Leaders to help her sell her bricks a plan at home yesterday she postponed a parliamentary vote after realizing she would not secure enough support to pass her proposal for guiding the u.k. Out of the European Union and the u.k. Is due to leave even less than 4 months May has been on a diplomatic tour in the Netherlands and Germany to secure help however the message to her so far is that while there may be compromise on political language there will be no further negotiations on Breck's it after 117 years church bells at the center of a dispute between the United States in the Philippines are back home the spirit of MacArthur a u.s. Cargo plane touched down at a Manila Air Base carrying the iconic bells the presidential palace of the Philippines hailed their return as a milestone in relations between the 2 countries N.P.R.'s Julie McCarthy was at the handover u.s. Ambassador son Kim signed the certificate the gave back the bells they gathered to welcome the return of the bells a bell and got to the Philippines people it has been a long road home the bells have been taken as war booty in 1901 during the u.s. Philippine war and one of the costliest campaigns for both sides retired u.s. Military clergy researchers and descendants of the fall and had spearheaded the return effort President Rodrigo to territory trained a spotlight on the bells last year demanding them back he told Defense Secretary James Mattis who formally authorized their return last month helping close one of the darkest chapters in a shared history Julie McCarthy n.p.r. News Manila I'm Lakshmi saying n.p.r. News support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include Farmers Insurance committed to helping people understand the ends and outs of insurance so they can prepare for life's ups and downs coverage options and more information can be found at Farmer's dot com and the and he Casey Foundation. This is Fresh Air I'm Terry Gross after pledging to never make an album of Christmas songs my guest roots and rockabilly musician j.d. MacPherson has broken that promise and I'm really glad he did his new album socks features his original holiday songs and they're really fun Macpherson and his band came to our studio last week with their instruments to play some of those new Christmas songs and talk about music and other things McPherson is a songwriter singer and guitarist who was described by music critic Ann Powers as a supreme rock re inventor McPherson grew up far away from the hubs of the music world on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma his father runs the ranch his mother is a preacher before becoming a full time musician McPherson taught art for 4 years to students in middle school his Christmas album socks is his 4th album Welcome all of you to Fresh Air It's so exciting to have you here in the new Christmas album is great j d m going to ask you to introduce the 1st song and to introduce the members of the band certainly So my name's j.d. McPherson and over to my left is everybody else that's Doug Corcoran the utility guy plays everything Jimmy Sutton on bass Ray has sold plays keys back and vocals and our friend Jason Smail on drums Jason isn't here I should say that's correct to loud we're not going to be hearing him he's too loud he's in a straight jacket. To a lot of for a little studio Ok do one introduce the 1st song yeah this is all the gifts I need . This. Is me. Down to stay. Around. Me only. Thing. I get. Cut off. Out in the midst. Of the real. The real. Thing. Thank you so much for performing that is so great this is in our studio we heard j.d. McPherson on vocals and guitar to me Sutton bass and guitar also singing backup vocals Doug Cochran. And Ray has sold Oh and that is one of the songs that's also featured on. The new album which is called socks and it's an album of original Christmas songs and it's really fun just like this and we just heard j.d. Why did you want to do Christmas album I'm glad you did it. Why did you want to well I didn't want to for a long time we had done a Christmas song so I you know I started. Professional it touring I guess you call it I always had bands but I started touring pretty you know in my thirty's and once I was on the road and doing it and making it happen. Pretty much anything anyone told me to do I would do it like Ok Just please don't take this away from me so a few years back our label at the time said Why don't you do a Christmas song and I said Ok and so did it and it actually went Ok And it was real lot of fun actually a big Christmas vamp but you know we did it and then I was like I won't do any more at that was it and then you know the old saying never say never I don't know I just got the bug in my ear to do it and I always love Christmas music and I love rock and roll and there was a few things that happened that made it seem like it was Ok For one thing Nick Lowe made a record that was like a brilliant approach to holiday music and you kind of set this standard of this could be actually pretty interesting and so I have to say once we actually did it it's probably the most fun we've ever had a great record so. There's another Christmas song I'd like you to do and it's called ugly sweater blues and a lot of people intentionally wear ugly sweaters to Christmas parties really hideous ones so did you have have any like ugly sweater traditions or real ugly sweaters that you were forced to wear Well it was more of so you know I'm I am a child I have 3 older brothers and older sister and they were all out of the house when I was born I was I was a big surprise and so it wasn't really sweaters but my parents put me in the psych of velvet like tuxedoes and I could all ruffled