Remember the days before Spotify and Apple Music? The feeling of huddling besides a radio as you waited for your favorite song to maybe come buzzing across those tinny speakers? Even if you don’t, you can find a bit of that old-time magic by listening to the Lost Radio Rounders, an acoustic-Americana trio giving a bit of polish and shine to historic tunes.
The Lost Radio Rounders are composed of Michael Eck, Tom Lindsay and most recently Paul Jossman, who joined the band in 2021. Together, they play a range of instruments from banjo, to mandolin and even a dobro (a type of resonator guitar).
But it’s their collective voices that are the star attraction, more specifically the songs they sing and the stories they tell.
The Lost Radio Rounders have carved out a niche with shows that are presented as “themed programs,” each of which covers different aspects of America’s rich and varied musical history.
“We wanted to do something a little different, which was present these collections of songs, themed programs that sort of told a story,” band member Tom Lindsay said.
One such program titled, “Cowboy Songs and Frontier Ballads” finds the band pulling western ballads and folk music from the ranch and tv shows depicting the lone rancher life. “Song of Our Empire State” pulls listeners from the Big Apple to the relaxed rolling hills of upstate.
Politics and Patriots is another unique program featuring American presidential campaign songs.
“We look back to the early 1800s and there’s no PA system, there’s no TV, there’s no radio when the politicians were trying to get their message out,” Lindsay explained. “They would create these little pamphlets called songsters and they’d have sent some lyrics in them about how great their candidate is and how terrible the other guy is.”
None of the songs or programs feature original tunes; rather they’ve been passed down through the generations. Lindsay has also served as a teacher of New York State cultural and music history among other things. He has devoted much of his free time to cataloging old songs typically passed through word of mouth or through books.
“What we’re trying to do is keep the songs alive to keep the viewpoints of those people who created them alive,” Lindsay said.
But he also isn’t opposed to making a few stylistic tweaks of his own.
“With 20 verses of a song, we’re going to look at that song, we’re going to say which six of these verses tell the story in the best and linear way,” he said. “We are not going to be “Mr. Authentic” and bore audiences in 2023.”
The band still keeps some “old-timey” traditions though. When they play live, all three members huddle round a single condenser microphone to give a vintage sound.
But covering American folk tunes isn’t where Eck or Lindsay saw themselves nearly half a century ago. The two met on the local gig circuit and collaborated on a punk rock album in the 80s.
Now their audience is a bit different. The Lost Radio Rounders mostly play private shows, a lot of which are at senior centers and libraries.
“I think that if you talked to Michael and I, when we were 18 and told us we’d be doing this when we’re older, we’d be horrified,” Lindsay admitted. “But it’s wonderful, because you go in, and you play for these people … and the focus is on you.”
Put simply, the raucous energy of a crowded bar isn’t conducive to their play style, Lindsay said, which relies on giving a detailed history of the song’s origins.
“We will not get the attention in a bar and nightclub situation most of the time, to give context to material … and we just feel that that’s our strongest point,” Lindsay added.
A private audience on the other hand is more open to the holistic experience the Lost Radio Rounders offer.
“They want to hear more than just the songs,” Lindsay said. “In other words, it’s our philosophy, a good song is nice, but a good song with a good story behind it is even better.”
The band took a brief hiatus when member Michael Eck suffered a stroke in 2021. This prompted the addition of Paul Jossman on banjo, who like Eck is an inductee to the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame.
Jossman’s addition added new life to the band’s sound, Lindsay said.
“It really injected new life and took us to some places we hadn’t been before and maybe made us look at how we arranged older songs and arrangements,” Lindsay explained. “Quite frankly, after Michael had the stroke, Paul Jossman saved us. He’s the guy who pretty much saved this duo and made it a trio.”
Eck still holds his own however. Although he needs to sit down at times during live performances, his playing is just as strong as it once was.
“Michael is one of those human beings who have to play music, you know, it’s like, it’s like oxygen for him,” Lindsay added.
But if you are interested in hearing Lost Radio Rounders live, they have a few public shows on the agenda. The band will be playing at the Bennington Museum in Vermont on June 9th at 5pm. On August 27th, they will play at The Linda WAMC Performing Arts Studio in Albany at 8pm. And just announced, they’ll be back at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on October 10.
The band also has four studio albums, the most recent of which was released in 2016.
Upcoming Lost Radio Rounders shows
Friday, December 22 @ 8:00 – Caffe Lena
Rounders co-founder Michael Eck can’t wait for the bands December 22 Caffe Lena presentation of
the Holiday Sampler, a program he says is “A wonderful mix of songs about the winter season, sacred
and secular Christmas carols, familiar tunes and hidden gems.” Banjo man Paul Jossman added that
“Tom has created a musical setting Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” that
people will really enjoy, and all in all, it will be a great way to close out the musical year!”
