On the arrival of fall and "going back"
air date: Saturday, September 13 at 8pm EDT
Fall is upon us! Next Saturday (the 13th) on Acoustic Blend we are exploring the theme of going back, encompassing everything that changes over time and what stays the same. Two quick things before we get into the playlist:
First, this Sunday, September 7 is the first in a series of “Singer Songwriter Sundays,” this one featuring Joe Peters and Patrick Nycz at the Delphi Opera House at 2pm (as a bonus, Joe and watercolorist Rena Brouwer will be performing together1 at noon downstairs in the art gallery).
Then on Friday, September 12 (also at the Opera House) Joe Peters and friends will be back for a collaboration concert sure to rival 2023’s event that featured 20+ vocalists and performers. Tickets start at $20 and are available via the DOH website.
Next on Acoustic Blend: “Going back”
There's something about autumn that moves me into a reflective and, yes, nostalgic space. I've heard it said that all change feels like loss, and I often interpret the first days of fall as a loss -- the loss of sunshine, vacation, longer days, warm weather. Our hearts tend to bundle losses together, so then my mind wanders to other things I have lost in life, which is hard because fall is SUCH a beautiful time of year. So this playlist is my own journey through change—from despair in change to hope—and I do hope you'll enjoy following along.
Lori McKenna will help get us rolling (and also establish a secondary theme of houses and hometowns) with her song “The Town in Your Heart.” A few local artists will make an appearance over the course of the hour, including Delphi native Malachi Jaggers (“Good Ol Days”), Scott Greeson (“Riverside”), and David Inskeep on vocals with Joe Peters and Michael Kelsey in the song “Houses Come & Go.”
As we wind down the hour, we’ll pause for a reading of David Whyte’s poem “The House of Belonging” followed by a hopeful song from Andrew Peterson and a masterfully written one from Richard Shindell. I overlooked the genius of the imagery in Richard Shindell’s “There Goes Mavis” for a number of years. The song features a bird being freed, a cage, and a sandcastle on the beach. The sandcastle and the cage are apt images of control and how we try to keep the world at bay, predictable, ordered. The relentless sea consistently eroding the sandcastle walls along with the child freeing the bird is a hopeful contrast. You can read on for more of Shindell’s writing (it’s all a treat) and the lyrics for “There Goes Mavis.”
Acoustic Blend airs Saturday, September 13 at 8pm EDT on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the full playlist below. ‘Til next month!
Going Back
01. Nanci Griffith - "Going Back to Georgia"
02. Lori McKenna - "The Town In Your Heart"
03. Emily Scott Robinson - "Better With Time"
04. Cheryl Wheeler - "75 Septembers"
05. Donovan Woods - "Next Year"
06. Malachi Jaggers - "Good Ol' Days"
07. Lori McKenna - "People Get Old"
08. Richard Shindell - "Wisteria"
09. Wilder Woods - "Heartland"
10. Scott Greeson & Kevin Ludwig - "Jan's Journey"
11. Joedai Trobairitz & Troubadours, David Inskeep - "Houses Come & Go"
12. Scott Greeson - "Riverside"
13. Richard Shindell - "There Goes Mavis"
14. Andrew Peterson - "The Sower's Song"
Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube
You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second Saturday of each month at 8pm, right after Cultural Manifesto on WBAA. Listen online at wbaa.org or over the airwaves (105.9 FM and AM 920). My hope is that you’d find in the music a space for reflection and the peace that comes from a word spoken (or sung) at just the right moment. From time to time I’ll also share some of my original compositions and the work of other local artists. Take a load off and settle in, and thanks for your support of this creative effort by sharing and subscribing.
Here’s a studio version what of this dynamic duo can do!