The Bakersfield Sound movement, or musical earthquake, if you will, was one of the only "bumper crops" to come out of the great depression and what a great harvest it yielded (pardon my mix of metaphors).  The Bakersfield Sound revival, a belated musical aftershock, if you will, arrived decades later.  If I may mix my metaphors one more time, a brand new bumper crop was harvested in 2009, and much of it will be revealed on this week's broadcast of Bakersfield and Beyond.

2009 ended with a bang, or, rather, with a twang.  Contrary to what you may be reading in the newspapers, 2009 wasn't all bad.  One of the best things to come out of 2009 was a brand new radio show that woke up a sleeping giant known as the Bakersfield Sound.  By playing the Bakersfield Sound classics (along with more obsure BS gems), along with newer songs by artists grounded in, or influenced by the Bakersfield Sound, Mike Varley and Amanda  Eichstaedt, the shows co-hosts started a brand new Bakersfield Sound earthquake with the epicenter being in Marin County, of all places. 

Robert Price, in his Bakersfield Californian article, summarized the phenomenon more elegantly than I ever could:

Price's piece on "Bakersfield and Beyond"

I believe that for the radio show was the missing link in the evolution of the Bakersfield Sound---the missing link that, by its missing status, caused a conspicuous skip in the beat, and a near-"fatal" disconnect between Bakersfield Sound generations of yore, and the generations that followed. 

I call Bakersfield and Beyond "the savior of the sound," and I think experts like Robert Price and others would agree that my characterization of the show, and its effect, is no exaggeration.   

This week, on Bakersfield and Beyond, a new year for the show is kicked off as Mike and Amanda pay tribute to 2009, with some lists they've generated.  Have I aroused your curiousity?  I hope so, and I'll let them reveal additional details that are bound whet your appetite---all contained within the boundaries of their blog:

Bakersfield and Beyond blog

In summary, if you want another year to begin and end with a TWANG, I'd recommend that you stay tuned (literally) by streaming the show here Thursday from 6:40 pm to 8:30 pm (or listening to it on the airwaves if you live near Marin County):

KWMR