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Backbeat Radio Broadcast on radio stations across Canada and the U.S.A. See below for a list. |
Here is a summary of the previous ten Backbeat shows that can be streamed on-demand for free. Streaming service is provided by Mixcloud, clicking on the link will take you to their site.
I found another pile of old records for Backbeat this week, plus a trove of newer stuff that fits right in with the vintage sound. Jake Vaadeland & the Sturgeon River Boys have a new album that delves deep into Carter Family era of country music while Weepin' Dave and the Diamond Boys get into 1970s Bakersfield sound for their new song. Along with that we've got classics from Meade Lux Lewis, Mac Wiseman, John Lee Hooker and many more from artists you may not have heard of.
This week it's hot blues from Robert Nighthawk, sweet country from The Miller Sisters, jumping jazz from Joe Venuti, sizzling soul from Irma Thomas and intense gospel from The Soul Stirrers along with new tracks from two artists who settled in Nova Scotia, Joe H Henry and Dee Hernandez.
Lots to listen to on Backbeat this week, Billy Edd Wheeler blisters through a song he wrote for Johnny Cash, Dinah Washington salutes Bessie Smith, we get a hillbilly version of In The Mood, and Homer and Jethro give us out-of-date humour with some hot pickin'. You'll also hear traditional Finnish vocalizing, a couple of iconic dance numbers and a lot more.
This week we hear one of the longest-running groups in country music history, and Lou Mac, a Chicago blues singer who made a few critically acclaimed records in 1955 but didn't get a hit so she quit and went on to lead a normal life. We've also got an obscure gospel group with a poorly recorded song that is still irresistibly catchy, and another song from One String Sam that is simply out of this world. Mix in some Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and a very early Everly Brothers record and you've got an hour of music that can't be beat.
Ya don't get no summertime blues listening to Backbeat, just simple music designed to make you feel good. Roy Brown, the master of good rockin' starts us off, then you'll hear an obscure Louisiana bluesman, Country Jim Bledsoe, who was doing Swamp Blues before it was a thing, then the fun continues with Django Reinhardt, Sam Cooke, The Stoneman Family, Blue Moon Marquee and a lot more.
This week you'll hear the flamboyant and influential Prof. Alex Bradford, a group of very good country musicians who gathered in a studio in 1929, but nobody knows who they were, some cool, cool jazz from Linda Carone, Bill Haley rocks Robbie Burns and if you've ever wondered how Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip would have performed a Fats Domino song, well we've got the answer.
This week we start and end with train songs that keep us chuggin' away for the whole hour. We've got Merle Travis giving us a barn burner of a boogie (which is a train song come to think of it), Kanui & Lula, who rode the Hawaiian craze in Europe and Dawn Tyler Watson who gives us blues from Montreal.
On this week's show we've got Wynonie Harris, Howlin' Wolf, Roger Miller. Lefty Frizzell and Johnny Horton plus Cliff Bruner and his Texas Wanderers, The Detroit Harmonettes, Buster Pack and his Lonesome Pine Boys and Larry Dale, a fine New York City bluesman who is almost unknown, plus Sinead X Sanders who keeps the traditional country sound alive in her original songs.
This week you will hear an entertaining assortment from Billie Holiday, The Manhattan Brothers, The Prairie Ramblers, Louis Armstrong and Gene Vincent. There's early, ragtime guitar pickin' from the obscure and talented, Melvin Dupree, smooth sax playing from the turban-wearing Lynn Hope, who took a year off playing to study ancient history and Islam, and new retro-style country from Ontario's Barbara anne.
On this week's show you'll hear sophisticated jazz from Cab Calloway and the Bebop Cowboys, emotional gospel from the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and classic country from Hank Snow and Jake Vaadeland. We've also got a Texas blues musician who was so off kilter even blues fans make fun of him. All from the show that's been declared Best Blues or Related Music for 2026 by the National Community Radio Association. So there.