Okay – first off – I have sort of put the Ear to the Ground Events back up. It is a work in progress. I need to do some formatting and stuff. I will continue to work on it and hopefully improve it.
Let us jump directly into the shuffle… it’s another good one….
“Monkey Suit” by Human Radio
Human Radio just completed a successful crowd funding campaign which means new music is on the horizon! Great news! This one goes back to their self-titled first and only studio album so far, and it is the perfect song for a commute to work….
“Chasing Vapor Trails (His Turn to Cry)” by Syd Straw
Syd Straw has one of the most amazing voices in music. Surprise remains on my list of favorite albums, and this song… this song!
“The Three Bells” by Alison Karuss
A gorgeous rendition of a song popularized by The Browns in 1959. The song lyrics cover three stages (birth, marriage, and death) in the life of Little Jimmy Brown. Coincidently, the late Jim Ed Brown was the male lead singer of The Browns and shares a name with the character in the song.
“You Better Move On” by Amy Black
One more from the Muscle Shoals Sessions. This is a cover of a song written and first recorded by Arthur Alexander. The song has previously been covered by artists ranging from the Rolling Stones to Johnny Paycheck and George Jones to Mink Deville. I really like Amy Black’s version included here.
“After You’ve Gone” by Wes Montgomery
A song by the late great Jazz Guitarist – which I grabbed from Aquarium Drunkard.
“Under Their Laws” by Liberty’s Exiles
Liberty’s Exiles are a Progressive duo who formed in 2013. Our first listen comes from their forthcoming album which will be called The Price of Immortality and is due out September 4.
“Ebeneezer/Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss” by David Schnaufer
Our second instrumental in the shuffle – the late Dulcimer master David Schnaufer is back with more of his wonderful music.
“It’s Our Time” by Blackfoot Gyspsies
We close out the day with an older song from one of my favorite Nashville bands. This goes back to their EP called Dandee Cheeseball (2011). They are now signed to Plowboy Records, and you can find their latest album, Handle It, everywhere. Go see them live!
We begin with the 5+ minute almost instrumental from Big Lizard in My Backyard.
“Heal” by Telepathic Teddy Bear
We move on to another track from Telepathic Teddy Bear’s latest album, Forgiveness. Forgiveness heals, music heals…
“Carolyn” by Phranc
Phranc expresses her admiration for the muscular female form. from Folksinger
“1000 Deaths” by D’Angelo and the Vanguard
Black Messiah is one of the best records of the year (released at the end of 2014). 1000 Deaths is the second track on the album.
“Your Own Lullaby” by Matt Phillips
I saw Matt Phillips on the stage a Music City Roots a week ago today – where he (coincidently) expressed his admiration for D’Angelo. Phillips was impressive and a great part of a pretty awesome night of music.
“Treasures” by Telepathic Teddy Bear
One good Teddy Bear deserves another. I am seriously loving this album (Forgiveness).
“Dance” by Blackfoot Gypsies!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”);
It’s never too early in the day to Dance – even when you are riding up the elevator to work (although I did get some strange looks – what do I care?). Seriously, now is the time to become a part of the Blackfoot Gypsies express train. My friend Popa Tunes has been on board for a while now, I know. This is from the album Dandee Cheeseball.
Had a terrific time at Music City Roots last night: Family and Friends, Matt Phillips, The Bros. Landreth, and Dale Watson. Big thanks to the Sippy Biddys for letting me be a honorary guest biddy for the night.
On with the shuffle..
“The Day is Real” by Blackfoot Gypsies
Congratulations to Blackfoot Gypsies on their recent signing to Plowboys Records. Well deserved and total world domination is expected soon. My day got real – really quickly. This is off their self-titled debut. The video is from a benefit show I attended in December – put on by Lockeland Springsteen – who run a blog or something here in Nashville… whatever… 😉
“Puppet String” by Umphrey’s McGee
Chicago’s improvisation rock geniuses off their album Similar Skin.
