Featured Friday Music Shuffle – Where the Blues Began Mix

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Well it’s Friday and it is All Hallows Eve Eve and it is sunny today and did I mention it is Friday!

Last night I completed my punch card and made it to all five of the Campfire Propaganda residency shows. This week Megan Palmer and Brian Wright were back, and Darrin Bradbury was out of town on tour. Great sets of music by Tim Easton, Brian Wright (who covered Darrin’s “Blue Highways”), Megan Palmer, and then Nellie Clay played with a full (and awesome) band for her CD Release show. She even brought up a horn section for the last two songs.

After that I decided to enjoy the crisp Autumn evening and made my way to Drifter’s BBQ to watch Tim Carroll and Luella before heading home to do some preparation for a meeting this afternoon which should help me set a course to make 2016 the best year ever for #E2TG.

We have a featured Friday shuffle that is sure to provide a multitude of treats with a minimum of trickery.

“ネオ東京 Underground” by Victor Love

We start out with some Industrial/Techno music with an accompanying video that is a tribute to the classic Manga/Anime Akira. Fun stuff – check it out. This is the lead track from an album called The Network. Victor Love is from Rome – I believe, by way of Neo Tokyo.

“Cold Stones and Rubble” by Jon Latham

We are now two weeks out from the release of Jon Latham’s awesome new album, Real Bad News. The buzz for this record continues to build, and Jon will opening up for Malcolm Holcomb in December 4 at the original Basement.

“Silver Cigarette Case” by the British IBM

Earning their spot in the long line of awesome British Pop bands (Pop in the best sense of that work by the way), I have been really digging on Psychopaths Dream in Black and White. Check them out.

“If I Could Only Turn Back” by Fendrick and Peck

Fendrick and Peck are really nice people who happen to be awesome songwriters and performers. True story, I met Brian Peck the very same night that I met Jon Latham. I had been convinced to accompany Darrin Bradbury and James Tomberlin on a somewhat sketchy drive to a Sunday night open mic somewhere way out on Murfreesboro Pike. We ended up in this rather nice establishment in a strip mall. The open mic featured some kids doing recital pieces, a couple doing traditional songs, and Darrin, James, Brian Peck, Taylor Alexander, Jon Latham, and Drew Kohl doing their amazing songs. Ah, those were much simpler times… (last year). Anyway, this is another great song from the Fendrick and Peck album Lucky Penny which you should definitely check out.

“Land Where The Blues Began” by Sara Syms

Speaking of really nice people and amazing songwriters/performers…. Sara Syms is one of my absolute favorite Nashville artists. She recently released her wonderful new album Way Back Home. Land Where the Blues Began is as good as any place to dive into her music. Sara makes pretty timeless yet timely music- couching her strong songwriting with some great production and instrumentation. Check her out!

“Some Days a Dollar” by Tiffany Huggins Grant

Continuing a theme of Nashville singer/songwriters who are also very nice people… We have been featuring Jonquil Child for some time, and we still have a few more songs in our playlist. Boasting a powerful voice and backed by talented an experienced plays, Jonquil Child is an incredible album. #E2TG favorite, Mark Robinson produced and played on the record.

“Awful Lot” by Susan James

We close things out with our final track from Sea Glass – long time blog favorite Susan James’ new album which marked a return to her California singer/songwriter roots and which injected a decidedly Paisley Undergroundish sound to the music.

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Featured Friday Music Shuffle – Laser Moonbeams Mix

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So, last night was week 4 out of 5 of the Campfire Propaganda residency at The 5 Spot. Megan Palmer and Brian Wright were away, but great performances by guests Russell Thompson and Emma Berkey plus Darrin Bradbury, Nellie Clay, and Tim Easton. Love this town. Next week, Nellie Clay will be having her album release show – same time and place.

“Rise” (Radio Edit) by The Christians

We start things off with a brand new single from a British soul/pop band who had a string of hit songs in the late 80s and early 90s. The band have a new album called We. This single “Rise” can be had on iTunes with proceeds going to Syrian Refugee relief.

