Marti Grissom

Episode 184: A Family Affair Part VI

~ Austin Rich ~ Leave a comment
Our Family Portrait
Our Family Portrait

Episode 184:  A Family Affair Part VI
(Featuring a star-studded Family Affair episode with Karly, Kyle, Marti, Brandy, Ruben, Sydney, Tanner, Jeff… and me!) 

Some people like to keep their family at arms length when it comes to their creative life, and aside from the David Sedaris’ of the world, family and art rarely cross paths.  However, we’ve always thought differently on this program, and going back to our humble beginnings in the late ’90’s, family have often made appearances on the air as we head in the broadcast booth.  As I was spending all of last week in Washington state (visiting family) – and more to the point, now that our show has entered the realm of the Inter-Web-A-Tron – it only made sense to record a program while “on the road.”

While I would be the first to say that our family is unique, I don’t think that any of us disagree in the slightest, and more to the point, the overall dynamic of having a family at all is about the unique combinations of personality and social development coming together in a way that demands that you love each no matter what.  We are all strange and confusing in our own ways, and I only need to look at the fact that I’m recording a radio show alone in my office every week for 14 years in a row to make that point abundantly clear to anyone who might say otherwise.  Fortunately for us, music has always bound my family together from the very beginning, and this makes radio the perfect place to try and reinforce these bonds.  I have always been lucky in that my family might not understand why I do a radio show every week, but they are more than happy to participate in it when they are able to do so.

This episode is unique in that it has more family members participating than any previous show ever has.  Not only do we kick things off with a song written and recorded by my mother, but we also get conversations with her, Karly and Kyle, all vetrans of this program, and in the case of my mom, an ex-DJ herself.  I also managed to get some candid recordings of my Grandmother when Karly and I visited her, and as if that weren’t enough, some candid campfire  conversations in their backyard with my Cousin Brandy, her kids (Sydney, Tanner and Reuben), and her boyfriend Jeff.  (That segment is Sidney and Tanner heavy, but you can hear the others here and there too.  You will probably hear overhead planes in that segment, as Boeing is not too far away.)  I wanted to try and get a few others into the mix too, but time and logistics prevented me from doing more.  Still, there’s a lot to digest in this mostly-interview heavy show, and it offers a little insight into the musical world that my extended family lives within.

As mentioned in the Mini-Cast, this program was late, mostly due to the fact that I wanted to spend time with my family, and not editing audio.  I’m still one show behind for the month, so stay tuned, as I will try to rush another show out before too long.  And while I haven’t had a chance to mention it yet, tune in to Closet Radio this saturday (29 September 2012) for a live performance by Not Now, Not Ever, engineered by yours truly at 1 PM.  It should be a lot of fun, as working with Miss Rikki Lee is ALWAYS fun.

That’s it for now.  Talk to you soon!

A Family Affair Part VI

Part I: Getting The Party Started 
01.) Butt Dialed (a.k.a. Ode To Kathleen) * Marti Grissom * YouTube.com
02.) Family Affair * Sly & The Family Stone

Part II: Radio, The Bookstore & More (featuring Marti Grissom & Karly Rich)
03.) Look At Me, Look At You * Dave Mason
04.) Message To Myself (Live) * Melissa Etheridge * Yahoo.com Live Series (2007)

Part III: Grandma’s Boyfriend & Campfire Chatter (featuring Evelyn Martin, Karly Rich, Cousin Brandy, Sydney, Tanner & Reuben, and her boyfriend Jeff)
05.) The Rant * Bo Burnham, Sidney & Tanner
06.) Comatose * Skillet

Part IV: Kitchen Confidential (featuring Kyle & Karly Rich)

Episode 084: A Family Affair Part V

~ Austin Rich ~ Leave a comment
Marti Grissom
Marti Grissom

Episode 084: A Family Affair, Part V (w/ Marti Grissom)
(Featuring a DJ set by my own mother, Marti Grissom)

KPSU Playlist.

On a very special episode of Blasphuphmus Radio, we add another entry into the A Family Affair series, with an appearance by none other than my own mother, Marti Grissom!

