Gratitude, like joy, often starts quietly and with one simple movement toward noticing what is. As I slow my breath and tune into each of my senses, joy tends to follow on the heels of naming what I notice and lingering with what I’m thankful for.

This month’s show filled with noticing and has a thread of gratitude running through it. I hope it opens something beautiful in you as you tune in!

And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

-from Wendell Berry’s “Wild Geese". I’ll read an excerpt of this near the end of the show.

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

Playlist: Gratitude 📻

01. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - “Gratitude”
02. Green River Ordinance - “Cup Is Full”
03. John Denver - “Poems, Prayers and Promises”
04. Fielder, Skye Peterson, Addison Agen - “Satellite”
05. Andy Gullahorn - “Small Things”
06. Fielder, Skye Peterson, Addison Agen - “Good Things Come”
07. Emily Scott Robinson - “Better With Time”
08. Cheryl Wheeler - “Praise the Lord and Life Is Grand”
09. Jon Foreman, Madison Cunningham - “Side By Side”
10. The National Parks - “You Are Gold”
11. Drew Holcomb, Ellie Holcomb - “Hey Rivers”
12. Christa Wells - “Western Shoreline”
13. Phil Keaggy - “Irish Benediction”
14. Zach Winters - “Early Morning / Late Evening”
15. Jonah Tolchin - “The Grateful Song (Thanksgiving)”
16. Ben Rector - “Thank You”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

Special thanks to Andrew Hughes and REC Room Recording for their help in bringing this episode to the airwaves and into your beautiful ears. Enjoy, and let me know what you are grateful for today in the comments.

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Acoustic Blend airs Saturday and Tuesday evenings at 8pm EST on WBAA (105.9 FM and AM 920) and streaming online at wbaa.org. This month’s show will air August 8th, 11th, 22nd, and 25th. Thanks for tuning in!

This month on Acoustic Blend we are celebrating summer with a mixtape of sorts, comprised of a few favorite playlists. Tune in tonight for an 80s edition of covers, and next week on Tuesday for a warm-up to Lafayette’s downtown Blues & Jazz festival. The full rundown is below, and keep an eye out next month for a new episode on gratitude.

On that note, right now I’m grateful for porch swings, the cool breeze after oppressive heat, and ice cold sparkling water1.

July Playlists

Here’s what’s in the queue this month! The last episode of July will hopefully prompt me to get out and gaze at the night sky. There will be a new moon for the Perseids this year 😊

***

Covers (80s edition): 7/11 (Sat)

Featuring: Sarah Jaroz, Love Canon, Walk off the Earth
On Repeat: “Boys of Summer” by Front Country
🎶Playlists on Spotify | YouTube

***

Summertime Blues: 7/14 (Tue)

Featuring: Eva Cassidy, Frank Sinatra, Norah Jones
Poem: “Believe, Believe” by Bob Kaufman
✒️Show notes and Sinatra with Grandma
🎶Playlists on Spotify | YouTube

***

On the Road Again: 7/25 (Sat)

Featuring local artists Scott Greeson, Andrew Hughes, and Cheryl Fletcher
Poem: “Coming Home” by Mary Oliver
🚗Bonus mix: Road Trippin’
🎶Playlists on Spotify | YouTube

***

Space and Time: 7/28 (Tue)

Featuring: Josh Garrels, Jon Foreman, Sleeping at Last
On Repeat: Drift by Noble Sun
💫Inspired in part by the annual Perseid meteor shower
🎶Playlists on Spotify | YouTube

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

We are entering peak outdoor concert season in the Midwest, and I hope you are finding space to enjoy the arts with the groovy people around you. I tend to experience a different side of music when enjoying it with friends, and this month Andrew Hughes joins me in the studio to caravan through a plethora of Pickers and Pluckers.

When Andrew mentioned to me that he had in mind a show highlighting virtuosos on the acoustic guitar, two artists came immediately to mind: Norman Blake, and Michael Kelsey. Now, those local to Lafayette will immediately recognize Kelsey (and perhaps you can catch him at the TASTE later this month), but what about Norman Blake? I guess you can chalk it up to my Kentucky roots and love for the banjo!

As we roll through the hour, Andrew and I will chat about his musical selections and some interesting background on the songs and artists. Here’s a bit of the introduction to the song “Freight Train” by Elizabeth Cotten:

Elizabeth Cotten was an African-American folk and blues musician from North Carolina. She taught herself to play guitar left-handed, but with the strings reversed, as you can see in photos and live performances.

The result is that she picks the lighter strings with her thumb and the heavier strings with her other fingers, a reversal of the traditional technique. This means that musicians covering the song in years since are not playing it quite the same way as she did, adding an element of authenticity to the original.

Despite learning the instrument at a young age, she put away the guitar for several decades. She took a job as a maid for the Seeger family, a musically gifted family whose name you may recognize. They reminded her of her musical past, inspired her to pick up the instrument again, and recorded some of her compositions for an album called Folksongs and Instrumentals on Guitar. The album was released in 1958 on the Smithsonian’s Folkways record label, but Cotten wrote the song much earlier, when she was eleven or twelve.

