THE
TROUGH LINKS PAGE
Some of our favorite places to visit on
the web...totally arbitrary and based purely on shameless favoritism...Trough
Records, its artists and friends recommend these sites for relaxation,
edification and just goofing off:
SONGWRITERS AND BANDS:
SEVERIN
BROWNE Owner of one of the
sweetest voices in town, Severin is also a crafty tunesmith with a tremendous
sense of melody unmatched among his peers. Find out about all of Severin's
albums, his upcoming shows, his guitar classes and lots of other handy info.
WENDY
CONRAD Smooth of voice and
with a winning songwriting style, Wendy Conrad's talents are thoroughly
displayed on her CD, "Ghosts That Aren't Mine." Visit her web site
and order yourself a copy!
ROBERT
MORGAN FISHER Songs of the rough-and-tumble. Robert's tunes walk the
distance from the humorous to the tragic, with something to say along the
entire path. Check out his Imperative Records site, where you can also learn
about his career as an award-winning writer of fiction.
BeJAE FLEMING. BeJae Fleming's songs are matched
only by her soaring, comforting voice in their ability to convey total,
unmasked emotion. A touring singer/songwriter based in Ames, Iowa, this native
North Carolinian uses blues, folk and touches of jazz, country and rock to
bring a delightful, critically-acclaimed mix of joy and passion together in one
package. Plus we think she's a really nice person! Not a bad package if you ask
us.
JEFF
GOLD. Singer/songwriter,
producer and host of his own TV show, "Acoustic Café," Jeff is one
busy guy. Check out his CD Baby site, buy his critically-acclaimed album
"The Journey" and by God hire him to produce your record!
RITT HENN
One of the coolest, classiest
artists we’ve ever met, Ritt is among the finest bass players in the U.S. and a
songwriter of unique (twisted?) ability. Find out about Ritt, his career
playing with some of the world's most acclaimed musicians, and his TV show
"A Man, a Bass and a Box of Stuff Starring Ritt Henn" (what's the
deal with all these guys with their own TV shows??). And don't forget to pick
up one of Ritt's highly-acclaimed CDs, "It's Me!" and "Goin'
Back." Bass-a-licious!
ELENI
KELAKOS What a voice! What songs! Find out
why Eleni has been wowing crowds all over America for so long.
THE
KENNEDYS Pete and Maura
Kennedy are two of the most intriguing performers in the acoustic/Americana
realm. Not quite folk, not quite rock...music full of the strains of 60s pop
and lyrics full of intelligence, wit and emotional depth, all played with raw,
jubilant enthusiasm. And their live performances are among the most dynamic
we've ever seen. Check out this fun and informative web site...and if you see
they're coming to your town, you MUST go!
JUDY KRUEGER Visit Judy's home site, find out about
her three critically-acclaimed CDs and get the scoop on one of the Acoustic
Underground's busiest artists and showcasers, Judy is not only a talented
writer of some beautiful songs, she's also one of the "good guys" on
the scene.
THE
MATTHEW LEE BAND One of the
most intense, gifted songwriters on the scene, with a band that'll knock yer
socks off!
ANDREA
LOUISE . Longstanding denizen of the L.A. club scene, Andrea plays with
a group--an extended family, really--of some of the best of the best singers
and musicians in Southern California. Her songs speak of love and life and all
the spaces in-between.
BRETT
PERKINS Disarmingly
beautiful melodies and words of love and wisdom. Brett has a new CD and is
touring and living in Europe. Learn all about him right here.
DARRYL
PURPOSE He tours nonstop.
He mesmerizes audiences with intense, carefully-crafted stories culled from the
broadest edges of the human condition. He's one of "us" here in L.A.
acoustic underground, but he's become...dare we say it?...a star. Find out why.
ELLEN
ROSNER .From Chicago comes the energetic, vibrant voice of Ellen Rosner.
Visit Ellen's website, find out about her music, read about what's going on
around Chicagoland's folk circuit...have some fun!
