Album Notes

Live Wire! Live - Vol 1. is a collection of stellar musical performances from the first year of Live Wire! Radio.

Marty Hughley of the Oregonian writes of the compilation:

"...And so it is that "Live Wire! Live, Volume One" arrives as a sweet collection, indeed.

The 14-song disc captures musical highlights from "Live Wire!," the comedy/variety radio show aired monthly on Oregon Public Broadcasting...When it comes to the music, the disc makes good on the show's mission to present the flavor of the Northwest. Brooklyn-based Brit John Wesley Harding starts it all off with his devilishly witty "Goth Girl," but that's the only nonregional entry. Folk/funk singer Laura Love is the only other act not from Portland.

That focus in no way limits the variety, which ranges from the dusky Americana of Amelia to the show's antic house band Klezmocracy. Tracks are sequenced smartly to flow smoothly between styles. Each tune is tasty in its own way, from the vaudevillian approach of Trashcan Joe to the melancholy drama by the Decemberists' Colin Meloy. The Stolen Sweets and Reggie Houston's Box of Chocolates hit notes of toothsome nostalgia. ...So dig in and enjoy."

Dig in, indeed. Order this strikingly varied compilation CD and discover why the music of the Northwest is garnering so much national attention. With so many incredibly talented musicians wandering around our beautiful, rainy, beer-and-coffee-infused corner of the world, something wonderful was bound to happen. And it did.