“Indian Giver” by 1910 Fruitgum Company
Appropriately named Bubblegum band from New Jersey with a retroactive Ramones cover. Seriously, the Ramones covered this as a bonus track on their retrospective Ramones Mania album. It was the title track from a 1969 album by 1910 Fruitgum Company.
“I’m Your Broken Dog” by The Bones of JR Jones
J.R. Linaberry lays down some of the rawest, raddest rootsiest music around. This song is on Noisetrade’s Best of What’s Next sampler, and in a cursory search, I could not find it anywhere else. So head over…
“We Will Not Be Lovers” by The Waterboys
A seven minute musical celebration from the creative genius who is Mike Scott. From Fisherman’s Blues.
“Clowntime is Over” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Get Happy!! Ya’ll!
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Long running New Orleans Jazz band. They will be hitting the Hangout Music Festival this year. That’s It is the title and lead track from their 2013 album.
“Lost My Job” by Alex Chilton
We close out today’s shuffle with a song from the late, great Alex Chilton. It was included on the 19 Year compilation put out by Rhino in 1991.
I got those post-birthday hangover blues… hangover in the figurative sense (or is it literal???)
Anyway, some killer tunes in the shuffle – so let’s get to it.
“You Got Trouble” by Blackfoot Gypsies
A great way to start the morning commute. Six minutes or so of Blackfoot Gypsies signature high-energy bluesy rock music. This is from their album Dandee Cheeseball.
“Come Join the Murder” by The White Buffalo and The Forest Rangers
Did you know that a group of crows is called a “murder” because they will sometimes kill a dying cow? I didn’t either, but I join writers of songs, poetry, and fiction in thanking whoever came up with the name for the inspiration. I really love this song which was featured on the television series Sons of Anarchy.
“1969” by The Stooges
I was three years old in 1969 (a fact that either makes me seem really old or really young depending upon your point of view), so I will have to take Iggy’s word on what that year was like. I am not one to argue with Iggy. Powerhouse, proto-punk from the self-titled debut album.
“Femme Fatale” (Velvet Underground cover) by Tom Tom Club
Femme Fatale is among my favorite Velvet Underground songs (there are a bunch on that list), and this is one of my favorite cover versions. From Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom.
“Stop Your Sobbing” by The Pretenders
Speaking of Femme Fatales…
“V.F.W.” by The Dead Milkmen
I’ve never been in a foreign war, but I am a veteran in the sense that this song is talking about….
“Free Again” by Alex Chilton (Big Star)
A few songs from the Big Star album Third/Sister Lovers made it onto the Alex Chilton compilation 19 Years. The absence of Chris Bell made the album (to some) essentially an Alex Chilton solo album. Regardless of that debate, it is one of my favorite albums of all time and I love this song.
“Dracula, 1931” by Sci-Fi Romance
I think this is the second to the last song for us to feature from the remarkable October album by our friend Vance Kotrla (aka Sci-Fi Romance). Once again, in case you missed the previous posts, shortly before Halloween, Mr. Kotrla sat down and watched a marathon of classic horror films (along with the film Ed Wood), and he then wrote and recorded some songs based upon each of the films. Here, he transforms the classic 1931 film Dracula (directed by Tod Browning and starring the great Bela Lugosi) into a meditation on the consequences of immortality.
“The Queen of My Arms” by Matthew Ryan
We close things out with a Bonus track from Matthew Ryan’s album Boxers. A great way to end a most excellent shuffle.
I took the day off work and barely saw the morning…. so no traditional shuffle but I did run an errand earlier and shuffled a few tunes…. Plus I had some other things to share: First off though, to me whether you are nuts for all things Christmas or a bit of a Scrooge, whether you are Christian or Pagan or whatever… I’d like to think the honest desire for true Peace is something all of us can agree on in principle. So, if there is one message of the season that the world needs as much if not more than ever, it is a message of Peace. Ear to the Ground favorites, The Tomas Doncker Band have just released a bit of Christmas card in the form of a fantastic cover of the Nick Lowe song made famous by Elvis Costello. “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding”. Below is a link to the song. We have also included a video of the song at the beginning of our Video Playlist. If you Spotify, the song is also now streaming on that site.
