I just received that KCSN management has pulled the plug on Tied To The Tracks.  LA loses one of it's greatest Americana assets.

Damn... it's back to the teletype for news.

david

Just a quick note here:  Tied to the Tracks, Larry Wines' show on KCSN has been put on "hiatus" because of a flap with the KCSN management.  I am very saddened by the series of events leading to this - I started to write simply by looking at the number of MySpace Friends that I have met simply by being a part of the TttT broadcast crew; there are a lot!

The loss goes not so much to Larry, or any of us that crewed on the show, nor to the KCSN management and station, but to the musicians that TttT served and the venues that got their word out via Larry's show.  The TttT format was the ONLY outlet in LA to broadcast the venues where you could hear this music live and it was the only source for enthusiasts to hear what was happening where in the LA area. With in-studio live samples of the multitude of performers appearing locally, those shows could be better attended and everyone was happier.  Larry's show was a vital link of the Los Angeles Americana audience.

We all have bosses we must deal with.  I have met Fred Johnson (station manager), we had a few jokes together, talked HD radio, bass-playing (I'm predisposed to like all bass players) and I will say publicly that he made the worst cup of coffee I've had since my service in the Navy.  I have never met Martin Perlich (program director), but my opinion of him from what I know of him is incredibly low; his email to Larry stating that TttT was on hiatus insufferably condescending.  TttT was described in a recent email as a 'newsstand in a museum' and when you look at the rest of the programming on KCSN you will see it is concentrated on moldy oldie's and TttT was the only show presenting new material in the main.  I understand the oldie preponderance is Martin's take on things. All that wattage bereft of fresh ideas!  I heard on NPR (a different radio station) that a columnist is a person with no new ideas and the ability to present them well.  Maybe that is the fate of KCSN?

I am distressed by the standoff between TttT and KCSN.  If I were able to convince Larry, I'd let Martin have his 'victory.'  No one really wins anyway, it's all just fluff and posturing.  In conflicts like this no one can out-asshole an asshole and keep their dignity.  I've tried and I've always hated the asshole I became in order to achieve a victory.  It's like a democracy resorting to torture.  I want the music back on the air and I don't care who wins this round.  The insults can be glossed over - the 'eye on the prize' is air time for Americana music in LA because that loss is significant and palpably harmful. I hate being subjected to arrogance probably more than most, yet, I have been able to swallow hard and move on - it's not the words that are important here - what IS important here is what programming will occupy the four hours between 6 and 10 AM, Saturday morning at KCSN and how that will affect the greater musician population of Los Angeles. 

If you are a TttT listener, or a musician who depends on an audience to support your music, please email KCSN's management team (fred@kcsn.org or mperlich@kcsn.org) and ask that Tied to the Tracks be returned to the airways and let this silliness die from neglect.

david

This refers to where we played on Sunday, 29 April, 2007. 

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-river28apr28,0,2578108.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

Hey all - if you're interested in what at least one of us thinks about all the time, go on over to see David's blog - with a couple of new additions every month or so.