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

Playlist: Pickers & Pluckers 📻

01. Hayden Pedigo - “I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away”
02. Bert Jansch - “Tell Me What Is True Love”
03. Jackson C. Frank - “Blues Run the Game - 2001 Remaster”
04. Joni Mitchell - “Little Green”
05. Nick Drake - “Fruit Tree”
06. Michael Kelsey - “Rain Whispers”
07. Joan Baez - “The Lily Of The West”
08. Moby Grape - “8:05”
09. Paul McCartney - “Calico Skies - 2020 Remaster”
10. Scott Greeson & Kevin Ludwig - “The Prophet”
11. Judee Sill - “Lady-O - Remastered”
12. Fleetwood Mac - “Never Going Back Again - 2004 Remaster”
13. Elizabeth Cotten - “Freight Train”
14. Bert Jansch - “Chambertin - 2009 Digital Remaster”
15. Norman Blake - “Hand Me Down My Walking Cane”
16. Nick Drake - “Road”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

Special thanks to Andrew Hughes and REC Room Recording for their help in bringing this episode to the airwaves and into your beautiful ears. Enjoy, and let me know your favorite picker / plucker in the comments.

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Andrew Hughes is a musician, composer, and writer from Lafayette. Since 2018 he has written, recorded and released five studio albums in which he plays just about every instrument. For the last couple years he’s served as Secretary for SAMI (Songwriters Associaton of Mid-North Indiana) and Assistant Engineer at REC Room Recording. You may find him running lights or cameras at many events at The Arts Federation, or running sound for Scott Greeson and Vickie Maris. He also, on occasion, performs his own music in the area, so be on the lookout!

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday and Tuesday evenings at 8pm EST on WBAA (105.9 FM and AM 920) and streaming online at wbaa.org. This month’s show will air June 13th, 16th, 27th, and 30th. Thanks for tuning in!

With the arrival of warmer weather I’m dreaming of summer road trips, porch sitting, and yard games. And you know what goes well with all three of those? A fresh covers playlist!

This is the fifth in an ongoing series of covers episodes, which so far has yielded this mega playlist of seventy-something songs, some of which are sure to get you humming, singing, and stomping along.

I thought I was breaking new ground by including a cover of a Taylor Swift song in this month’s show (“Anti-Hero” by Josiah and the Bonnevilles) but the mega playlist says otherwise!

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

Playlist: Covers, Pt 5 📻

01. John Denver - “Let It Be”
02. Buddy Miller, Brandi Carlile, The Lone Bellow - “Angel From Montgomery”
03. Joshua Hyslop - “Shelter From The Storm”
04. The Wailin’ Jennys - “Loves Me Like a Rock”
05. Jon McLaughlin - “Walking in Memphis”
06. Judah & the Lion - “Landslide”
07. The Brothers Comatose, AJ Lee & Blue Summit - “Harvest Moon”
08. Richard Shindell - “Sitting On Top Of The World”
09. Sandra McCracken, David Ramirez - “Running On Empty”
10. Josiah and the Bonnevilles - “Anti-Hero - Country Version”
11. Becky Buller, Ned Luberecki, Dan Boner, Nate Lee, Daniel Hardin - “More Heart, Less Attack”
12. The Arcadian Wild - “Never Die Young”
13. Molly Tuttle, Old Crow Medicine Show - “Helpless”
14. Sierra Hull - “All I Ever Need Is You”
15. Sarah McLachlan - “Blackbird”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

Special thanks to Andrew Hughes and REC Room Recording for their help in bringing this episode to the airwaves and into your beautiful ears. Enjoy, and let me know what cover you’d add to the playlist.

Leave a comment

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday and Tuesday evenings at 8pm EST on WBAA (105.9 FM and AM 920) and streaming online at wbaa.org. I’ll be hosting on May 9th, 12th, 23rd, and 26th this month. Thanks for tuning in!

I'm fresh off a birthday last month and back in my old central Kentucky stomping grounds for a short visit. So it seems to me like a good time to reflect on the concept of home.

At some level we are all on a journey, and each of us might characterize that journey relative to home: far from home, on the way back home, in search of a home, trying to feel at home, coming home to ourselves.

I have been contemplating the idea of living fully alive recently, and I think it’s not too dissimilar to being fully at home. I tend to think of alive-ness in an all-or-nothing sense, but it seems more helpful to frame it as a journey back home.

I imagine us rising from the speeding car.
I imagine us seeing everything from another place--
the top of one of the pale dunes, or the deep and nameless
fields of the sea.
And what we see is a world that cannot cherish us,
but which we cherish.

- a few lines from “Home” by Mary Oliver

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second Saturday of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

Playlist: Home 📻

01. Yusuf / Cat Stevens - “Home”
02. Lori McKenna - “A Mother Never Rests”
03. Andy Gullahorn - “Sleeping Sound”
04. Harry Chapin - “Cat’s in the Cradle”
05. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - “Feels Like Home”
06. Josh Garrels - “Ulysses”
07. Josh Garrels - “At the Table”
08. Cliff Ritchey - “Song for Indiana”
09. Linda Hicks & Joe Peters - “Slow Train Home”
10. Phil Keaggy - “Fragile Forest”
11. Steep Canyon Rangers - “Shenandoah Valley”
12. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - “Dragons (feat. The Lone Bellow)”
13. Lori McKenna - “Humble & Kind”
14. Helen Reddy - “Keep On Singing”
15. Carpenters - “Top Of The World”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

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Acoustic Blend airs Saturday and Tuesday evenings at 8pm EST on WBAA (105.9 FM and AM 920) and streaming online at wbaa.org. I’ll be hosting on April 11th, 14th, 25th, and 28th this month. Thanks for tuning in!

