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Quick recap, I continued to lay a little low – still dealing with a lingering cold, and working on song selection for the forthcoming “Double Shot with Joe and Sue” (still no confirmed start date).
Friday: First, it was good to see a large and vibrant crowd for the weekly Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour (one of this town’s best weekly events in my opinion). I left there a little early and headed to Bobby’s Idle Hour on Music Row for the Darkhorses of East Nashville – a collaborative round featuring the amazingly talented trio of Julie Christensen, Amelia White, and Sergio Webb. Trading off songs and backing each other, produced several magical moments. If they come through your town, do not miss it.
So, as I promised Friday, it seemed like a good time to shake things up here at E2TG – just a little bit. Inspired by the success of Featured Friday, I have decided to have a “theme” playlist every for every day of the week. The large #E2TG playlist had gotten very large and getting bigger. By having smaller playlist each day, it may provide more opportunities to feature different artists. We shall see.
So, without much more ado, we begin this new chapter with the debut of Music City Monday – featuring music with connections to Nashville. As you will see, this playlist features both current artists/albums and classics covering over half a century. Non-Nashville artists: Do not be concerned, there will be many opportunities throughout the week for me to feature your music.
“The Homer Bellamy Centennial Blue Yodel” by Jesse and Noah 
Jesse and Noah Bellamy have roots in Florida and first made a name for themselves in Texas, but Nashville is happy to claim them now. This song, from the album Driven Back, marks what would have been the 100th birthday of their Grandfather who solidified their love of Country and Western music. The brother’s performed this long on the Grand Ole Opry. A very Nashville way to introduce Music City Monday.
“Crazy Lady” by Paul Zografi
Our final featured song from Paul Zografi’s most recent EP – Brevity Lane. Zografi is part of loosely organized group of artists that includes some of my favorite people. His songs are very strong and extremely fun to hear.
“Follow Me Home” by SHEL
We started off this shuffle with brothers, and now we have a band of sisters. SHEL (the name derives from the first letters of the first names of the 4 Holbrook sisters originally from Fort Collins, Colorado. They divide time between their hometown, and Nashville (thus their qualification for this playlist). They played an important (if coincidental) role in the genesis of this recent phase of my life as a music writer. In May of 2014, on the day, I first met Darrin Bradbury in person, I followed him down to The 5 Spot – where Darrin was manning the merch table for Tim Easton during his residency. SHEL performed as part of that show – which was also the first time I saw Aaron Lee Tasjan and Megan Palmer (who backed Easton). Anyway, what is more important than my own experiences, is that SHEL are a really awesome band with a pretty cool sound. They are currently running a Pledgemusic presale for their new album Crazy Enough which is due out in May. In support, they released a sampler on Noisetrade which includes a couple of tracks from the new album and some bonus songs which have appeared in television and film. Including this one, which was featured on MTV’s Eye Candy. SHEL will be down at Safety Harbor Song Fest in early April and are scheduled to play Nashville’s Earth Day concert in Centennial Park on April 23.
“Cut n Run” by Brandy Zdan
Another Nashville transplant and another track from a Noisetrade sampler. Brandy Zdan is getting some good and well deserved attention here in Nashville. She is originally from Winnipeg, and here self-titled album was released in 2015.
“Chainsaw Dance” by Crazy Aces
A short fun track from Music City’s resident instrumental rock band.
“Home Sweet Hotel” by Amelia White
Fresh off Friday night’s show at Bobby’s Idle Hour, we have Amelia White with the title track from her brand new album. Expect much more from this album. White is one of East Nashville’s best and this album is a true collaboration with several more awesome folks from both sides of the Cumberland River.
“Stubborn Lover” by Sugar and the Hi Lows
Nashville based duo Sugar and the Hi Lows are up next with a track from their 2012 self-titled album. They were an E2TG featured artists when that album came out.
