Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Joy and Sorrow Mix

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It’s my birthday, and I’ll cry if I want to…

My Birthday Week continues.  Last night included two stops along the way.  Week 2 of the Jason Ringenberg January Jam residency rolled on… This week guest was Peter Cooper with Chuck Mead joining Jason and Peter for a rendition of The Louvin Brothers classic, “The Christian Life”.  Ringenberg really seems to be enjoying this residency – I know I sure am… Next week’s guest is Tommy Womack!

From there, I headed to Mad Donna’s Loft where I caught the tail end of Simon Reid’s set which sounded great, and then witnessed two rocking sets from the always awesome Renee Wahl (who will be releasing some new music soon!) and Brian Langlinais (who will also be releasing some new music soon!). Both Renee and Brian were backed by top notch bands.

Now the “crying”: two late nights in a row has worn me out, but I will press on… tonight, the fine folks at The Basement East were kind enough to schedule the grand opening of their new Pub for my birthday.  So, I will be hanging out there this evening. The party begins at 6:00 with some awesome folks doing wicked cool covers beginning at 8:00.

On to the shuffle:

“Emma” by Youngstrr Joey

In what is either a moment of serendipity or a moment of cruel irony, the first song in my birthday shuffle is by an artist named Youngstrr (sic) Joey.  This is some really cool music out of Glascow. From a forthcoming album called Grilled Wiig (sic). 

“Black Bruce Wayne Interlude” by Rich Robbins

A brief interlude from THE Black Bruce Wayne himself!  Off of Nimbus.

“Barracuda” by Heart

Back in the day, I used to get pissed off at “Classic Rock” radio because some of my favorite “new” music was not being played on the radio.  To be honest, a lot of what was called “Classic Rock” back in the day was dreck.  But some of it was truly classic.  I put this song squarely in the classic category.  Rock and Roll!

“Pinyin” (Auto-Tune Version) by Batkhi Dahn

Our last listen to the newest single from Batkhi Dahn.  This is the Auto-Tune version of “Pinyin”.  I do not usually recommend auto-tune, but… this…

“Fairweather Friend” by John Cale

From the solo debut by the former Velvet Underground member.  This is the only song on Vintage Violence that was not written by Cale.  The song was written by the legendary Garland Jeffries.

“Ode to Joy” by Joe Jackson

This is the final track on Joe Jackson’s latest album, Fast Forward.  Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

“Sunny Sadness” by Luke Saxton

A very long and beautiful song by this 19 year old singer-songwriter from York, UK.

“Everybody Knows” by FADES

And we close out today’s shuffle with our first listen to some new music from London.  FADES are an alt-rock band, they are releasing a self-titled EP in March.  I am digging it so far.  The only video I could find is a cover of The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping”.  Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

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VIDEO PLAYLIST


Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Oldest Story Mix

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As I was walking back to my car from an absolutely amazing Bob Dylan show last night, I was reflecting on what an amazing month of live music this has been…  Did I mention that Dylan was amazing.  I saw him first and last in 1988, and he was simply going through motions. Back then, his set including some of his all-time classics, but it didn’t matter.  That show left me flat.  Flash forward 27 years, Dylan’s set was very heavily weighted toward his last few albums, many of which I wasn’t that familiar, but the sound was great, Dylan seemed to be having a blast, and as a result, I put the show up among the best I’ve seen.  I feel like I can finally say that I have seen Dylan.

“Gonna Change” by Gear Daddies

Another track from Billy’s Live Bait.  Gear Daddies are revving up for hometown 25th Anniversary shows in Minnepolis coming up soon. 

“The Oldest Story in the Book” by Paul Kelly

Australian Paul Kelly is one of those musicians that I have known of and loved for a long time, but who I someone feel like I have missed out on. He has been making music for many years, and he is still making great music, and I am trying to get up to speed.   This song, which I love, is from his 2004 album Ways and Means and was included on his 2008 compilation Songs from the South Volume 2.  The video was shot at Music City Roots here in Nashville in 2013 when that show was still held at the Loveless Barn.

“Mostly Miss in a Hit Kinda Town” by Darrin Bradbury

A live version of a song that later appeared on Darrin’s True Love album.  Supposedly, this recording from his live album Tur-Lyfe: A Live Recording of Unfortunate Events, is the first performance of this song (but don’t rely on this information for anything important).  Darrin will be coming soon to a city near you (if you are near one of the cities – in the Mid-West and South) in the near future, and rumor has it a new live album is coming soon in addition to the hotly anticipated Life is Hard studio album which I have heard and love. 

“Sleepwalker Blues” by Joe Sundell

Sometimes songs meander around my playlist for several months and then jump out a odd times to offer a jolt a awesomeness. I featured some of Joe Sundell’s music from his album The Hat Thief many months back (maybe a year or so), and this song stuck around my playlist to add some authentic country music to this mix.

“I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train” by Billy Joe Shaver

Speaking of which… Billy Joe Shaver is included in my listing of GREAT artists that I got to see live this month.  He performed at Music City Roots a couple of weeks ago.  This one goes all the way back to his 1973 debut album Old Five and Dimers Like Me.

“Fairly Local” by Twenty One Pilots

There are some that may say that following up Billy Joe Shaver with Twenty One Pilots is pretty screwed up.  Hell, I may even be one of them, but I have learned not to question the wisdom of the shuffle. The shuffle works in mysterious ways… take that how you must… This song is from the forthcoming album Blurryface, and it was included on a Noisetrade Bonnaroo compilation.

“Sure Thing” by Sam Morrow

I featured Sam Morrow’s music on Ear to the Ground a couple of years ago, and I am really glad he jumped back onto my radar.  I have been seriously digging the new music he’s been putting out.  This is a live recording of a song from his 2014 album Ephemeral which is an EP which you can find on Noisetrade.

“Song for Harry Nilsson” by Luke Saxton

Luke Saxton is a young singer-songwriter from the UK.  This song about the late American singer-songwriter is on the album Sunny Sadness which was released back in November, and I like it quite a bit.

“Rikki’s Shuffle” by Michael Hedges

From Live on the Double Planet by the late guitar virtuoso Michael Hedges.

“Honey Don’t Think” by Grant Lee Buffalo

Another nifty song from Mighty Joe Moon which was a primo thrift store find of mine at the beginning of this month.

“A Love Bizarre” by Michael Hedges

Besides being an other-worldly guitar player, Michael Hedges also liked to do unexpected covers.  This is a cover of the Sheila E song and is also on the Live on the Double Planet album.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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