“Nothing Ever Lasts That Long” by The British IBM

We stay on the other side of the Atlantic with a song from a young Cambridge band who have a great indie/pop sound that I really dig. Catchy songs. I dig.

“The Frame” by Jon Latham

Last week at this time, Jon Latham was launching his new album Real Bad News. If you have not done so, go get you a copy. “The Frame” delivers a heart-breaking sad song with a side of well-written photography metaphors.

“Sea Glass” by Susan James

The title track from Susan James’ latest album. Definitely one of my favorites of 2015.

“Hymn (Highland Version)” by Tom Schreck

Tom Schreck has just released an EP called The Added Glory which serves as a companion piece to his two full-length albums, Outsider (2009) and Save Your Glory (2014). Here we have a stripped-down version of one of Schreck’s signature songs. A fully orchestrated version of the song appeared on Save Your Glory. This version features Tom Schreck on vocals, pennywhistle, and keyboard. I got to hear him do this song this past Monday at The Building – just him and his pennywhistle. Sublime. Get the EP at the usual on-line sources or come out to The Building this coming Monday and hear Tom and pick up a CD.

“Have Mercy Baby” by Eight O’Five Jive

Award-winning Nashville jump and jivers, Eight O’Five Jive are back in the shuffle – shaking things up with their swinging sounds.

“Sky” by Silverbird

Silverbird just recently released their full-length debut, called Pureland. Founder Tim Barr previously was part of Lana Del Rey’s band. Silverbird has a wonderfully textured and rich sound.

“Lost at Sea” by Brian Carpenter and the Confessions

Philadelphia band Brian Carpenter and the Confessions released their album, The Far End of the World was released at the beginning of this month. Cited influences include filmmakers David Lynch, Wim Wenders, and Cormac McCarthy, and I can get behind that.

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – My Dark Sense of Humor Mix

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How goes it? A bit overcast here in Nashville with some cooler temps on the way…

Tonight is week 2 of David Olney’s month-long residency at The 5 Spot in East Nashville. Interested to see what he has up his sleeves this week after last weeks excellent start.

Let’s jump into the shuffle—

“Long Way ’round” by Fendrick and Peck

First up is the opening track and our second listen to Lucky Penny the new album my Nashville-based folk duo Fendrick and Peck. A great way to start my morning commute.

“XXX-Mas (Empty, Hopeless, Irritable, Anxious, Guilty, Tired)” by Bashful Hips

We have another track from Too Old for a Coming of Age Story. This too is the opening track. An uplifting song… that I can relate to way too well…

“Mardi Gras in My Town” by Batkhi Dahn

Another Batkhi Dahn song to brighten our Thursday shuffle… This one goes back to the 4 song EP called 4 Song Delinquent EP. Continuing a mini-trend of the day, this, too, is the opening track of that release.

“American Bigfoot” by Fangs and Twang

Ear to the Ground favorite Black Jake is about to reboot things with a new set of Carnies (or at least that is my understanding). The most recent group of Carnies have a new project called Fangs and Twang. If you, like me, always wondered what these particular Carnies would sound like without Jake, we have your answer. This is the kind of heavy rock and roll that made this country great!

“Ay Manzanita” by Susan James

We dig deeper into Sea Glass the stunning newish album by another long time E2TG fave… this is just a gorgeous California Pop song…

“R.L. Burnside (Sleight Return)” by Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen

From Love and Life (and also available on the Noisetrade only EP, Stink Eye), comes a blues infested dream about an encounter with the late blues legend. Drozdowski actually did spend some time with Mr. Burnside, so this is a dream with some basis in reality.

“Hair of the Dog” by Megan Palmer

One of East Nashville’s best. Megan Palmer frequently backs up Tim Easton, she has also backed up Darrin Bradbury on occasion, and she is currently backing Amy Speace. She does a great job backing all these folks, but if you get the chance to see her doing her own songs, please do not miss it. I have fortunately had two opportunities recently (including Tuesday night’s round at the Bluebird). This one goes back a ways, to a record she put out called Take You Away.

