Month: February 2015

Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Alone in a Crowd Mix

The end of a long strange week… we have a pretty nifty mix of old and new music of various styles and moods and subjects… all making a cohesive morning shuffle…

“Painted On Attitude” by T. Hardy Morris

An October 2014 single from T. Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate.  He is part of the new project Diamond Rugs along with members of Deer Tick and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos.  Diamond Rugs has a Noisetrade release that includes this track and some music from Deer Tick.

“Blue Light of the Fire” by Heather Powell

Heather Powell’s new album A Haze of Grays and Blues is out (this week).  This song is from her previous album Believe it to Life. A new version of this song (same lyrics,  different tune) is on the new album as “Blue Light”.  The video included is a recent live version of that new song.

“Lost in the Cosmos (Song for Chris Bell)” by Sons of Bill

A song for the late Big Star member whose classic solo album was released some 14 years after his tragic 1978 death at age 27.  The song is on Love and Logic the most recently album by Virginia band Sons of Bill.

“Camera” by R.E.M.

Another classic track from R.E.M.’s second album Reckoning.

“Never Talking to You Again” by Husker Du

From the Short Songs mixtape – taken from the Minneapolis post-punk legends’ classic second album Zen Arcade. A Grant Hart composition.

“Cat’s Eye Ring” by Steelism

Nashville’s favorite instrumental steel guitar driven surf rock band from the debut album 615 to Fame. I have been following Jeremy Fetzer and Spencer Cullum Jr. since I saw them play with Caitlin Rose a few years ago. 

“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” by Paul Simon

From Graceland…

“The Long Run Out” by The Unforgiven

You don’t know how good it feels to say a new song from The Unforgiven.  The Unforgiven was an 80s band that by all rights should have been huge.  They had the look and the sound, they were larger than life and seemed to have stepped right out of a Spaghetti Western. To call them a Big Guitar band is an amazing understatement.  Circumstances being what they were and are, their sole, self-titled album ended up being their only release.  In 2012, the band reformed for a show at Stagecoach Festival and in 2014 their album was finally given a new release.  This song was a bonus track recorded around the time of the 2012 reunion, and it is pure The Unforgiven.  If you (like way too many) missed out on this band the first time around or haven’t had a heard them in a long time, climb on board.  Hang ’em High!

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“Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?” by The Waterboys

Our second song about a late musical great in the shuffle.  From Fishermen’s Blues comes this song about the late Country music icon Hank Williams.

VIDEO PLAYLIST


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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Kilos, Ounces, and Pounds Mix

I’m back!  And rushed again… let’s get this done….

“Short Songs” by Dead Kennedys

Sort of the title track from the latest Feel Bad for You compilation.  Recorded live. 32 seconds or so. First appeared on the Bay Area compilation Can you Hear Me? Music from the Deaf Club.  Later included on the DK compilation Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.

“In Nowheres” by The Twilight Sad

The Scottish Indie band with a song from their album Nobody Wants to Be Here Nobody Wants to Leave.

“All Over But the Cryin'” by The Georgia Satellites

Another great song from In the Land of Salvation and Sin – the last Satellite’s album to include Dan Baird.

“Southern Grammar” by Hiss Golden Messenger

The title track from the latest EP from the North Carolina Folk Duo…

“Runnin From Miami” by Neighborhood Texture Jam

Another awesome song from the Funeral Mountain album.  The video playlist includes some bits from a 2013 reunion show in Memphis.

“Come Together” by Stacy Mitchhart

A very cool Beatles’ cover from the album Live My Life by the Nashville Blues great.

“Crazy Mother Fucker from Shelby Ohio” by Tim Easton

A stand out track from Tim Easton’s Not Cool album.  The song was written by J.P. Olsen who was an early inspiration for Easton’s songwriting.

“You Wear it Well” by Rod Stewart

From the album, Never a Dull Moment.  I picked up the early period Rod Stewart compilation, Sing it Again, Rod at Goodwill a while back, and this song is included on that album.