“Cattle Prod” (Guadalcanal Diary cover) by Government Cheese
Okay, so Government Cheese are technically a Bowling Green band, but Tommy Womack lives in Nashville, and they were a vital part of the Nashville music scene during their original run. Furthermore, the video I found for this track was shot at the late, lamented venue, The Rutledge by the fabulous Too Much Country. Oh, and the song was originally by Guadalcanal Diary who were also not a Nashville band (from Marietta, Georgia), but who played here often in the 80s and early 90s (I saw them several times). Everything about this is awesome. From the retrospective, 1985-1995. They had me at Government Cheese covering Guadalcanal Diary.
“Nine Pound Hammer” by Johnny Cash with The Carter Family
I don’t think I need to explain Johnny Cash’s connection to Nashville. This song was written by Merle Travis (and put too fine a point on my connection theme), this song was often used as Darrin Bradbury’s warm up song back in the heyday of the Darrin/Tim Carroll Fran’s Eastside era.
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Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle – The Under-Overpass Mix
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We have reached Friday… which means another featured Friday shuffle coming up…
Still dealing with a change of seasons cold, but I did get out early last night for the final night of the Paul Burch residency at The 5 Spot. As he did the first week, Kevin Gordon played guitar with Burch and his WPA Ball Club whose new album Meridian Rising is out today. It was a really incredible show with special guest Emma Swift. Beginning next week, Fats Kaplin and Kristi Rose will hold down the Thursday early residency slot for the month of March (with the exception of St. Patrick’s Day). That promises to be outstanding. I think The 5 Spots’ early residency shows are one of the best things Nashville has going on, and looking ahead to the announced and rumored shows coming up, I think you will agree.
Once again, there is a ton of great music going on tonight. My plans include stopping by the Tim Carroll Happy Hour and then moving over to Bobby’s Idle Hour to see the Dark Horses of East Nashville (Amelia White, Julie Christensen, and Sergio Webb) and then to see how time and my cold are doing after that.
I am thinking about some tweaks to the E2TG format. This is not E2TG v. 3.0 (that will come soon enough hopefully), but consider this E2TG v. 2.2 (or at least v. 2.1.1). I will work on that this weekend.
“Ocean Soul” by David G. Smith
David G. Smith is an amazing songwriter – I was fortunate enough to see him a few weeks ago in a round at The Bluebird Café. This song is off of his latest album, First Love. This is a lovely song.
“Don’t You Be Too Cool” by The Deadline Shakes
I keep using the word infectious to describe the music of The Deadline Shakes who are currently promoting their new album Zealots. It is music so catchy, so groovy that it gets inside your head and forces you to feel it. I have always been a total sucker for this kind of music, and The Deadline Shakes are about as good at it as anybody I have heard in a long time.
“As Far as Angels Go” by Lori Kelley
Songwriters are the bread and butter of Nashville. Nashville has great players and great bands, but this music city has a long and complicated history of songs and the people who create them. From professional songsmiths working out of offices on Music Row to “Outlaws” (first on the West End and now around East Nashville)… I have had the great privilege to meet a lot of really great songwriters here in Nashville. Lori Kelley is one of them. She came to Nashville by way of the D.C. area where she was part of successful duo (we have featured Cletus and Lori several times). She just recently released a CD called More which features some of her newer songs (and co-writes). This song is a tribute to her father.
“Flash Forward” by exedra
Flash Forward to the fourth song of the shuffle… Exedra is the new project featuring Jeremy Gluck. I was listening to this one as I was driving on the bridge over the Cumberland River this morning…
“Made of Light” by Tymon Dogg
We’re up to the title track from the latest album by Tymon Dogg who is best known for his work with the late Joe Strummer..
“Bone China Saviour” by Drew Worthley
This is our second listen from Crucible the new album by British singer-songwriter Drew Worthley. I found myself really listening to the words of this song, and I like it a lot.
“Afternoon” by The Foresters
Next up… this song was the first single from Sun Songs – the latest album by Connecticut siblings The Foresters. The Foresters are the flagship band of the Dord Music Group, and as I mentioned yesterday, I have been following their incredible musical journey for nearly a fourth of their young lives. “Afternoon” really set the tone for the musical development and growth on display on Sun Songs. Every time I hear this song, I find myself singing parts of it for hours after.
