Daily Planet

On Truckstop Honeymoon’s latest CD, Diamonds in the Asphalt, real-life and musical partners Mike West and Katie Euless use the country genre to ironic, humorous effect with songs that magnify the mundane aspects of life into crises.

There’s Mike’s song The Perfect Pair of Sunglasses which describes his tortured decision over which pair to buy at a truckstop, and there’s Katie’s song, (Me and My) Bad Attitude, which personifies her bad attitude as another character schizophrenically co-habiting her body. Mike’s originally from Australia and ended up in New Orleans via Manchester, but Katie and Mike and their two kids are now refugees from Hurricane Katrina, based in Kansas.

Playlist

1421
Innuendo Out The Other
Philip DeGruy
Degruy-Gruy Music
NYC 6013 2 (US Import)
Philip DeGruy, Innuendo Out The Other
15 seconds (excerpt)
(solo 17-string elec guitar, fingerstyle; v quirky, virtuosic & humorous, more or less a bent-boogie)

1423
CD Cut 5 - 'Bad Attitude'
Katie Euliss and Mike West
BMI/ASCAP
Squirrel 1052 www.trucktophoneymoon.com
Truckstop Honeymoon - 'Diamonds in the Asphalt'
3:13
(Part Austral comp and perf: Chris Leopold's tailgating trombone is featured in this Dixieland-style song featuring Katie's vocal about her alter ego - her bad attitude)

Segue

1426
CD Cut 5 - 'New Orleans'
Hoagy Carmichael, horns arranged by Steven Bernstein
Songs of Peer, Ltd. ASCAP
World Village 468075 ( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
worldwide: www.worldvillagemusic.com )
Catherine Russell - 'Sentimental Streak'
3:12
(Catherine, the daughter of Louis Armstrong's arranger/bandmate Luis Russell, sings Hoagie Carmichael song done with bebop touches, featuring Mark Shane's piano and Matt Munisteri's chunking acoustic rhythm guitar)

1431
CD Cut 3 - 'The Perfect Pair of Sunglasses'
Katie Euliss and Mike West
BMI/ASCAP
Squirrel 1052 www.trucktophoneymoon.com
Truckstop Honeymoon - 'Diamonds in the Asphalt'
3:47
(Part Austral comp and perf: Tex-Mex rumba with mariachi horns in tongue-in-cheek, brazenly rhymed song about stopping in many a dreary truck stop doing various mundane things including shopping for sunglasses)

Segue

1435
CD Cut 9 - 'Stingray'
Jim Lauderdale
Wudang Mountain Songs
SESAC, admin by Bug Music
Yeproc YEP-2159 ( in Australia through Shock. www.shock.com.au
worldwide: www.yeproc.com )
Jim Lauderdale and the Dream Players - 'Honey Songs'
2:56
(Strange deep sea fantasy of a song sung in Jim's southern twang, with allstar band including James Burton on electric guitar)

1439
CD Cuts 11 and 12 - 'Oceanic Part 1 and Part 2'
Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar, string arrangement; Anoushka Shankar, Salim Merchant, Karsh Kale
Anourag Publishing (ASCAP)
Manhattan Records 0946 3 95392 2 2 (Through EMI)
Anoushka Shankar/Karsh Kale - 'Breathing Underwater'
4:07 + 4:38
(Placid piece for Ravi's sitar and sustained strings into livelier Part 2 with talbla, miridangam, kanjira and Anoushka duetting on sitar with her father)

THE ANOUSHKA SHANKAR PROJECT AUSTRALIAN TOUR ALERT:

14 Jun 2008 Sydney Opera House NSW
15 Jun 2008 Arts Centre - Hammer Hall (Fmr Melb Concert Hall) Vic Free activities from 2pm. Show at 5pm.
18 Jun 2008 Brisbane South Bank QLD

1449
CD Cut 2 - 'The Ordinary Things'
Katie Euliss and Mike West
BMI/ASCAP
Squirrel 1052 www.trucktophoneymoon.com
Truckstop Honeymoon - 'Diamonds in the Asphalt'
4:04
(Part Austral comp and perf: Laconic country feel with mandolin and Kate's vocal's about loving the 'ordinary things' of domestic life - taking the kids to the Wichita zoo, wiping their asses - then it goes into rock with percussion groove driven song about 'wanting to be fabulous too')

Segue

1453
CD Cut 5 - 'One More Year'
Shane Nicholson
Pub Not Spec
Liberation Music LMCD 0005 ( www.liberation.com.au )
Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - 'Rattlin' Bones'
3:36
(Austral perf and comp: Kasey's lead vocal and Shane's plucked acoustic guitars and harmony vocals in song about couple muddling their way through a marriage)

KASEY CHAMBERS AND SHANE NICHOLSON REGIONAL TOUR ALERT:

Wednesday 14 May Shepparton Eastbank Centre
Thursday 15 May Albury Convention centre
Friday 16 May Wagga Civic Theatre
Saturday 17 May Barooga Sports Club
Sunday 18 May Griffith Regent Theatre
Wednesday 11 June Coffs Harbour Ex Services Club
Thursday 12 June Taree - Manning Entertainment Centre
Friday 13 June Wollongong Regent Theatre
Saturday 14 June Penrith Panthers Evan Theatre
Sunday 15 June Newcastle Civic Theatre
Wednesday 25 June Lismore Workers Club
Thursday 26 June Tweed Heads Twin Towns
Friday 27 June Toowoomba Empire Theatre
Saturday 28 June Nambour Civic Centre
Sunday 29 June Bundaberg Moncreiff Theatre
Thursday 03 July Hobart Wrestpoint Casino
Friday 04 July Launceston Country Club
Saturday 05 July Launceston Country Club
Wednesday 23 July Cairns Convention Centre
Thursday 24 July Townsville Civic Theatre
Friday 25 July Mackay Entertainment Centre
saturday 26 July Rockhampton - Great Western Hotel
Sunday 27 July Gladstone Entertainment Centre

1458
CD Cut 2 - 'Home In Your Pocket'
Paul Gioia
(Presumably) APRA
Green Media Distribution PG003
( available direct, via www.paulgioia .com )
Paul Gioia - 'Rising Sea'
One minute excerpt
(Austral Comp And Perf: Paul's vocals and rolling boogie woogie with Kristen Arnott's backing vocals and Andrew Winton's dobro in song accusing greedy mortgage lenders)

'RISING SEA' CD LAUNCH CONCERT ALERT

Paul is part of the Perth Blues Club gig on the night of Tuesday May 13
Charles Hotel 509 Charles St, North Perth Ph 9444 1051

Paul Gioia 9.45pm
TH & The Esquires 11pm
Andrew Winton 8.30pm

full details, here: www.perthbluesclub.com )

Presenter

Lucky Oceans

Producer

Lucky Oceans