), the Earle's (Steve and Justin Townes, like father, like son, in all ways). The Dickinson's (Jim and his sons, Luther and Cody, The North Mississippi All-Stars), and the Helm's (Levon and Amy). The list goes on and there's a twist or two in there, a story or three you probably didn't know, and in every case, cuts that you've probably not heard, in styles that you didn't know that they played in.
In this week's homegrown segment, my bro Steve Lewis, with his version of Nine-Inch Nails "Hurt".
Strap in, hang on, and get ready for another blast down Desolation Row with the Angel. Music that's close to the bone, true, authentic and real from artists and bands who refuse to compromise, and whose artistic integrity means far more than a fat recording contract based on some slick producer's idea of "music".
As always, a big shout-out to Shooter, who provided some of the tracks for this week from the www.givememyxxx.com website. Visit over there for some cuts from these artists, and for other broadcasts just like this one. Share the shit out of this folks, that's the only price that I ever ask. It's always commercial-free, sponsor-free and supported for sheer love of the music for people just like you. No subscriptions required, just a simple share on FB, Twitter or by e-mail.
You can always friend me, Kip Williams, on Facebook, or Like the show's fan pages, The Desolation Angel, or Music That Doesn't Suck Canal Water.
Peace out, rock and roll forever
Kip

The man in black fled across the desert. . .and the Gunslinger followed after

Folks, it's back, and in a big way. All the authenticity, rawness, passion and true, close to the bone music you can stand. American music. Music too rock for country, too country for rock. Music that has the blues, and the sweat, toil, blood, dreams and hopes of an entire society threading it's way through the mix.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you for keeping this going and keeping it alive while I was down with some technical problems, and I'm an extremely fortunate human being to have had all the cards fall into place the way they have to be back up and running about a week ahead of schedule.
Artist after artist this week. Shooter and his dad, Waylon. Joe Ely, Steve Earle and Justin Townes Earle. The North Mississippi All-Stars and the Drive-By Truckers, and an appearance by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, playing together and Kris. Scott H. Biram, Jimbo Mathus, Left Lane Cruiser, Black Diamond Heavies, Joe Buck Yourself. Chris Knight, Reckless Kelly, Micky & The Motorcars, Cody Canada & The Departed. Gary Clark, Jr. and Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men. High or Hellwater, Kevin Welch, Kevin Deal, My Morning Jacket, The Randy Rogers Band and Stoney Larue. Doc Daily and Magnolia Devil, Ryan Bingham and 3 master songwriters; Jackson Browne, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Robert Earl Keen.
More coolness, more hipness and more of what you've come to expect. All the technical glitches ironed out and just plain more of everything.
Again, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who kept it alive, and my thanks to Shooter for his support. Make sure to visit www.givememyxxx.com and check out all of these artists, and even more broadcasts like this one, it's not a competition, it's about keeping the music alive and supporting and loving one another.
Click Listen Now, or Play in pop-up or download it, and remember that the podcast is available in iTunes now as a free downloadable podcast, just search podcasts for Kip Williams.
Share the absolute, living shit out of this. Share it using the little blue share on Facebook, where this can be found in my profile, and on both of it's fan pages; Music that Doesn't Suck Canal Water or The Desolation Angel. Share it using the little Green Share button just below this, or if you got in email, forward the address to your friends. It's not about me, it's about spreading the message of this music.
Sincerely, I love y'all. You're the best, and even if you think I don't know who you are or what you've done, I do and I'm grateful for it.
The Desolation Angel
Kip