“Soul Stroll” by Stacy Mitchhart

Our second track from Live My Life is an instrumental.

“Forest Gum” by New Madrid

From the latest album by the Athens, GA band. The album Sunswimmer was released about a year ago.

“Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone” by Matt Prater

From the new album Tables and Chairs by Alabama Country purist Matt Prater.  This is just flat out a great song.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Changing Everything Mix

I am ridiculously short on time, and I will be out of town the next two days so no shuffles until Thursday.  I am going to be quick, but if you have more time than I do, please give these great songs the attention they deserve.  I found videos for most of the songs.  The only one I didn’t find was the Mothers song, and I will put a link to their bandcamp page so you can listen and/or buy.

UPDATE:7:05pm CST – I actually ran out of time to get this posted earlier.  As I said, I will be off of blogging for a couple of days, but I’m sure you can keep yourselves entertained.

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One of East Nashville’s finest and true road warrior.

“My Ride’s Here” by Warren Zevon

The last song on Warren Zevon’s “meditation on death”.   

“My Place” by Young Buffalo

A great song from an Oxford, MS band.

“Apartment King” by Mothers

A great band from the Mama Coco’s camp in New York.  Alex contacted me recently, so I included his MCFK Testimonial since I couldn’t find a video of this song.  Here’s the link to the album Panamanian Times.

“Paradise” by Joe Nolan

A bonus track from the remastered version of Blue Turns Black.

“Mark on the Bus” by The Beastie Boys

Another from the short song mixtape.  Off of Check Your Head.

“The Madrean” by Whale Fall

Fresh from the Inbox.  I haven’t had time to process this amazing music, but I will have more to say.  The title track from the 2014 album.

“Second Guessing” by R.E.M.

A classic from Reckoning.

“No Surprise There” by Floating Action

From a New West Sampler out on Noisetrade.  Floating Action are from Black Mountain, NC.

“Killer” by Jeremy Gluck/Robert Coyne

Another…ehem… killer track from the album Memory Deluxe: I Knew Buffalo Bill 2

“The Loneliest Man in the World” by The Tourists

Another slice of pure pop heaven from 1979…

“Overpass LA” by Whale Fall

Another track from the Whale Fall album The Mandrean.  This is some amazing music.

“What I Have Not Got” by Tim Lee 3

The opening track from Raucous Americanus performed live and loud by Tim Lee 3.  Bonus trivia: I just noticed that Tim Lee co-produced Gawk by Will and the Bushmen which was one of my favorite albums when I was in college.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Heck of F-f-friend Mix

After Tennessee’s Icepocalypse kept me in for most the week, I ventured out into the cold last evening to check out a new consignment store called Hang the Moon in East Nashville and to hear some of my favorite people play music. I just caught the tail end of the set by Tim Carroll and Luella Wood but what I heard was (as usual) awesome.  The Western Shore were next delivering an awesome set of their unique style of Americana music, and the night wrapped up with the super-duo of Lindsay Ellyn and Taylor Alexander doing a set of some of Lindsay’s great songs augmented by some classic country songs.  These two voices are amazing together.

Meanwhile, more snow and ice are on tap followed by heavy rain tomorrow… joy!  What the hey, we have music to present!

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Oh good, Environmental Song – we should expect acoustic folk guitar and songs about trees and… wait, it’s by Neighborhood Texture Jam – never mind.  I wish could have found a video of this song, and if I had it would have been NSFW for language.  Oh, who am I kidding, the video I picked is probably NSWF, too. From Funeral Mountain.

“Psykick Espionage” by Joanna Gruesome

How about some psyched out punk rock music from Joanna Gruesome off the album Peanut Butter?  Okay!

“Kim” by Ryan Adams

An awesome song from Ryan Adam’s most recent and self-titled album. 

“The God You Serve” by Sean Watkins

Another cool song from All I Do is Lie. 