“Hot Freaks” (GBV cover) by Blitzen Trapper

You know what we have never had appear in a shuffle here at Ear to the Ground? A Guided By Voices cover by Blitzen Trapper. Happy to say that we can cross that one off our hypothetical #E2TG bucket list…

“Lonely Without You” by Carolina Story

Last but certainly not least, we have Nashville duo, Carolina Story with a song that was on their 2013 EP called Chapter One. Right now, you can go to Noisetrade and get Chapters One and Two and pay what you like.

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – The Holiday’s Complete Mix

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I got to see and hear some of my favorite East Nashville songwriters last night and I was home before 9:00. Brian Wright opened up Joe Fletcher’s final residency at The 5 Spot, and he had Aaron Lee Tasjan play with some, and then Darrin Bradbury and Brian did Darrin’s song, “Blue Highway” which is one of my favorites. And, Joe Fletcher played his amazing songs and had Brian Wright and Aaron Lee and Margo Price join him, and at the end they all did “I’m Waiting for My Man” – the Velvet Underground song, and it was a pretty awesome moment… plus I got to see and hang out with some of my favorite people.

I’m staying in tonight and gearing up for a very busy end of August into a crazy busy September.

Today in the shuffle, we have some really cool songs from a variety of genres – including a couple that I didn’t even know existed….

“Trouble in Your Blood” by Robyn Hitchcock

A friend of mine recently posted something on social media about serving Robyn Hitchcock in the coffee shop where she works. This song comes from his album, The Man Upstairs which was released about a year ago. The recording I listened to was another of those way too awesome World Café Sesssions that I have had sprinkled through out my shuffle ever since they offered 100 songs for free download. I saw Robyn Hitchcock about 23 years ago at an Earth Day concert in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Robyn Hitchcock was a member of the 1970s English band The Soft Boys. As I was listening to this, it occurred to me to write all about how Hitchcock was in Soft Cell who had a decent sized hit with Tainted Love in the 1980s and to go on and on about how different his solo music was then that. And then see, if anyone corrected me and how they went about it. But I didn’t.

“Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” by Squeeze

I am so happy to see that Squeeze is getting some renewed attention. They were and are masters of the art of pop songwriting. I see that they have some new music coming out. Should be interesting to hear. Originally from the album Argybargy – the band’s 1980 album. If you are just getting into Squeeze, the compilation Singles 45s and Under is a great place to start.

“Something in the Water” by Pokey Lafarge

The title and lead song from the latest album by Pokey LaFarge. There is a throwback quality to his songs, but they ring so true… this ain’t nostalgic music. The song and the video feature an El Camino – which I have had a long standing obsession with since my friend Rex Silo mentioned how many motion pictures feature the car/truck. Start looking for it… you find it hard to stop.

“The Treehouse” by James Roquemore

I’ve been digging on Roquemore’s EP The First ever since I got it after seeing him play at The Basement as part of Patrick Kinsley’s album release show. “The Treehouse” is a lovely, nostalgic look back at childhood.

“Manic at Midnight” by Circus Propaganda

I guess Circus Propaganda were kind of a Dord Music Group supergroup of sorts. They are inactive now – with all the members doing other things, but they left behind some really cool music. This song, from the album Botany, is one of my favorites.

“Organ Flames” by Batkhi Dahn

As I mentioned, yesterday was Hayden Nork’s 14th birthday. This is a song from his main side project and the album Plays 15. Yes, two Dord songs in a row – what can I say, my shuffle function loves this music. Good taste, shuffle function.

“Hope You’re Hurting” by Cars Can Be Blue

This band is based in Atlanta. I really like their quirky sound and energy. The album is called, Doubly Unbeatable, which was released back in 2008.

“More…” by Wilco

Another from Star Wars – the surprise free download Wilco offered up a little while back. If you want an official physical coffee of the album – the band recentlyu relased the album on CD within the last week of so.

“Last Song” by Susan James

The last song on Sea Glass. And it could have been the final song of this shuffle but I listened to one more.