A Note on the broadcast and future plans

Folks, a quick update here, as there hasn't been any broadcasts for a couple of weeks. The bottom line, a contractor employed by my Internet Service provider did a poor, illegal installation for my neighbors, tapped off my feed, ungrounded into a splitter, and the inevitable happened during a ground loop and my hard drive, in fact, the whole computer and my back-up fried. What that means is that the over 4,000 MP3's, the customized editing, mixing and recording software all went too; along with every picture I ever had of my Mom and Dad, of my son's college graduation, and every bit of documentation that I had for the businesses that actually pay the bills.
I found an outfit in Chicago that can at least do some CSI-type shit and pull all the files off the hard drive and give me at least the music, the pictures and documents and files back (at a price that could choke a horse). So. . .that means new computer, loading it up with the software, and finding the scratch necessary to get the files off the hard drive.
I don't know how to quit, I don't know how to fail. I never got those memos. Doing it isn't the question, the artists that get played here, the listeners, you all, deserve no less, so that's the plan. Somehow or another, I plan on what took me a couple of years to build up and get it rolling again in a month or less. The list of people to thank is endless, for their support and concern. Shooter, Karen, Paula, Scott, Bill, David, Ray, Greg, Lulu, Lowell, Pooch, Mike, Leif, Shoe, my sons Cody and Caleb, Angie and Steve, Dave and Mike, Craig, Derek, Kim, Mike, Matt (and if I leave anyone off, I apologize, the list is enormous).
What will the future bring? This. A technical fix for the iTunes podcast download that had me sounding like Alvin the chipmunk on meth, possibly going live, broadcasts of some of you all, my friends from years long down the road now with your own MP3's of garage bands, basement bands, solo work. More of those great XXX artists like North Mississippi All-Stars, Drive By Truckers, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, High or Hellwater, Left Lane Cruisers, Ted Russell Kamp, John Carter Cash, Jimbo Mathus, South Memphis String Band, Lucinda Williams, Have Gun Will Travel, Slackeye Slim and more. Artists like Truth and Salvage Company and American Graveyard. People like Waylon, Johnny, Willie, Kris and Steve Earle and of course, Shooter. More of those young '70's rock and roll revival bands like Taddy Porter and Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights. Blues from deep down in the delta, that you've probably not heard before, and some great N'Awlins music, horn funk and cajun zydeco.
There's a book in the works, one that traces what Waylon, Johnny, Willie and Kris did in the wayback when they wouldn't let Nashville change their sound, and how that's being repeated today as a lot of artists, a lot of you all hang on to your integrity and knowledge that the music has to sound like what it is in your heart; written with honesty and integrity, telling it like it is.
What can you do in the meantime? Well, right here is the archive for any shows that you might want to catch up on. and most definitely, please, get over to www.givememyxxx.com and visit Shooter and those great artists over there, and catch some of the other broadcasters. Nine Bullets, Grump's Garage, Black Rock Radio and Outlaw Chicago.
Keep the faith, I know I will, I can't afford to believe in lost causes and hopelessness
The Desolation Angel
Kip

Always honor the past, and hold the future like what it is, a dream of hope

The present is nothing more than the accumulation of the experiences, sounds and memories of the past combined in a singular moment with the hope and promise of the future and the road that lies ahead. This week evokes a stunning mix of the sounds that make us who we are as an American people, as a nation and the folks who showed up this week and offered up their poetry, their skills and their music represent the best of who we are, who we were and who we can be.
Americana, roots, folk, blues and rock, all with their own blocks, repped by The Black Lillies, Ollabelle, Amanda Shires, High or Hellwater, Scott H. Biram, Have Pistol, Will Travel, Justin Townes Earle, Charles Bradley, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise and Otis Gibbs
A block that explores the greatest living slide player around right now, Derek Trucks
Names more familiar, like Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Pistol Annies, Glen Campbell, The North Mississippi Allstars and the Drive-By Truckers. Many of these artists and bands are found over at Shooter Jenning's coalition site; givememyxxx.com, where he's put together an army of artists who don't play by the rules, color outside the lines and are too country for rock, too rock for country and be sure to head over there to check out more of them.
As always, thanks for being a fan, and thanks for supporting broadcasts like this one. Click Listen Now, or Play in Pop-up, Download and remember that this broadcast is also available now on iTunes as a free subscription. Please rate it, leave comments and remember to please, please, please share this broadcast by e-mail, or using the Green Share button below on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any other social media and remember that you can "Like" either Music That Doesn't Suck Canal Water on FB, or The Desolation Angel, or just go ahead and send a friend to request to me, Kip Williams and stay current on all the news with the show, or follow me on Twitter, kip_williams.
Peace out, Remember that we only get one chance at this rodeo
Be good to yourselves and your loved ones
Kip

There's only two kinds. . . . . .

I only know two kinds of music. Music that's good, and music that sucks, and I only play music that's good. A couple of sub-themes cropped up in this week's show as I was putting the broadcast together. Songwriters and unknowns (damn, that's a surprise!). This week includes:
Robert Earl Keen
Glen Campbell's final studio album
Jackson Browne
John Hiatt
Entire blocks of stubbornly independent, iconoclastic, eclectic artists that come from under the Give Me My XXX umbrella that Shooter put together (his new one is here too!).
Contributions from artists that are part of The Great Revival of that unclassifiable '70's sound; music that fits in that rock/blues/country fuzzed out guitars, turned up Marshall tube amps sound:
Midnight River Choir
Cody Canada & The Departed
Micky & The Motorcars
Blues, real guitar blues from masters like R.L. Burnside and Guitar Shorty; and revivalists like North Mississippi All-Stars.
Music is far from dead, it's alive and these folks are trying hard to move past the bland, homogenized, beige, corporate crap turned out by the entertainment conglomerates that are only interested in profit and product. Please leave comments and ratings, get a hold of me using e-mail or Facebook (Kip Williams, Music that Doesn't Suck Canal Water or The Desolation Angel) or on Twitter (kip_williams) and whatever you do, please, please, please if you're a listener use the Green Share button below, or Share it on Facebook; this isn't about me, it's about these artists and keeping their name out there, and remember that the podcast of the show is available in iTunes.
Peace out,
Kip
Down below, click Listen Now, or Play in pop-up (a really cool option, you can listen in a new pop-up window and go on about your cyber-business), or Download and import it to your music files. Thanks so very much for being part of the audience, and being part of a movement that supports real, authentic, passionate, roots music. Your input and your ears count.