Really, Misha? I thought Salute the Majesty went out of print when their Johnny Cash cd went OOP. Hell, I thought that Vic's entire back catalog (save TS&B) was OOP, too. Interesting.

Jon, my current temp is a musician. She was very active in the Boston scene during the mid-80s, and her eyes got very wide when I mentioned that you'd played with Clint Conley.

Hee. What's her name? If you don't want to post it here, email me. Did you mention my radio show? She might have heard it back then.

I love "California Stars" from Mermaid Avenue. Whiskeytown is also good, and I had quite a nice conversation last December from a gentleman who used to be in the band. But d'oh on me for not remembering his name.

The Cash CD was not released by Bloodshot, and so there's a whole different set of distribution issues.

I'll throw Joe Ely's Honky Tonk Masquerade onto the recommendation pile.

John Flansburgh interviews Stephen Merritt about his new album. Jonathan Schwartz played a bunch of songs from "Bounce" on his show the week before last, but unlike most WNYC shows, his does not seem to be archived. Sorry.

A radio piece on Ben Treuhaft, founder of Send A Piana to Havana. "'I'm a piano tuner who got caught up in Cuba's piano crisis and, in helping out, found I had to circumnavigate the ridiculous embargo.'... Almost every day Treuhaft calls the Treasury office looking for information to appeal their decision. 'I want to know why they consider pianos subversive.'"

Schwartz's shows are never on the web, for I believe contractual reasons having to do with his also being a DJ for one of the satellite radio stations.

Too bad. It was a good show. Keeping with the Sondheim theme (no pun intended) he played some of the West Side Story tracks from Bill Charlap's new album Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein. You can hear a review & selections from the album at this page, which also has a feature on Harry Nilsson's The Point, which has just been (re?)released on DVD.

Jonathan Schwartz drives my GF up the wall, & I know what she means, but as a big fan of "the Great American Songbook" I like his show anyway. The inside dish on the music, performers & writers is great, too. For those of you who haven't heard him, he's the son of Arthur Schwartz ("Dancing in the Dark", "That's Entertainment" and "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan", which someone -- Erin, I think -- included in a Buffistamix) so he has his father's stories, plus he knew many of the songwriters and performers he loves. He's been a collector and deejay for years. In addition to the stuff he digs up on his own people send him rare recordings all the time. He is kind of drone-y, though. But if you like that sort of music he's definitely worth checking out, Saturdays and Sundays 12-4 on wnyc.org.

Also, of course, on XM Satellite Radio.

Alt.country for Jen:

I'll second hayden's recommendation of the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass, both beautiful albums. Neko Case for sure, only I'd recommend her EP Canadian Amp above Blacklisted, if you can find it. Both Blacklisted and Furnace Room Lullaby are good albums too. The songwriting quality varies a bit, IMHO, but is mostly good, and her voice is amazing. Canadian Amp is mostly covers, and is hauntingly gorgeous. Kelly Hogan and Sally Timms are also great vocalists in the genre (all three women are on Bloodshot Records, so they group together in my mind).

The Handsome Family are one of my favorite bands. Gothic, surreal, with a stripped-down sound. Also on Bloodshot Records*. I heart Bloodshot Records. (The Bob Wills tribute album is on sale, you say, Michele? Hmm...)

Oh, and Cheri Knight, if you can find anything by her, or her former band, Blood Oranges. I love her. Her solo stuff is more folkish, the stuff with the band more rocking.

Yeah, and pretty much anything by Townes Van Zandt or Gram Parsons. Mmm.

Ginger mentioned Buddy and Julie Miller, also very good. Julie's album Broken Things is my favorite, followed by the one they put out as a couple (selftitled). I'm gonna have to disagree with her about Kasey Chambers, though, whom I just can't stand. (Heh--reading through the thread, looks like a lot of people don't like Kasey. Sorry, Ginger, I hope you don't feel piled on.)

Who else? Oh, Whiskeytown, definitely. And Ryan Adams' first solo album, Heartbreaker, is excellent, though I don't really care for anything else he's done since.

*Edit: actually, they're on Carrot Top, but they're distributed by Bloodshot.

Jonathan Schwartz drives my GF up the wall, & I know what she means, but as a big fan of "the Great American Songbook" I like his show anyway.

I was a fan of his when he was the evening DJ on WNEW-FM back in the early '70s. Then he left that gig, I moved to Rhody (too far to pick up any NY radio except WFAN), and I don't think I've heard him since.