Last night, I attended the Lockeland Springsteen Christmas show which served as a benefit for St. Jude’s. It was a great show and a lot of fun. Music was provided by Boom Forest, Elenowen, Blackfoot Gypsies, Cory Branan, and Alanna Royale. Of course. I took pictures:
To the Shuffle: “Frank is Gone” by David Olney
The Nashville Scene published a nice feature about the incredible guitar player Sergio Webb. The Video Playlist features a version of this song with David Olney and Sergio.
“Do Not Go Gently into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
Besides his amazing music, David Olney is known for his ability to offer amazing renditions of poetry. So it seems in good order to follow up, David Olney with Dylan Thomas reading one of his own poems. Plus that is what the shuffle decided to do.
“Lemonade” by Megan Palmer
Yesterday, I wrote a bit about Wednesdays at Fran’s Eastside. Among the special guests who have appeared over the weeks I have been a regular attendee as been the amazing fiddle playing of Megan Palmer. Here is have a refreshingly tart treat from Ms. Palmer.
“Proud and Dangling” by Hugh Trimble
Hugh Trimble joins this abbreviated shuffle with a different version of the song that first turned me on to his music.
“Better Off Dead” by Stacy Mitchhart
And we close out the shuffle and the week with Nashville’s own Stacy Mitchheart doing a cover of a Bill Withers song.
Today’s subtitle is a tribute to the mind-blowing weekly party that goes down every single Wednesday night at Fran’s Eastside Tavern in East Nashville, Tennessee. Tim Carroll and Darrin Bradbury have been doing this thing since July or so, and I’ve only missed a couple. When it began, Darrin would play for an hour or so and then Tim would take over and then they would play together at the end of the evening. In time, drummer David Strayer began sitting in and then (when he returned from an extended time up North) Cameron Carrus joined in on the upright bass, and the Fran’s Eastside Super High Band was formed. Now-a-days, Tim begins playing sometime before 8:30 (I don’t think I’ve ever made it there before he began) and the band joins in as they arrive. Darrin plays (with Tim playing guitar). Singer Luella Wood has been known to serenade us with a few songs each night, and at various times Trombones, additional guitars, and other assorted folks have joined in the party. Special guests have been known to show up including singer/songwriter legend Dave Dondero and last night Nathan Kalish and the Lastcallers. It’s a seriously fun night and if you can handle the copious amounts of second-hand smoke, you should come on out if you are in the area.
Last night’s show ended the traditional “Freebird” and “Wagon Wheel” one-two punch which Darrin Bradbury managed to lyrically mash-up in the manner of our subtitle.
On to the shuffle:
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Matt King has his feet planted both in New York and in Nashville which makes him doubly appropriate for Ear to the Ground. Thanks to the shuffle his songs make a neat frame around the rest of the shuffle today. This first one is a song about coal mining and Harlan, Kentucky. I’ve actually been to Harlan which I think gives me some authentic Country/Americana street cred. Right?
“Future Tidings Shall Sing” by Batkhi Dahn
Batkhi Dahn is the side project of The Foresters Bassist Hayden Nork. It’s a pretty whacked-out Christmas number, and I mean “whacked-out” in the most complimentary way possible. It’s trippy and a whole lot of fun. Somehow, in my mind, I picture a conversation like this:
Hayden: I have a new song for The Foresters
Evan and Liam: um… well it’s cool and all, but… um…
Hayden: Fine, I’ll just start a side project!
It’s not easy being a middle child – believe me, I know.