“Yellow Eyes” by Rayland Baxter

Rayland is the son of Bucky Baxter, and he got his start on Caitlin Rose’s song, “Shanghai Cigarettes” – which I love. I dig this song which is on his brand new album Imaginary Man.

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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – #300 Tim Carroll Mix

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We’ve teamed up with The Finger to put on what we hope will be the first of many showcase events… it’s going down tomorrow (Wednesday August 19, 2015) at The Building in East Nashville. Details can be found at the Event Page on Facebook!

Yesterday, our Facebook Page crossed a milestone yesterday when we reached 300 followers. Thanks to a groundswell, we are a mere 94 away from 400! Seriously, it means more to me than you will ever know. When I started E2TG in May 2011, I honestly didn’t know if anyone would read it. Anyway, I promised surprises for the lucky 300th Follower…. in an incredible stroke of luck – the awesome Songwriter/Guitarist Tim Carroll was the lucky one! It’s kind of funny because when we reached 200, another great Songwriter/Guitarist, Richie Owens, was the one!

So… You can see, that the Tim Carroll’s name graces the post title. I think this is the first time a real person has had that “honor”. Who knows, now that I am big time, maybe I will start selling naming rights…. or maybe not…

It would have been cool if a Tim Carroll song had come up in the shuffle, but alas… still, I know there are some songs in today’s shuffle that Tim will dig.

“You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” by The Byrds

From Sweethearts of the Rodeo, comes The Byrd’s version of a Bob Dylan song. “Down into the easy chair…”

“She’s Gone” by The Train Set

The Train Set were a UK band from the late seventies/early eighties. Their music is getting some renewed interest with the release of the compilation, Never California. “She’s Gone” was an early single by the band. We will have more by The Train Set coming up… this is an amazing slice of a great era in music and for me a second chance to hear something I missed the first time around.

“Tell Me Cosmo” by Susan James

More awesome fresh original Paisley Underground inspired Pop music from the fantastic album Sea Glass!

“That Horse” by Tomas Doncker Band

Big Apple Blues is a fantastic achievement for New York No Wave veteran, Tomas Doncker. It is a powerful, bluesy ode to the greatest city in the world. “That Horse” delivers a brutally powerful message.

“Cindy Vedantam” by Batkhi Dahn

Batkhi Dahn, as I have share before, is a side project of The Foresters Hayden Nork. It is delightfully weird in the best possible ways. This song comes from the Four Song Delinquent EP (which was released back in November 2014). Many things have been released since this one… those The Foresters kids are nothing if not prolific.

“Letter to Shreveport” by Kevin Gordon

Kevin Gordon is flat out one of the best songwriters and performers working today. I’ve had the great opportunity to see him several times over the last few months, and every time he impresses me more and more. He has been at this music thing for a while now, and his latest album Long Gone Time is set to be released in September. This song is from that album, and showcases some of the things that makes Gordon such a powerhouse.

“Dead Man’s Shoes” by Brock Zeman

Pulling Your Sword Out of the Devil’s Back is a pretty long album title, and it is also a damn fine record. If you have yet to hear Brock Zeman, correct this oversight right away.

“Watermelon Kid” by Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen

We close out today’s shuffle with track from Love and Life, the brand new album from Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen. This is the story of a real life man called Watermelon Slim, who besides being a bluesman is a member of mensa and used to drive trucks. This song was one of the highlights of the Album Release Party last weekend for Love and Life. By the way, I ran into Tim Carroll at that release show, and I guess that brings this post full circle back to the beginning. window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;

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Featured Friday Morning Shuffle – A Pretty Decent Crowd Mix

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Well… collectively we have made it through another work week. If you are reading this, I assume you at least like music, so if you can, get out and see some live music this weekend. I know I will…

It is Friday which means another edition of the Featured Friday shuffle of a playlist of music I wanted to highlight and pull out from our usual active playlist. They full list currently has almost 1,100 songs in it, and I have more to add. This subset Featured list stands at about 250 – still substantial but manageable.