I hope you have all mostly avoided coffee-cup-sized hail and are in good spirits with the pending arrival of Springtime.

I’m delighted this month to introduce (by way of tonight’s show) musician and producer extraordinaire Andrew Hughes, who has graciously offered his time and talents to help bring new episodes of Acoustic Blend into the world. I know Andrew through the Songwriters Association of Mid-North Indiana (SAMI), and I’m so grateful to SAMI and REC Room Recording for their support.

As an aside, the submission deadline for SAMI’s Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters is fast approaching! If you know a young songwriter ages 14-19 please encourage them to apply.

This Month on Acoustic Blend 🍀

It’s easy these days for life to move at what feels like a million miles an hour, and when that happens I lose touch with the hidden fears and longings that are secretly pulling the strings. These words from Jess Ray have arrested me more than once over the past month:

Why are you so afraid to fail
What are you so afraid you’ll lose
If all of the love that you’ve ever dreamed of
Already belongs to you?

This playlist on faith and doubt feels like what I need this time of year. Many of the songs come from a Christian perspective, and even if that’s not your cup of tea I hope that the underlying message of belief in the face of uncertainty is uplifting.

One of my favorite moments is Brooke Poindexter’s “Patient Trust,” where she puts the encouraging words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to music. It’s a reminder I pretty much always need:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday and Tuesday evenings at 8pm EST on WBAA (105.9 FM and AM 920) and streaming online at wbaa.org. You can catch this episode on Mar 17th, 28th, and 31st.

What’s a song that reminds you to be grateful?✨

I wrote last month about how we need things that we can give our attention to slowly. One of the things that helps me slow down is gratitude. So, what are you grateful for? And I would love to hear if there’s a song that takes you there!

Leave a comment

It may be too good to be understood, but it’s not too good to be true.

- from Jess Ray’s song “Too Good”

Playlist: Faith & Doubt 📻

01. Jess Ray - “What If”
02. Carrie Newcomer - “You Can Do This Hard Thing”
03. Seth Carpenter - “Page By Page”
04. Jess Ray - “Too Good”
05. Alexander Moss - “In the Wilderness of Sin”
06. Benjamin William Hastings - “Faith Is”
07. Andy Gullahorn - “Any Less True”
08. Zach Winters - “Seek & Find”
09. Luke Spehar - “Be still”
10. Wilder Adkins - “Leave It There”
11. Joshua Leventhal - “T H E M E A N T I M E”
12. Josh Garrels - “Fear Thou Not”
13. Brooke Poindexter - “Patient Trust”
14. Josh Garrels - “Canyon Variation”
15. Taylor Leonhardt - “Poetry”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

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You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second Saturday of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

Anyway, I’m glad you’re here! I’ve been reflecting on why I’m here (in your inbox, that is) and I think it has to do with slowing down.

Radio is not a fast medium. It’s not trendy, and kind of inconvenient. A hundred years ago we were in the golden age of radio. Families would gather round in the evening for entertainment and just sit and listen. Sustained attention is in short supply these days, and I think as humans we need things that we can give our attention to slowly.

My hope is through these musings and music that your attention and interest would be piqued in a good way, in a curious way. I am a contemplative at heart, and I like to think that I’m inviting listeners into contemplation through radio. There’s more to say there that I hope to unpack in the coming months, and I am excited to share that there are some new episodes and fresh playlists in the pipeline.

This Month on Acoustic Blend 💘

We are exploring love, relationship and belonging with an episode from the archives. Also worth mentioning is the Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters, now accepting applications. If you know an Indiana songwriter age 14-19, send them over to samisong.com/scholarships for more details.

Recipients receive cash awards, professional feedback and mentoring. In recent years, REC Room Recording has provided professional recordings of the winners’ songs. Since its inception, the self-funded SAMI scholarship has provided approximately $23,000 back to area youth.

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday and Tuesday evenings at 8pm EST on WBAA (105.9 FM and AM 920) and streaming online at wbaa.org. You can catch this episode on Feb 14th, 17th, and 28th.

What’s a song that grounds you / helps you keep going? ✨

I’m fishing a bit here and curious if there are tracks that bring you back to a deeper truth or just inspire you in the face of [fill in the blank]. Doesn’t have to fit the “Acoustic Blend” vibe, so feel free to submit “Eye of the Tiger” or your favorite rock ballad. I’ll chime in with a few of my own in the comments as well.

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Lyrics I like ✒️

new beginnings come from an end
new horizons come through a bend in the road and
we can feel the same way now as we did then
or we could heal inside, take my hand

- from a lil song I wrote called “Sweet Breeze”

Playlist: Love & Relationship 📻

01. Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn - “Railroad”
02. Zach Winters - “Love My Woman”
03. NEEDTOBREATHE - “More Heart, Less Attack”
04. Mat Kearney - “Wanted Man”
05. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - “You Want What You Can’t Have (feat. Lori McKenna)”
06. Drew Holcomb, Ellie Holcomb - “You and Me”
07. Josh Garrels - “At the Table”
08. Briagha McTavish - “Sick”
09. Briagha McTavish - “All I Want Now”
10. Barrett Myers - “Sweet Breeze”
11. Jon Foreman - “Your Love Is Strong”
12. Atlys - “Perfect”
13. Norman Blake - “Border Widow”
14. Norman Blake - “You Are My Sunshine”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

Subscribe now

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second Saturday of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

Thankfully we are now in the midst of the great “un-week” between Christmas and New Years, which I find delightful. Near the end of the show you’ll hear a reading of “Wild Geese”, a helpful reminder for me as I start letting my gaze drift into the new year.