pirate shirts and things like that and there's all these really. Believe all pictures of me with this bow haircut with these took see toes and things and you know I was 3 or 4 at the time so didn't bother me that it's humiliating right for everybody has a point where they're being forced to wear clothes that they don't really want to so ugly sweaters I think everybody even if you haven't worn them that's a that's a thing that you can always relate to that at some point your parents are going to make you wear something you don't want to wear I know the feeling I knew the feeling all right can you do that song for us so this is j.d. McPherson his band performing in our studio we're going to hear j.d. On guitar and vocals Jimmy Sutton on bass Doug Corcoran is going to be playing steel guitar and write his Soldo chimes So your ego. With the whole thing again. In Christmas Tree Music This is no man no matter. Mama Kin choose c I feel like a food. Green. As we snowflake in Come to Atlanta full red interview with Santa I need it to say. That's not a great that's such a great song. The song is written by date j.d. MacPherson who we heard on guitar and vocals and this is one of the songs that he wrote that's on the new Christmas album socks that he recorded with his band and thank you for playing us in the studio for us this is so much fun thank you for having us this is so much fun for me let's take a short break here and then we'll hear more music in our studio back after this break this is Fresh Air. I'm Peter O'Dowd at $32.00 Underwood is the youngest black woman ever elected to Congress and while she supports Nancy Pelosi to be the next speaker. Way and because of the very clear that this moment in our country is calling for great leadership and that type of leadership is not one that's limited to any one generation that's next time on here and now this afternoon at 1 o'clock here on. Your connection to News and Views This is Fresh Air and if you're just joining us my guests are Jay Dimmock 1st sin and members of his band and they have a new album of Christmas songs original songs that's called socks so j.d. I want to ask you a little bit about your past because you grew up on a cattle farm yeah in Oklahoma so describe it for us. 160 acres or thereabouts and a frame house that my dad built upon a hill southeast Oklahoma is really pretty I think it's the prettiest part of Oklahoma mountainous kind of his ark type landscape registered wrangles cattle a 940 s. Massey Harris tractor and nothing else to do but to obsess over music and drop x. Years did you have to do things on the cattle ranch Oh yeah what you have to do well you have to feed them 1st of all and that was kind of I think that's probably the the the best. The best description is waking up at 5 in the morning for school and putting out around bail makes for the cows and everything that's that's an early day for for a teenage kid so you had to do that yeah and did you have to shovel anything. No there's plenty of room you don't you don't have to worry about it too much Ok let's walk watch where you walk and my knowledge of like cattle is kind of like cattle drive Westerns like the t.v. Series rawhide No nothing like that no you just can't call and they come they come really like you calling me calm Oh yeah what's the cattle call oh I can't do it here because it's so loud but it's kind of like. Wow yeah they help you musically to learn how to do that when you're a kid you know maybe that's where the 1st thing happened you know because he said there's nothing to do except x. Abscess on music so what music were you obsessing on early on well so when my my brain sort of turned on was my older brothers were teenagers in the seventy's and so their music was kind of guitar rock classic rock they call it nowadays Cream Hendrix Led Zeppelin etc and I was interested in it and I was interested in guitar and so my older brother John Erin would teach me a thing here and there and the more I kind of listened to these things I guess became curious about what they were listening to I mean I couldn't stop. Listening in reading because it was so it was so difficult to get music I would have to call you know like the mall in Fort Smith Arkansas and place an order for 3 C.D.'s that I just read about in the cream magazine that I bought the last time I was in Fort Smith So it was like this constant sort of mining and you know you read things and you find out that you know Robert Plant was into Benny Joy-Ann the Everly Brothers and Little Richard and so I don't know when I kind of stumbled on that stuff. That was kind of a really big deal. I just remember and asking my brother also if he I started getting to kind of punk rock music and asking my brother hey John when you were around in the seventy's did you ever listen to punk rock and he said no. So that was the twain we split up there so you mentioned punk rock did you start in a punk rock band yeah so me and my friend Michel had 3 bands with the same. Just the same 2 members basically we would we would my my nephew eventually we taught him how to play bass so we had a trio and but yeah that was we played 2 shows one of them was canceled. That is and that was John Sparks as backyard. Cowboys don't really like exile you know this knocks and run you have no audience right now but we work so hard on it that may be why are some residents are discouraging you love this me music and there's been nobody to listen to it with not really a play was it was just fun it's a good it's a good thing to do and you know when you're idling your idle setting at 1415 years old is frustration so you just do stuff because you're supposed to do it and it's like you