“My Intentions Were Good, But Fuck Me Part II” by Bashful Hips

“Dating in Class Warfare” by Bashful Hips (featuring Dark Matter Jesus)

We start off today’s shuffle with a double dose of (recently returned) Nashville resident, Bashful Hips with a couple of songs from his excellent and excellently titled album, Too Old for a Coming of Age Story. The first is the second part of a song we featured previously. “My Intentions Were Good..”. The second track is called “Dating in Class Warfare”. I love Bashful Hips titles, and fortunately the music lives up to the great titles. This music adds a unique element to the E2TG lexicon, which if you follow us closely you realize is not easy to do.

“What More Could I Do?” by Josh Morris

Moving on, we have another song by a Nashville resident. Josh Morris released his solo EP Green Fields earlier this year. Since then, he has been a busy producer whose work includes the highly anticipated and recently successfully crowd funded debut by Jon Latham.

“Running in Reverse” by the transcendents

As promised, having completed our presentation of the self-titled debut from New Zealand band, the transcendents, we move on to their more recently record called Lay Where You Collapse. Complex, melodic modern rock music. I am so glad this band made their way to my ear holes.

“Wrong” by Paul Zografi

Yet another Nashville-based artist. From his album Bright. Just some fine songwriting – played well.

“Bob” by Darrin Bradbury

This song goes out to… me!…. The sort of title track to Darrin Bradbury’s most recent EP, The Story of Bob. Bob was a pretty swell dude. So, last night, kind of impromptu, I got the opportunity to spend some time at the wondrous East Side Manor Studios listening in on some of the production work on the next Darrin Bradbury album. What I heard were still some pretty rough mixes, but it was enough to tell me that this album is going to be incredible. Some really talented people have been working on this and continue to work on it. At this point, I still think I made the right call naming Darrin my 2014 Artist of the Year. I’ll let you know if I ever change my that opinion.

“Hey Julianne” by Susan James

One more from the recent Susan James album Sea Glass… So far, in the songs I have featured, I have alluded to the subtle influence of some of the great music of the California Paisley Underground scene of the 1980s. This song solidifies my opinion on this. It is a gorgeously trippy pop song – that really goes evoke memories of some of the amazing music of that era – (and the 60s psychedelic era that influenced the later music.) I could listen to this music for hours at a time.

“More Than This” by [debut]

debut, like Susan James, are based in Los Angeles, and their music is also highly original modern music that is evocative of music of the 1980s. In this case, the shimmering electronic alternative pop music of bands like Depeche Mode. This song is from the band’s latest album, Postcards from Berlin which was released back in March.

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Feature Friday Music Shuffle – Swim to Japan Mix

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Here we are at the end of the work week!

I had such a massively fun time last night at The Basement East. Two shows, six full band sets, seeing and hanging out with some of my favorite people. Music-wise: Nancy Terzian and the Leg Men, Stone Cupid featuring Julie Christensen rocked the early show. Lauren Farrah, Raelyn Nelson Band, Darrin Bradbury leading Hot Garbage (which included Margo Price on Drums and Andrew Leahey on Guitar), and Brian Wright closed the night with four very different but all incredible sets.

Onward, we have our second installment of the newly repurposed Featured Friday… enjoy!

“Middle” by Paul Zografi

We start out our last shuffle of the work week with another great song from Paul Zografi’s album Bright.

“Magnetized” by Wilco

We continue to dig into the recent surprise Wilco release Star Wars. “Magnetized” is the final song on the album.

“Whiskey” by Grumsling

“Whiskey” is the first track on Grumsling’s album Full Coverage. The song goes down easy and leaves a warmth in your belly… just like fine whiskey…

“Uniform” by The Poorhouse Says

Has anyone else noticed that the first four songs in today’s shuffle all had one word titles? The streak ends after this song, but a happy coincidence. as patterns go is one of my favorite albums of 2015 – delightfully understated and brilliant. The Poorhouse Says are a relatively long-running band from St. Louis.