If you can’t tune in, here’s a minute-sized morsel of Mary Oliver for your enjoyment:

Acoustic Blend airs Tuesday, December 30 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 / 101.3 FM in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the full playlist below. ‘Til next month!

Christmas Favorites

01. Jon McLaughlin - “Remembering”
02. Page CXVI - “Awake My Soul, Awake My Tongue”
03. The Oh Hellos - “Mvmt II Begin and Never Cease”
04. The Oh Hellos - “Mvmt III Silent Night, Holy Night”
05. The Oh Hellos - “Mvmt IV Every Bell On Earth Will Ring”
06. Bebo Norman - “Angels (Interlude)”
07. Jetty Rae - “Little Drummer Boy”
08. Phil Keaggy - “What Child Is This?”
09. Josh Garrels - “O Day of Peace”
10. Josh Garrels - “Come to Him”
11. George Winston - “Joy”
12. George Winston - “Prelude”
13. George Winston - “The Holly and the Ivy”
14. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - “Let It Snow”
15. Jetty Rae - “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
16. Andrew Bird - “Auld Lang Syne”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second Saturday of each month (and the following Tuesday) at 8pm 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.

We’ll hit thanksgiving from a few different angles over the course of the hour, and I hope that the gratitude is contagious. In that spirit, here are a few things I’m thankful for right this moment:

1. Beautiful fall colors right out my window

2. Recognizing kindness in others (example: bought a gift on FB Marketplace and the seller matched a previous lower offer they had accepted, even though I paid the asking price — and sent us money back)

3. The Purdue All-American Marching Band1

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday, November 8 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 / 101.3 FM in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the full playlist below. ‘Til next month!

Gratitude

01. Carrie Newcomer - “On the Day You Were Born”
02. Ben Rector, Ingrid Michaelson - “It Would Be You (Acoustic)”
03. Zach Winters - “Give Thanks”
04. Zach Winters - “There for You”
05. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - “Family”
06. Amos Lee - “Windows Are Rolled Down”
07. Joshua Hyslop - “Pines”
08. Scott Greeson - “Minnesota”
09. James Taylor - “Mexico”
10. Adam Paulson - “Kino Bay”
11. John Denver - “Rocky Mountain High”
12. Peter, Paul and Mary - “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
13. Phil Keaggy - “Here Comes The Sun”
14. Ben Rector - “The Thanksgiving Song”
15. Jon Foreman - “Southbound Train - Live”

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.

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.”

Richard Shindell: Words and Music

Last Days of August: Revisiting Mavis

Read more

3 years ago · 86 likes · 63 comments · Richard Shindell

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.

Where is joy?

vanished in the riptide
of complicated living,
shallow thinking
and two-day shipping

Where?

washed up on shore, out of breath
primed to breathe deep
loose the death grip
and look

joy?

eyes adjust to light
awe readies to pounce
like a wild animal
curious, the grateful heart

Where
is
joy?

“Where is Joy?” by Barrett Myers

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday, August 23 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the playlist below. Enjoy!

Simple Joy

01. Jamestown Revival - "Bound for El Paso"
02. Judah & the Lion - "Our Love"
03. Richard Shindell - "The Storms Are On The Ocean"
04. Alison Krauss & Union Station - "The Lucky One"
05. Andrew Duhon - "They Don't Make 'em..."
06. Tennessee Ernie Ford - "Sixteen Tons"
07. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - "Nine Pound Hammer"
08. John Denver - "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"
09. Green River Ordinance - "Simple Life"
10. Judah & the Lion - "Kickin' da Leaves"
11. Hank Williams - "I Saw The Light"
12. Judah & the Lion - "Somewhere In-Between"
13. Elephant Revival - "The Pasture"
14. Sleeping At Last - "Indian"
15. Norman Blake - "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane"
16. The Stanley Brothers - "Mountain Dew"
17. Nashville Bluegrass Ensemble - "America the Beautiful / God Bless America"

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.

Happy Friday! This month on Acoustic Blend we are embracing a little wanderlust, and all the good things that come from an open road and open heart.

One of my favorite things about summertime is the invitation to turn down the noise1 and enter into the beautiful outdoors and wild unknown. My soul craves open and wild spaces in this increasingly artificial, boxed up, and screened-in world.

So in addition to the playlist this month, consider this your invitation to get outside and enjoy The Peace of Wild Things2.