SANDY ROSS From folk to blues to pure soul,
Sandy's music has moved audiences from coast to coast. Find out how to order
her brand new album "Coloring Outside the Lines," as well as her
first CD, "Portraits of Innocence," plus a whole lot more.
JIM
SAVARINO A folk
singer's folk singer. Jim's music has been played all over the U.S. folk
circuit, by himself and many others who have covered these sweet, open and
honest songs. Jim's style is pure American folk.
MUSIC RESOURCES:
FOLKMUSIC.ORG The premier resource for folk and
acoustic music online. There is so much data here you will risk the chance of
falling in and never coming out. Bring provisions.
INDEPENDENT SONGWRITER WEB
MAGAZINE The name says it
all. Excellent presentation and gads of information.
INDIEGRRL Spearheaded by the irrepressible
Holly Figueroa, Indiegrrl is the standard bearer for the next wave of music by
women. Supporting local, regional and national tours and events featuring
female singer/songwriters and performers from the entire spectrum of popular
music, Indiegrrl provides help, advice and lots and lots of information for any
woman who wants to break through and in to the music industry. One of the hottest
sites on the Internet, and for good reason.
LIL'
HANK'S GUIDE FOR SONGWRITERS Columns,
articles, links, even a "Shmoozarama Message Board." Time to network,
kids.
LYRICIST.COM Songwriting chat, songwriting tips,
links, interviews, advice and much more.
MUSI-CAL One of the best places on the web to
find out where anyone from the biggest names to your favorite local artists are
playing. Many great resources all in one location.
THE
MUSE'S MUSE Articles,
classifieds, links to music organizations, chat rooms--a full-service
songwriter's resource website.
RAMBLES MAGAZINE A staff of volunteers who love music
of all kinds--and they have reviews of all of it! Spend some time to see if
there are any new CDs you may not have heard of.
RADIO:
ACOUSTIC-CONNECTIONS WITH WALT
GRAHAM Walt has been a friend and supporter for years now. The
most-listened to folk/acoustic music program in southern Connecticut and Long
Island. Broadcast on WSHU-FM in Fairfield, CT, Acoustic-Connections supports
and presents songwriters from all over the world, and you can stream recent
shows to hear just how good they are.
COAST
TO COAST AM Find out about the real underside of
the American psyche (and stay up all night!) Hosted on the weekends by founding
host Art Bell and during the week by weirdo compatriot George Noory (Bell broadcasts
live from his home in the middle of the Nevada desert, just down the road from
Area 51---no, really), this show features the strangest collection of guests
you'll ever hear on the radio (or anywhere else for that matter). From the
supernatural to UFOs, remote viewing to government conspiracies of every
possible ilk, Noory and Bell give voice to those who want to tell you THE
TRUTH---at least as they see it, which we suppose is better than letting these
folks roam the streets where they may possibly end up sitting next to you on
the Number 12 bus. The website itself is weird, but you really haven't
experienced the Coast-to-Coast-AM vibe until it's 1:48 a.m., you're driving
on a lonely desert road listening to the show as a single pair of headlights
show up in your rear view mirror about a mile behind you while some freak
caller from Green Dog, Georgia is telling Art or George about how he was kidnapped
and experimented upon by little pink sawtoothed weasel creatures from the
Swlxmpr Galaxy. Easily the best entertainment value in American media, no
contest.
THE BRITISH
BROADCASTING CORPORATION
If you have a computer, you can listen to how the news is reported by
Europe’s most respected broadcaster.
You can also listen to music and entertainment programming. It’s all here, and it’s all free.
FOLKSCENE For over 30 years now, Roz and
Howard Larman have hosted the one and only constant island of folk and acoustic
music in Los Angeles. FolkScene presents the best live music by a who's-who of
singer/songwriters and folk performers each and every week on L.A.’s iconic KPFK-FM. Under the talented hand of engineer Peter Cutler, this is the
best sounding live music you will hear on the radio ANYWHERE. The Larmans also
present a calendar of upcoming events and spin the latest in recorded folk and
acoustic music. An institution.