against the world and and so that's what we did now and it doesn't start talking about Christmas because you have a new Christmas album. I think that your 1st Telecaster guitar was a Christmas gift Yeah it was actually a strata caster which is weird because I mediately shifted into being a Telecaster guy after that but that was the best thing that I could have ever received I mean it was like it was just the right time I worked really hard what time was it was like probably 15 age and it was 15 and I didn't expect to get it and I had got all my my presents and I was I was you know really grateful for all of it and then all of a sudden my brother brings in this white you know it was it was the the same guitar that Wayne had in Wayne's World that he wanted to buy he said Oh yes it will be mine it literally said Wayne's World on the back of the guitar neck like it was the guitar made one for them. It was so stoked to have a real like your guitar so but then then I discovered Joe Strummer and Keith Richards and Chrissie hind all had Telecaster So I wanted to do that instead so when you were growing up on a cattle farm was it hard to. To get into town or to go to a store it sounds like you had to call stores and shopping malls and another state in order to find music yeah sounds like it was a late hit it was really isolated the nearest supermarket was about 45 minute drive I mean there's like little little country stores here and there but you know my folks would do their shopping in like McAlester Oklahoma or whatever. Very Yeah very isolated nearest neighbor was 2 and a half miles away dirt road wow yeah did you value one day I'm going to be in New York. I wanted to go to Tulsa My Space sites were much smaller we Swedes to go to we used to go shows in Tulsa and there's a really important venue there called Cain's Ballroom and I saw you know all my 1st concerts there at such an important place and I knew that the Sex Pistols had played there and Hank Williams had played there so that was like I wanted to be in Tulsa. Hear another Christmas song him with the new Ok so let me suggest one have a bad kid from your new Christmas album socks and you can you all play that for us and the musicians here are in the studio with me and. It's j.d. Macpherson and his band and we're hearing Jimmy Sutton on bass and Doug what are you playing on this. Baritone guitar Ok good play a lot of instruments one to feel. Welcome Christmas is a time to be a good baby I'm a bad bad. Stock and for the kerosene matches am good I guess I'm just a bad bad kid. The Phailin since the start of. A new town and what I did. Think I'm just misunderstood but you know I'm just. As greedy as prissy and no we got a bad bad kid he's got a black leather jacket. I guess he's just the bad bad. Amazes that my. Cock him full of. Lead to get down a day. Is mama. Was born I did not come until. Now to not be able to get a breath to scratch. Not very many. Who can't never get a breath and think that it's got. Them on the side and I voted on the mom. And the toy department people waking me and my book the movie the baton. Oh. He saw me this. Is the book we. Get the chance the bad thing is you don't. Have anything. To come. My guests are j.d. Macpherson and his band their new album of McPherson's new original Christmas songs is called Sox they'll play more music and we'll talk more after a break this is Fresh Air. For. The new of our Family Foundation supports w.h.y. Wise fresh air and its commitment to sharing ideas and encouraging meaningful conversation support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Universal Pictures with welcome tomorrow when a new film based on an inspirational true story from the director of Forrest Gump starring Steve Corella in a story about hope friendship and healing in theaters this Christmas and from Tire Rack with more than 500 tire models from 22 manufacturers and an online tool for finding tires based on vehicle means budget and brand Direct dot com helping drivers find deliver install. Some pieces of music just don't get played as often conductor Carlos Komarr calls them step children and I always. Waterings I always have a very deep love for step children in general a step child by Gustav Mahler on the next performance today from 8 pm tonight at 7 o'clock here on. Underwriting support. Provided by. Funeral Home serving families and surrounding areas since 877 giving back to our community through charitable sponsorships volunteerism and preplanning education online and Greg funerals that's g r e g g funerals dot com. This is Fresh Air I'm Terry Gross let's get back to our concert of roots and rockabilly new original Christmas songs with j.d. McPherson and his band their new Christmas album is called Sox This is his 4th album of what's sometimes called retro rock Macpherson is a songwriter singer and guitarist he grew up on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma so when did you start getting interested in rockabilly. So you know some of those some of those punk bands that I was into would do we would want to like Ok for instance the clash on one in calling they did a song called brand new Cadillac which was a cover of Iraq Billie tune. There was a couple of bands that did covers of Cochran something else it was like pretty apparent that earliest expression of rock n roll was a big influence on the seventy's punk rockers because they were like We're tired of 15 minute you know. Synthesizer solos and stuff let's just get it back to kind of street street music and so it appealed to me in that way but at the same time. There was really great musicianship on those early rock n roll records because you had drummers like Earl Palmer