Road Trippin’

01. John Mayer - "Queen of California"
02. Green River Ordinance - "Flying"
03. Tom Petty - "Wildflowers"
04. Green River Ordinance - "San Antone"
05. Gregory Alan Isakov - "Suitcase Full of Sparks"
06. James Taylor - "Carolina in My Mind"
07. Eddie Vedder - "Rise"
08. Barrett Myers - "I Miss the View"
09. Scott Greeson - "Minnesota"
10. Linda Hicks & Joe Peters - "Slow Train Home"
11. Barrett Myers - "Portland"
12. Fernando Ortega - "Traveler"
13. Eddie Vedder - "Photographs"
14. Eddie Vedder - "Toulumne"
15. Scott Greeson & Kevin Ludwig - "Jan's Journey"
16. Andrew Peterson - "World Traveler - Counting Stars Album Version"
17. James Taylor - "Copperline"

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

Riverfest, Singer-Songwriter Night @ LBC

Now, if you happen to be in the Lafayette area this weekend and not (yet) on the open road, there are a couple opportunities to catch Acoustic Blend favorite Joe Peters and friends (Michael Kelsey, Scott Greeson, Linda Hicks & more).

Here’s an update from Joe, currently visiting from sunny California:

RIVERFEST

Saturday, July 12 (9:00am)

Riverfest is a family-friendly event that brings people to the shores of the Wabash to celebrate one of the area’s greatest natural resources. Enjoy live music, educational opportunities, a 5K run/walk and watch voyageur canoe race team battle it out on the Wabash River, all at Tapawingo Park, West Lafayette, IN. Artists from the Songwriters Association of Mi-North Indiana (SAMI) will be performing from 8:30am until 4:00pm; my set is at 9am, with a special guest or two. Free.

https://www.homeofpurdue.com/events/annual-events-and-festivals/wabash-riverfest/

LAFAYETTE BREWING COMPANY

Sunday, July 13 (7:00pm; doors 6:00pm)

This will be a singer-songwriter night of music and stories, and a gathering of old friends (Michael Kelsey, Scott Greeson, Linda Hicks & more) performing new (and old) songs in an intimate listening room setting. Former Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters winner, Amanda Fletcher, will be the featured vocalist, health permitting.

The first set will be new co-written songs (Words by Frederick Michaels, music by Joe Peters) from the album Somethings Old, Somethings New by Joe Peters & Frederick Michaels, and will feature both Michael and Amanda performing with Joe.

The second set will feature older songs from the performers' collective catalog of original material. There will be a chance to converse with the artists during intermission, and CDs and other merch will be available. $10 cover.

622 Main St, Lafayette, IN, United States, Indiana 47901

https://www.facebook.com/events/1593036314677153/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[]%7D

It's been a minute since I have been able to play this many shows in my native state, and I am very excited about making music for you with my Hoosier pals. Hope to see you soon!

Acoustic Blend airs this Saturday, July 12 at 8pm EDT on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the playlist above. Enjoy!

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.

Go out, go out I beg of you
And taste the beauty of the wild.
Behold the miracle of the earth
With all the wonder of a child.
- Edna Jaques

Last month my wife and I welcomed a wonder-filled baby boy into our lives — and despite the (expected) sleep deprivation, we are smitten!

Even as our toddler is in full-on “wonder” mode, there is something beautiful and mysterious about a newborn. Who will they become? What will they love? How can someone so small generate so much poop?

These days, whenever Barney or Numberblocks isn’t blasting in our house, I’ve really been digging Ben Rector’s new album The Richest Man In The World, which features a number of tunes reflecting on the joys of fatherhood. But until those songs make it into a new playlist we are dipping into the archives this month for some reflection on childhood and wonder.

In addition to all the fun and playful tunes you might expect, you’ll hear a reading of “Angels” by Mary Oliver. You can read the full poem here and let the wonder and childlike faith stir. Here are the last couple lines:

I’ll just leave you with this. 

I don’t care how many angels can 
dance on the head of a pin. It’s
enough to know that for some people
they exist, and that they dance. 

Acoustic Blend airs this Saturday, June 14 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the playlist below. Enjoy!

Childhood & Wonder

01. NEEDTOBREATHE - "Into The Mystery"
02. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - "Mama's Sunshine, Daddy's Rain"
03. Mat Kearney - "Edge Of The World (A Children's Song)"
04. Jetty Rae - "Let's Go Fly a Kite"
05. Peter, Paul and Mary - "The Marvelous Toy"
06. Peter, Paul and Mary - "Puff, the Magic Dragon"
07. Julie Andrews - "A Spoonful of Sugar"
08. Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke - "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"
09. Mat Kearney - "One Black Sheep"
10. Andy Gullahorn - "Teenagers"
11. NEEDTOBREATHE - "Child Again"
12. Sleeping At Last - "Son"
13. Sleeping At Last - "Transformations"
14. Tyrone Wells - "Beautiful Girl, Beautiful World"
15. Barrett Myers - "Sweet Breeze"
16. Josh Garrels - "Peace Like a River"
17. Andrew Peterson - "God of My Fathers"

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.

You can hear the full tribute to Mike tonight: Saturday, May 10th at 8pm on WBAA, streaming online at wbaa.org or over the airwaves (105.9 FM and AM 920).

“Sock Monkey” by Mike Byers

In an attempt to answer the age-old question of which is more beneficial to human society, the sock monkey or the cell phone, we have developed, through exhaustive research, interviews with millions of individuals from all around the world and an extensive review of the scientific literature, a series of considerations that we believe will provide the practical information that will allow each person to make this all-important moral, philosophical and technical decision.

1. A person listening to a cell phone during a concert, play or other performance is seen as a self-important boor. A person listening to a sock monkey during the same situations is seen as merely eccentric or, at the worst, a harmless whacko. Advantage: sock monkey.

