Stolen from the Radio 06/04: Petunia & the Vipers

Earlier this year, I started producing a radio show on CJLO (1690AM) called Edge of the City. It’s on every Monday from Noon to 2PM. You know what’s great about having access to a college radio station? I get to raid their library. Know what that means? It means that every Monday, I’m going to grab a bunch of random albums from the station, listen to them, and feature the best one here. Enjoy!

There was something creepy awaiting my hands in the bin today. Nope, it wasn’t a rodent, though the name of this band certainly reminded me of one. For a while, we had a pet rat named Petunia at MainLine Theatre. She was supposed to be fed to our pet snake but he rejected her, so we kept her around. Eventually, she was set free. None of the sounds she created around the office were anywhere near as lovely as the songs within the record I’m about to share with you. Really, the only thing that rat and this band had in common was a name, and that I really like ‘em. Ladies and gents, this is Petunia & the Vipers.

Well that video was…interesting. I wish there was a better sample out there for me to share with all of you. Petunia’s brand of old-time folk really stands out to me from the seemingly endless amounts of it I’ve been exposed to over the last year. There’s a track on their latest self-titled record called “Mercy” which is absolutely, heart-breakingly gorgeous, and which really highlights the unique vocals that are intermittently presented throughout this album. You can stream that whole album by jumping over to here, I just wish I could embed something within this post. Petunia & the Vipers have really put together a fantastic record with this release, tugging at heartstrings and dancing shoes alike. Have yourself some listens, and share your thoughts!

-Al

P.S.: Edge of the City will be broadcasting from different locations for the next 3 weeks, so this column’s taking a bit of a break!