Category: The Foresters

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.

Shuffle time!

“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.

VIDEO PLAYLIST


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Featured Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – Talk, Talk, Talk Mix

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Well, it is time for the last shuffle before the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I hope if you are travelling that you have safe travels, I hope you find a place of gratitude, I hope you remember those for whom the holidays are a painful or difficult time.  I hope you do all the things you want to do.  For my Canadian friends, you can like, #tbt tomorrow to Canadian Thanksgiving or whatever…

We have one more awesome featured music shuffle to see this work week off in style.

“Shut Up and Kiss Me” by Tim Lee 3

Long time friends of Ear to the Ground kick things off with a track from their album 331/3 which was a celebration of the vinyl anniversary of Tim and Susan Bauer Lee. Sometimes words just get in the way….

“Just Try Me Out” (Home Recording) by Tom Schreck

Nashville Outside, Tom Schreck released Added Glory, an EP companion to his two full length records, Outsider and Save Your Glory.  The latter of those two records has a turkey on the cover, so maybe this holiday weekend would be a good time to get hold of all of Tom’s albums so you can join me in being grateful for such an amazing songwriter.

“Waitressing Sucks” by Jon Latham

Why bother with subtlety? This straightforwardly titled song, delivers some gut wrenching emotional power. From Real Bad News which is rightfully getting a lot of attention these days.  Once you are recovered from the holidays, Jon Latham will be opening for the legendary songwriter Malcolm Holcomb at The Basement on December 4.  Doors at 7:00p.m.  You do not want to miss that show!  As a Thanksgiving bonus, we present, a brand new Jon Latham video of a song he co-wrote with Darrin Bradbury called, “Kimberly Met Billy” which the good folks at Flour Sack Cape released this week.  Enjoy.

 
 
 

“Night Sounds” by Brian Keenan

This is the first Ear to the Ground appearance by Brooklyn songwriter Brian Keenan.  He just released what I believe is his second album called Fits and Starts.  This was my first listen – more ahead. Dig it!

“Paper People” by The Foresters

Sun Songs, the latest album by Connecticut band, The Foresters, is a bold step forward.  The band of brothers began making music after their father took them to a Green Day show a few years ago.  While their early music, showed a definite influence of the pop-punk leanings of that band (which was all well and good), the band has matured and broadened their sound over the last couple of years, and Sun Songs represents a plateau of sorts for this particular stage of the journey.  The maturity also highlights the fact that although the band members are still quite young, they are ready to be judged solely on their merits not as a “good band of young kids” but just as a “good band”.   Sun Songs is one of my favorite albums of the year.

“My Mind” by Dan Coyle

Another great track from Dan Coyle 2009 album Random Thoughts and Incomplete Sentences. This is on the featured music playlist for a couple of reasons: 1. it is new to me and 2. It’s my playlist and I can put what I want on it.   Oh and 3. It’s a great album.

“Second Sight (for Shlomo)” by Bosveld

Velbrand is the debut album by the Canadian band Bosveld which includes among it’s members Velodrones who has been featured on this sight before.  This is envelope pushing folk music. I was first introduced to Velodrones  through Valued Customer.  Like that band, Bosveld manage to make experimental music accessible without compromising on the originality.  It is not an easy feat.  Bosveld have been known to go on bike tours around Canada.  This album was recently featuring on CBC. 

“Ain’t Dead Yet” by Nellie Clay

Nellie Clay is a relatively new Nashville songwriter from Oklahoma by way of Alaska.  I have been fortunate enough to see her live a number of times over the last month or so – including last Friday when she opened for Will Kimbrough’s CD Release show.  She just released, Never Did What I Should Have Done.  It has rapidly become a favorite of mine.

“Crocodile Tears” by Dale Watson

We close out the shuffle with another song from Dale Watson’s Call me Insane album. Watson has a distinctive outlaw country voice, and through his work with the Ameripolitan Music movement, Watson is dedicated to making authentic American music for the 21st Century.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Usually From a Can Mix

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Had a good time last night celebrating Andrew Leahey’s birthday at The 5 Spot.  Darrin Bradbury was on point with a set that featured some old favorites and some excellent new (and newish) songs.  Lauren Farrah was most excellent – I have been fortunate enough to catch her a few times recently, and she kills it every time.  And the birthday boy rocked this house with his incredible band, The Homestead – playing several songs from his record which is due out in April.

On to the shuffle: Almost every Friday is Featured Friday on #E2TG.  Which means, I shuffle songs from a playlist (a subset of the regular playlist) loaded with songs from artists/albums that I want to spotlight.  Here is the latest….

“Making My Escape” by All the King’s Men

All the King’s Men are a Manchester band who offer a kind of modern take on classic rock (in the best sense of that term).  This song is the title track from their new album which I believe will be released at the end of this month. 

“Your Own Best Friend” by D.L. Duncan

We have another song from D.L. Duncan’s awesome self-titled album. I really love this song.  It is “feel good” music of the highest caliber. I can’t remember if I mentioned it yesterday, but Sonny Landreth also contributed some awesome slide guitar on this album.

“Franklin Town” by Richie Owens and the Farm Bureau

Richie Owens and the Farm Bureau released Tennessee well over a year ago, but I really wanted to feature it now, because I want more people to check it out.  This is the second track on the album – which is a history lesson about the Volunteer State set against a grooving roots rock soundtrack.

“Nimbus (Ta-Ku Interpretation)” by Rich Robbins

Today we have the title track from Rich Robbins amazing debut album, Nimbus.  Robbins has a way with words, and I really love what he is doing here.  I feel utterly unqualified to comment on this as a hip hop record, I just know that I love it.

