Neither Grace nor Rene played Centro-matic tonight

That isn't a picture of Grace Anna Woodard, though she probably snapped it. Certainly she is hosting it on her Flickr site.

What was I doing on a stranger's Flickr site, tonight? I liked a radio show on KDHX. I looked it up. It looked new. I didn't know the DJ. I snooped around. You know how it goes, from there. Suddenly I am getting tired of looking at pictures of her cat and trying to figure out who we both know.

I am guessing we both know Will Johnson, of Centro-matic. That's him, in that nice picture Grace took (or is only hosting), performing live upstairs at The Tap Room, on the road from Austin to somewhere else. I think I went to that show, then left early, when it took them forever to go on.

Grace didn't play Centro-matic tonight. It was easy to follow what she was playing. With the dedication to form unique to newbies, she was keeping her playlist updated, every play of the way. She only played three acts I do know - the artist then known as Cat Stevens, Kate Bush, and Built to Spill (sounding exactly like Electric Sheep, for those who heard independent local rock music in St. Louis in the 1980s).

I liked what she did play. Fern Night was new to me. I went looking for more, and found a radio show they recorded in New York. The DJ sounds like the aggravating Actor's Studio guy, and the frontwoman in the band sounds helplessly softheaded. Not recommended. But, then, I've listened back to interviews with me when I was a musician, and I wouldn't recommend them, either. I will look for Fern Night's self-titled record, their third effort, sort of like the dude who waits until the third son to name him "Junior".

The other discovery, in a pleasant night of listening to the radio and crunching editorial copy, was Sibylle Baier, "Tonight." Music for freaking out over old girlfriends to. Which we all need! Right? Thanks, Grace!

It took me all this time to realize I should have been listening to Rene (Spencer) Saller's show "Suffragette City" tonight. It's no longer on the Tuesday night schedule. It's not anywhere on the schedule anymore. I really don't want to know if it was politics, a welcome break, or just Manny being Manny, I mean Rene being Rene. I mean, there probably should be term limits on most radio shows, anyway, right? Change is good, Obama said.

I'll be back to "Nomadic Reverie," this new person Grace's show. As for Rene, we'll always have the memories, and the possibility of running into her somewhere and talking her into making us a mixtape for Christmas. Bye, Rene!