Growing up, I lived in a pretty musical house.  My mom played piano and guitar for us, listened to records constantly, ran a record store, and worked at a local radio station.  In a lot of ways, the blueprint for my future life was set pretty early on.  While my show doesn’t usually contain much music that my mom would usually listen to, she has always been 100% supportive of any musical interest I’ve ever had.  Fortunately, during her vacation this summer, we were able to arrange for a rare live appearance by none other than Marti Grissom, my own mother, to give us a taste of the kinds of things that are important to her.My mom has had a pretty varied career in her life.  In the ’60’s, she was briefly in a band called Borrowed Time, and many years later, she opened her own book / record store, a.k.a. Used Books and Records.  Then, as if that weren’t enough, she later made several appearances on KZEL in Eugene Oregon, and later took over as News Director (and on-air personality) at KNNDin Cottage Grove (my home town).  While she never pursued these careers as a means of becoming famous, she always managed to go after jobs that made her happy.  I have a lot of fond memories of her and her relationship to music, and this was an excellent way to let her showcase the things that are important to her.During the show, she actually does a lot of informative voice-overs about the songs, so there’s not much I have to say about the music itself.  Aside from the opening track, she picked all the songs.  While a lot of this isn’t the kind of stuff that I would normally play, I was pretty happy to let her to have fun.  And there’s enough cross-over, too, to make me happy.  I would draw particular attention to the last song of the show, where she scripted a little voice-over that is probably one of the best messages I’ve ever heard.  Yeah, I guess we’re all like that.The photo is taken from a Borrowed Time promo photo.  While I’ve seen this picture before, I had no idea it was online, let alone there was a website dedicated to lesser-known Northwest Bands.  While they never recorded anything, I’m still blown away by the fact that you really can find ANYTHING on the internet.

Wizard Rifle this Saturday.  Hell yeah.

See ya soon.

# Track * Artist * Album * Label
01.) Family Affair [Excerpt] * Sly and the Family Stone * The Essential * Epic Records
02.) Almost Zydeco * Junkyard Jane * Washboard Highway * Frogimo Records
03.) Heartbreak Hotel * Kathi McDonald * Insane Asylum * Magic Records
04.) Bad Boy * The Beatles * Beatles VI * Capitol Records
05.) Who Discovered America? * Ozomatli * Street Signs * Concord Records
06.) Samba Pa Ti * Santana * Abraxas * CBS Records
07.) Live On * Kenny Wayne Shepard Band * Live On * Giant Records / Wea
08.) Two Step Too * Delbert McClinton * Cost of Living * New West Records
09.) Leap of Faith * Bruce Springsteen * Lucky Town * Columbia Records
10.) Flying * The Beatles * Magical Mystery Tour * Capitol Records
11.) Young Blood * Rickie Lee Jones * Rickie Lee Jones * Warner Bros. Records
12.) Man In Black * Johnny Cash * Man in Black * Columbia
13.) New Coat of Paint * Tom Waits * The Heart of Saturday Night * Asylum records
14.) The Radio Song * Jet * Get Born * Elektra Records
15.) Plunk A Little Funk * Papa John Creach * Papa John Creach * Grunt / RCA Records
16.) Love You To Loathe Me * Melanie * Arabesque * Blanche Records
17.) Time In A Bottle * Jim Croce * You Don’t Mess Around With Jim * ABC Records
18.) Karma * Desol * Desol * Curb Records
19.) One Headlight [Live] * The Wallflowers w/ Bruce Springsteen * 1997 MTV Video Music Awards * MTV
20.) Buried Alive In The Blues * Full Tilt Boogie * Pearl * Columbia Records
21.) Bittersweet Symphony * The Verve * Urban Hymns * Virgin Records
22.) Shake ’em Down * Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes * Better Days * MCA Records
23.) As The Years Go Passing By * Maggie Bell * Queen of The Night * Polydor Records
24.) St. Louis Blues * Papa John Creach * Papa John Creach * Grunt / RCA Records
25.) If I Had A Rocket Launcher [Live] * Bruce Cockburn * Stealing Fire * True North Records
26.) She’s Mine * Roomful of Blues * There Goes The Neighborhood * Bullseye Blues Records
27.) Forever Young * Bob Dylan * Planet Waves * Columbia Records
28.) Hobo’s Blues * Paul Simon * Paul Simon
29.) I Wish I Knew How It Feels To Be Free * Cold Blood * Cold Blood * Collectables Records