“Hard Work Pays” by Sara Syms
And we close out the shuffle with one of my absolute favorite Nashville songwriters. Sara Syms released Way Back Home toward the end of 2015, and I was fortunate enough to get to write all about it. This track is a duet between Syms and co-producer Nick Africano, and I love the way the two voices sound together.
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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Kingston Springs Mix
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Sorry for the inconsistency of posts the last couple of weeks… things will smooth out, but life sometimes gets all lifey…
I have been fighting with a cold all week (constantly changing weather -winter to spring and back – doesn’t help), and as a result, I have been mostly laying low this week, but I did manage to venture out (in a cold dreary rain) to The Basement (the original one) for some music. As if the case most nights in Nashville there was awesome music going on all over town, but I just didn’t feel up to venue hopping. In fact, the Basement hosted an early show with Erin Rae and Kelsey Waldron that I totally missed, but I did get to see three awesome sets of music from three of Nashville’s best “on-the-cusp” artists.
Andrew Leahey and the Homestead played their last local show for a bit as they gear up for the release of their new album (on Thirty Tigers) in May. As they have every time I have seen them, they played earnest heartland rock and roll and did not hold back.
Michaela Anne also has an album due out in May. Backed by her awesome band, she played her solid and gorgeous country songs. A highlight was her performance of “Me and Willie” (a CD bonus track from Emmylou Harris’ 1976 album Luxury Liner) which Michaela Anne introduced by recognizing the song’s writer, Laurie Hyde-Smith, who had come to Nashville from North Carolina for the show.
Darrin Bradbury closed the night with his first? full band show since his January Basement East residency (with the band that played with him for those shows). This was an extremely fun set which included an impromptu vocal assist (from the crowd) by Jon Latham. (Do I need to mention that Darrin and Jon are the current and most recently past E2TG Artists of the Year? No? Okay, I won’t then). It was fun seeing so many familiar faces (and awesome musicians/songwriters) in the crowd.
“I Believed You (Chicago)” by James Roquemore
This is the penultimate song (for me to feature) from Roquemore’s EP The First – which I got when I saw James opening for Patrick Kinsley’s album release show at The Basement. I really enjoyed his songs that night, and I have enjoyed this EP which was recorded while he was in college in Florida. From Facebook/Instagram, Roquemore is pursuing a variety of interests of late, but I would love to hear some new music at some point.
“Grand Funeral Procession” by The Jolly Light Brigade
The Jolly Light Connection are part of the Dord Music Group. The band is fronted? by Atticus Floyd (whose music I have posted before) and may include Evan and Hayden of The Foresters (who I have been writing about for roughly a fourth of their lives). This song (a lovely instrumental) is from an EP called CAK.
“Show and Tell” by Sugar and the Hi Lows
Nashville super-duo (Amy Stroup and Trent Dabbs) are up next with the lead track from their 2012 self-titled album.
“The Great Unknown” by Better Than Ezra
The long running New Orleans band Better Than Ezra jump into the Ear to the Ground shuffle with a track from their 2014 album All Together Now which came to me via a Noisetrade compilation from last year’s inaugural Pilgrimage Music Festival which was held in Franklin, Tennessee.
“You Caught Me Off Guard” by Brian Keenan
Another cool song from Fits and Starts, the latest album from this Brooklyn singer-songwriter.
“The Question Is” by SuperCrashingStar
Another really fun track from one of my new favorites. SuperCrashingStar are from New York City, and I have been really digging on their music of late.
“I Was a Teenage War Criminal” by Smokey the Firebear (Ft. The Indigenous People of Peru)
Another sound collage from Smokey The Firebear from his BNGFKR record of sound collages. His latest album Ohm Atlanta was released on Valentine’s Day. The video playlist features a track from that album. Note: it appears the $420 CD of BNGFKR is now sold out – probably due to my posts about it. I will wait patiently for my commission… 🙂
“Nobody Dance” by Patrick Sweany Band
One of East Nashville’s best! I have been fortunate to have seen Patrick Sweany a couple of times in the last year. This is a song that goes back about a decade to the album C’mon C’mere.
