Every so often on the program, we visit with Willobee, the Program Director and afternoon host at NV89, Nevada Public Radio's station in Reno.
We asked Willobee to tell us about three songs that he's enjoying right now. They are:
Moby, "Like a Motherless Child"
Moby is back and he’s got an amazing new track that I just really love. It’s called “Like a Motherless Child,” which is a fresh take on an old African-American spiritual called “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”
There has been a couple of interpretations from Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson, even Van Morrison, but the most well-known was from Odetta.
I think it’s a return to his soul and his trip-hop and gospel roots that we heard so much of in his album “Play.” This track takes me back to that sound.
The Shacks, "This Strange Effect"
I discovered this track on an iPhone TV commercial and I just had to play it the next day. The Shacks are Max Shrager and Shannon Wise. They’re both from New York City. They met in high school. This band kind of happened accidentally. Max was recording a guitar track for a friend and they needed a vocal and they asked Shannon to give it a shot. This was her very first time recording in a studio and it sounded amazing. The Shacks were born.
A lot of bands do covers and totally miss the point. But not this song, The Shacks stayed true to this song. When you add Shannon’s heavy, breathy vocals it gives the song an even softer feel than the original [1965 Dave Berry version of a song penned by Ray Davis of the Kinks]
The Shacks/ Courtesy: Red Light Management
Robert Finley, "Get It While You Can"
Robert Finely is a blues and gospel singer from Louisiana. And he started out really young. As a kid, he was singing mostly as a hobby. He joined the military and spent most of his time touring with the Army band. He was actually the leader of the band. When he left the service, he became a carpenter and spent most of his life building things. But sadly, he was deemed legally blind and was forced to retire. So, in 2015, he was busking on a street corner outside a venue at a blues show. And the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which is a North Carolina based non-profit organization that supports aging blues musicians, actually discovered him singing for spare change.
With their help, he put out a blues album. Didn't get much notice, but as luck would have it, he was noticed by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, who then went on to co-write and co-produce his latest album. At the age 65, Robert Finely has a new career.
Willobee Carlan, NV89 Program Director and afternoon host