“Great Highway” by Dog Without Warning

Dog Without Warning have been an #E2TG favorite for a few years. Great Highway is one of a handful of new songs the band has released in the last couple of months. As they seem to do at every opportunity, the band has once again reinvented their sound while maintaining their integrity of writing great songs. Great Highway comes off to me as a classic-sounding California rock song.

“The Deadly Depression of a Sad Salesman” by Bashful Hips

Word on the street is that Bashful Hips may be returning to Nashville. After our run of one word titles followed by a two word title, this one comes it at seven words! The music is unique and the songs are very good.

“I’m Through Hurting” by Dale Watson

Another track from Dale Watson’s Call Me Insane album. Watson has been making music for close to 40 years, and his latest album finds him sounding as good as he ever has – offering hope that the best is yet to come.

“Poseidon’s Daughter” by Susan James

Susan James’ new album, Sea Glass, finds the California singer-songwriter adding a page to the rich and storied California Pop Song lexicon. There is a delicate and subtle psychedelic vibe to this opening song. Or at least that is the feeling the song evoked in me.

“Don’t Wanna Fight No More” by Patrick Kinsley and A Fistful of Dollars

We close out the week’s music with a favorite song from Patrick Kinsley’s For a Thousand Miles album which I reviewed earlier this month. Kinsley’s music falls into a musical gray area that often gets labeled as Americana these days. Kinsley favors verse-heavy songs over choruses, but as in this song, he shows that he is capable of writing a mean hook when necessary.

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Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Featured Friday v2.0 Mix

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I had an enjoyable evening last night – a sort of last minute (day before actually) invite to Amy Black’s CD Release Show at The Bluebird Café for her new album, The Muscle Shoals Sessions. The album was recorded down in Alabama and features covers of some of the great music that has come out of Muscle Shoals plus some original songs – inspired by that sound. Black is in the process of moving to the Nashville area, and she is currently touring with a band that features her husband on drums and a talented group of young musicians who are or have attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

I came home to hear the sad news out of Lafayette, Louisiana – yet another mass shooting. This hit close – I have a lot of family in the area, and at least one family member posted that they often see movies in that theater. I also so that a Facebook friend knew one of the victims. I fully expect – after our shared sense of “community” shock, to see a bunch of posts from both sides of political spectrum about this and the far too many other events like this one. My hope is for people of all political stripes to say, “this is terrible, things like this should not be happening”, and then have real dialogue about the complex issues surrounding this and all of the other mass shootings. Mostly, my wish for all of us, is that just for today, we treat each other with a little extra kindness.

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As you may have gathered if you follow Ear to the Ground, 2015 has been an extremely busy year. I seem to have gotten on some people radar, and I am very grateful for that. With all that, however, comes some challenges, and I move forward – with some exciting things on the horizon, I have discovered the need to get creative in dealing with the volume of new music that comes my way. Historically, my primary thing has been to add music to my playlist and feature it in the shuffle. Recently, I have been writing more reviews (though not as many as I would like to), and I have seen my active playlist continue to grow (it is currently over 1,000 songs) which means that some albums I really want to feature may or may not come up in my shuffle. To that end, I decided to bring back and revamp an old E2TG thing – called Featured Friday. Back in the earlier days of Ear to the Ground, I would “feature” 10 artists/bands every month, and I would create a playlist of their music which I would then shuffle on Featured Friday.

This new Featured Friday, is a playlist that is a subset of my regular playlist, that is limited to newer music that I really want to feature. So this playlist – unlike the regular one, will not include classic and obscure older music or one-offs from compilations, well, let’s just do it, and you may see what I mean.

“Odyssea 1201” by Susan James

It is always fun when a brief instrumental track comes into the shuffle. Like this from Susan James’ brand new album, Sea Glass.

“Aching Heart” by Angela Easterling

Angela Easterling’s latest album Common Law Wife is due out next month. I have really been enjoying the album. It is filled with wonderful songs and she is backed by some amazing players. Put it on your to-listen list.

