Scott Regan's blog

rex fowlerOne Saturday morning Rex Fowler came in early to WRUR on the day of an Aztec Two Step show. They were playing at 8 pm. The previous year he and Neal Shulman, the other half of the duo, came in. Great to hear them together doing some new songs and older ones I remember from college.

This time Rex was exposed as a solo artist. It felt like a secret we weren't supposed to talk about in public...

"When popular duos go solo."

Kathleen Edwards plays

Kathleen Edwards plays

 Some great musicians have come through the studio. My thanks to each of them. Some random photos from the past couple years...

Back again, with the top five cds from 2008. 

Looking over what was left off, quite a few could have been easily selected, and almost were. Sometimes it's just what strikes you at that moment. Next entry I'll visit some of the recordings that nearly made it into the top ten, and deserve mention. 

Even with the strong competition, I'll stick with my top five as being deserving of mention of best of 2008. They were the ones that had great staying power throughout the year, all for different reasons.

Let's count down to number one beginning with...

2008 was a rich year for songs. In my last-day-of-the-year retrospective radio show, there was barely time for a third of the music chosen. New groups, seasoned writers, quirky styles and twists of imagination. A select number of these songs were found on albums that were strong all the way through.

What else separated the top ten from the pack...

• Clarity and depth of emotion in the writing and performance of a song(s).

• The obscure fun factor.

John DoanA few day after Mason Williams visited the studio, John Doan returned for a more intensive harp guitar session. John had accompanied Mason Williams in his studio visit, and on stage that night in performance.

This time John came solo.

Mason WilliamsOn Friday, July 18, Mason Williams visited us in the studio for a live session on Open Tunings. I had been somewhat aware of his contributions to the world of music, both with the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on television in the late 60's and his radio hit, "Classical Gas".

What I wasn't aware of is the range of his career, and deeper contributions to popular culture, and it's evolution.

John Doan & Mason Williams

Two separate conversations. Both on the same day. Each musician independently described their music as "blues based, but not blues".

Phil Marshall has helped shape Rochester's music since playing the perfect guitar foil for magical world of the Colorblind James Experience. Phil is intuitive and sensible, explosive and soft. His guitar can make any song, and songwriter, better understood.

Phil is a form of musical punctuation. Defining what is necessary.

Levon HelmOne of the great surprises of Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble at his home studio in Woodstock was finding Larry Campbell was the guitarist, and (presumably) his band leader.

The other great surprise was that the music was better than I ever imagined.

I'm speaking as of a huge fan of The Band. It never occurred to me that Levon and his band could match the Southern Pine/Canadian rock The Band had at the top of their game. I underestimated Levon, and his band.