Hell's Kitchen Radio #343: Steel Bridge Spectacular

Stream the Collaboration HERE!

Download the Spectacular Songsmenship HERE!
Listen into all my shows here!
Subscribe to my show, via 

Every June in the lovely bayside town of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, a group of talented troubadours gather in the Holiday Music Hotel to woodshed together, in what is known as the "Construction Zone", for hours and days on end, spinning the bottle, and gathering up to create fresh, new music, that they will premier live at local venues once they emerge from the creative process, for the annual Steel Bridge Songfest. Founded by songwriter pat mAcdonald, and now in its 14th year, it's an anything goes process, that will elicit some of the most awe-inspiring musical moments, you would think took months to create instead of hours.

On my show this past Monday night I was happy to welcome back to the studio, guitarist extraordinaire Eric McFadden, who, for the past 14 years has been a mainstay at Steel Bridge. Eric brought along music from the past three years to share.

As you can see by the playlist that follows, there are a lot of names associated with the songs. These are the folks who worked together throughout the event to write these songs. Credit where credit is due.

I hope you enjoy these songs as much as Eric, pat and everyone who was involved in Steel Bridge Songfest enjoyed creating them for you. I look forward to making the trek out to Sturgeon Bay to witness this showcase live in the years to come.

If you're living in the SF Bay Area, come on out to the Ivy Room in Albany on Friday night, August 24th for Eric's CD release party "Pain By Numbers". We close out the show with the track "The Jesus Gonna See You Naked" from the new CD.

It's always great having Eric in the studio. He's a great musician, and an excellent storyteller. I'm sure you'll enjoy this show.

Enjoy.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Twitter
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram

Strawberry Moon: Anna Sacks, Ruby James, Genevieve Hayward
Local Girls: Vincent Gates, Carley Baer
Bomb The Bridge: James Hall, Matt Spatol, Dan O Stoffels

She's So Nautical: James Hall, Chris Bishop, Lumberjack Cash, Liv Muller
Long Way Gone: Morgan Rae, Eric McFadden, pat mAcdonald, Josh Harty
Holidazed: Eric McFadden, Tarl Knight, Bruce Butkovich

Rhythm to the Schism: delphine de st. Paër, Loren T, Craig Greenberg, Eric McFadden
Ms. Cherry Lanes: Liam Hall, Matt Spatol
Steel Bridge Lullaby: Geri X, Anna Sacks, Jimm McIver

Views Just Fine: Vincent Gates, Charles Boheme, Michael Black, Barrett Tasky
Haunt Me Out: Brett Newski, Eric McFadden, Michael McKinnon, Jamey Clark, Greg Roteik
Long Way Round To You: Patrick Kelly, Carley Baer, Alex Hand, Barrett Tasky, Jamey Clark

Without Music: Liv Muller, Loren T, Jamey Clark, Queen Delphine
Joys: Eric McFadden, Geri X, Sugar Ransom
Devil's Daughter: Lantz Lazwell, Liam Hall, Matt Spatol, Charles Boheme

Wait: Robin Bienemann, Alex Hand, Cathy Grier
Dance on the Bridge: Morgan Rae, Ruby James, Craig Greenberg, Andrea Wittgens, Jamey Clark
Filigree: Robin Bienemann, Tony Menzer, Mike Wheeler

Diamonds and Fairies: Charles Boheme and many many more
Talk About the Good Things: Claire Kelly, James Hall, Lantz Lazwell, Bruce Butkovich, Jamey Clark

The Jesus Gonna See You Naked: Eric McFadden, James Hall, Geniveive Hayward, Vincent Gate, Andrea Wittgens

Photos by Ty Helbach

Hell's Kitchen Radio #342: Me Love You Long Time

Stream the Risky Business HERE!

Download the Trial By Fire HERE!
Listen into all my shows here!
Subscribe to my show, via 

I try to please you too much. Sometimes I work to please you so much, it hurts. I overthink what I should or shouldn't play, because I don't want to lose you. Sometimes I take a risk, really wanting you to love a song, and I see that you left, and it really breaks me up inside, so much so that next time I see you there, I never even touch that track. It's like the electric third rail kinda thing. I just stay far far away from that. Too risky.

Then I start to think to myself "self, these people are tuning into you because they are really interested in what you're going to play. Go ahead and take that risk. Some may leave. Don't choose songs for the one's who leave. Choose for those who stay. Tonight's show is for those who stay. All tracks, but a couple, average roughly 8 minutes in length. Some jam out pretty far. I don't suggest you multitask while listening.

I pay tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin in my last half hour, with a selection from a fantastic show from 1971. RIP Aretha, and thanks for sharing your soul, your passion, your life with us all.

Radio is an artform. I get two hours a week to paint an aural picture for you. For this show I'm using a few pretty broad strokes. I hope you enjoy.