“Coming Through the Pines” by Blackfoot Gypsies
A song from their debut album and once again the shuffle provides some excellent timing as I prepare for tonight’s Lockeland Springsteen Christmas show at The Five Spot which featuring Blackfoot Gypsies, Alanna Royale, Cory Branan, and others.
“The Masque of the Red Death 1964” by Sci-Fi Romance
I’m going to keep posting these awesome songs until I’ve posted them all. Sci-Fi Romance/Vance Kotrla sat down to watch a marathon of classic horror films and ended up writing a song about each of the films and recording the songs in a very lo-fi way. In lesser hands, this could be a great concept that ended up kind of stilted and cheesy, but these are not lesser hands and the result are some incredible distillation of classic stories into highly original and surprising songs.
“Blind Fascination” by The Torn Images
Another great rocker from The Torn Images full-length debut. Coincidently, we had two Southern California bands that are essentially solo projects. Briand Arabaca is the solo artist behind The Torn Images.
“Northern Lights” by American Aquarium
I don’t know how many ways to say how great I think American Aquarium are. We have featured several songs from Burn. Flicker. Die and we still have a couple more to go. There isn’t a bad song in the bunch and almost all of them are truly great songs.
“Fire on a Sunny Day” by Ben Arthur
If You Look for My Heart is the title of the new album by New York singer/songwriter Ben Arthur. It is also the title of his new novel. The two works are interrelated but independent, and you can get them both at Noisetrade.com. The album features guest appearances including Rachel Yamagata and Aesop Rock. Fire on a Sunny Day is a dark, disturbing, and awesome song about obsessions. I look forward to bringing you more of this album.
“The Kiss” by Judee Sill
One of the ever-present themes of Ear to the Ground is that of connections. Most of the time, I try to let the shuffles speak to this theme without explicit comments, but I have been known to post lengthy commentaries on how all music and indeed all humanity is interconnected. This idea was reinforced for me recently and it involves the late tortured folk/pop singer Judee Sill. I was turned onto Judee Sill by my friends in Valued Customer and soon grabbed this song off of the website Freegal. A few weeks later, I went to a show by the awesome Aaron Lee Tasjan, and he performed a song that was dedicated to Judee Sill. The song was incredible and I was blown away by the seemingly mystical forces which tied this connection together for me. If pressed, I think I would have a hard time drawing connecting lines from Valued Customer to Aaron Lee Tasjan (other than the insane amount of talent they both have), but lo and behold, Ms. Sill whose truly tragic life ended in 1979 completed the puzzle and it suddenly all made sense.
“Santa Came Home Drunk” by Clyde Lasley and The Cadillac Baby Specials
A Christmas song that’s lyrics consist mainly of types and brands of booze. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.
“Howl” by The Lucky Jukebox Brigade
Another appearance by The Lucky Jukebox Brigade. A song title which lead me down a rabbit hole which resulting in my downloading of a poem written and read by Allen Ginsberg which will be in a forthcoming shuffle I’m sure.
“Before It’s Gone” by Matt King
Completing the frame we circle back around to Matt King and another brilliant song from his Raw album.
A frustrating morning commute – made all the better by an eclectic ten song shuffle… enjoy…
“Waffle House” by Darrin Bradbury from When a Car Becomes A House (Demos)
“I’d like to know what I want without it being advertised.” A beautiful song of the road from the one and only Darrin Bradbury.
“Moons of Jupiter” by Ron Muga from Wonderful Doom
Another lovely song this one from Ron Muga. I had some technical difficulties before, some I glad to be featuring these songs finally.
“Truckin’ Trees for Christmas” by Red Simpson from Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree – A Vintage Holiday Mixtape/Truckers’ Christmas
Is it a coincidence that there were two country music singers named “Red” who were notable for Trucker songs? This one goes out to all those who drive long distances day after to day so that we can conveniently get the things we want and need.
“Trick” by Joe Sundell from The Hat Thief
This is one of my favorite records of the year, and this lively, old-time sounding song is one of my favorites off of it.
