Last week when I wrote about “Pancho and Lefty” I hadn’t realized that the man who made that song famous was having his birthday right around the corner. Today, American songwriter and Outlaw Country Music King Willie Nelson turns 75. NPR’s Fresh Air did a nice piece on Willie today, you can check it out here (audio available after 3 PM EST). They also played a portion of an interview and live set he did with Terry Gross from a few years back, and you can hear the whole thing here.

Willie Nelson will release a live album with acclaimed jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on July 8th on Blue Note Records. Entitled Two Men With The Blues, the album was compiled from a two-night stand at the Lincoln Center in January of 2007. I got my advance press copy last week, and while the blues ranks kinda far down the list of my favorite genres, the disc is legit, showcasing two masters of American music. Here’s a teaser:

The other morning I was lucky enough to catch Terry Gross interviewing Zac and Ethan Holzman from Dengue Fever on her nationally syndicated interview show, Fresh Air. For those unfamiliar, the band is reviving Cambodian Pop, a style of music that became all but extinct during the time of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge.
Originally created during the Vietnam conflict, Cambodian Pop was the result of locals listening to American Armed Forces radio, grooving on the psychedelic San Francisco / post-British Invasion sound and mixing it with their native language and instruments. Then shortly after, Pol Pot and his cronies took power and murdered most of Cambodia’s intellectuals and artists, rendering the fledgling musical style all but destroyed. Nearly 30 years later, in comes Dengue Fever, a group of Americans plus a Cambodian singer, who proceed to re-record classic Cambodian Pop songs, as well as their own originals in the style. And it’s super ill.

I interviewed Dengue Fever’s bassist Senon Williams and singer Chhom Nimo (the latter at the time spoke very limited engrish) as the 2nd Annual Ioda SXSW Party in 2006. It’s great to see the band picking up steam and turning a new generation onto rad psychedelic rock. Their new album, Venus On Earth, is available now.

After listening to Stephen Colbert’s NPR interview yesterday, I was reminded just how awesome he is. I haven’t had the joys of cable TV for a while now, which may lead to me buying his book, I Am America (And So Can You!).

Just look at that marvolous piece of literature. I’m not sure if it’s actually marvelous, as I haven’t read it yet, but if you listened to Colbert read from his book in the Fresh Air episode (above-linked), then you know it’s probably going to be good. Anyway, during the interview they spoke about his White House Correspondent’s Dinner speech, bashing George Bush while sitting an arm’s length away, so I looked it up today…and enjoyed reliving every moment. God Bless you Stephen Colbert…God Bless and keep you.

there’s a long excerpt of the book after the jump for your enjoyment.
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