“Train Hop Flop” by David Dondero

One of America’s best songwriters with a song from his first album The Pity Party.  So excited that Dondero will be in Nashville in a couple of weeks and Darrin Bradbury is on the bill for that show.  Will be an great night of music.

“Gods of the West” by American Scarecrows

Minneapolis Americana band American Scarecrows with a fantastic song from their 2014 album Yesteryear.  I grabbed this music from Noisetrade, and you should, too.

“Rastabilly” by The Dead Milkmen

Another song that should have been on that Short Song compilation I was talking about yesterday.  One of my favorites from Big Lizard…  Source of today’s subtitle.

“Hard Work and Clean Living” by Matt Prater

Real and Pure Country music from Alabama.  From Matt Prater’s new album Tables and Chairs.  Great song!

“Signal” (live) by Tim Lee 3

Heralding in the dawning of the Vinyl Anniversary (33 1/3) of Tim and Susan Lee – we have some new music and new recordings from our favorite Knoxville trio including this live version of one of my favorite songs on their last album Devil’s Rope.  This is from a Live album called Live from Armory Sound: Boston.  Look for this, the new studio album 33 1/3, and an EP from TL3 offshoot Bark coming your way in March!  And listen for more TL3 and related stuff on E2TG.

“Heartless People” by Dean Wareham

From the Self-titled album by Galaxie 500 founder Dean Wareham.  A great song which happens to be the only one not written by Wareham (it was written by Michael Holland).

“Tomorrow” by The Roots featuring Raheem DeVaughn window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”; http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js 

The week in shuffles closes out with some soulful music that pairs Tonight Show house band, The Roots with D.C. R&B, Neo Soul singer Raheem DeVaughn.  From The Roots’ 11th album called … And Then You Shoot Your Cousin.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Bone In Mix


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Cold, cold morning.  Sidewalks and some roads still icy. 

Got a pretty interesting shuffle on tap… let’s get to it.


“The One After 909” by The Beatles

So, this month the Feel Bad for You folks who put out awesome mixtape compilations every month had a theme of short songs.  So, expect a bunch of short songs to filter their way through my shuffles in the next few weeks or so.  Oddly, no Minutemen songs made their list, but relax, I have some Minutemen already cued up…  this track is actually a snippet of The One after 909 with some chatter from the Rooftop concert.

“Selfish Lover” by Gary Floater

Another from the short songs compilation.  This one from legendary country outsider Gary Floater off of a new release called Who Cares.

“Jimmy Jazz” by The Clash

The love affair between the shuffle function and The Clash continues with the lounge-sounding song from London Calling. 

“11 O’clock Friday Night” by Hamilton Leithauser

The second song we’ve had from Black Hours the 2014 album by Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen.

“Yesterday’s Cakes” by Cropdusters

Raucous UK band from their 1989 album, If the Sober Go to Heaven….  I really dig this song – for reference only – think of The Pogues at a hoedown.

“Respirator” by Dead and Lovely

Another track from John and Jayda of Nashville by way of Pennsylvania from their EP Heavy which is awesome.  Really sorry I missed them last month at the Building, but I hope to catch up with them soon.

“Sweet Guy” by Paul Kelly Feat. Vika Bull

This song is originally from the 1989 album So Much Water So Close to Home by Paul Kelly and the Messengers.  This version sung by Vika Bull is from Kelly’s latest album The Merri Soul Sessions.  I really dig this song.

“An Accident” by The Transcendents

Paul Kelly is from Australia, and while we are down under (as somebody says), let’s move over to New Zealand for another cool song from the eponymously titled album by The Transcendents.  The thing I love about writing this blog is being able to discover incredible music from all over the world and then to be able to write about it and hopefully turn someone else on to it. 

“Put the Bone In” by Soul Asylum

After all this time, I just realized or found out that this song from Soul Asylum’s Hang Time is a cover of the b-side of Terry Jacks hit song “Season in the Sun”.  Coincidently (or not depending upon your view of coincidence), at the end of this recording, Soul Asylum quotes The Beatles’ famous line from the Rooftop Concert, “…I hope we passed the audition”.

