Bang & Jangle Radio Hour, Season 3, Episode 5: Smooth as Butter Part II

Carla Kihlstedt

My four-part series on vocal timbre came to an end last night with a look at smooth-voiced female singers. It's a bit harder to pinpoint a voice as "smooth," at least as compared to a gravelly voice, but whether my research methodology was scientific or not, these ladies sure can sing:

Blind Mamie Forehand - Honey in the Rock
The Dezurik Sisters - Go to Sleep My Darling Baby
The Viennese Seven Singing Sisters - William Tell Overture
The Kossoy Sisters - What Will We Do with the Baby O?
Iris DeMent - Everlasting Arms
Mahalia Jackson - On My Way to Canaan Land
Nina Simone- I Got It Bad (and that Ain't Good)
Joanna Newsom - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie
Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
Carla Kihlstedt - Peel
Jolie Holland - Mad Tom of Bedlam
Frazey Ford - I Like You Better
Feist - Secret Heart
The Silver Hearts - Steam Casts a Shadow
Willow Rutherford - Old Men Knitting Sweaters

I was happy to provide a horse dose of second-to-none Can Con in the second half of the show, and this episode also turned up a few entire albums I think I'll be listening to on a regular basis. But as the Bang & Jangle Radio Hour has ventured into more conventional songwriting territory in search of gorgeous voices, next week I'll try and showcase the experimental, instrumental side of the show.

By the way, if you're wondering what happened to the soapbox banjo series, Part III is still on the way. The banjo is finished, and it doesn't seem fair not to post a few sound samples along with the photos. Between this show, hosting the open mic, preparing for a Kurt Weill concert and holding down my day job I haven't found the time yet, but I guarantee I'll get to it on the weekend.

The Bang & Jangle Radio Hour airs Mondays 9:00-10:00 p.m. on Trent Radio, 92.7 in Peterborough, or online at http://www.trentradio.ca/stream.htm.

Listen to this episode:

Season 3, Episode 5