Friday Morning Music Shuffle – That Thin Disguise Mix

!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”);

Be sure to “Like” Ear to the Ground on Facebook!

Did you know that Ear to the Ground contributes over $500,000 to the economy every month?  And that we employee over 500 full-time and an additional 500 part time employees?   Okay… none of  that is true, but it does keep me busy and thus (mostly) out of trouble – which is in and of itself a good public service. 

Apologies for the untruths… but they were just little white lies which not coincidently leads us directly into the first song from our shuffle…
window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”; http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js
“White Lies” by Jason and the Scorchers

Although no video exists, I often pretended to be Warner Hodges while playing air-guitar to songs like this one back in my young days.  If you really want to visualize that, just remember I was significantly skinnier back then…   From Lost and Found.

“Rich” by Royal Teeth

Royal Teeth return to the shuffle.  This time with a song that did not appear on the band’s debut album Glow (I hope I got that right).  The recording (and video in the playlist below) are from a World Café Session and was recorded in the band’s hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana (which coincidently is where my parents lived when they were first married).  They play a pretty infectious brand of Indie, Dance, Pop. 

“Drop” by Elephant Revival

Elephant Revival – besides being about the 3rd or 4th band we’ve featured on #E2TG with Elephant as part of their name – are a high-energy folk/Americana band from Colorado.   The song was first released on the band’s 2010 album Break in the Clouds… the recording in the shuffle is taken from the forthcoming live CD/DVD called Sands of Now which are scheduled for release a week from today.

“On My Way” by Ivan and Alyosha

The Seattle Folk-Pop band are up next with one of their catchiest songs – from their 2013 album All the Times We Had.

“Crooked Mountains” by Tom Schreck

Nashville singer-songwriter Tom Schreck has a birthday today!  How does my random shuffle know these things?  He is one my favorite local writers, and this song is from his album Save Your Glory. Happy Birthday Tom!

“Rocky Island” by The Barefoot Movement

When you meet a band for the first time randomly at the Cash Cabin, and walk away charmed by their personality and with a couple of CDs of their music, you have a good feeling.  Fortunately, the music backs all that up.  This song is a traditional song from the band’s EP The High Road which features six traditional songs.

“I Don’t Want Nobody” by Rich Robbins (feat. Dantrell Cotton) (prod. Since ’93)

Rich Robbins, who I have been following now for a couple of years (we first met him when he was billed as Christian Robins), speaks his truth and does so brilliantly and beautifully. His debut album Nimbus features some pretty heady stuff, and is definitely worth a listen.   We dug deeper for the video – pulling up “Suburban Trap Rat” which was on a mixtape which first introduced us to this young man. 

“You Are Who You Are” by A Boy Named Banjo

We close out the day and the week with a young Nashville band who recently performed at Bonnaroo.  I got to see them a couple of months back at City Winery as part of a Ben Bullington tribute put on by their bassist Abe Scott’s father, Darrell Scott.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Weirdo Mix

!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”);

Be sure to “Like” Ear to the Ground on Facebook!

Yesterday, I posted a listing of the live music I have seen this week.  Last night, I had the opportunity to visit the famous Cash Cabin in Hendersonville to meet and hear some really awesome music from a San Diego band called Talk Like June.  They have been recording at the cabin with John Carter Cash producing.  The music was great, and they stories and people were truly incredible. The spirit of Johnny and June Carter Cash is so present in that relatively small space.

Please understand, though, I gather no pleasure from seeing incredible live shows and meeting legendary music figures and all of that… I do it all for you dear reader – so that I may bring all of those experiences back with me and make Ear to the Ground the best it can be,  It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it…

Please don’t feel too bad for me, though….

“19” by Boy Named Banjo

Nashville’s Boy Named Banjo are going to be at Bonnaroo next month.  This song is from their album, Long Story Short.  A shout out to my friend Boyd for the recommendation.  He’s been guiding my musical tastes and experiences for many, many years,  and he currently is Israel having an incredible experience I am sure.