“Riot Act” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions

Another great song from Elvis’ Get Happy album!!

“Last Time Around” by Jason and the Scorchers

“You’re the final survivor is my heart’s ghost town.”  The lead track from the album Lost and Found.  Still one of the best rock and roll bands around!

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Call me Admiral Byrd Mix

Yes, I chiseled my way out through the thick blanket of ice and crossed the frozen tundra to make it to work today.  I only fell once, and I don’t think anyone saw me, and anyway, I fell with the grace and dignity befitting of someone of my importance and position. (that is a joke by the way….)

I had a lovely collection of fine, fine music to accompany me on my treacherous journey….
 
“Easy Weather” by The Bell Hours

Yes, my shuffle function has a sense of humor – as today’s weather was anything but easy, but I digress. The Bell Hours are from Denver, and I have quite enjoyed listening to their most recent EP of which this is the title track.

“Rudie Can’t Fail” by The Clash

The shuffle function seems to be on a major Clash kick, and who can blame it? From London Calling.

“I Only Want to Be With You” by The Tourists

A slice of pure pop heaven from a band that featured Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart just before they formed Eurhythmics. From the album Reality Effect.

“Sam” by Meat Puppets

Classic Meat Puppets from Forbidden Places.

“Élysées 99,84” by Kansas Bible Company

The first track on the new 4 song EP called Dad’s Day by the Nashville based band that has way too many members to keep up with.

“Nobody’s Child” by Maria McKee

Another great track from Maria McKee’s self-titled solo debut. I am glad to have rediscovered this album recently.  Sooooo good…

“Try Out My Love” by Matt Phillips

A great song from Matt Phillips’ debut album Bones which was released in 2012.  Saw and met him at Music City Roots a couple of weeks ago.

“Southern Ground” by Judah and the Lion

Nashville band Judah and the Lion are on roll with appearances on Letterman and a tour of Scandinavia and an upcoming Nashville show at Ryman Auditorium with Mat Kearney.  This song comes from their EP called Sweet Tennessee. 

“Avalon” by Roxy Music

The title track from one of the best albums of all time.

“Kanga Roo” by Big Star

The shuffle is also on a Big Star kick…. there are reasons I love the shuffle… and this is a big one…

“Skilly Bom Billy Flop” by The Imperial Rooster

#E2TG favorites are on hiatus, but this song (and video from Couch by Couchwest) from their album Cluckaphony offers a good taste of what they do, and I hope to hear some new stuff from them in the future. 

“Pigeons Eating Glass” by Forebear

From the Inbox, comes L.A. Indie band Forebear with a song from their self-titled EP which was produced by Scott Gordon who has worked with Alanis Morissette and Ringo Starr among others.  Looking forward to checking out more of this EP.

“Clampdown” by The Clash

A great way to celebrate the successful completion of my Arctic trek….  More Clash from London Calling.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Tuesday Afternoon Music Shuffle – Iced In Part II Mix

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Still at home, even more bored, but I did finally join seemingly everyone on my Facebook news feed and finally watched the SNL 40 special.
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Lesley Gore passed away yesterday. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve referenced her most famous song.

On to today’s shuffle:

1.  “We Sing Hallelujah”  by Richard and Linda Thompson

From I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight… Probably my favorite Richard and Linda Thompson album.  I love almost every song on it.  

2. “The Guns of Brixton” by The Clash

From London Calling…  Oh man, I love this song… such a great groove!

3. “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” by D’Angelo

From Brown Sugar….  With D’Angelo getting so much attention from his long delayed third album, why not go back twenty years to his first album from 1995.  

4. “Holocaust” by Big Star

From Third/Sister Lovers…  Sister Lovers is such a devastatingly broken masterpiece and Holocaust is pretty the epitome of broken pop genius. 

