Woody Radio DJ Mike Show #145 9/5/2020: Interviews with The Bookends and The Cherry Bluestorms

Summer is winding down. Summer is heating up. How can I hold these two, seemingly opposite thoughts in my head at once? Easy. We’re starting to book some interview doubleheaders on The Saturday Thing, and we started off the series with a bang. On this week’s show, I visited with both The Bookends and The Cherry Bluestorms. Talk about being fortunate and lucky, to have both great bands on my show on the same day!

The Bookends are a first cousin duo (literally born 12 days apart) of Karen Lynn and Sharon Lee. Karen’s in Pennsylvania, and Sharon’s in Arizona. But they grew up together, and were inseparable, first rockin’ out to music on the radio and TV as small children, then picking up instruments and forming their own bands when they got a little older. Both sets of parents were very encouraging, and their love of 60s music was passed on to the daughters.

In 2018, they started out with their debut EP, “Far Away, But Around”, and now for 2020, their first full length, “Calliope”. And although you can hear the 60’s influences in their music, their arrangements rock a little harder and louder than you might think, and their harmonies are just right. Most of their songs are sung in unison, rather than lead/background vocals, so there’s an extra fullness in their sound. It’s a fun, upbeat listen with some real life experience built into the lyrics. It’s coming out September 18th on Jem Records as digital–and some sweet pink vinyl, so you’ll want to get that order in ASAP. More info can be found at https://www.facebook.com/thebookends2.

Later on in the show, I had the chance to catch up with Deborah Gee and (former Dickies member) Glen Laughlin of The Cherry Bluestorms. Our own queen bee Gidget requested this one, and I was glad to make it happen. Deborah and Glen had been on my old Twirl Radio show many times, and I’ve seen them play live several times, at both ends of the state of California (more or less, geographically speaking). So this was their Woody Radio debut.

It was an interesting time to get them on the show, because they didn’t necessarily have any newly-released music to talk about. But it had been a couple of years since their excellent “Whirligig!” album, so we considered this a “mid-semester progress report”, rather than the full report card.

But what was really cool about this conversation, is that I caught them while each is putting the finishing touches on solo records. No, The Cherry Bluestorms are not breaking up–the audio record of this show proves that they are still speaking to each other! But this 2020-induced break in the action is providing a bit of an opportunity to finish up Deborah’s “Geeology”, and Glen’s “Half-Life”. They were both kind enough to provide a couple of tracks from each album, and you can hear why these are solo records rather than receiving the full Bluestorms treatment.

As you’d expect, Deborah’s songs really highlight her wonderfully expressive voice. Her vocals have always struck the perfect balance between coolness and emotionally charged. And Glen’s songs–well, they show off a new side of his voice. He does sing lead on some of the Cherry Bluestorms material, but he really opens up on these new songs.

We will definitely have these two back on the show when they’re ready to release their albums. There’s even another Cherry Bluestorms album in the works as well. But it was great to catch up, and see what they’ve been up to. I assure you, they’ve been up to great things. More info (and pick up Whirligig!) at: http://thecherrybluestorms.com/.

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