One of the joys of a hotel stay is turning on a TV and remembering that Frazier gets another spin every Channel 4 morning. Waking up late last Sunday I caught the episode where the eponymous hero sets out to write his own obituary so he can clarify his life goals. Eventually his father wisely counsels that finding lost Inca gold and translating Ovid might be a little fanciful. On reflection Frazier re drafts his obit.
As ever in fine comedy there was a grain of truth to the story line. All of us have a list of things we hoped might happen but never quite achieved. I know there are little journeys, quests and learnings I hoped I’d master long before now and certainly before I die that, on reflection, now seem a little less likely to happen. There is, however, an upside to all of that. As often as we let go of the unobtainable we equally rejoice in the unexpected. Stuff happens that we hadn’t factored into our life plans which, in all kinds of great ways, changes our lives for the better. Sometimes too we are just not ready to do everything in our youth or early twenties so, it seems, some of us get round to some of these things a little later than planned and heck, who’d have thought it, but we do it better than we might have done as youngsters.
All of this came to mind when I opened a package sent to me at AC HQ last week. It seems Rosalie James has returned to making music after working elsewhere and facing some daunting personal issues. However she has made a very fine record which I’ve been enjoying spinning on my home turntable and if I can, will try to sneak in an appropriate track over the next few weeks. (though her record is really not country, it has elements of roots music I know you would enjoy)
On a similar theme Patty Griffin who, let’s face it, has never made a bad record, has (in her sixty second year) just released a particularly fine one. I often wish Patty would drop an album a year but I’m grateful when any come along and especially glad to hear her voice on tape again given the health issues she has faced over the last few years. We’ll tell you all about this moving record and play you a couple of tracks from it on this week’s show.
We’ll also feature songs from the excellent new Tyler Childers LP from which, I suspect, we will be playing songs over the course of the next year or so. Produced by Rick Rubin it is perhaps going to be the biggest album yet from one of the most exciting artists in country music. Patty, Tyler and some other fine artists will all be on from five past eight this coming Tuesday evening on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland FM. Join me if you can.
Much of what you cover here resonates deeply for me. Reflecting on life’s journey, re-evaluating life goals, musing on what hasn’t worked out and what surprises have come up along the way… all of these have been recent concerns of mine, too.
“Crown of Roses” is a(nother) beautiful Patty Griffin record that is also resonating with me, so I look forward to hearing more about and from it on tonight’s show.
Oh, and “Frasier” is invariably hilarious, truthful, and simply sublime.