KCRW-FM/SANTA
MONICA Arguably the
most influential public radio station in the country, and certainly west of the
Mississippi. KCRW is one slick customer, with the widest array of audio news
and entertainment we're aware of. A fine balance of NPR and local news
programs, radio drama/comedy and cutting-edge music from around the globe. And
it's the home of Harry Shearer's consistently remarkable, hilarious "Le
Show," which you can hear live every Sunday morning from 10 to 11 a.m.
Pacific time.
THE
RADIO LOCATOR This is
it. Stop. Go no further. This is where you need to go to find stations
broadcasting on the Internet, all over the world...that's right, we said ALL
OVER THE WORLD. Spend two or three days here and eventually you'll be able to
bookmark a whole bunch of radio stations you can listen to on your computer
which play what you like to hear. Take some time. Explore.
SIRIUS
SATELLITE RADIO (See also
XM Satellite Radio, below.)
The future of radio is satellite radio. Yes it is, and don’t argue. And if you’re a subscriber, you can listen to all of Sirius’ commercial-free music channels
on your computer.
WFHB-FM/BLOOMINGTON,
INDIANA Situated in
the old fire house in downtown Bloomington, this is true community radio,
programmed totally by volunteers. Mostly music, music, music, with a few
specialty and public affairs shows sprinkled in. The morning programs (all
hosted by different people each day) feature the best in acoustic and folk
music; the late night programs spotlight alternative/cutting edge music. During
the daytime hours you're likely to hear just about anything. Listen live--in
stereo!--24 hours a day.
WMNF-FM/TAMPA One of a growing number of
public radio stations playing a wide array of original music just about all the
time. Live music shows and singer/songwriters you may not hear anywhere else,
all broadcast live on the web. Definitely
a Western Florida feel, too.
WUMB/BOSTON Folk and acoustic music 24 hours a
day. Period. The most influential folk station in the United States. And you
can listen on the web.
XM
SATELLITE RADIO (See
also Sirius Satellit Radio, above.) Like Sirius, XM provides a huge variety of choices,
available without interruption throughout the Continental U.S.---and like
Sirius, subscribers can listen to all the commercial-free music channels on the
Internet.
COMEDY:
DAVE BARRY
We keep waiting for Barry to
plunge headlong into the evil "sounds just like every other column"
vortex which Erma Bombeck (may God rest her soul) and Art Buchwald (may he live
a long life and retire from writing immediately) fell into and remained in long
past their prime. Dave Barry, believe it or not, is still FUNNY. The veteran
syndicated columnist can still conjure up commentary about everyday suburban
American (or is it American suburban?) life that's fresh and on-target. Plus
it'll make you laugh yourself stupid. Visit Dave's personal site, where you can
read his most recent column as well as dozens of past columns. Come on now. Yuk
it up a little.
MAD
MAGAZINE You probably grew
up with it. Log on here and discover why you probably haven't outgrown it.
NATIONAL
LAMPOON Some of the finest
writers in comedy started here, acting like smartass college puds. Well, maybe
some of these folks will be famous someday...
THE ONION Oh God. This must be Heaven. Look
the word "Satire" up in the dictionary and The Onion home page might
just be pictured there. Nothing and no one is sacred here, and the absurdities
are downright exquisite. Updated weekly, so make it a habit.
HARRY
SHEARER They don't make
satirists like this anymore. Creator and imitator of dozens of voices,
including most of your favorites on "The Simpsons," former member of
the groundbreaking Credibility Gap, sometime bass player for Spinal Tap and
host of the weekly "Le Show" on radio, Shearer is one of a kind and,
yes, an American Treasure.
NEWS, POLITICS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS
AND OPINION:
ASSOCIATED
PRESS The Ten Thousand
Pound Gorilla. You wanna know. They gotta tell you.
CABLE NEWS
NETWORK The original
24-hour news network has one fine, up-to-the-minute website. Still the world
champ for breaking news, here's the website to go to if something big is happening
and you can't get to a cable-enabled television. Hmm.....cable enabled....quite
a ring to that...
