The Bakersfield Sound - country goes electric

The Soul of California

The city of Bakersfield served as an unlikely centre of a new kind of country music, one tinged with electricity, which catapulted musicians Buck Owens and Merle Haggard to international acclaim.

We take a different approach for this show and interview a practitioner - Dallas Good of the Toronto-based Sadies. The Sadies have cross-polinated a number of styles, creating their own unique brand of contemporary music, which draws upon 60s garage rock, psychedelia, surf, roots and of course country. The Sadies have collaborated with the likes of Neko Case, Andre Williams, John Doe and Neil Young.

In this 12-minute podcast, Good discusses the influence of musicians Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. He also reflects on the importance of the Fender Telecaster and Mosrite guitars in the music, and pays homage to Don Rich, Roy Nichols and Clarence White of the Byrds and to the lesser-known session player Alvino Ray, considered to be the father of the pedal steel guitar. The interview fades out with a portion of the song “The Trial” from The Sadies.

Next episode, "Re-Coding California" - urban development and its challenges in the Golden State with UCLA's Jon Christensen.

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