guitar players like Hank Garland Grady I mean all these incredible musicians sometimes playing with 17 year olds who couldn't play their instruments on the same record and I just all of that really appealed to me it was like gnashing all of these worlds together and making something really exciting so I guess that's why Jimi you're interested in the tune this is Jimmy Sutton the bass player because like you even have your own record label and studio on the labels called high style Yeah I style records and it's all it's all roots music in fact I like the description on your Web site of the label it's high style focuses on American roots music that feeds the soul. So you may want to think you do is play slap bass you know and I want I want you to demonstrate how that sounds for us absolutely. Here I'll give you to my favorites this is going to be a combination between what Willie Dixon and Bill Black. Is turning the bass into a bass and a question instrument at the same time yeah basically yeah 1st time I heard slap bass was I was really young and it was on an episode of rawhide Kemah who was playing for some reason my head I thought was Roy Clark but I don't know if he plays who's a good bass rod again yeah it's a great show but you know but yeah no along with j.d. Listening to early punk rock music it kind of when the whole rockabilly thing kind of surface around this gave us the Ok too. Get back and you know just to dive into it I mean bands like that you know the Stray Cats kind of brought it to. To a real. You know a nationwide a worldwide level and so you're playing slot base where are you slapping Oh well I'm slapping. Over the fingerboard towards the bottom and I'm playing got strings right here too and they tend to sound a little better than all steel strings but I'm here this is a single pull. And this is a. Stop and go with my hand. And he can do all kinds of tricks. Great and you know some of the early rock n rollers used their base as part of the choreography they put it under their legs or spin it around if you've done that kind of stuff on stage I used to do it all. I used to do it all and. I used to surf it stand on it lay on it you know that was just ridiculous it was a lot of fun but you know that was in my. Maybe in my twenty's teens it started in my teens sure. Why did it stop. Because everybody else started doing it and I think people expected me to do it out you know you know stand on the base again and I just want to play better you know a certain point I thought I better concentrate on the base a little bit more than jumping all over the best thing for the base either well I still have that base that I bought back in 1000. 982 I think I purchased my 1st base in downtown Chicago so you grew up in Chicago yeah I did see you and you're a city boy yeah I did not live around any cows like. J.d. Here how did you meet. My Space seriously yeah I was trying to get a gig in Chicago and I was a fan of his bands and I'm messaged him on My Space. Space Service function and then yeah I thought Here we go again and but. It was something going on there so and here we are glad you got together this is Fresh Air and if you're just joining us we're doing music in our studio today and my guests are to make fair son who is a songwriter singer and guitarist and members of his band and their new album is an album of original Christmas songs written by j. D. The album is called socks. But we're also hearing them play some music that isn't Christmas music and that is the case not Christmas music with the next song I'm going to ask you to do which is called you believe and performing in our studio and this song will be on guitar and vocals and Jimmy Sutton on bass Doug Corcoran is going to be playing baritone guitar and Ray his solo is going to be on chimes and before you hear j.d. Introduce the song for us tell us about the inspiration for the song Jubilee. We're making the last record and I had this kind of chord progression started and I worked on this with Ray actually. And the lyrics were written I think almost like overnight I wrote it for the next day session which is kind of a habit I have and anyway I just remember reading about some was looking in a book about Western clothes I have this book called How the West was worn as like fascinating to me anyway there is something I just saw the words you believe popped out and I mean wrote it right there it was really it was became once you get this kind of spark Sometimes they come really quickly I wish they always did they don't always but yeah this is jubilee but in the song Jubilee is a person it's a Woman Yeah Ok All right can you play for us from Western clothes to song about a growing. Oh no. I mean you know man where the music's playing. Good just book on average if they. Do this into Lance there's seeming. There are fears this empties big. Name stars of been the Binney and. She blew me. Guys stride. I shared in 2 pieces were. Good you am insane you know when stronger then you mean. You sit that grass not my swollen. Lights and feeling fine when up my eyes are like me and think of me sure. And think I don't mean she led me. To think of mean she mean. Think up means. So there was just a an excerpt of this on Jubilee Yeah it was the abbreviated version right because it's very hard for us 5 minutes is is very very long I'll tell you what let's take a short break here and then we'll talk some more if you're just joining us my guest is j.d. Macpherson and his band and they have a new album of Christmas songs original songs that's called Sox We'll be right back this is Fresh Air. January a whole lot of brain new former representatives and senators are going to be looking for their next gig which means lobbyist to get a lot of calls like this just want to catch up and you know think about what I'm going to do next I was told You're a good person to talk to about these things I'm job hunting for former members of Congress that's next on. This evening at 530 here on. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the pajama gram company offering $26.00 matching holiday pajamas for the whole family including dogs and cats with Snoopy Star Wars and St Nick beams in its fleece and flannel learn more at pajama gram dot com and from Subaru with their Subaru share the love of events now through January 2nd details on the not for profit organizations that it supports are at Subaru dot com slash share love it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru This is Fresh Air and if you're just joining us my guest is j.d. Macpherson and 3 members of his band bass player Jimmy Sutton Doug Corcoran who plays baritone guitar and also sings and Ray has still don't who is the keyboard player and he's playing chimes for us today in addition to singing backup vocals Jason Smith the drummer of the band is not with us today because in our studio the Jones just going to be too loud and he's the drummer so thanks anyways Jason you sound great on the record so we talked a little bit about growing up on a cattle ranch. You taught school before you were a professional musician you taught 8th grade you were fired from 8th grade teaching so was I really you lasted 4 years I lasted 6 weeks wow I have the edge over you I want to know what you did. Everything wrong. I can do you like you classroom little and teach them anything. But why why were you fired and well really the true you know the lead there is actually a little a little bit of a legend perpetuated by a big rock magazine that I was fired for giving a 15 year old boy a bad brain cd it's true I did give them the bad brain cd but the reason I was fires because I was a terrible employee in what sense. I just I'm not good at swallowing in the mire of the ministry of yeah I'm not good at. Office politics I'm not good at relating to other adults in fact I'm much but I'm actually much better with the kids you know and essentially 13 year old you know mentally anyway so it's kind of we can relate to each other but is it ministry via your. I think I've heard that word before I have and I like it. Yes I invented that were Terry. And you also one of your 1st album in fact is called signs and seamy arctics close signs and that signifies iron signs and signifiers are part of the definition of c. Meiotic switches using signs and signifiers and symbols to understand how meaning is derived from the tags and the steam yacht assists. Who invented came came up with a very arcane language to deconstruct different art forms Why did you study that well I was in art school for a long long time I got my. My bachelor's at University of Oklahoma in experimental film and video art and then I got my Master of Fine Arts at the University of Tulsa in what they called Open Media which was everything I went crazy over there that I can't believe they let me get away with what I studied everything from. Installation to painting to card magic and but I'm just saying in 1112 years of art school you're going to have to read sewer and Roland Barthes and and all those things which essentially teaches you that. Up is good down is bad so why did you want to name an album signs and signify Well I have always liked I always liked language and I loved that that terminology that you'd see pop up on so I always thought it sounded like a like kind of a twenty's blues title sound like something that maybe Charlie Patton might say or I don't know it just seemed to be kind of both that it appealed to my art school sensibility and my. My love of kind of arcade blues language I guess I don't know do you thing it sounded vaguely biblical like the signs in signifiers of how if you don't yeah maybe a little that too both might both my parents are preachers too so maybe there's a little of that in there too are thinking a lot of the blues people I mean sang about Hell yeah and damnation So your mother was my mother yeah Reacher is still is you know what church the Word of Life Church in Beijing Oklahoma. She's been she's been a minister for she's she's in her eighty's now she's doing it a long time and was it was a big deal because where we lived that wasn't really people didn't really like that and some people I guess didn't really like that there was a woman preacher. And she's incredible lady she you know always supported my music she kept the cops from shutting us down and McAllister when my little band played our 1st gig at the public at the it or why were they going to shut it down because it was loud and bad. There are certain things down for us that it reasons they have it down for others McAllister police they don't have you know there's not a lot going on so when kids were skateboard show up and distortion boxes and singing songs by people from England I don't know they thought they wanted to they want to shut her down but I so I just remember my mom I didn't even know she was there but she was there and she went over and talked to him it let these kids play so was your family church the church where your mother preached Yeah yeah so you grew up with your mother preaching Yeah what did she preclude what were what are some memorable things from her so well it was a non-denominational service it was really heavy on music there was a lot of music I started off drums there my brother play guitar so you play it in your mother's church oh yeah what music did you play you know it wasn't like him is it wasn't