“Melva’s Wine” by Johnny Cash
From Cash’s 1972 album A Thing Called Love. This song was written by songwriter Vincent Matthews – who I read about in Michael Streissguth’s book Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville. Matthews conceived a concept album about/set in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. This song was seemingly part of that project.
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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Shortnin’ Bread Mix
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Once again, I am back with another Morning Music Shuffle!
I was a little under the weather – so no shuffle yesterday….
So, here is a recap of some live music I experienced since the last post:
Friday – After venue hopping on Thursday, I decided to stay put in one place (not that there weren’t ample opportunities to venue hop), and it was nice because there was so much great music in one spot (Bobby’s Idle Hour). Three rounds of three singer-songwriters featuring: Round 1: Joe Nolan, Renee Wahl, and Daryl Dasher; Round 2: Jeremy Nash, Lindsay Ellyn, and Sadie Hart; Round 3: Jeremy Staubus, Lori Kelley, and Lori’s sister Michelle Nielson (in town from Iceland).
Saturday – Another one venue night (Douglas Corner) for Charlie Whitten (who has been featured on E2TG), Richie Owens and the Farm Bureau, and Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen.
Two wonderful night’s of music with wonderful company at two venerable Nashville institutions.
#ICYMI: The WXNA Radio Show that I am hosting with Sue Havlish, Double Shot with Joe and Sue, has a Facebook Page for you to like. After you “Like” that page (if you want to), it might be a good time to double check to make sure you have liked the Ear to the Ground Facebook page (link up top). Hope to be able to announce the date of our first show, soon.
Now to the shuffle:
“My City” by Zachariah Red
E2TG Favorite, Zachariah Red kicks off today’s shuffle with the opening track from his album Backbone. A rocking tune to kick off my first work day of the week.
“Shortnin’ Bread” by Neal Pattman
The late great Blues musician Neal “Big Daddy” Pattman via the Music Makers Relief Foundation. A wonderful organization that supports many wonderful music artists in many ways while also preserving the music for countless generations to come.
“Pipeline” by Agent Orange
We have been playing quite a bit of surf rock in recent months – here is a punk rock cover of an early surf rock song (originally recorded by The Chantays back in 1962). Agent Orange are a long running punk band from Orange County, California.
“When I Was Just A Boy” by Carolina Story
The Nashville-based duo Carolina Story are up next with a beautiful song from their EP Chapter 2.
“Oh My Sweet Cantankerous Baby” by Leland Sundries
Next a live version of one of my favorite songs by the Brooklyn Indie band Leland Sundries. Connection alert: Nick Loss-Eaton of Leland Sundries is also a Board Member at Music Maker Relief Foundation which you may recall put out the Neal Pattman song way back, three whole songs ago.
“Rockin’ Chair” by Paul Zografi
Bright came out back in 2014, but we didn’t “discover” it until part way through 2015. Hence, Zografi winning one of the coveted “Better Late Than Never” “Earie” awards. Here is another great tune from that album.
“Open Passageways” by All Them Witches
We close out this shuffle with a song from Dying Surfer Meets His Maker – the latest album from this Nashville band.
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Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Too Far Gone Mix
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Friday is upon us…
It has been a pretty crazy, stressful kind of week, so I cannot say that I unhappy that it is almost over…
Last night was fun, though – although traffic was horrible. I set off for Douglas Corner with a GPS estimated arrival time of 6:04p.m. After I got stopped by a train that came to a complete stop. After an unsuccessful attempt to find some way around (the train was blocking several main roads), I ended up back where I started, but the train had finally cleared. I finally arrived around 6:25p.m. or so and fortunately, the music had just started. It was a songwriter’s round that included Mike Cullison and a singer-songwriter named Arielle – who impressed me highly.
I left there and headed to The 5 Spot to catch the last 45 minutes or so of Paul Burch’s residency show. His outstanding band included Fats Kaplin and two bass players.