2. A sock monkey is fairly cheap (or free if you make it yourself) and requires no continuing investment or upkeep except for a good wash now and then. A cell phone will cost money. And you can’t put it in the wash, either. Advantage: sock monkey.

3. You can talk to a sock monkey, but it won’t talk back to you. A cell phone not only will talk back, it will frequently do so in an unintelligible manner. Advantage: sock monkey.

4. Due to the innate perversity of inanimate objects, a cell phone’s batteries will always go dead at the most inconvenient time. A sock monkey has no batteries. Advantage: sock monkey.

5. If you use a cell phone to text while driving, walking or performing any other task that requires a modicum of attention and coordination, it’s likely you will kill or injure yourself or another person. You can’t text with a sock monkey. Advantage: sock monkey.

6. All terrorists use cell phones, but no terrorists use (or even have, so far as we can determine) sock monkeys. Advantage: sock monkey.

7. If you’re feeling sad, a sock monkey might make you feel better. And the reason you feel sad in the first place is probably because of what you heard on a cell phone. Advantage: sock monkey.

8. The FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, Homeland Security and other government organizations listen to supposedly private cell phone conversations every day. They might listen to sock monkeys, too, but they can’t hear anything. Advantage: sock monkey.

9. With cell phones, you have to listen to not only your own idiotic, abrasive and unpleasant ringtone, but the idiotic, abrasive and unpleasant ringtones of others. A sock monkey has no ringtone. Advantage: sock monkey.

10. You can imagine the devil carrying a cell phone, but you can’t imagine the devil carrying a sock monkey. Advantage: sock monkey.

Any questions?

I met Mike through my involvement with the Songwriters Association of Mid-North Indiana (SAMI), where Mike often made substantial contributions to the Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters. I always looked forward to SAMI’s monthly song sharing meetings, where I might hear some hilarious new tune from Mike or be otherwise inspired.

An hour-long radio program only begins to capture the breadth and depth of Mike’s heart and life, but I hope that as we venture together you’ll glimpse some of the beauty that was cherished and is missed by so many in Greater Lafayette.

Vietnam

We’ll begin our hour with an introduction from another former host of Acoustic Blend, as Joe Peters shares about how he and Mike met and their connection to Vietnam:

My mother, Billie Peters, is the one who encouraged me to meet Mike Byers after my first trip to Vietnam in 1997 [...]

Mike had gone through ROTC at Purdue during the Vietnam War, so he was sent to South Vietnam as a United States Air Force forward air controller pilot. After a year he joined a covert operation in neighboring Laos, a CIA-run outfit known as The Ravens. I bought the book The Ravens by Christopher Robbins for my father, since Mike and Dad were buddies because of both being pilots. It was a good read and mentions Mike Byers with some frequency.

The “mail sack” episode that forms the central part of Mike's poem in “Faces from the Book of the Fallen,” a song I wrote inspired by some fused glasswork and photos that Mike had created, is recounted in that book.

Bailiff’s Hollow

From there, Joe will lead us to Mike’s homeplace in rural Warren County, Bailiff’s Hollow — where we’ll also get our first look at Mike’s wild imagination:

Mike and Pam used to live in rural Warren County in an area known as Bailiff's Hollow, also the name of a Celtic string band Mike was in with bandmates Mary Lawson, Paula Dillard, and Chuck Whittemore.

Their home was a unique build of two A frames, in the shape of a cross from above, and a massive deck out over the hollow. Mike, ever the resourceful fellow, one year decided to make a Japanese temple gong by slicing the bottom off a gas cylinder and hanging it on an outdoor crossbeam.

Just down the road a piece from them, across the hollow, and up the other side, and keep going, there was the former site of a VX nerve gas repository. Mike's proximity to this toxic area prompted his imagination to write the script for the brilliant short film, Heart Shot, about an IU professor who illegally harvests unicorn horns to make medicines to save lives in light of mysterious ailments and creatures, including the dreaded Bloodskipper.

Nearby their former home place is the railroad crossing featured in Mike's narrative poem “Bell Crossing,” about a fairly haunted stretch of railroad track. Yeah, to say Mike had an imagination that sometimes tended to the dark side would not be wide of the mark.

After “Bell Crossing,” you’ll hear the catchy tune “A Visit from Uncle Sean” (lyrics by Mike Byers), due out this fall as part of the next installment of the Joedai Collaboration series (see Collaboration [2020] and Beyond Collaboration [2023]).

Corn Sharks (and other laughs)

Mike’s longtime musical pal Chuck Whittemore also joined me in the studio at REC Room to chat about his friendship with Mike and to share a few stories. The one I keep returning to is about Mike’s enterprising “corn shark repellent” business. The corn shark story is a great segue into Mike’s humor and creativity:

The Parting Tide

As we wind down the hour we’ll hear Chuck play “The Sweeps” (Mike’s favorite hornpipe) and “Ian MacDonald’s Aire,” which Chuck performed at a memorial service for Mike last year. We’ll close with a moving Irish tune written by Mike, followed by the last song he wanted to hear as his time on earth drew to a close. Here’s Joe:

When Mike was on his deathbed [in early 2024], the last song he wanted to hear before passing over was “The Parting Glass” by the High Kings. This version of this song is, in fact, the last song Mike wanted to hear in this earthly existence, and according to his wife, Pam, he got his wish. This song is also the soundtrack to a memorial slide presentation that I put together for Mike's celebration of life.

