Trail Listening Post

Zeenath Khan, tea-tender at the Lake Missoula Tea Company, discusses the origins of the Japanese tea culture which dates back to the eighth century. In this month's podcast, we'll learn about the unique harvesting (plucking) season, the relationship of tea to religion in Japan, and the various types of Japanese green tea available at the Lake Missoula Tea Company. 

Shannon Flanagan of Flanagan Motors chats with Traolach O'Riordain about the Irish Studies program at the University of Montana. Among the topics discussed;  Thomas Meagher, Friends of Irish Studies, Marcus Daly, Mike Mansfield, Butte, Irish in Montana, Irish Independence, Irish Language, Irish Heritage.....

Suzin Kratina, Executive Director for W.O.R.D (Women's Opportunity and Resource Development Inc.), and Sarah Marker, member of local Missoula band Arrowleaf, stopped by the Morning Trail to talk about an event coming up Friday, International Women's Day, at Free Cycle Missoula. The fundraiser for W.O.R.D. will feature local women fronted bands including Westfork, Junior, Arrowleaf (all local) and...

Rob Edwards of Missoula Aging Services stopped by the Morning Trail to talk about March For Meals. Meals on Wheels delivers over 100,000 meals annually to residents of Missoula County. Rob explains how you, or someone you love, can access the program and how you can volunteer. 

As of Thursday morning (2/28) there were less than a hundred tickets left for The Taste, the annual fundraiser for the Montana Food Bank Network. The Network's Cassidy Green stopped by The Morning Trail to talk about the March 8th event at Neptune Aviation. Tickets have sold out the last three years running and probably will again this year. Cassidy has all the information.

Part of an Acoustic Brunch interview from 2010. Mike Smith chats with Mission Mountain Wood Band's Rob Quist. Rob talks about the Aber Day Kegger, performing for the Hell's Angels, performing with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, music from the album in Without Knocking, meeting Steve Riddle, Christian Johnson and Terry Robinson. 

Filmmakers Nic Davis and Tim Williams join Alanya on Friday afternoon of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival to discuss the premier of their film Enormous: The Gorge Story . It's the never before told story of one of the world's most beautiful and iconic music venues. A stellar soundtrack compliments this exquisite film, starring Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, Lake Street Dive & more!

It was a full house today as the filmmaker + subjects of Fire on the Hill: The Cowboys of South Central L.A. joined Alanya on the Trail Lunchbox. Chris, Calvin, Fat Pack & Ghuan are the urban cowboys of South Central, a concept many are unfamiliar with in the congested area of Southern California. Fire on the Hill shows the life and struggles they must walk between the gang-filled streets of L...

Filmmaker Stuart Swezey remembers the days when you bought a bus ticket to the middle of nowhere to see live music. This is the untold story of guerrilla music and art performances that paved the way for Burning Man and Coachella. Desolation Center plays at the MCT on Saturday, February 23rd at 10pm. 

Mike Smith, host of the Acoustic Brunch, catches up with Amy Ray (of Amy Ray Band and Indigo Girls) to talk about the new album, touring, songwriting, Grammys, Brandi Carlile, and the state of Country and Americana Music. 

A tour group of old age pensioners explore a picturesque English village, unaware that Europe’s largest immigration detention centre sits on its outskirts. Thursday, Feb 21st @ 5:00 pm –Elks Lodge -  Buy Tickets Here!  

Listen as Tommy goes through new music from Wild Belle, Sego, Nada Adjoa, Grayshot, Field Medic & Hajk. 

For almost 91 years, John Hoiland has lived at ‘The Home Place,’ a modest house situated on over 900 acres of land in Montana. He’s watched the world change as he clung to the only way of life he knows. Thursday, Feb 21st @ 3:30 pm –Wilma -  Buy Tickets Here!  Sunday, Feb 24th @ 3:30 pm –Wilma -  Buy Tickets Here!      

Ghost Fleet follows a small group of activists who risk their lives on remote Indonesian islands to find justice and freedom for the enslaved fishermen who feed the world’s insatiable appetite for seafood. Bangkok-based Patima Tungpuchayakul, a Thai abolitionist, has committed her life to helping these “lost” men return home. Facing illness, death threats, corruption, and complacency, Patima’s fea...

Arts Missoula is kicking off their spring film series, Cultures In Harmony, on Monday, February 25th at the Roxy. The film is the legendary  Buena Vista Social Club.  Arts Missoula's Director of Global & Cultural Affairs joins me to talk about the film and the film series. All the films are free and open to the public.

Filmmaker Denali Tiller joins Alanya on the Trail Lunchbox to discuss the Montana premier of the film Tre Maison Dasan, screening as part of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Tre Maison Dasan is an intimate portrait of three young boys growing up in Rhode Island, each with a parent in prison. You can learn more about the film here

Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker Eric Becker stopped by the Morning Trail for a ten minute interview that both of us hijacked at various times to cover everything from this evening's showing of  Return To Mount Kennedy  (Wednesday 6 p.m. at MCT) to Eddie Vedder's involvement to Eric's claim he can't complete a single pull-up. A raucous good time. 

In 1997, Mr. Wash was given a mandatory life sentence for a non-violent drug offense, and in 2016 was freed by President Barack Obama. While incarcerated he taught himself how to paint, detailing the stories around him. “Mr. Wash” follows his return home, making the case for creativity as an optimistic force against the backdrop of America’s broken criminal justice system. Tickets & Showtimes...

Assembled from over 10 years of footage, Markie in Milwaukee tells the story of a midwestern transgender woman as she struggles with the prospect of de-transitioning under the pressures of her fundamentalist church, family and community. Tickets & Showtimes -->  here

Fifty years after a flood ravaged his community and killed his parents and sister, Butch New Breast returns to the Blackfeet Reservation “to see if I can still get that old feeling, like I am Blackfeet.”Tickets & Showtimes here -->  here

Filmmaker Emily Thomas and her husband John Toner stopped by the Morning Trail to talk about her film Blessings Of Liberty.

Before the chain joined with KFC in 1969, Salt's Fish & Chips had over 500 locations throughout the United States. This story follows the strange tale of forgotten fish & chips legend, Haddon Salt. 

Jesse Alk, director of the film Pariah Dog, joins Alanya to discuss his poetic documentary focusing on several eccentric street dog caretakers in Kolkata, India. Shot over three years, the film paints a kaleidoscopic picture of the city of Kolkata, seen through the prism of four outsiders and the dogs they love. Tickets & Showtimes -->  here

A free ranging interview with the director, Drew Nicholas, and one of the subjects, Sandy White Hawk, of the film  Blood Memory . Battles over blood quantum and ‘best interests’ resurface in the untold history of America’s Indian Adoption Era - a time when nearly one-third of children were removed from tribal communities nationwide. As political scrutiny over Indian child welfare intensifies, an a...

Matt Devlin of the Montana Fishing Film Festival stopped by to talk about Saturday's get together at the Dennison Theater on the UM campus. Always a treat to have Matt in the studio because our conversation tends to wander around wonderfully.