Weekly broadcasts of the
Best of Bound for Glory
Every week we feature a recording from our archive of live
Bound for Glory shows. Spend Sunday nights with us
on your radio at 93.5 FM or through the Internet.
Click here for ways to listen to the show.
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On your radio March 23—Kevin & Katie McKrell
Originally broadcast 7/1/07
“Proving once again that contemporary bluegrass can expand its borders without losing its integrity. The music of the McKrells is hip and smart, thoughtful yet fun, and yes, the roots are intact.
—Julie Koehler, Bluegrass Unlimited
A founding member of such popular bands as Celtic group Donnybrook Fair, and his namesake Celtic bluegrass band, The McKrells, Kevin McKrell has appeared on the stage of Carnegie Hall to standing ovations, and has shared other stages with the Furey Brothers, TheBattlefield Band, Altan, Mary Black, Solas, Travis Tritt, Lonestar, Allison Krause, and Sam Bush, to name a few.
Daughter Katie first took the stage at 5 years old and wowed the house with a spectacular version of The Rattlin’ Bog. She has been writing songs and performing ever since. An accomplished and insightful songwriter, witty engaging performer and dead-on harmony singer. With her father Kevin McKrell or on her own she is a force.
On your radio March 30—
Mustard’s Retreat
Originally broadcast 4/22/07
“Last year I sat, utterly charmed, in the wings of the theatre, watching David and Michael work their spell on the audience. The audience roared for more when they finished. I hated having to follow them.”—Garnet Rogers
Growing up in Branford, Connecticut, David Tamulevich tossed aside years of piano lessons and church choir for an acoustic guitar, sea chanties, and contemporary songwriters. Michael Hough found himself living in Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Ohio before moving to Michigan in 1960. With a musical family, he too found himself singing in choirs. The two met up when David transferred to the University of Michigan. Between slinging hash and flying garbonzo beans, the two cooks discovered their mutual interests in songwriting, guitar playing, and getting out of the restaurant business. One afternoon’s rehearsal later, three songs were ready to be tested on an open-mike audience at the legendary coffeehouse, The Ark.
Thirty-one years later, Mustard’s Retreat is still going strong, as Michael and David please, move, and engage new generations of audiences. Whether they’re singing their own gentle love songs and vivid ballads, telling tall tales, or offering treasures from America’s vast traditional song bag, a Mustard’s Retreat show always feels like it’s designed for the people who have come to see them that day, in that coffeehouse, school, concert hall or festival. They were the first winners of the annual Best of Bound for Glory Award, and we’re delighted to welcome them back.
On your radio April 6—Erica Wheeler
Originally broadcast 9/27/09
“Wheeler is adept at melding people, place and events in simple ways that illuminate all three.”—The Washington Post
Erica Wheeler began writing songs in twelfth grade, in her hometown of Chevy Chase, Maryland. “You know, teenage angst stuff,” she says. Now based in western Massachusetts, which has become known as a hotbed of today’s finest singer-songwriters, Wheeler began her career as an opening act for many of the touring artists who passed through to perform at the famed Iron Horse Music Hall.
At an early age, she was exposed to the bluegrass and traditional music that helped form her style, due to family journeys through the surrounding regions of West Virginia. After her 1989 cassette release, “Strong Heart,” garnered positive reviews, Wheeler began her own life as a touring artist. She’s now up to six recordings, on Signature Sounds and her own Blue Pie label. The latest, last year’s “Good Summer Rain,” beautifully evokes the relationships between people and place, spanning from the intimate streets of Greenwich Village to the sweeping vistas of Jackson Hole.
A veteran of the acoustic folk circuit, Erica has headlined at clubs from Boston to Berkeley, concert halls, coffeehouses, colleges across the country, and prestigious American and Canadian festivals. She’s also opened for such acts as the Indigo Girls, Shawn Colvin, Iris Dement, and Greg Brown.