Next Monday, August 20th, 8-10PM (PDST), guitar gunslinger, and all around good guy, and my brother from another mother, Eric McFadden will be in the studio with me, celebrating the annual Steel Bridge Songfest. We'll feature two hours of supreme songwriting from such luminaries as pat mAcdonald, James Hall, The Legendary Sons of Crack Daniels, Craig Greenberg, Barrett Taskey, and many, many more. Steel Bridge Songfest is an annual week each June, of songwriting, culminating in four days of live performance, every June in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, as a fundraiser to keep the old Steel Bridge standing.

Enjoy.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Twitter
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram

Makin' Out: McCoy Tyner Quintet

I Came From the Mtn.: Thee Oh Sees
Interstellar Overdrive: Pink Floyd (October 31, 1966 Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK)
May The Circle Be Unbroken: 13th Floor Elevators

Well You Needn't: Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane
Oval Office: 3rd Bass

The Prophet's Song: Queen
Hazemaze: FUZZ

Natural Woman/Bridge Over Troubled Water/Dr. Feelgood-Spirit in the Dark: Aretha Franklin (June 12, 1971 Montreux, Switzerland)
Kuruimizu: Boris

New Potato Caboose/It Hurts Me Too: Grateful Dead (October 22, 1967 Winterland, SF, CA)

As a kid in the 70s Aretha Franklin would often be heard playing around our home. But what comes to mind most often is this scene from the classic 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, where she confronts Jake, Elwood, and her "husband" Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Don't mess with the Queen.

Hell's Kitchen Radio #341: Wait For It

Stream the Awesome Challenge HERE!

Download the Keys to the Musical Gate HERE!
Listen into all my shows here!
Subscribe to my show, via 

Once again I have outdone myself. Even after almost 30 years I still have the ability to put a set together that continues to prove that commercial radio has, does, and always will suck.

The legendary record label and recording studio, Fantasy Records, is closing. I pepper in a few artifacts in tribute, including some CCR, Lenny Bruce, Rancid, and Primus. I took a few requests, one of which is a brilliant 20 minute long devotional Sufi piece, and some Flo and Eddie in the form of a live Zappa/Mother's from 1970.

But that's not all! You also get the shortest, yet most inspiring version of the (almost) entire Tommy LP, an electronic-voiced Eric Clapton side project, and two horny drunk women pissed off at their even more drunk boyfriend. Oh yes, and a really pissed off preacher.

What will I do next Monday to top this one? Tune in Monday 8-10PM to find out.

Monday, August 20th, my brother from another mother, Eric McFadden will be in the studio to co-host our 3rd (non-consecutive) Steel Bridge Special. This is always a hoot.

Enjoy.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Twitter
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram

Suzie-Q: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Now Ah Lissen: Southern Preacher

Lost On You: LP

Grapevine: The Slits

How To Relax Your Colored Friends at Parties: Lenny Bruce

Roots Radicals: Rancid

Call Any Vegetable: Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (February 13, 1970 Fillmore East, NYC, NY)

Chinatown: John Zorn's Naked City

Layla: 386DX

2 Drunk 2 Fuck: Avenue D

Here Come The Bastards: Primus

Hot Rod Lincoln: Commander Cody

Sex and Money: Iggy and the Stooges

How's Never: Gateway

Mainu Yaar Di Namaaz Lain Dey: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Tommy in Seven Minutes: V/A

Toumast: Tinariwen

Atomin Punk: Cherry 2000

Relax: Petra Haden

Hell's Kitchen Radio #340: Return of the Return of the Magnificent Seven"s

Stream 7 Juicy Inches HERE!

Download 45 Revolutions Per Magic HERE!
Listen into all my shows here!
Subscribe to my show, via 

Sometimes I giggle when I look at my 7" collection. It's true. And when I have to purchase another 7" box to hold them in, I get all silly, thinking about how I'm going to organize them. True story.

You may recall a year ago when I moved out of SF to Berkeley I misplaced my entire 7" collection along with a few important books of mine. I found the mis-labeled box a few months later, but not until I had already re-purchased a few of the missing 45s. I was so frustrated thinking that someone would have had the balls to snatch and grab a very heavy box full of my babies. Thankfully I found it buried in my storage shed behind my home, safe and sound, and ready to be played full blast once again.

On my most recent show it's all about the 7"s (with a few 10"s thrown in, because who doesn't appreciate a quality 10"?). And it's not all rock either. Take a look at the playlist below. Rap, soul, garage, punk, Bowie, rock, psych. I've got it all covered.