5. “Don’t Matter to Me” by KaiL Baxley

From Heatstroke/The Wind and The War…  I have just now become acquainted with KaiL Baxley who is a California (by way of South Carolina) blues musician, and I like what I’ve heard so far – very much. 

6. “I’m a Fool to Want You” by Bob Dylan

From Shadows in the Night… When you are Bob Dylan, you can make an album of Frank Sinatra covers and people will eat it up…mainly because it is pretty darn awesome.

7. “Make It Alone” by Walter Egan

From Not Shy…  From the same album as his mega hit “Magnet and Steel”, Egan now resides in Franklin, TN. 

8. “Undertaken” by The Transcendents

From The Transcendents… My shuffle function loves this band, as do I.  I’m still digesting how to write about the music, but on Facebook, they list their genre as Noir, and that seems about as good as anything I can come up with. It’s like dark, murky folk music coming from distant place that you’ve been before.  That sentence is either pure genius or completely ridiculous… I haven’t decided yet, but I’m going to let it stand. 

9. “Inside Out” by Spoon

From They Want My Soul….  I can’t say that I’ve listened to as much Spoon as I could have, so I’m glad my friend included two songs on his annual mix CDs.

10. “I Don’t Need to Know” by Jeremy Gluck and Robert Coyne

From Memory Deluxe: I Knew Buffalo Bill 2…   I am really enjoying this album from Flickknife Records in the UK.  It’s a great sounding record.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Monday Evening Music Shuffle – Iced In Mix

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No work today due to President’s Day.  Didn’t leave home today due to Nashville Ice Storm 2015.  Got bored this evening due to cabin fever, and so I’m doing a rare evening shuffle for you and for me…

“Blue Rondo a la Turk” by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

I hit shuffle, and I don’t know what will come up.  When Jazz comes up, I am happy. Dave Brubeck Quartet from Time Out – 1959.

“Walkin’ With the King” by Joe Nolan

Joe Nolan back in the shuffle.  I really dig this song. The video is from his appearance at the East Side Invasion at Bobby’s Idle Hour a couple of weeks back.  I was there. From his EP called King.

“Crazy” by Georgia Satellites

Old school Georgia Satellites.  Released on In the Land of Salvation and Sin.  

“Old Vinyl and Innocence” by Two Mule Blues

Really love this song. The video is from Couch by Couchwest 2014.  Couch by Couchwest 2015 will be here sooner than you know.  Get cracking.

“Circle Unit Document” by The Transcendents

People send me music.  I hope I never get too blase and cynical about that.  People from New Zealand send me really cool music.  So, I write about it. Check out this band. Their self-titled album is available on Bandcamp.

“Old South” by Neighborhood Texture Jam

Memphis Tennessee in the late 80s was a pretty weird place. I speak from experience. Well, it was weird for me, but there was some cool music happening. Like Neighborhood Texture Jam. Off of Funeral Mountain.

“This Ol’ World” by Young America

I’ve gotten to know the two of the members of Young America who are currently residing in Nashville.  Taylor and Drew are great songwriters in their own right, and I really love it when they sing together.  This is the first single from the forthcoming Young America album.  

“Everything Has Proven to be Futile” by The Transcendents

Another from The Transcendents self-titled album.  

“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” by Willie Nelson et. al.

Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, and Snoop Dogg.  What?

“American Haikus” by Jack Kerouac

Close things out with Kerouac, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims and ten minutes of American Haikus and Jack cracking himself up on a couple of occasions.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Friday Morning Music Shuffle – The New L.A. Mix

I have a three day weekend coming up, and so I am ready to blow this week out of the water.  We have an awesome shuffle today.  If you receive the No Depression e-mail newsletter, my work covering shows at 3rd and Lindsley gets a mention in the Notes from ND section.  I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and to all of you who have encouraged me throughout this journey.  If you don’t subscribe to the No Depression E-mail or don’t have time to search through your inbox to find it, you can check it out here…

“Bother Me” by The Bell Hours

The second tune we’ve had from Denver band The Bell Hours. Their album is called Easy Weather.  Check them out.