Mike wrote many wonderful songs, both before and after we became musical pals, but perhaps none is as poignant, and just like a traditional Irish song, as his song “The Parting Tide,” undoubtedly inspired in no small part by “The Parting Glass.”

A life as large and varied as Mike’s is impossible to fully capture in an hour-long radio program (especially since so much of his work was visual). All the same, I hope this prompts your own imagination as we recall him fondly together.

Acoustic Blend airs this Saturday, May 10 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org.  Many of the songs are unavailable on streaming services, but you can view the full playlist below. Enjoy!

Remembering Mike Byers

01. Joe Peters - “Faces From the Book of the Fallen”
02. Linda Hicks & Joe Peters - “Flight of the Hawk”
03. Linda Hicks & Joe Peters - “Wild Geese”
04. Joedai Trobairitz & Troubadours - “Bell Crossing” #
05. Joedai Trobairitz & Troubadours - “A Visit with Uncle Sean” # *
06. Bailiff’s Hollow - “Coilsfield House”
07. Warriors, Joedai Pilgrims, Zombies - “Zombie Basketball” #
08. Michael Longcor - “Schrodinger’s Cat” ^
09. Mike Byers - “Shamrocks & Leprechauns” (feat. Sharon McKnight) ^
10. Chuck Whittemore - “The Sweeps”
11. Mike Byers - “Indiana Farm” ^
12. Chuck Whittemore - “Ian MacDonald’s Aire”
13. Mike Byers - “The Parting Tide” (feat. Mary Lawson) ^
14. The High Kings - “The Parting Glass”

# lyrics by Mike Byers, music by Joe Peters
^ written by Mike Byers
* from upcoming Collaboration 2025 album, to be released this fall

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

You can hear the full tribute to Mike next Saturday, May 10th at 8pm on WBAA, streaming online at wbaa.org or over the airwaves (105.9 FM and AM 920).

The first day, I remember
Grey fog and wet, green karst;
With strangers' mail in two red sacks
Standing on a silent ramp.
And later, in a shadowed house
They talked, with fire and scotch
Of women, towns and battles I had never seen.
I flew with them;
And laughed and fought and feared
With men made quickly brothers
By a war we never thought to win
Fools and heros in that place,
But most were simply men
Whose names are gone from me
In smoke and flame,
Like fired rockets.

“Longtiene, 1969” by Mike Byers

And it causes me to ponder: Where do I need new life? What needs to awaken in me? Where in my soul do I need a springtime?

As we venture through our show this month you’ll hear songs about the weather, about holding onto hope in a downpour, and some happy sunshine-y songs (more than a couple titled “Spring”). My favorite of the whole batch is probably “Grand Canyon” from Andy Gullahorn, which speaks of the shift in perspective that comes with a fresh vantage point. I love Andy’s heartfelt writing, and if any single track is worth a pause it’s this one:

Near the end of the hour we’ll linger with the below quote from John O’Donohue.

When love awakens in your life, in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before there was anonymity, now there is intimacy; where before there was fear, now there is courage; where before in your life there was awkwardness, now there is a rhythm of grace and gracefulness; where before you used to be jagged, now you are elegant and in rhythm with your self. When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning.

Acoustic Blend airs this Saturday, April 12 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org.  You can view the playlist below.  Enjoy!

Come, Spring!

01. Andrew Duhon - "Gonna Take a Little Rain"
02. Eva Cassidy - "Early Morning Rain"
03. Joni Mitchell - "Both Sides Now"
04. Richard Shindell - "The Weather"
05. Tracy Chapman - "Spring"
06. Jess Ray - "Days To Come"
07. Andy Gullahorn - "Grand Canyon"
08. Tyrone Wells - "And the Birds Sing"
09. Briagha McTavish - "Sick"
10. Tyrone Wells - "Happy as the Sun"
11. John Denver - "Sunshine On My Shoulders"
12. Simon & Garfunkel - "April Come She Will"
13. Chris Renzema - "Springtime"
14. Chase Cotten - "It's Okay Now"
15. JJ Heller - "You Are My Sunshine"
16. Norman Blake, Nancy Blake - "The Sunny Side of Life"
17. Richard Shindell - "Spring"

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.

Welcome back to Acoustic Blend! Our family is currently on a little road trip (before the arrival of baby #2) and this felt like a good time to dust off a favorite covers playlist. Think of it as a fresh mixtape for your next road trip.

One thing I love about a good cover is its ability to get people singing! Hopefully there’s one on this playlist that takes you by surprise and gets you humming, singing, and then belting out the chorus. The full playlist below is part of a larger mega-playlist of covers previously featured on Acoustic Blend.

Scholarship for Young Songwriters

In other news, the application deadline for the annual Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters is fast approaching! Applications are being accepted until April 2nd, and are open to songwriters age 14-19 in 14 different Indiana counties. There is a $400 cash prize, and all entries will receive feedback on their original song. Check samisong.com for more details!

In recent years, REC Room Recording has provided professional recordings of winners songs, like this one from 2023 scholarship winner Maddy Conner.

Acoustic Blend airs this month on my birthday: Saturday, March 8 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org.  You can view the full playlist below.  ‘Til next month!