I close out the show with a tribute to the Grateful Dead's longest tenured keyboardist, Brent Mydland, who's last show was on this day in 1990 (June 26). I was never a fan of his voice, but he had the Hammond B3 sound down. He just couldn't battle his demons anymore. I have a memory of walking in the lot during a show during the summer of 1989, reading a copy of Dupree's Diamond News (a Dead zine/sheet written for and distributed to Heads in the parking lot before shows). DDN made a statement that the "rumors" of Brent being back on heroin were false; he was clean and sober. He would be dead of a vicious overdose. Too bad Jerry wasn't scared straight from the experience.

I'm out of the office this coming Monday night, and I'm really hoping that our premier fill-in DJ Dial-A-Shot will be taking over. The man ROCKS! I'll have a classic Hell's Kitchen Radio show lined up if he doesn't make it in, and I look forward to manning the helm again the following Monday at 8PM.

Radio Valencia is turning 8 years old on August 11. Be sure to wish us a happy birthday! We like dark chocolate and garage rock.

Enjoy.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Twitter
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram

Don't Forget to Breathe: The Melvins
Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me: Redd Kross

Goin' Back to Cali: LL Cool J
Emma: Hot Chocolate

Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon: Urge Overkill
People Get Ready: The Chambers Brothers
Fantastic Voyage: David Bowie

***San Mateo Set***
Lieutenant Uhuru: Three Stoned Men
Legend of Sleepy Hollow: The Mummies
Andalusia: The Phantom Surfers

Hey Hey What Can I Do: Led Zeppelin (You have never heard it played like this before)
Deezy: Honky (Jeff Pinkus of Butthole Surfers ROCK band. Think ZZ Top on meth!)
Brainded Warrior: Zig Zags

Kick Out The Jams: Afrika Bambaatta
Rock Box: Run DMC
Macho Man: Artless
Louie Louie: Black Flag

You Stupid Asshole: Mudhoney
Another Way: Mono Men
Let's Get Funky: Jack O'Fire
Lights Out: Wooden Shjips
Observatory: Carlton Melton

Drone: Here Are The Facts You Requested
Bloody Hammer: Roky Erickson

Dear Mr. Fantasy: Grateful Dead (March 31, 1988 Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey)

Hell's Kitchen Radio #339: Teenage Angstdream

Stream the Family Pride HERE!

Download the Teenage Angst HERE!
Listen into all my shows here!
Subscribe to my show, via 

There once was a time when my daughter looked at me like I was a hero. Now she's 13. Oh well, at least she allowed me to drag her kicking and screaming out of her lair (read: bedroom) to join me in the studio on this fine night. It only took me bribing her with a burrito to make this happen. There was a time when she couldn't wait to co-host a radio show with me. I guess we all grow up eventually, right? RIGHT?

To my credit, she did acknowledge all on her own, that it's pretty cool that she's had this opportunity to be on the radio with me over the years None of her other friends have ever done this before. So there!

Lauson's musical tastes have grown beyond my tastes, as I'm sure mine did when I was her age. If I recall 13 correctly, I was starting to purchase music on my own on a monthly basis; much of which my father hadn't ever listened to. So it comes as no surprise that she's delving deeper into her own interests. And it's those interests that I encouraged her to share on the show tonight.

Interestingly enough, not only is she into hiphop, but she loves Sinatra and Stevie Wonder, and is discovering more classic soul and funk based on the samples used in contemporary hiphop. We talk about this on the air. It reminds me of how I got deeper into blues, using 60s bands like the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton as a springboard to discover the originals, which I ended up enjoying more than the covers.

The banter is witty, the music is groovy. The talk about attending concerts, in the second hour, is classic! Much of the music is vocalist-centered as you can see by the playlist below. New music by Ty Segall and White Fence.

If you care to check out the previous shows featuring Little Lauson Hell check out the links below:

First show in 2012
Second show in 2014
Third show also in 2014
Fourth show in spring of 2015
Fifth show in the summer of 2015
Sixth show in summer 2016 along with Saucy!
Seventh show was also during summer 2016
Eight show was December 2016
Ninth show was July 2017
Tenth show was in August 2017

Enjoy.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Twitter
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram

It's Hard To Be Humble: Mac Davis
I Get A Kick Out Of You: Tony Bennett

Fireworks: First Aid Kit
Fourth of July: Dave Alvin
A Change is Gonna Come: The Gits

Lauson's Set
Chicago: Frank Sinatra
I Just Called To Say I Love You: Stevie Wonder
Shadowboxer: Fiona Apple

Only Son Of A Ladies Man: Father John Misty
Drown In My Own Tears: Ray Charles
Ain't No Sunshine: Bill Withers
Starman: David Bowie

In Every Dream Home A Heartache: Roxy Music
Pray For Me: G-Eazy
Lilac Wine: Nina Simone
Hallelujah: Jeff Buckley

Business: Eminem
Hello Goodbye: The Beatles
Senorita: Ovarian Trolley

Body Behavior: Ty Segall and White Fence
Girls: Beastie Boys

My Thang: James Brown
Happy Boy: Beat Farmers