“City of Ends” by A Color Engine

A Color Engine was a project featuring one of Ear to the Ground’s absolute favorite people, Don Ryan along with Eric Burchfield who was part of Elephant Goes West which we featured here.  Don made this old project available as a form of compensation for the fact that some of us have been waiting literally a million years for a new Don Ryan record… okay maybe not literally… but you know… I dig this A Colored Engine record, but I’m still baiting my breath for the really new record.

“Hey Lawdy Papa” by The Barefoot Movement

Among this interesting people I met last night was this band newly relocated to Nashville.  They have a very real interest in promoting and learning traditional music, and I got hold of some of their music.  This song is from an EP called The High Road.  This is a Traditional song once recorded by a blues singer named Teddy Grace.

“Fisher’s Hornpipe” by David Schnaufer and The Cactus Brothers

Speaking of Traditional music…. we have another track from the legendary Dulcimer player here with Nashville band The Cactus Brothers which started as a side project of the great 1980s Nashville band, Walk the West.

“Swarm” by Whiskey Shivers

Exposing the rowdier side of roots music, we have Whiskey Shivers from their self-titled album.

“The Way it Went Down” by Tim Carroll

One of my favorite (among many songs) by the prolific and tireless Nashville guitarist and songwriter.  From his Pure as Coal album.  The video was produced by students at Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film here in Nashville.

“White Flag” by John Moreland

Oklahoma songwriter John Moreland has released one of the best albums of the year and if you ever get the chance to see him live – go and be prepared to have your mind and heard blown wide open.  

“Uja” by Tanya Tagaq

In our quest to make sure we leave no musical stone unturned..  some contemporary throat singing music from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut in Canada.  This is actually the second track we’ve presented from her.  Pretty cool stuff.

“Weirdo” by Masked Intruder

Masked Intruder are a masked Pop Punk/Power Pop band from Madison, Wisconsin. Weirdo is just a flat out awesome song.

“Tide is Rising” by Direct Divide

Direct Divide are from Seattle and play powerful Orchestral/Cinematic Rock music.  

“Trustful Hands” by The Do

The Do (the o has a line through it – one of those European things I don’t know how to duplicate in typing).  They are from Paris France, and I really dig this song.  I want to hear more from them as soon as possible.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

     window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;       http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js   

Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Get up and Do Something Mix

!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”);

Be sure to “Like” Ear to the Ground on Facebook!

So… I’m having trouble thinking of  a profound intro to this shuffle…  So… it is Friday! The weekend is upon us.  Get up and Do Something!  I snatched that song from the Soul Asylum song in today’s shuffle.  Good advise, that I need to take myself sometimes…

“Song for an Angry Young Man” by Beat Rodeo

I was a young man when I first heard this song.  And, I guess I was angry in my own way.  I’m not so young anymore, and I try not to be unnecessarily angry… or at least try to keep my anger working for me rather than against… but I still understand this song, because that “angry young man” is still inside me…

“If It Takes Me to You” by Boy Named Banjo

From their album Long Story Short.  Boy Named Banjo are going to be performing at Bonnaroo, so if you are going down to Manchester in June, look for them on the Club Stage. 

“Karaoke” by Five Eight

This song was on the Athens, GA band’s 1994 album Weirdo.  They recently appeared at SXSW and this song came from a Noisetrade SXSW sampler.

“My Rival” by Alex Chilton

From Alex Chilton’s 1979 solo album Like Flies On Sherbert.

“Weekend Syndrome” by The Naddiks

Another rocking track from the album 21CB…  The Naddiks are from Canberra, Australia and the weekend is in full swing there.  This and every weekend – have fun, but be careful and act decent to people. Okay?

“An English Gentleman” by James Dean Bradfield

This song is from the 2006 album, The Great Western.  James Dean Bradfield is from the English band The Manic Street Preachers who are doing some American dates in support of the 20th anniversary of their classic album The Holy Bible. I really love this song and so far everything I heard from this record has been amazing.  I am someone who derives great pleasure from “discovering” great music whether it is new or just something I missed out on the first time around.