“Machines” by The Foresters

It is kind of strange that I have been listening to The Foresters for around three years – stranger given that the oldest member of the band is 15 and the youngest is eleven. Strange but in this case, extremely gratifying, to have seen the musical growth that has happened and continues to happen. The band’s new album, Sun Songs, which was just released this week, finds the brothers from Connecticut moving further away from their Pop Punk roots in an organic way that is in line with their maturing musical vocabulary. Looking forward to seeing where they go from here. Machines is the second single from Sun Songs.

“Tight” by Paul Zografi

This is the only 2014 album I added into this Featured playlist. It was released late last year, but I didn’t get hold of it until 2015. In any event, I really love the album, and due to the random nature of the shuffle – it was not until this past week that a song appeared in the shuffle – so I am really glad this song came up today. The album is called Bright, and it features J.P. Lilliston who often backs up my friend Joe Nolan.

“Cold Slope” by Wilco

I hesitated to add this album to the shuffle – despite my lame joke yesterday – it really doesn’t fit the criteria I had in my for this playlist, but you know what… what’s the point in writing your own blog if you can’t make up rules and break them at will. I have been really digging this surprise gift from Jeff Tweedy and company, and so here is another track.

“If You Will” (bonus track) by Kevin Gordon

Kevin Gordon’s new album is not due out until September, but I am happy to get to spend some time with it, and to get the chance to remind myself and then you that he is one of the best songwriters and performers out there. Long Time Gone is the name of the new album, and I will keep reminding you about it. It is the follow up to 2012’s Gloryland, which if you haven’t you should hear.

“Lost Creek” by Elephant Revival

Thanks to bands like Elephant Revival, Elephant Goes West, Cage the Elepant, Elephant Stone etc. Klout now thinks I am an “expert” on elephants.. 🙂 Elephant Revival are from Colorado, and they just released Sands of Now which is a live CD/DVD. This song is on that album, and it is worthy of your attention.

“Catch You in the Fall” by Reckless Johnny Wales

The enigmatic yet legendary Reckless Johnny Wales returns to the shuffle with our second listen from his album American Heart. The album really represents well the diverse experiences that made the man behind the legend. This is one of my favorite’s from the album.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Artistic Freedom Mix

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Monday after a productive weekend of writing… look for some of that productivity to be posted soon and some later than soon…

“Changing of the Guard” by Jesse Terry

After posting a song from Jesse Terry for a Noisetrade sampler, I figured out we have several mutual friends on Facebook, and I got hold of a new album – also available on Noisetrade called The Calm and The Storm. This song is from that album.

“Millionaire’s Dream” by John Wesley Harding

I will go with calling this a deep cut from Why We Fight? In this sense, the term means that as much I love this album and can immediately identify almost all of the songs on the album when they begin to play, I had to give this one a thorough listen. I like it, and I’m not really sure why it didn’t stick in my brain the way others songs from the album did.

“I Wanna Lose Control” by Deathray

This song is from the soundtrack of the animated movie, Open Season. That soundtrack featured several songs by Replacements’ front man Paul Westerberg. For some reason, my music player identified this song as being by Paul Westerberg. Interestingly enough, if this had been a Paul Westerberg song, I would have viewed it as a disturbing point in his career, but realizing it was not Westerberg but a California New Wave/Pop band that existed from 1998-2007 made all the difference, and I kind of dig the song in a light and airy kind of way.

“All Mod Cons” by The Jam

The title track from one of my favorite albums of all time by one of my favorite bands of all time. Man those Brits had something going on in the latter part of the 1970s.

“Truth or Consequence” by Susan James

Susan James’ new album Sea Glass is due out in just over a week. On the record, James has shed much of the Americana vide of her last album, Driving Toward the Sun (2013) which was excellent in it’s own right. Here, the California singer-songwriter embraces her roots and makes a classic California Pop record for the current day.

“Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!” by Kishi Bashi

This was part of the World Café 100 song download I recently posted about. Kishi Bashi is the recording project of Kaoru Ishibashi (Jupiter One, Of Montreal, Regina Spektor). This song is from the 2014 album Lighght and was performed on The Late Show with David Letterman.

“Someday” by Steve Earle

A great song from Steve Earle’s classic Guitar Town album. Ear to the Ground favorite Lindsay Ellyn performed a cover of this song at her recent EP Release show.