“Planet Claire” by B-52s

Planet Claire was the second single from The B-52s self-titled debut album (1979). The B-52s were part of the wave of bands that helped solidify Athens, GA’s place as a great music town.

“Forgotten Years” by Midnight Oil

Ignoring the uncomfortable truths of the past is not a viable option.  From Blue Sky Mining (1990).

“Camp Pendleton” by Camper Van Beethoven

From the latest album (El Camino Real) by the legendary alternative rock band lead by David Lowery.  The thing I love about this song is that it manages to sound fresh and current while staying true to CBV’s classic sound.  Not an easy thing to do.

“Greetings from Nashville” by Jason and the Scorchers

A summation of Nashville in the 80s and hell probably still a pretty accurate look at Nashville today.  “Somewhere Hank and Lefty are rolling in their graves…”

“The Riddle Song” by Forest Mountain Hymnal

It’s nice to have Forest Mountain Hymnal back in the shuffle. This Nashville couple always offer amazing traditional folk music – sometimes pretty, sometimes spooky… This song is the first from a project of music based upon the Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles.  You can read more about the project called Dear Balladeer here.  The first song is one of the better known songs they will record and has been recorded many times.  This is a very lovely folk song.

“Emily” by Joe Nolan

Another cool song from my friend Joe Nolan from his forthcoming remastered version of Blue Turns Black.

“The Man I Was Before” by Christian Lopez Band

West Virginia’s Christian Lopez has garnered quite a bit of attention as of late including this song from his 2014 EP Pilot which appeared on the Noisetrade compilation The Best of What’s Next 2015.  I realty dig this song. 

“Nothing Comes Close” by Bill Lloyd

We close things out with another great song from Bill Lloyd’s classic album Feeling the Elephant.  The video I found (included in the video playlist below) makes me remember his awesome band The December Boys and makes me nostalgic for the late, great Nashville street festival Summer Lights which brought people downtown at a time when people didn’t really want to come downtown except for work. The festival also always offered an amazing lineup of local and national artists.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Baboon Heart Mix

Well, here we go. Another short shuffle that covers a ton of ground. For the literary minded among you, we have a song inspired by Upton Sinclair and another inspired by a Tennessee Williams’ play.  Plus, we have some Piedmont Blues for North Carolina, one of Paul Revere’s Raiders doing a Ray Charles song and so much more… let’s get to it…

“Slaughterhouse” by The Georgia Satellites 

From In the Land of Salvation and Sin… Inspired by the muckraking writing of Upton Sinclair especially the novel, The Jungle.

“Chapel Hill Boogie” by John Dee Holeman (Holman)

Some more Piedmont Blues for the Music Makers compilation on Noisetrade. This song was co-written by Kenny Wayne Shepherd.  By the way, on Noisetrade and almost everywhere else I looked, the artist’s name is listed as Holeman.  Wikipedia insists that his name is Holman and often misspelled as Holeman.  Let’s just agree to disagree and just applaud the work of all organizations that help musicians who have given the world so much.

“The Boy in the Bubble” by Paul Simon

The classic lead track from Paul Simon’s groundbreaking album Graceland.  

“Open Wide” by Meat Puppets

Meat Puppets get all speed metal-ey on this stand out track from Forbidden Places.

“This Property is Condemned” by Maria McKee

Ex-Lone Justice singer Maria McKee references a play by Tennessee Williams in this track from her self-titled debut solo album.

“Leave My Woman Alone” by Keith Allison

Keith Allison got his break on Dick Clark’s Where the Action Is – a show which featured Paul Revere and the Raiders as the house band.  Allison later joined that band and had a long career contributed to many popular releases. This Ray Charles cover is from Allison’s 1967 solo album In Action.

“Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” by Old 97’s!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

One of the pioneers of the alt-country movement, The Old 97s lead by Rhett Miller are still making music.  This reluctantly self-referential song is from their most recent album Most Messed Up which came out in April 2014 on ATO Records. 

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