Finally, I ended my jaunt at The Family Wash for an incredible performance by Annie McCue. McCue is from Australia but surely has an honorary East Nashville membership card.
Got to hang with some awesome folks at each of those shows.
As I was writing this, I got the official word, that yours truly and Sue Havlish will be the hosts of an hour long radio show on the brand new low power community radio station WXNA. The show (Double Shot with Joe and Sue) will be every Friday from 2:00 to 3:00p.m. As soon as the launch date is announced, I will let you know.
Friday means, that I hit shuffle from the “Featured Friday” playlist- so without much more ado – let’s get to it!
“Too Far Gone” by Joe Mansman and the Midnight Revival Band
Long time E2TG favorite, Joe Mansman is up first with the title track from the debut EP by his current project. I think this is some of the best work he has done – it has been out for a bit, but please check it out.
“A Cloud A Hand The Sea” by Drew Worthley
Our first listen to a song from the album Crucible which is out now. Drew Worthley is a London based singer-songwriter. Expect to hear more…
“If I Didn’t Care” by Ben Lowry
Another great song from Somnium – the solo project by Bang OK Bang member Ben Lowry.
“The River Underground” by exedra
Another one from Elemental. Exedra is the new project from Jeremy Gluck – who we first were introduced to via his Memory Deluxe album. This is atmospheric, shoegazey goodness. Check it out.
“You Was Right Baby” by Eight O’Five Jive
And now, we have officially featured every song on the fantastic album, Too Many Men by Nashville-based jump blues band Eight O’Five Jive. It was groovy, swinging fun songs like this that helped Eight O’Five Jive to be a multiple award-winning band. The band recently made some great noise at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, and of course they were one of the inaugural class of “Earie” award winners. Can’t wait to hear what they have up their sleeves for the encore.
“I’m Sorry and I’ll Try to Make You Feel Better After the Gig” by Discount Ravioli
We close things out with some post-emomathcore, experimental craziness from the seven song release Come Looj With Us. They have already released the follow up. Via the Dord Music Group from Connecticut. We have included a video for another Dord band called Urinal Cakes in the video playlist.
Peace out!
Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Something Nobody’s Ever Seen Mix
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There was fog this morning, and for once, it was not all in my head…
“Judee Was a Punk” by Aaron Lee Tasjan
E2TG is and has long been all about connections. I try not to overstate it, but rather let the connections express themselves in a variety of ways. Sometimes, something I post – a song or an artist or an album or my reflection about a one of those – will lead me to a deeper connection with someone I know – through a shared experience or emotion. I have made some wonderful connections due to writing this blog. Big picture, I believe that we are all connected, and that life’s big illusion is one of separation, and that our primary purpose in life is to work on breaking through that illusion to find the real. Unexpected reminders of our collective connectedness are the source of some of my greatest joys,
All this to say, the first time I was made aware of Judee Sill and her tortured life and her beautiful music was through my friends in Valued Customer. Very shortly after reading about Sill on Patrick and Justus’ Peacefork blog, I heard Aaron Lee Tasjan singing this song in Nashville at The 5 Spot. The song and the unexpected connection brought me great joy. It is an awesome song, and I am glad ALT included it on his latest album, In the Blazes – which is a much buy album – by the way.
“Inertia Fire” by Calming River
We move on with another track from The Ones That We Left Behind by this singer/songwriter from Denmark by way of the UK.
“Central Park” by Brian Wright and The Waco Tragedies
Man oh man, any shuffle that has Aaron Lee Tasjan AND Brian Wright is alright in my book. From Brian’s album Bluebird with the Waco Tragedies. I love this song. Brian Wright’s songs speak truth – like all the best music does.
“Bought and Sold” by The Graveyard Kids
The Graveyard Kids were a Brooklyn band and part of the Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen family (which I dig so much). They released their swansong, It’s Been a Wonderful Evening, and then called it quits. This is an awesome song, and I hope some people will look them up and follow rabbit holes to stay up with what the band members and the rest of MCFK are up to in the Big Apple.