they were her kind of songs written by people like non non published material. It was it was an interesting place like there was a lot of different kind of like I remember you know we would bring. Guys from the Jackie Brennan correctional facility. To church and got to know a lot of those guys and some of those guys played in the band Oh is it now that I look back you know it was it was just church but you know it was pretty interesting place actually Yeah it seemed a few bars of one of the songs that you know chill in church my dad used to sing this song called Cover me that I really like. And this is going to be this is literally never. Curvier me. And me. Exiting the border. Mantle. For that far. There is kinsman. Me. Me. Me repeat. This Rhino Yeah yeah so the Christmas songs actually have special meaning for you because your mother was a preacher well living in the countryside he no. You don't you don't go to the mall very much you know here you know in dated you know the day of thanksgiving and beyond with constant Christmas it was actually kind of a special thing to go with them to the city for me so when I did go in it was Christmas time it really felt I think like maybe what they're trying to make you feel. As opposed to living in a city and it's just everywhere all the time you know ever since making this record we hear we talked about it a lot and you hear a lot of people saying they're really they really don't like it that never I mean they're just like tired of Christmas music or it's coming too soon or whatever i never happened to me so I always kind of really liked it I think that maybe that that sort of cynicism about. Holiday music didn't didn't really apply to me in some way. And I like that I like not being cynical. Let's take a short break here and then we'll be back for some more music performed in our studio by j.d. McPherson and his band and their new album is an album of j.d.s. Christmas songs and it's called Sox This is Fresh Air. Underwriting support for k.s.u. Is provided by super ten's offering window tinting for your vehicle home and office located at 3212 East Nettleton Avenue and Jonesboro just off red wolf Boulevard between Sonic and Walgreens more information and a photo gallery are accessible on Facebook at super tense. All today's Orcon so roots will play a standard hit followed by a Christmas song by each of the following Arkansas roots artists border sisters weavers. Dan Hicks Tracy Lawrence and Trout Fishing in America it's a special super. Duper Tuesday today at noon. This is Fresh Air and if you're just joining us my guests are. Members of his band and their new album is an album of original Christmas songs it's called Sox So when you were fired after 4 years from teaching was that like a relief for you did it open up the door to becoming a musician. Well I have a little time musician Yeah. Is it Ok if I say yes who has. You every job I ever had I tried to somehow in Jacked music in there somewhere and I tried to figure out a way to make it about what I really want to do and so when the 4th graders were learning it type they were typing about the Collins kids or Charlie Christian and when they were learning how to make Power Points they were you know I showed them the power point I made about the clash and we would have Google search contests where I would play music and press pause and that's when you stop or you know name for a moment's go you get a piece of candy if you get a minute you know I mean it's so it was always kind of a. Tiger Tiger can't change his stripes in. Rock n roll Tiger. So I want to close with another that is I want you to close at home with another Christmas song there's a song I Love from The new album your new album socks that I'd like you to perform for us and it's called What's that sound and I think everyone in the band is going to chime in on that one yeah. This one I think is probably getting down to the root of that anti cynicism sentiment we were just speaking about this is this is this one's about all of those nice things that you can experience during that time of year so this is j.d. McPherson and his band performing in our studio and the song is what's that sound and it's also on their new Christmas album which is called Sox Ok. What's that Sam. Sing. Me. Around. This time that south down the road I. Sing. What's. That. Blood spatter the. Same sound. That. I hear that sound. But sad sad down the road. That. You bring in. John. Well there was great thank you so much for performing for us in our studio it's just been wonderful I wish you all Merry Christmas a really happy and healthy 2019 and great musical things to thank you are doing this is our pleasure. Our thanks to j.d. Macpherson and his band their new Christmas album is called Sox tomorrow on fresh air from prisoner to crime reporter a talk with Kerry Blake injure about her experiences in prison including solitary on narcotics charges she now covers criminal justice specializing in prisons and the death penalty for the used in Chronicle will also discuss some of the Texas prison reforms her reporting has led to I hope you'll join us Fresh Air's executive producer is Danny Miller today's concert was produced by Amy salad and recorded by Joyce Lieberman with help from Al banks our technical director is ordering Bentham Roberta Shorrock directs the show I'm Terry Gross. oh. My. The new Our Family Foundation supports w.h.y. Wise fresh air and its commitment to sharing ideas and encouraging meaningful conversation and support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Progressive Insurance offering its home quote Explorer so shoppers can evaluate options in one place when buying home insurance.