“Santa Claus” by Thee Headcoatees from Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree – A Vintage Holiday Mixtape/Sisters of Suave
Thee Headcoatees are a 90s British Garage Rock band who sound like they could be 60s Garage Band. This song may or may not sound like their song, “Davey Crockett”.
“5th String is Broken” by Sammy Brue from Bootleg Sessions VOL I
For a second day in a row, we have 13 year old phenom Sammy Brue in the shuffle. Maybe Santa can bring him a 5th String for Christmas?
“Santa’s Doing the Horizontal Twist” by Kay Martin and Her Body Guards from Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree – A Vintage Holiday Mixtape/Kinky Christmas Songs
At this point, I feel compelled to point out that the shuffle literally comes from a random shuffle of songs in a playlist I curate. So, while I must take responsibility for adding this song to said playlist.* I cannot be held accountable for this showing up right after a song by a 13 year old boy. Spoiler Alert: It should also be pointed out that the character mentioned in the song is not actually Santa. *David “Popa Tunes” Horton sent me the mixtape. 😉
“Country Nugget” by Blackfoot Gypsies from Dandee Cheeseball
I just heard that Blackfoot Gypsies are playing The 5 Spot a week from today with Cory Brannan and bunch of other folks. I implore you to check this band out whenever and wherever you get the chance. Also, I actually checked to make sure my Music Player was operating correctly when this song was playing. That is a compliment.
“Fish Plant Rebellion” by Ike Reilly from Am I Still the One for You?/Poison the Hit Parade
The last time I posted an Ike Reilly song and tweeted about it, he replied and said I should make sure to tell my friends that the songs I have been featuring are all available (free and easy) via the fine folks at NoiseTrade. If you are interested (and you should be interested), I am going to post the widget to make it even easier.
Welcome to Monday. Had a great weekend, and now it’s time to face up to another work week. Here is a fine, fine collection of music graciously presented by my cell phone’s music player on “Shuffle” mode. A video representation of the shuffle is presented at end of the post…
“Shorter Days” by Heath McNease from Fort Wayne (Songs Inspired by the Film)
A great song for a cool, crisp fall morning… the days are getting shorter.
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This made me think of Douglas Coupland’s 1991 novel Generation X: Tales of an Accelerated Culture. It also made me think about how much more accelerated our culture has become. I dig this song – it made me think about stuff…
“Corner Girl” by Abigail Washburn from City of Refuge
Another great track from this album which I was lucky enough to find a thrift store a couple of weeks back.
“Tidbit” by The Black Jesuses from Black Jesuses
The Black Jesuses are a two piece Rock band from Asbury Park, NJ. They are cool. Check them out.
“Tout Un Beau Soir en me Promenant” by Maria McKee from Evangeline Made: a tribute to Cajun Music
This is the second of Maria McKee’s two contributions to this Cajun Music tribute album. The Video features a version of this song recorded by the archivist Alan Lomax.
“Virgin” by Heyrocco from Deer Head Music Presents: Indie Mixtape Nashville/Mom Jeans EP
Some fun grungy/punky music from the Deer Head Music Nashville Indie mixtape.
“Til’ the Seas Run Dry” by Dom Flemons from Til’ the Seas Run Dry”
Another great song from ex-Carolina Chocolate Drops member Dom Flemons. This is from a recent NoiseTrade sampler.
“Mister Stay at Home” by David Olney from When the Deal Goes Down
I could listen to David Olney all day long. Another awesome track from his latest album, When the Deal Goes Down.
“Rock it Up” by Blackfoot Gypsies from Dandee Cheeseball
We close out with one of the funnest (sic) and best Nashville bands around today. I crossed out Nashville not because they aren’t from here, but because I didn’t want to put any qualification on the statement that they are an extremely fun and excellent band. A ripping track from their 2011 album Dandee Cheeseball.
E2TG: MUSIC/WORDS 