“Waiting for the Sun” (Live) by The Jayhawks
Another thing I dig – also related to connectedness – are happy coincidences. Just like I trust in the power of randomness, I also believe in coincidence. Anyway, just yesterday someone posted something about The Jayhawks, and today this song shows up in the shuffle. This is from that live recording that I grabbed off Noisetrade. A solo Gary Louris live version of this was included on the Bonus CD of Rainy Day Music – called More Rain.
“Bluebird” by Don Gallardo
ALT, Brian Wright, and Don Gallardo! A good day for Nashville music. Another coincidence, this song shares a title with the Brian Wright album from which today’s posted song was taken. Don Gallardo has jumped into my consciousness over the past several months, and I cannot wait to her is brand new album. This is from his 2012 album, The Art of Troublesome Times and features Jill Andrews.
“Laurel Canyon” by The Church
Yet another coincidence! Yesterday, I heard that The Church will be making a rare Nashville appearance in April at the Mercy Lounge. I have been a fan of The Church since the early 80s – when I heard “Electric Lash” on a compilation that was released on cassette inside a field rations can. Laurel Canyon has a storied musical history dating back to the sixties and seventies. I once wrote a short story with a character named Laurel who another character called “Laurel Canyon”, but I’m not sure if that counts as coincidence or is just evidence of my weirdness. Anyway, the recording I listened to, came from one of those many World Café Sessions that I downloaded some time ago. The song was on the band’s 24th and most recent Studio Album Further/Deeper.
“Down So Low” by Mother Earth
And we close things out with an iconic song with connects with my recent interest in late 60s/early 70s Nashville. Mother Earth formed in San Francisco, but later moved to a farm just outside of Nashville and became an integral part of the burgeoning scene around the West End area. This song is from the band’s debut album Living with Animals and is easily one of the band’s best known songs. I got to see Tracy Nelson perform twice last year.
I will close out this post, by encouraging each of you to be open for unexpected moments of connection. They – like the truth – are out there.
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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Set Me Free Mix
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And we are back! Life happens… Here is a brief musical recap:
Sunday night. It was Valentine’s Day and it was Sunday and it was a messy, cold and rainy night. A relatively small crowd (relative to the Nashville crowd this show should have brought out) witnessed a text book demonstration of what Rock and Roll guitar music should be. Brian Wright opened with an amazing band that boasted three powerhouse guitar players (including Wright himself). As I have come to expect from Brian Wright, the songs were excellent and the energy and music were intense. Easily one of the best Brian Wright shows I have seen (and I have seen some good ones). The headliner was Dan Baird and Homemade Sin. The band fronted by ex-Georgia Satellite Baird and featuring the legendary Warner Hodges on lead guitar – tore through a set of songs that spanned Baird’s lengthy catalog. Backed by fellow former Satellite, Mauro Magellen on Drums and Micke Nilsson on bass, the band was on point and played as though they were playing a sold out arena show. The band tours extensively in Europe, but Nashville shows are rare. I hope next time around, the weather and calendar aligns and Nashville will pack out wherever they play.
A very different evening last night at The Post East coffee house/juice bar/smoothie joint for East Nashville Storytellers #77 which featured renowned poet Bill Brown and Darrin Bradbury (accompanied by Megan Palmer).
Due to circumstances, I missed seeing Jon Latham, Zach Schmidt, Jeremy Pinnell, and Carson McHone on Monday night, but by all accounts it was every bit as awesome as I would expect.
On to the shuffle – since I know you got to be jonesing for one by this point…
“Dead Man’s Glory” by Jonas H. Sjøvaag’s Navyelectre
Some orchestral swinging music from Norway. The album Large Ensemble has been in rotation here a while, and the songs are all amazing.
“Bye Bye Baby” by Bob Margolin
From My Road, a cover of a Nappy Brown song by “Steady Rollin'” Bob Margolin. Some awesome modern blues music.
