MUSIC ON THE MENU LIVE: WHERE GOOD IS GOOD

 AND GOOD WILL ALWAYS BE GOOD

By ALAN K. STOUT
MUSIC ON THE MENU

 Radio gives music life. It gives it an audience. It gives it a place where emotions and sentiments from both the past and the present can be heard. And that, more than anything, is why I enjoy presenting the “Music On The Menu Live” radio show every Sunday night.

There are songs – many, many songs – that are considered classics. And when we hear them on the radio, everything that went into making them comes to life. When you’re driving in your car and you hear “Layla,” from Eric Clapton, you hear more than just a great song. You revisit just how madly in love Clapton was with George Harrison's wife at that time. And in addition to hearing the guitar work of a man who would go on to become one of the most accomplished musicians of all-time, you also hear the playing of the late Duane Allman, a musical icon now frozen in time. When you hear John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance,” you are taken back to another era. Yet you can still feel the passion of the moment. When you hear Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run,” you can feel the energy of a young man looking to stake his claim in life – a young man looking for something better. Anything better. When you hear “Alive” from Pearl Jam, you can imagine a young Eddie Vedder out on a surfboard – which is where he was when he wrote the lyrics – feeling invigorated and inspired by the power and beauty of the ocean.

So many great artists. Some many great songs. So many moments captured in time. And with just one spin on the radio, when you are least expecting it, that voice is again heard. The initial inspiration for the song. The crafting of the song. The hours spent in the studio recording the song. It was not all for naught. It mattered. With radio, those feelings and those moments live on.

With “Music On The Menu Live,” I am able to help make that happen for artists whose songs are not played on the radio hundreds of times per week on stations across the country. They don’t get that nice ASCAP royalty check in the mail a few times a year, nor are they in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But the songs that I play from regional artists - and I mean this wholeheartedly – are often just as good. Some are even better. And the emotions that went into writing them were no different than those of anyone else that has ever sat on their couch with their guitar in their hands, or behind their piano, and wrote a song. They too were greatly inspired. They too put a lot of care into crafting their music. They too may have spent many hours in a recording studio. And when their songs are played on the radio – whether it is a song recorded 20 years ago or a song recorded 20 days ago - it is given life. It given it an audience. It is given a place where its emotions and sentiments can be heard.

 I’ve been writing about music for newspapers and magazines for more than two decades. I don’t do it as often as I used to, but when I do, I still enjoy it. I like talking to artists about their music. I enjoy talking with them about their influences and their inspirations, and for the reader, I have always enjoyed the challenge of describing sound on paper. But I really love radio. I love being able to just play the music for people.  My old newspaper column, which ran in The Times Leader and The Weekender for 17 years, was called “Music On The Menu.” When I started my radio show 10 years ago, I decided to call it “Music On The Menu Live.” And that was simply because I was taking the music that I had tried to describe on paper and was now putting it right in your ears.  It was, in some ways, coming alive on the radio. And I feel privileged to be able to do that not only for the artists, but for the listeners.  

“Music On The Menu Live” comes to 105 The River tonight, and that same approach will continue. All regional music – both old and new – will have a home. If we play Led Zeppelin and The Beatles and The Police all the time, why can’t I play an old Strawberry Jam or Mere Mortals or Mighty Fine Wine tune on Sunday night? Good is good. And good will always be good. And so if you are a band that did a good record 10, 15 or even 20 or 25 years ago, and it came my way at some point over the years, you just might hear it on some Sunday evening. That inspiration that you once felt, and that time that you put into your music, was not all for naught. It mattered. Not only did you get incredible creative fulfillment from writing that music, but that music will still be heard. And if you’re a new artist or a veteran artist that has recently recorded some new material, and you get it my way, it will be heard. It is always very exciting to premier some new songs on the show, and over the course of the year, it happens almost every single week.

That’s what “Music On The Menu Live” has always been all about and will always be about. That’s what we'll be doing every Sunday night from 9-10 p.m. on 105, The River.

Thanks for listening.

I really do think you'll like the songs.

 

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“MUSIC ON THE MENU – LIVE ON THE RIVER” will air every Sunday from 9-10 p.m. on 104.9-FM (105, The River). You can also listen online at www.boldgoldradionepa.com. To download the station's phone app, search "radio bold." Artists interested in submitting material for the show can contact me at musiconthemenu@comcast.net

To follow my postings about regional music on Facebook, please visit and "like" my page at www.facebook.com/musiconthemenu