Kristi and Terry are off tonight at the Phone Booth to see The Supersuckers and some washed up grunge band, and in honour of that, I'm phoning it in. Pre-recorded goodness, live from my living room.

Upcoming shows, new releases, and all that jazz.

Even Steel Belted show hosts need to take a day off now and again. Everybody knows that there's not much that can stop Desi from attending a Wailin' Jennys show and with the wonderful Wailers doing their thing at the Lyric Theatre tonight and T-Bar attending Billy Idol's White Wedding at the arena, we're calling in busy.

But in our absence, we've got some good stuff. Well, Desi does, anyway. Some great new music and a couple of interview reruns that are pretty interesting and timely.

First up is a chat with Joel Kroeker, who just happens to be playing with the Jennys tonight. Back in 2003, Joel came by the studio to visit while Jeff, Mike, Terry, and Gary were hosting Monday night Free Range Radio before slapping on the Steel Belted and moving to Thursdays. Back then, Joel was chatting about his upcoming album Melodrama and he played us some new songs that are still unreleased but are coming out on his next record.

Then, a look back at a chat with Matthew Barber, which was taped in January of 2004. Matt is headed back to town for a show with his great band on Sept. 13 before the release of his new CD in the fall, so it seems like a good time to listen back to a chat about his last CD.