“Pending Vegan” by Ben Arthur
Author Jonathan Lethem (not to be mistaken for E2TG Artist of the Year, Jon Latham – although I would love to witness the two in conversation about music) is one of the best contemporary writers and one of the most in touch with the power and importance of music. It is therefore appropriate that Ben Arthur’s Call and Response will include a song that is not only based upon a story of Lethem’s but is in fact a collaboration. Since there is not a video yet for this track, I posted a Ben Arthur video along with Jonathan Lethem interviewing Patti Smith.
“Who Carried You” by Malcolm Holcombe
The legendary North Carolina singer, songwriter Malcolm Holcombe from his recently released The RCA Sessions. “Who Carried You” was originally released on his debut album A Hundred Lies which was released back in 1996.
“Bodysnatchers” by Dave Rawlings Machine
More instant classic music from Nashville Obsolete. I honestly believe this is music that will be listened to and discussed for years to come.
“Happy Halloween” by The Green Pajamas
Happy Halloween! is the name of the 2014 album from this long running Indie Psycho-Pop band from Seattle. I’m sure this was added to my playlist back in October, but really, there is never a wrong time for incredible music like this.
“You Keep Me Hanging On” by Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge with a rocking cover of the Holland-Dozier-Holland song which was a huge hit for The Supremes in 1966. The Vanilla Fudge version was a top ten hit. Kim Wilde took the song back to number one 20 years after The Supreme’s version.
“Starless” by Zaibatsu
And, we close out the shuffle with more awesome music from this Italian pregressive rock band – off of their record Zero.
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Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Not Alanis’ Fault Mix
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Well, guess what? I’ll tell you what, we have reached the end of this weird week… and that means it is time for the ever popular* feature here at E2TG, Featured Friday. Where we cut out all the classic, obscure prior year tracks from our playlist and just spin songs of a more recent vintage. These are either tracks that were submitted to me or just newer music that I wanted to feature.
Let’s get right into the shuffle which takes some interesting twists and turns….
“Conversation at the Wedding” by Jon Latham
It’s been a pretty heavy week for me – filled with feelings and stuff… so, what do I get to start of the final shuffle of the work week? Jon Latham singing his song about sitting through a wedding that you would rather be standing through… Catapulted by his being named Ear to the Ground Artist of the Year for 2015, Latham has been getting lots and lots of attention from some pretty important people. Truth be told, I am joking about his having been catapulted by the award I gave him. The success he is experiencing is a direct result of many factors including his ability to write songs like this one. The song features a lilting, uncomplicated melody and a crystal clarity in the lyrics. It conveys devastating heartbreak with engaging references that flow easily and do not distract from the tone or the mood of the song. From Real Bad News
“From A Small Farm in Eastern Australia Comes the Oldest Patch of Earth” by Smokey the Firebear
It is still my understanding that Ohm Atlanta is due out very soon.. In the meantime, there are some new singles and other stuff at the Smokey the Firebear Bandcamp Page. This track with a long title was included on the pre-mastered version of Ohm Atlanta which was available for a time at Bandcamp, but was pulled to prepare for the release of the final version. I am not in the know to say that this will for sure be on the final version. Stay tuned to find out. In the meantime, this is a lovely bit of instrumental ambiance.
“Down in the Delta” by Delta Deep
So far, we’ve moved from a Jon Latham sad song, to a Smokey the Firebear experimental instrumental, so it seems only logical (to me anyway) that we would move on to a raucous bit of hard rocking blues music from a new band that features members of Def Leppard, Stone Temple Pilots, plus an outstanding blues vocalist. The self-titled debut album is out now.
“Back of Yr Mind” by Bosveld
Veldbrand is an amazing album. Bosveld is an octet (with guests) that features Thean from Velodrones. They are from Ottawa. You know, this shuffle may seem schizophrenic to some people, but it actually does make sense to me.
“Dawn” by Paul Zografi
After beginning with a Nashville singer-songwriter and then flying off to Connecticut, down to the deep delta, and up to north of the border, we return to close to my home with another track from Brevity Lane
– the latest release from Paul Zografi.
“When Country Singers Were Ugly” by Tommy Womack
One of my favorite song titles. I was fortunate enough to see Tommy Womack in the round Saturday with David Olney, Peter Cooper, and Chris Gantry. Namaste is not due out until the spring, but stay tuned because you are not going to want to miss it.