“Stacy Main” by Black Vincent

Black Vincent is a new project from Coley Kennedy (Welcome to Ashley, The Buddies). The album was recorded in Nashville by producers Adam Landry and Justin Collins. I dig this song quite a bit, and I look forward to digging into the rest of the album.

“You’re Not Alone” by Tiffany Huggins Grant

Another song from Jonquil Child, the forthcoming (July 7) album by Nashville singer-songwriter Tiffany Huggins Grant. The album was produced by and features Ear to the Ground favorite Mark Robinson among other Nashville heavyweights. For me the stand out feature of this album are the stunning vocals by Tiffany Huggins Grant.

“She Knows What To Do” by Stacy Mitchhart

We shall close out of first shuffle of the week with another Nashville stand out. We have been featuring songs from Stacy Mitchhart’s Live My Life album, and we just have one track left after this one. This is real live, uncompromising Blues music. Mitchhart can be found just about any night down in Printer’s Alley in downtown Nashville laying it down at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Beer into Air Mix

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Ever wonder what would happen if you created a playlist with a wide variety of music from different genres and different eras and then hit shuffle and wrote about the 8-12 songs that came up randomly during your morning commute? Well, wonder no more, here at Ear to the Ground, we do this just about every week day and an occasional Saturday or Sunday if I am bored… In fact, we did it today…. here’s what happened:

“A Redneck Oughta Be the President” by Mike Thomas

Middle Tennessee songwriter Mike Thomas engages in some non-partisan political speculation…

“You Spin Me ‘Round (Like a Record)” by Dead or Alive

Sometimes, the 1980s were like this… just saying…

“Columbus Stockade” by Tigerman WOAH!

Another day, another Tigerman WOAH! song. This one is about time spent in the state of Georgia.

“Burn.Flicker.Die.” by American Aquarium

American Aquarium are one of the best and hardest touring bands out there. Their new album, Wolves, is out now. This is the title track from the album that preceded Wolves. I saw them at a packed out show at the Basement on a Monday night of the week between Christmas and New Years. It was fantastic.

“The Original Miss Jesus” by John Wesley Harding

One of my favorite songs on Why We Fight. If my memory is correct, I saw him play an early show at an old downtown club called Ace of Clubs around the time this album came out. If my timeframe is right, I was living in an apartment right next the club (on the other side of the Shelby Street Bridge – before it was a pedestrian bridge). If all of that is the result of faulty memory, this is still one of my favorite songs from Why We Fight.

“Teach Me (Say It, Don’t Spray It)” by Tom Schreck

Always good to have a song in the shuffle from one of my favorite local songwriters. When local is Nashville, being a favorite local songwriter is a big deal. Tom Schreck is a big deal. Get on it. From his album, Save Your Glory. The video I included in the video playlist is Tom doing a cover of Billie Jean which I have posted before, but which is worth repeating.

“Calico Valley” by Susan James

Ear to the Ground first caught up with California singer-songwriter in 2013 with her brilliant Americana album, Driving Toward the Sun. She has recorded her follow up album called, Sea Glass which will be released June 16. This is a song from that forthcoming album, which she says is a departure from the previous album and a return to her singer-songwriter roots. To my mind, the music classic California pop music with maybe a hint of psychedelic influences on some tracks. I have enjoy the album very much, and this track made a great addition to this morning’s shuffle.

“It’s Tricky” by Run DMC

What’s that you say? Ear to the Ground has been thin on old school hip hop classics? It can be hard keeping a balance of all the different types of music out there. Dare I say, it’s tricky? Dare I? Released in 1986, “It’s Tricky” was the last single released from Run DMC’s third album, Raising Hell.

“Down Time” by Grumsling window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;

I absolutely love it when I “discover” innovative new music that combines an original sound with flat out great songs. When the band in question has a cool name and an even cooler avatar, I like it even more. Grumsling. Got it?

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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E2TG: MUSIC/WORDS

Words about music/Music inspired words

Category: Susan James

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