Howdy Friends. Hanukkah begins this weekend and its got me thinking about all of the great Jewish country music out there in the world. Sure, there's the well-known Jewish country stars like Kinky Friedman, Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel), Shel Silverstein, and Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson & Friends). There's lots of great folk-country Jewish artists like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Leonard Cohen as well as bluegrass legends like Bela Fleck, Noam Pikelny, and David Grisman (to name just a few). And I can't leave out former bandmates Bobbie Malone and Dave Aaronoff (with a great new Hens release), or local star Jerry Wicentowski (Bluegrass Hoppers). Infamous tailor to the stars, Nudie Cohn, even made a country record and heck, it was Steve Goodman who wrote the perfect country music song!
I know it's just barely scratching the surface, but I've tracked down my favorite three hours worth of Jewish country music from my own collection and I've also found some rare gems to play from the Mayrent Collection of Yiddish Recordings. It's the largest collection of Yiddish language recordings (over 9,000+ 78s), with some incredible country-related records within, and it lives right next door to my office in Mills Music Library! I just might even have a special guest on during the middle of the show...Hope you can tune in to Back to the Country tomorrow morning (12/10) from 9am to noon (cst) via 89.9FM in southern Wisconsin or streaming via wortfm.org and here's to a joyful festival of lights!
No comments:
Post a Comment