C-SPAN You can actually watch (not
just listen--but WATCH) C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 using RealPlayer
or Windows Media Player. Plus you
can find out just about anything about any subject involving the government or
public affairs, completely unedited with no editorial content added. Strictly
for people who don't like to be told what to think.
THE
DRUDGE REPORT Raw but
always cutting edge, Matt Drudge is sometimes so far ahead of the curve on
breaking political stories that he's made everyone from the high and mighty to
the Cream of the Media Crop absolutely livid...and jealous. Links to virtually
every major news and opinion source out of and related to the Beltway. This is
the first place to go to find out who's doing what to whom in Washington--then
it's always best to see what everyone else is saying about what Drudge has
said.
THE FOX
NEWS CHANNEL Run by
media mega-mogul Rupert Murdoch, The Fox News Channel boasts that it is the
only major news outlet that is "fair and balanced." "We Report,
You Decide" is their motto, which really means that most of their
programming leans to the right about as much as outlets like CNN lean to the
left. This makes it a nice counterbalance to those other news channels, but we
recommend that you watch them all. Of particular note on FNC is "Special
Report with Brit Hume" (weekdays at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time and repeated at
midnight Eastern Time), probably the best all-around daily political roundup on
American television.
MOTHER
JONES News, commentary and humor from about
as far Left as you can get. Pay attention. You might learn something. (See also
National Review, below.)
MSNBC A partnership between NBC and
Microsoft, so as you might imagine, it's very computer-geek-friendly. News
features and polls lean toward the tabloid, but some good stuff.
NATIONAL
REVIEW News, commentary and humor from about
as far Right as you can get. Pay attention. You might learn something. (See
also Mother Jones Mojo Wire, above.)
NEWSWEEK More chatty than Time, usually
better writing if you're a political junkie. Check it out.
THE NEW
YORK SUN Some interesting
competition for the venerable Times, this newspaper sports a vast array
of interesting columnists.
THE NEW
YORK TIMES By far the
most respected American newspaper. Shut up, it's the most respected American
newspaper, and we're not entertaining arguments to the contrary. Even if you don’t like its content, this
is the only place to start when you’re serious about consuming news. And you can still get it FREE on-line.
Why get newsprint all over your hands--and why oh why read that fish wrap
masquerading as your local Gazette? Click this on with your morning java, Joe.
Smarten up.
TIME MAGAZINE Do we really have to say
anything about Time Magazine? Please.
UNITED PRESS
INTERNATIONAL The
Twenty-Five Hundred Pound Gorilla. Maybe.
THE
WASHINGTON POST Get your Beltway fix. Still some
pretty damn fine reporting, and the columnists and political cartoonists are
the best anywhere. It'd like to think of itself as Our Nation's Newspaper. It
might be.
THE
WASHINGTON TIMES A definite
counterpoint to the Post, with an excellent array of conservative
commentary.
PARTISAN POLITICS: We believe in raucous, impolite, partisan political
debate, and hope you do too. Here, in strict alphabetical order, are links to a
bunch of American political parties and interest groups from the most liberal
to the most conservative, and many of the in-betweens. We could tell you which
ones we tend to agree with and which ones we think are full of it, but we think
you should decide for yourself--besides, you may have a different opinion than
we do! If you think we should add a party or organization to the Links Page,
send us an e-mail message and let us know
about it.
Political Parties:
GREEN
PARTIES OF NORTH AMERICA
Interest Groups and Think Tanks:
AMERICAN
CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
NATIONAL
ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ACTION LEAGUE
NATIONAL
EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL
ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN
PEOPLE
FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
DICTIONARY SERVICES:
DICTIONARY.COM Need to look up a word? Check
the spelling? Make sure you understand the definition before you make a social
faux-pas in front of a large group of people? Want to cross-reference a word to
Roget's Thesaurus? You don't need a book on your desk anymore, pal. Just click
here.
MERRIAM-WEBSTER
ONLINE A thoroughly
detailed site with all sorts of interesting links. And of course it's run by
the company that defines American language.