Covers, Part 3

01. Sarah Jarosz - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
02. Sarah Jarosz - "When Doves Cry - Recorded At Spotify Studios NYC"
03. Love Canon - "Take On Me"
04. The Arcadian Wild - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
05. Johnnyswim, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - "I Won't Back Down"
06. The Wailin' Jennys - "Wildflowers"
07. Walk off the Earth - "The Best"
08. The Lone Bellow - "For What It's Worth"
09. Trousdale - "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
10. Jon Bryant - "Carolina"
11. Eddie Berman - "You Can Call Me Al"
12. Wilder Adkins, Molly Parden - "Dancing in the Dark"
13. Front Country - "The Boys of Summer"
14. Sandra McCracken, Liz Vice - "Everybody Hurts"
15. Lily Kershaw - "Wagon Wheel"

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

Welcome to a new year friends, and thanks for tuning into Acoustic Blend.

The transition from one year to another awakens the reflective dreamer in me that ruminates over what was (or could have been) and dreams about “what if” in the year(s) to come.

And this year, as January is picking up steam, I am finding myself wanting to hold onto the Christmas season. Our tree is still up and I have, it seems, one foot in last year and one foot in the present — eyeing the future even as I am aware that my soul needs some stillness in order to catch up to the body. Maybe you can relate.

So I thought I’d provide a little soundtrack for reflection, along with a reading of one of my favorite poems, “For a New Beginning” by John O’Donohue. This particular reading features the background hums of friend and fellow Indiana-based artist Chase Cotten. It’s a fine companion to the hour’s theme of looking back, looking forward, and looking within.

I’ve waxed eloquent in the past about some of my New Year journaling practices, and while I haven’t abandoned those, this year I’ve enjoyed sitting with O’Donohue’s poem and locating the place of hope and deep desire — searching for the “new beginning” that is quietly forming. I would love to hear how it hits you!

Our playlist has a number of heartfelt tunes, and I couldn’t curate a show on reflection and perspective without including music from Andy Gullahorn and Andrew Peterson. They’re joined this hour by friend and filk hall-of-famer Michael Longcor, with his song “It’s a Tunnel Not a Cave.” Fun fact: Mike will be a guest of honor at Contabile 35 next month, The 35th UK Filk Convention.

Acoustic Blend airs Saturday, January 11 at 8pm EST on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org.  You can view the full playlist below.  Enjoy!

01. Zach Winters - "Hold Me (January Drifts)"
02. Richard Shindell - "So Says The Whipporwill"
03. Jess Ray - "Gallows"
04. Wilder Woods - "Someday Soon"
05. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - "Dragons (feat. The Lone Bellow)"
06. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - "Another Man's Shoes"
07. Tyrone Wells - "Days I Will Remember"
08. Tyrone Wells - "Carolina Blues"
09. Michael Longcor - "It's a Tunnel Not a Cave"
10. Andy Gullahorn - "Different Now"
11. Andrew Peterson - "Be Kind to Yourself"
12. Josh Garrels - "Processional"
13. Chase Cotten - "It's Okay Now"
14. Chase Cotten - "Welcome Home"
15. The Porter's Gate - "We Labor Unto Glory (Live) [feat. Liz Vice]"
16. Josh Garrels - "Pilot Me"
17. Vian Izak - "Things Will Get Better"

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube

As promised, for our last show of the year we have a treat from the archives hosted by renaissance man Mike Byers. I will be sharing more about Mike in the coming months, but for now I will let him posthumously highlight a few of his favorite songwriters and friends.

Of particular note (and leading off the show) is Linda Hicks, who is featured on three separate tracks. Linda’s version of “The Water is Wide” is, in Mike’s words, “the best cover of this that I’ve ever heard.” High praise!

The only track from Mike’s show that I was unable to find on Spotify (full playlist below) is “A Bug Has No Pride” from WT Davidson & The Bad Eggs. WT is such a great guitarist and songwriter that I couldn’t not include him in the playlist. And for good measure, here’s another recent tune of his that I think Mike would appreciate.

Tribute to Mike Byers

I am continuing to polish up a tribute episode to former Acoustic Blend host Mike Byers, who passed in May. I was fortunate to know Mike, and was deeply moved by a recent celebration of life that was held at the Wells Center. I had planned to have that tribute ready to air this month (prior to what would have been Mike's 81st birthday), but production has proven a challenge -- and so my new goal is to have a beautiful tribute ready to air in early 2025. Stay tuned for that, and please reach out over email if you happen to miss this show and need a replay link.

Acoustic Blend with Mike Byers airs Saturday, December 28 at 8pm EDT on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the full playlist below. Enjoy!

01. Linda Hicks - “The Water is Wide”
02. El McMeen - “Mo Giolla Mear”
03. C. Daniel Boling - “The Bigtop”
04. MJ Bishop - “Up North”
05. WT Davidson - “A Bug Has No Pride”
06. The Joedai Warriors - “Find the Yeti in You”
07. Nicky Kerr - “Make It to Sunday”
08. C. Daniel Boling - “Green Street & Canal”
09. Cindy Mangsen - “Guide Cats for the Blind”
10. Linda Hicks - “Breathe”
11. Wabash Gypsies - “The Prophet”
12. MJ Bishop - “Goodnight from Too Far Away”

Dynamic always-current playlists: Spotify | YouTube