"Real Gone, eh? Ok, what's that about?" Simply this. Originally, I was gonna call the show "Carryin' On," which would convey that it would be a radio program carrying on in the long-time free-form tradition of the late great Baba O'Lear, who did his wonderfully comprehensive and astute "Shades Of It" here on the X on Sunday nights from '97 to '05. I told the folks at the X that if they ever wanted to get that free-form, old school FM thing back on in that time slot, I'd be up for it. In relatively quick fashion, it came together. I decided to go with the name "Real Gone" instead, due to its hipster vagueness, which is appealing.
It's not particularly easy to "bag" the show, because it roams about in a fairly large musical pasture, a programming philosophy meant to harken directly back to the good old days of the late 60's and early 70's, when the original KSANs and KZAPs and all were unleashed upon American air waves. Back in the mid-90's, we had a catch phrase about the X where we said the music spanned "From Frank to Frank," meaning from Sinatra to Zappa. I would say that still holds true for Real Gone. It's a show where Thelonious Monk can sidle up to the String Cheese Incident, where Joni Mitchell can hang with Jerry Reed, and where Dean Martin can have a drink with Beck. As such, it's a radio show that depends upon a certain "surprise" factor to give it an enjoyable kick. Some Sunday night, between 6 and 8, turn off all the t.v., get in your comfy chair, pour yourself a nice cold medicinal, and just settle in and go one on one with the radio. See if you get gone, somehow. See if you can get some "kicks" from the radio. Cheers.
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Roots Rock Revival with Mark Keefe