OTHER STUFF WE LIKE:
ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS Say what
you will, this is an organization whose plan works. And no one's watching you
right now, so why not take a look?
AMAZON.COM Siddown. Shaddap. Read a book.
PLUS!!! You can now order albums by all Trough Records' artists here! Spend
some money on us, kids...we'd appreciate it.
BEER.COM Yes ladies, such a thing
exists. And if your man spends more than five hours a day here, you might want
to check out the link to Alcoholics Anonymous, above....or maybe just start
talking more sports with him.
THE CLASSROOM Operated by Sandy Arroyo, a
teacher we met in Marietta, Georgia. Too much stuff to try to explain. Loads of
links to lots of places where you can find out everything from how to play
music to how to improve your knowledge of social studies. No really.
LOS ANGELES
DODGERS Okay, we're
Dodger fans, so sue us. Order tickets, keep up with the team, listen to classic
replays of Dodger games from the past and generally get lost in Blue Lore. You can keep yer lousy Statue of
Liberty; bah to Mount Rushmore...we've got Vin Scully, baby, and you don't.
Deal with it.
MAPQUEST If you're a road junkie like
we are, you're going to love this site. Route a trip from anywhere to anywhere
else, door-to-door if you like, so you'll never get lost. No, really. How do
they do it? (See also Rand McNally.Com, below.)
MAYBERRY.COM Oh my. Well, if you want to
completely give up all hope of having friends . . . family . . . sex . . . pets
. . . just come here, where you can become a virtual citizen of Mayberry, North
Carolina and spend the rest of your days lost in a web ring, wandering from
site to site communicating with people just as--or even more--hopeless than
you, debating the relative merits of the Ken Berry era vs. the Jim Nabors era.
You'll never have to leave your home again, even to get food, because you can
go to...
THE HARRY NILSSON WEB PAGES "A Little Touch of
Schmilsson on the Web." If you're a lover of Harry's life and music, you will
never need another place to visit. You can link to the "Everybody's
Talkin' Newsletter," the official Nilsson Fan Club and over 20 other
Harry-friendly sites. For goodness' sake, the webmaster is even somebody named
"Oblio." We're sure you get The Point.
RAND McNALLY.COM
The undisputed champ
among America's map makers. Among this site's charms are an unusually reliable
road directions function and the ability to locate road construction on any
highway in the United States, so if you're planning a trip, check this out
first. (See also Mapquest, above.)
ROADSIDE
AMERICA "Your
online guide to offbeat attractions." This is simply the most fun you'll
have traveling without ever leaving your home. And if you do decide to venture
forth, this website will tell you where to go in the U.S. for strange, weird,
crazy and/or downright scary roadside oddities. Smartass, offbeat, well-written
and incredibly comprehensive, here's your spot to find out such gems as the
history of the giant Muffler Men and an in-depth exploration of drive-thru
trees, plus so much more. What a country...
SNOPES.COM Spend hours learning about all those
weird stories you swore you heard from reliable sources, but in fact
are...uh....less than completely accurate. A hoot!
VACUUM
KITTY PRODUCTIONS Who the
hell are these people??? We know, but we're not telling. Exquisitely haphazard,
with a method to its madness, the site features a (San Francisco) Bay Area Job
Resource Page and a babies page, among a host of other stuff you've never
contemplated. Impossible to describe.
THE WEATHER
CHANNEL You need to
know this information. Yes, you do.
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Say, faithful visitor, do you have any
suggestions for websites we can link from here? Then, by all means please e-mail us with your suggestions!
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE TROUGH RECORDS HOME PAGE .
DISCLAIMER: The links presented on this page are solely for the
information and entertainment of those who visit our site. Trough Records is
not responsible for, nor does it endorse, any of the statements, opinions,
products, services and/or any other material contained in the websites linked
from this page. Trough Records makes no representations or warranties of any kind
with regard to the content of the sites linked from this page.
© 1998-2005 Trough Records. All rights
reserved.