New music from Yo La Tengo, Bettye LaVette, Linda Ortega, Alice Bag, Hop Along, Lucy Dacus and Courtney Barnett. Un-new music, both covers and originals, by request and whim. Paul Butterfield to Sylvester Weaver to Desmond Dekker to Alex Chilton? Yeah, probably. This is my last show (for a while at least), but I don't want to get all sappy about it.

It's also still RADIOTHON, so phone up: 631-632-1800

On Eric Clapton’s birthday, Mystery Train features old music by the woman called the female Jimi Hendrix, Barbara Lynn, new music by Amen Dunes, Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail, and our usual gumbo with contributions from Bobby “Blue” Bland, Loretta Lynn, Freedy Johnston, James McMurtry and… we shall see. Covers? Heck, yeah. Surprises? I’ll try. Requests?

MAKE A PLEDGE AND YOU GOT ‘EM. IT’S RADIOTHON, FRIENDS – WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO DO WHAT WE DO.

Black History Month old, new, covers, blues...

I'll be filling in for Carrie this week. Tune in to hear some great new music Moby, Bruce Cockburn, Lily Hiatt, Ranky Tanky and more. I'll also be playing some choice covers, in keeping with the format of the show. We'll be giving birthday nods to Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Palmer as well. Hope you can tune in. 90.1 FM, WUSB.FM or on your favorite radio app.

Today's show has three parts:
1) A Muscle Shoals FAME Studios tribute set because founder/producer Rick Hall died this week. Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Duane Allman on guitar.
2) Regularly scheduled Mystery Train awesomeness, including new music by Elvis Costello, Bermuda Triangle, Broken Social Scene, among others; oldish music by Mélissa Laveaux, Justin Townes Earle and Kathleen Edwards; and old music by Bill Withers, David Bowie & Big Star.
3) A brief interview with the Bethpage Regal Eagles Robotics Team about their amazing outreach efforts that span the globe. (Also: they build robots.)

Last show of the year today, and we (who’m I kidding with the royal “we”... like there’s a big crew getting this puppy to air. This holiday party is me, playing tunes for you guys) and I’ll finish what I started last show — my personal Pazz & Jop* — playing my favorites of 2017. Last week I played Carolyn Wonderland, Aimee Mann, Rhiannon Giddens, Father John Misty, Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Spoon... This week? Nothing but Humperdinck.

OK, that’s a lie. Listen and see. But Son Little is in there, because I’m somewhat obsessed. The Mavericks. Also: music by some wonderful people we lost in 2017. And only one "Christmas" song (of a sort), but I’ve got a reason.

* Sigh. You could’ve googled it, young person who asked, but it was the end of year musical “Best Of” compiled and published (on paper!) in The Village Voice.

What?!

Pazz & Jop? It was a spoonerism of Jazz & Pop.
Huh?? Oh, It was a counter-cultural newsp... just Google it. Happy New Year. We deserve it.

You won't hear any sleigh bells on this Friday's Mystery Train, which instead favors lyrics such as "Why don't you open your eyes and shut your mouth" by featured artist Carolyn Wonderland, a blues singer-songwriter-killer guitarist whose album Moon Goes Missing is one of my favorites of 2017.

The rest of the show is packed with other Songs of the Year, as determined by an extremely fallible, unscientific, non-peer-reviewed, opinion poll conducted by me.*

* So far, I'm the only one who voted. Come on, guys: PAZZ & JOP ME!

Mystery Train features Mavis Staples, whose new LP, her third collaboration with Jeff Tweedy, gets released next Friday November 17th. (Yeah, I mean it "drops".) Also: Lotta Sea Lice, which sounds like a treatable condition, but is in fact the new album by Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile. It's great work by this new, less volatile, Kurt and Courtney.

We lost Fats Domino, so I'm going to do a tribute to him on the first part of today's show, featuring Smiley Lewis, Dr. John, John Lennon, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, among others, and of course Fats himself.

Then we pull out of New Orleans and play mostly 2017 cuts, with some of the Mystery Trainian (yeah, so? we can adjectivefy ourselves... rock'n'roll, baby) covers and deep cuts. New Liam Gallagher, Weaves, Grizzly Bear, Tyler Childers and The Rural Alberta Advantage.

Tom Petty tribute plus sorta "new" Replacements, actual new Sadies, and featuring blues artist Caroline Wonderland. Taking the albatross off Friday the 13th's neck. No, not llterally.

Because I know what that word means.

We’ll pay tribute to Daptone recording artist Charles Bradley, who died this past Saturday.
Bradley, who was first inspired to perform after seeing James Brown at The Apollo Theater,
didn’t release his first album until 2011, when he was 62. An emotional, incendiary performer –
he will be missed.

We will also be featuring new Tori Amos, David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, Waxahatchee,
Curtis Salgado, Otis Taylor, Shelby Lynne… and the usual mosh pit of covers, deep tracks and
surprises.

Today's Mystery Train features cuts from the new album by Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer, sisters who have finally put out a record together. (Yeah, record)

Charlie J filling in for the inimitable Carrie Blank. Thanks for tuning in.

Explore a diverse collection of cover songs and originals drawn from rock and roll, alternative, Americana, R & B and more, along with new music and interviews with women who make things. Celebrate the last two hours of (somebody's) work week onboard the Mystery Train.

This week: new Randy Newman, Grizzly Bear, Sheer Mag, Mick Jagger and classic Heatmiser, Steve AND Justin Townes Earle. The Como Mamas.

Explore a diverse collection of cover songs and originals drawn from rock and roll, alternative, Americana, R & B and more, along with new music and interviews with women who make things. Celebrate the last two hours of (somebody's) work week onboard the Mystery Train.

Climb aboard. Featuring music from Waxahatchee, Andra Day, Matthew Sweet, Bedouine, Nneka + the usual rockers and blues artists, covers and originals. Plus lots of new music, lots of female artists.