“Villains” by The Vigilance Committee

I am always happy when some harder edged stuff filters through my inbox.  This Indie/Punk band is from Long Island, and I’m looking forward to hearing more of their stuff.  This song is from their album, “Exit a Hero” which is a concept album about the first vigilance committee established in San Francisco in the mid 1800s.  The album is due out in a week, but you can pre-order via their Bandcamp page.

“Sometime to Return” by Soul Asylum

Damn, ya’ll Hang Time is a flat great album….

“Good Old Fashioned Pain” by Young America

Another awesome track from the latest EP  by this band who are currently split between Athens, GA and Nashville, TN.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know Taylor and Drew (the Nashville part of the band), and I am awful proud of the music they are making.  Pain Rain and the Mundane is out now – via your Normal music portals.

“Old Soul” by Sam Morrow

We featured Sam Morrow a good while back, and it is great to have him back in the Shuffle, and to be reminded of what a great songwriter he is…  from his most recent album Ephemeral.

“I Won’t Slip Up” by The Delines

From the Album Colfax, by this great Country/Soul band from Portland, Oregon. 

window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”; http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js

Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Bad Boys and Transference Mix

Well… Couch by Couchwest 2015 kicked off yesterday…  So far, I have seen videos from Science! who has been featured recently on E2TG, plus my friend Drew Kohl of Young America (who coincidently are releasing a 3 song EP today), The Foresters, Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray, and I have a bunch I need to catch up on eventually.  Keep on couchin’!  And if you haven’t submitted a video, there is still time!

“She’s My Lowcountry” by The Lucky Jukebox Brigade

This is the last song we have to feature on Familiar Fevers, but who knows, I might reload and start over… I can do that… it’s my blog!  Anyway, I love this song.  In honor of CXCW, I picked 2013 submission from The Lucky Jukebox Brigade to lead off today’s video playlist.

“Bad Boys and Painkillers” by James Dean Bradfield

 From the 2009 album, The Great Western… James Dean Bradfield is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Manic Street Preachers.  I really love this song – it rings very true and sounds pretty darn fresh.

“It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way” by The Tourists

From Should Have Been Greatest Hits… originally the lead track for Reality Effect (1979).  Even if the production does sound dated, the song is top notch…

!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”); “Transference” by Matt Phillips and the Philharmonic

Some psychological music from Matt Phillips and his band The Philharmonic…

“On the Riverside” by Boy Named Banjo

My first listen to Nashville Americana band, Boy Named Banjo.  I like it a bunch, and look forward to featuring some more from them soon.  Thanks to my friend Boyd for pointing this out to me. From the album, Long Story Short.

“Spooky Boots” by Reverend Horton Heat

From the album REV!  It’s the Rev, doing what they do best… psychobilly at it’s finest.

“(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria” by Townes Van Zandt

From the live recording, I got hold of on TVZ’s birthday. Further evidence (as if it was needed) that Townes Van Zandt was and is a giant among songwriters. This song was originally on his 1968 debut album, For the Sake of the Song.

“UP” by The Renaldo The Ensemble

I am so glad to have The Renaldo The Ensemble back in the shuffle.  They are delightfully offbeat and impossible to classify, and who wants to waste time classifying anyway?  Just sit back an enjoy the show..

“The Unanswered Question?” by Syd Straw     window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;     

Even since I first heard this record way back in the day, I’ve always felt there was an other worldly quality to this music.  Like hazy fever dream of a great pop song…. From Surprise. For a treat, since I couldn’t find a video of this song, I picked a video from the very first episode of MTV Unplugged (according to the Youtube description) with Jules Shear, Chris Difford and Gleen Tilbrook (Squeeze), Elliot Easton (The Cars) and Syd Straw doing “I’m A Believer” (the Monkee’s hit song, written by Neil Diamond)…http://ps-us.amazon-adsystem.com/domains/eartothegro00-20_3dcd3a52-1a1a-4afe-a2fd-aaba8e251afc.js
VIDEO PLAYLIST