Oh, it’ll be the usual selection of what Louis Armstrong used to call “the good ol’ good ones” for you on the show, of course, but we’ll augment with a few songs appropriate to the day, plus feature a brand new EP by Amos Lee called As the Crow Flies, recorded with Calexico during the sessions that spawned the Mission Bell album, including at least one song that has a football metaphor or two.  It comes out on Valentine’s Day, but we’ll give you an early taste of it a week or so ahead of schedule.

Join us…it’s a big party on the OverEasy tip, and you’re invited, this Sunday from 7 to 11 am AND pm, on 92.3 WTTS.

Let us know what you’ve got cookin’ – literally and figuratively – for the day, say hi, and become a fan, at facebook.com/wttsfm and facebook.com/toddovereasy.

In salute to the advent of Bob Dylan as a performer during the civil rights movement, Amnesty International has just released a bargain-priced four CD set of Dylan’s work, covered by multiple artists across the musical spectrum, from the modern Cosmic American Music of My Morning Jacket to a torch-song read of “Simple Twist of Fate” by Diana Krall, all on behalf of Amnesty. 

This week on OverEasy, Todd Berryman features songs from Disc 1 of the Chimes of Freedom set, including the above musicians, plus reads of Dylan favorites lovingly rendered by Sting, Mark Knopfler and many more – this Sunday, from 7 to 11 am AND pm, on 92.3 WTTS.

Read more about the project here.

So, is The Hold Steady in trouble?  Not at all – the album was recorded during four months of downtime for the band last year, and it finds him in other stylistic modes that may not be as easy to pull off in his band’s normal context, including the quasi Dead (or at least Ryan Adams Cold Roses era) -influenced “When No One’s Watching” (in which someone’s been listening to Jerry Garcia pretty intently, going by the lead guitar).  ”Not Much Left of Us” is another highlight, from the false-start rehearsal rundown in the opening seconds, through the body of the song proper.  Overall, the album is gently epic, making no big deal out of itself, and yet becomes quietly surprising on repeat explorations.

Hear a bouquet of standout tracks, including the above, on this week’s OverEasy with Todd Berryman, Sunday from 7 to 11 am AND pm, on 92.3 WTTS.

More about the new stuff here.

Norah rejoins ex-boyfriend, bassist Lee Alexander, on a new album from side project the Little Willies called For the Good Times.  Barring one new song from band member Jim Campilongo, the rest of the album mostly mines territory familiar to fans of the prior Little Willies album from a few years ago, which is the ensemble’s common affection for vintage country music.  The band touches on the catalogs of Ralph Stanley,  Lefty Frizell and three of the Highwaymen (Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson), and tops it all off with covers of songs made famous by Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.

Check out the latest from the Little Willies, this Sunday with Todd Berryman on OverEasy, 7 to 11am AND pm, on 92.3 WTTS.

A little sample of Norah Jones and Bonnie Raitt tackling a Patti Page favorite.

Four albums into her career, Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards has, if anything, become better and better.  Her newest, Voyageur, drops on January 17th, and it finds her not only working with boyfriend Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) on production and playing, she also takes a page from his playbook and goes the multiple-instruments route.  In the course of the album, she not only plays guitar, but also takes the seat behind a piano, throws on a little omnichord (the instrument that Daniel Lanois has used to help make U2 sound like U2) and even steps up to play vibraphone(!).

All of which would be window dressing for some good music, were it not for the fact that she’s stepped up as a lyricist to boot.

Hear the results for yourself, as Todd Berryman previews Kathleen Edwards’ forthcoming album Voyageur, this week on OverEasy, 7 to 11am AND pm Sunday, on 92.3 WTTS.

Ahem.  So, anyway, it was a very good year for artists in the OverEasy universe.  Paul Simon visited IU Auditorium for a show that we got to broadcast live, G. Love collaborated with the Avett Brothers, Amos Lee collaborated with Calexico, one of the Black Keys produced an album for another Ohio artist, Pink Floyd released a surprising early version of a classic song with help from a legendary jazz violinist, Tony Bennett celebrated a big birthday with a new duets album, the Decemberists put out two studio recordings in one year, Iron and Wine visited Sun King Studio 92, and Gillian Welch and Tom Waits released their first new work in almost a decade.  And that’s for starters, friends.

Now obviously, we can’t cover everything we would have liked in the show that will open the New Year, but we will get a healthy scoop of some significant material, this Sunday on 92.3 WTTS from 7 to 11am AND pm, on OverEasy.

Have a safe New Year.  See you on Sunday.
-Todd Berryman,
December 30, 2011.

It’s a testament to the vision of Sam Phillips, not just as an A&R man and label boss, but as a technical guy – when you hear a certain kind of reverb, you instantly think “Sun Records” on hearing it.  That effect was so distinctive that, according to Elvis scholar Ernst Mikael Jorgenson, when Elvis made the jump to RCA Records in 1956, the engineers for the label were so stymied by how Phillips got his slapback echo for his singles that they couldn’t reproduce it, and during the recording of “Heartbreak Hotel” were reduced to putting a microphone in an empty hallway to get a weak approximation of it.

Sam Phillips may no longer be with us, nor many of the genius talents that helped birth rock and roll with him, but the music continues with a little help from Chris Isaak.  Todd Berryman will feature Beyond the Sun this week on OverEasy, this Sunday from 7 to 11am AND pm, on 92.3 WTTS.      

Chris Isaak and Jerry Lee Lewis cover a song from The Wizard of Oz

Find out more about what’s going on with Lyle Lovett at lylelovett.com. 

Lyle performing “North Dakota” on Live by Request 

Norah Jones had broken up with longtime boyfriend (and band member) Lee Alexander way back in 2007, but it apparently doesn’t mean the end of their creative partnership.  In one of those interesting Catch-22s that seem to come up once in a while, the music that brought them back together is country music, the music of heartbreak.  Jones and Alexander, along with singer/songwriter Richard Julian, Jim Campilongo and Dan Rieser, return with the second album credited to the Little Willies, For the Good Times, in January 2012.  More here.