“Immigrant” by Kevin Gordon
Long Gone Time
was one of my favorite albums of 2015. I am so happy that I got the opportunity to write a review of the album and write a review of the CD Release show at City Winery. We still have several tracks from the album to feature in shuffles, which makes me happy because I am no where near tired of hearing these great songs.
“Art of Wire” by Calming River
So, after having three great Nashville-based songwriters in a row, it makes perfect sense, that we should close out the shuffle with a beautiful song from a songwriter from the Denmark and the UK. This track comes from a four song EP called The Ones We Left Behind.
Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Be My Enemy Mix
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It’s been a weird week filled with annoyingly insignificant snow “events”, a day off, a significant life event, just one (so far) live music night, and some pretty cool shuffles…
“Benedikt’s Blues” by Steve Wynn
Whether as a member of the Dream Syndicate, as 1/2 of Danny and Dusty, as part of The Baseball Project, or just as Steve Wynn – Steve Wynn’s music has been a significant part of my music universe for a very long time. This song is the title track from a recent release which is a “Sonic Companion to Season 4 of Dag”. “Dag” being a Norwegian television series. This track features Wynn’s wife Linda Pitmon and Scott McCaughey (both of The Baseball Project).
“Radar” by Brian Wright
From the Café Rooster Sessions Vol 1 – the most recent release by Brian Wright. I am looking forward to seeing Wright open for Dan Baird and Homemade Sin on Sunday at The Basement East.
“Parents” by SuperCrashingStar
A whimsical tune and our second listen to this New York band. I am really digging their music.
“Cross Paths” by Brian Keenan
Our second Brian in the shuffle, this one is a singer, songwriter from Brooklyn. His latest album is called Fits and Starts. A really good tune.
“She’s the One” by Bruce Springsteen
The studio version from Born to Run. Fun fact, I sometimes peek ahead to see what the next song (after the last) in a shuffle would have been and to see how it might have changed the overall tone of the shuffle. Today, had the shuffle continued past the Killing Kuddles song below, the next song would have been a live version of this song from the Chicago show.
“Be My Enemy” by The Waterboys
Another track from the classic This is the Sea album. “If you’ll be my enemy, I’ll be your enemy, too.”
“Dirty Mouth” by Killing Kuddles
From Sinking Ships. Shhh…. don’t tell Elwood’s mother, but I hear he has a dirty mouth.
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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Tune from a B-Side Mix
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It’s been a rough day. I have a very late and very short shuffle.
First of all, I had the very wonderful opportunity last night to attend an early round at the legendary Bluebird Cafe which featured David G. Smith (who I have featured here on E2TG), a couple of wonderful singer-songwriters named Anne E. DeChant and Nathan Bell, and a very rare and delightful appearance by my friend Karen Leipzinger (backed by Andy Ellis on guitar).
“At Least I Loved” by The Silent War
The duo of Garrison Starr and AG (Adrianne Gonzalez) make some wonderful music. This track is from a sampler they put out of Noisetrade some time back.
“A Thousand Miles of Bad Road” by Aaron Lee Tasjan
Perhaps a rare ALT song. This one comes from a benefit album called We Make Peace. The song references Billy Joe Shaver and the debut album by Drivin’ n Cryin’. Plus, it gave me the opportunity feature Aaron Lee’s new video for his song Don’t Walk Away in the video playlist. And that video is bad ass.
“Find the Beauty” by James Tomberlin
I am absolutely wild about this song. It is so filled with joy and wonderful word play. From the record called, Still Life with Orange, which was produced by Josh Morris.
“Blackstar” by David Bowie
What can I possibly say about this song. Bowie was so far ahead of the rest of the world even in his final days on this planet. Blackstar is weird and complex and challenging and wonderful.
“Independence Day” (live) by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Springsteen’s song about fathers and sons from his album The River – takes from the January 19, 2016 show in Chicago. A poignantly fitting closing song for today’s shuffle.
E2TG: MUSIC/WORDS 