Radio

Hear Jeff Tweedy’s new release “Twilight Override” on The Kingston Coffee House

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WRIU Kingston Coffee House 9/30

By Mike Stevenson

In the first hour of THE KINGSTON COFFEE HOUSE, we feature tracks from Jeff Tweedy’s highly acclaimed new release Twilight Override, as well as deep dives from Tweedy’s first band Uncle Tupelo; Wilco’s classic Yankee Foxtrot Hotel from 2002; and Tweedy’s wonderful contributions to the Mermaid Avenue Woody Guthrie sessions from 1998.

Twilight Override

As for Tweedy’s latest recording, the New York Times recently wrote: “Twilight Override earns its length. It’s not padded with alternate versions or extended instrumentals; only three songs stretch past five minutes. The arrangements often feel cozy and handmade, largely built around Tweedy’s acoustic guitar and frequently topped by Macie Stewart’s violin; there are hints of Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan’s album John Wesley Harding.”

New release “Angel”

In hour two, you’ll hear the beautiful guitar of Haitian-American legend Frantz Casseus, as well as new releases from Welsh harpist Cerys Hafana. Hafana’s latest album, Angel, was declared The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Month in September 2025. The Guardian described them as a “piercingly beautiful singer and exceptional, adventurous musician” and praised the album’s innovative harp playing, Breton influences, and exploration of the life cycle.”

Natalie MacMaster

In hour three, host Mike Stevenson chats with WRIU DJ Wayne Cresser (Picture This: Film Music On the Radio), who just returned from a road trip to the Canadian Maritimes. As a welcome home, we share bowls of poutine with extra cheese & gravy (…in truth, oat cakes and tea!) while playing some choice Celtic music from Cape Breton, including cuts from Ashley MacIssac, Mary Jane Lamond and Natalie MacMaster.

Along the way, we play from Bob Dylan’s 1964 classic The Times They Are a-Changin; a rare Richard Thompson-composed song for a Werner Herzog film; recent Americana Awards winner Jesse Welles;England’s Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and more.

Ceilidh at Parish Hall
Max Cormier and fiddle player Ben Smith at the legendary Doryman Pub in Cheticamp

Listen to “The Kingston Coffeehouse” with tributes to Sonny Curtis and David Bromberg

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The Kingston CoffeeHouse WRIU 9/23/25

PLAYLIST:

  • JESSE WELLES “War Isn’t Murder” (J Welles)
  • I’M WITH HER “Send My Love (To Your New Love)” [Adele]
  • NORA BROWN “Jenny Put the Kettle On” (Traditional)
  • BELA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES “Sunset Road” (Fleck)
  • LEO KOTTKE “In Christ There Is No East or West” (Alexander R. Reinagle)
  • LEO KOTTKE “You Don’t Have to Need Me” (Kottke)
  • I’M WITH HER “Ancient Light” (Jarosz, O’Donovan, Watkins)
  • THE McCRARY SISTERS “What Good Am I?” (Bob Dylan)
  • JESSE WELLES “The Great Caucasian God” (Welles)
  • PAUL SIEBEL “My Town” (Siebel)
  • MJ LENDERMAN “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m in” (Lenderman)
  • SIERRA FERRELL “Jeremiah” (S. Ferrell)
  • GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS “Empty Trainload Of Sky”
  • GILLIAN WELCH “Dear Someone” (Welch/Rawlings)
  • CAT CLYDE & JEREMIE ALBINO “Been Worryin'” (Clyde/Albino)
  • WILLI CARLISLE “Beeswing” (R Thompson)
  • RICHARD THOMPSON “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”
  • GWENIFER RAYMOND “Jack Parsons Blues” (G Raymond)
  • CERYS HAFANA “Helynt Ryfeddol”
  • ZOE BASHA “Dublin Street Corner Blues” (Z Basha)
  • SYMBIO “Soul Siblings”
  • OLAF ARNALDS “Tar i Morgunsario”
  • JOSIENNE CLARKE “Most of All” (J Clarke)
  • JOAN SHELLEY “Everybody” (J Shelley)
  • JOAN SHELLEY “The Fading” (J Shelley)
  • JOAN SHELLEY “Haven” (J Shelley)
  • BONNIE PRINCE BILLY, DAWN MCCARTHY “Kentucky” (Karl Davis)
  • JAKE XERCES FUSSELL “Love Farewell”
  • THE EVERLY BROTHERS “Walk Right Back” (Sonny Curtis)
  • THE CLASH “I Fought the Law” (Sonny Curtis)
  • SONNY CURTIS “Love Is All Around” (Sonny Curtis)
  • SONNY CURTIS “Straight Life” (Sonny Curtis)
  • NANCI GRIFFITH with SONNY CURTIS “Well, Alright” (Sonny Curtis)
  • BUDDY HOLLY “Rock Around with Ollie Vee” (Sonny Curtis)
  • DAVID BROMBERG “The Joke’s On Me” (Bromberg)
  • DAVID BROMBERG “Spanish Johnny” (Paul Siebel)
  • DAVID BROMBERG “Mr. Blue” (Dewayne Blackwell)
  • SIERRA FERRELL “Seven Spanish Angels” (Troy Seals, Eddie Setser)

Johnnie Walker obituary

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Former pirate radio disc jockey who went to Radio 1 and later became a stalwart of Radio 2

By Nigel Fountain

Johnnie Walker, who has died aged 79, began his career as a disc jockey in the offshore pirate radio era of the mid-1960s. He was one of four pirate DJs – the others were John Peel, Tony Blackburn and Kenny Everett – who came to symbolise that time and continued to prosper in its aftermath.

The pirate radio stations, of which the most famous was Radio Caroline, were set up on ships and disused forts in the North Sea, avoiding British regulation by broadcasting from international waters and providing pop music to a British teen market not catered for by the BBC stations of the era.

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Kathy Burke meets Joe Strummer in Little Crackers’ Better Than Christmas

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By Johnny Foreigner

I knew actress Kathy Burke mainly for her brilliant performance in the 1997 film Nil By Mouth, when she played a battered woman terrorized by her brutish husband (played with equal brilliance by actor Ray Winstone.) As comedienne, Bates also played “Magda” on  AbFab, and delivered a hilarious line in Sid and Nancy – “John got beaten up by fascists.” (wonderful!)

When I came across this great short biopic from 2010 about a young London schoolgirl (Ami Metcalf portraying a teenaged Kathy Burke) meeting her rock n’ roll hero Joe Strummer – it left me wanting to see the rest of the series. IMDB describes Little Crackers as “a series of short comedy-dramas with a Christmas theme, written by British artists recalling moments from their childhoods.”

Here’s how Kathy Burke the Writer sums up her Little Crackers “Better Than Christmas” mini biopic:

Kathy Burke turns 16 in two days and is about to leave school after sitting one final exam. Kathy’s passion is music and she dreams of being a writer for the NME where she’ll interview the likes of Paul Weller and Johnny Rotten. As Kath and her friend Mary celebrate their freedom, they’re stopped in their tracks by an almost unbelievable vision. There, in front of them, are The Clash. While an awestruck Kathy clutches her now-autographed NME, her hero, Joe Strummer, offers her some life-changing advice.