Broadcasts Vol. 2

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Broadcasts Vol. 2 is the second installment in the annual live compilation series produced by Austin, Texas radio station 107.1 KGSR. Released in 1994 as a limited-edition two-disc set, the compilation features 42 artists performing exclusively for broadcast on the station, with proceeds directed to the Travis County Children’s Advocacy Center. Lisa Germano appears on Disc 2 with a live performance of “Bad Attitude,” drawn from her then-current album Happiness, placing her alongside a diverse roster that included Sheryl Crow, Richard Thompson, Crowded House, Tori Amos, Emmylou Harris, and Ben Harper.

KGSR launched its Broadcasts series in 1993 with a single-disc set built around singer-songwriters and Americana artists connected to the Austin scene. By the time Vol. 2 arrived the following year, the format had expanded to two discs and a broader national roster, though Austin and Texas-rooted artists remained central to the series’ identity. Each volume was recorded live and aired exclusively on 107.1 KGSR, a station that had cultivated a reputation for championing thoughtful, genre-spanning adult alternative programming at a time when most of commercial radio was sharply formatted.

Germano’s inclusion in 1994 aligned directly with the broader arc of her career at that moment. Happiness had been released by Capitol Records in the summer of 1993, but label turmoil—including an incompatible relationship with Capitol head Gary Gersh—led to Germano securing her rights back and signing with 4AD, which released a reworked edition of the album in April 1994. “Bad Attitude” had opened that 4AD version, and it was already becoming one of the more recognized songs in her catalog.

The Broadcasts series consistently benefited from the goodwill KGSR had built with touring artists who appreciated the station’s alternative-leaning format and live-session format. For a musician like Germano, who wasn’t a natural fit for conventional radio but respected deeply within that world of singer-songwriters and independent-leaning artists, KGSR was a logical platform.

Themes

“Bad Attitude” is one of Germano’s more structurally direct songs, built on a kind of sardonic litany of disappointments: the sun isn’t out, you’re not pretty, you’re not happy, and even your coping mechanisms have turned into new problems. The humor is bone-dry, each verse punctuated by a flat “ha ha ha” that reads less as laughter and more as a shrug at the absurdity of it all. The song channels what would become Germano’s signature mode: unflinching self-examination wrapped in deadpan wit, treating personal failure not with melodrama but with a kind of exhausted acceptance.

In the context of Broadcasts Vol. 2, a compilation heavy on Americana, roots rock, and folk-inflected songwriting, “Bad Attitude” occupies an interestingly liminal space. It doesn’t sound quite like the Texas and Americana artists surrounding it on Disc 2, but its core sensibility is entirely at home in that company.

Released: 1994
Label: KGSR
Catalog No: None
Format: 2-CD
Country: US
Availability: Somewhat Rare

Disc 1	Artist	Title	Length
1	Rick Danko	Twilight	2:01
2	Michelle Shocked	Winter Wheat	3:30
3	Chris Smither	Mail Order Mystics	3:03
4	David Gray	Falling Free	3:07
5	Eliza Gilkyson	Dionysian Love	2:36
6	Jesse Colin Young	Crazy Boy	4:08
7	Los Lobos	Estoy Sentado Aqui	3:19
8	Toni Price	Not Coming Home	2:25
9	Joe Ely	Indian Cowboy	2:27
10	Kirsty MacCool	Bad	1:58
11	Dave Alvin	Dry River	3:33
12	Charlie Sexton	Midnight Sun	3:27
13	Jimmie Dale Gilmore	Another Colorado	2:47
14	Young Steve	Silverlake	3:44
15	Iain Matthews	Evening Sun	2:34
16	Richard Thompson	Dimming of the Day	3:14
17	Sarah McLachlan	The Path of Thorns (Terms)	4:51
18	John Hiatt and the Guilty Dogs	Straight Outta Time	5:09
19	Sheryl Crow	Leaving Las Vegas	4:39
20	David Wilcox	New World	3:09
21	Jimmy LaFave	When the Tears Fall	3:57
22	Sam Phillips	Baby I Can’t Please You	3:11

Disc 2	Artist	Title	Length
1	Ben Harper	Like a King	5:39
2	Sir Douglas Quintet	Too Little, Too Late	3:36
3	John Hammond Jr.	Peach Orchard Mama	2:52
4	Bill Morrissey	Birches	3:04
5	Crowded House	Fall at Your Feet	3:30
6	Latin Playboys	If	1:56
7	Jackopierce	Late Shift	3:06
8	Lisa Germano	Bad Attitude	4:31
9	Alejandro Escovedo	Broken Bottle	4:04
10	Dirk Hamilton	Boy on a Roof	3:34
11	Steve James	Talco Girl	3:30
12	Jimmie Vaughan	Don’t Cha Know	3:51
13	Sara Hickman	Eye of the Storm	4:03
14	Jeffrey Gaines	I Know a Man	4:05
15	Freedy Johnston	Bad Reputation	3:52
16	Walter Salas-Humara	The Only Story I Tell	2:13
17	Jim Lauderdale	Why Do I Love You	3:24
18	Tori Amos	Pretty Good Year	3:29
19	Emmylou Harris	A Ways to Go	3:24
20	Robert Earl Keen	I Would Change My Life	2:53

All recordings on Broadcasts Vol. 2 were performed live and broadcast exclusively on 107.1 KGSR, per the stated parameters of the series. No studio overdubs or post-production augmentation were part of the format; what aired on the station is what appears on the disc. The set was manufactured by Disctronics USA, as confirmed by the matrix runout inscriptions on both discs.

The live format was central to the series’ identity and its value as an archival document. KGSR sessions were typically recorded at the station’s studios or at small Austin venues, with a consistent focus on acoustic-forward or stripped-back arrangements that suited the radio context.

Lisa’s performance of “Bad Attitude” was recorded in studio on May 18, 1994.

Packaging & Design

Broadcasts Vol. 2 was issued in a standard jewel case housing two discs, with a multi-panel booklet insert serving as the primary documentation for all 42 tracks. The overall design aesthetic is functional and understated, consistent with the series’ identity as a radio station document rather than a commercial retail release, but it carries a confident visual language built around the KGSR brand.

The recording date of Lisa’s performance is listed as May 18, 1994, which places the KGSR session approximately six weeks after the 4AD edition of Happiness was released (April 11, 1994), confirming this as a promotional appearance tied to that release.