“Swan Jeremy” by The Foresters

Another one from Sun Songs, the stunning recent album by The Foresters of Bethany, Connecticut.  The growth and maturity of this young band over the last couple of years that I have been following them, is nothing short of unbelievable.  Forming after attending a Green Day show and initially writing and recording some excellent pop/punk music.  The hard work and dedication they seem to be putting into their art and their craft is inspiring and admirable.  The result is that Sun Songs is at once one of my favorite records of the year and clearly just a taste of what we can hope to see in the future from the band.  

“Picture Perfect” by The Poorhouse Says

Our friends from St. Louis return to the shuffle with another track from their album As Patterns Go.  I highly recommend checking out the band and the album.  Hearing this reminds me that I am very overdue to reply to a message from these guys. Sorry and expect something this weekend.

“The Fearless Seed” by The Unravelling

Another dose of progressive metal from Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision.

“The Trouble with Drinkin'” by Aaron Lee Tasjan   

And, we close out the shuffle and the work week with the lead track from In the Blazes which upon its release transitioned from being one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year to one of the best.  There are just a handful of writers working today to write songs that are funny, intelligent, moving, and that leads you to tell everyone you know to check it out. Aaron Lee Tasjan is at the top of that list.  He will be in Memphis tonight.  His performance with an all-star band at the Americana kick-off event and more recently at his Nashville release show at The Basement provided some of the best and most entertaining music that I have ever experienced.  And this song! window.amznpubstudioTag = “eartothegro00-20”;

VIDEO PLAYLIST

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Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle – The Black Bruce Wayne Mix

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Well… another work week is just about done… Since it is Friday, it means it is time for Featured Friday in which we shuffle songs from a smaller subset of our usual playlist. This subset includes mostly songs from albums released this year which have been sent or given to me to include at Ear to the Ground.

Let’s just do it….

“Big Star” by The Poorhouse Says

Another track from as patterns go, the most recent album from St. Louis based, The Poorhouse Says. I am continuing to enjoy this record.

“Want” by [debut]

Our final track from Postcards from Berlin… some really cool electronic music from Los Angeles.

“Hammer” by Angela Easterling

The opening track from Angela Easterling’s new album, Common Law Wife.  I mentioned that I got to meet and hear this song and others on Tuesday night at The 5 Spot. Angela and her common law husband and guitar player Brandon Turner sounded great, and this is a wonderful album that features many of Nashville’s best musicians backing it up.

“Revolutions” by Grumsling

This is the last song on Oakland based Grumsling’s album called, Full Coverage. The band call their sound New Classic Rock and Story Rock.  I really dig the band’s sound which is pretty unique. And as I’ve mentioned before, they have their own character (mascot???, avatar???) that looks pretty mischievous.

“uMakemeFeel” by Rich Robbins (feat. Janel Leea and Taniesha Broadway, prod. Since ’93)

Another great track from Nimbus – the debut album by Rich Robbins – a young hip-hop artist who is from the suburbs of Chicago by way of other places and who attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison on a hip-hop scholarship.  How cool is that?  This is one of my personal favorites from the album.  A killer hook and some great voices backing up Rich Robbins.

“Common Law Wife” by Angela Easterling

Back to Angela Easterling – this time with the title track of her new album.  She did this one, also, on Tuesday.

“Tyger Bay” by Reckless Johnny Wales

The enigmatic troubadour is back in the shuffle with another track from his new album American Heart.

“Celestialism” by The Foresters

It seems fitting to end the week with a track from the new album, Sun Songs, by The Foresters of Bethany, Connecticut.  We have had different artists from the Dord Music Group in our shuffles all week long, and The Foresters are the first and foremost Dord Music Group artist.  To recap for the uninitiated.  Several years ago, Jack Nork took his three young sons to a Green Day concert, the boys came home and wanted to start a rock and roll band. So their parents bought them instruments. That the kids had talent was apparent to me and many others the first time I heard them – back in 2012.  They generally played Pop Punk music heavily influenced by the band that got it all started.  At the time, I made a joke that the band’s average age was just over 10 years old, but that they played their music at 11… Flash forward three years, the band is older, and as a good listen to Sun Songs reveals, the band’s sound has evolved and broadened.  “Celestialism” is the penultimate song on the album.  A gorgeous instrumental rock song that seems a million miles away from their (albeit awesome) Pop Punk roots. With multiple side projects and a laser-focused dedication to music, the future looks bright for The Foresters.  (the recap of the Foresters’ history is mine based upon a shoddy memory of things I have read.  It was probably way cooler than I made it out to be, and possibly different.)

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VIDEO PLAYLIST

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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Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Lament Mix

It’s been quite a week of shuffles and the beat goes on…  I’ve been really tired this whole week, so if letters just starts scrolling across the screen as I type this, someone wake me up.  We have a good one for youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu… sorry…

“Something for Sellers” by Henry Mancini from The Pink Panther – Original Soundtrack

Mancini from the Pink Panther soundtrack… because – why not?

“We Take Care of Our Own” by Matt King from Raw

I think I may have featured this one before, but it’s one of my favorites from this album.  I really, really want to see Matt play with Killing Streets (his newish backing band that features Matt and Livia of reigning E2TG Band of the Year – The End Men)

“Du måste va nån” by Thorsten Flinck from Till flickorna på Upplandsgatan 71 från fiaskot mittemot

A random discovery via the New Release list on Freegal.  Thorsten is from Sweden. He is an actor and director who (according to Wikipedia) is known for playing psychopaths and villains. He has been making music for some time, and this song is the opening track from his latest album – released November 26. As translated by Google, the title of the album is For the girls at Upplandsgatan 71 from the fiasco opposite and the title of this track is “You Have to Be Somebody”. I’m not sure that I understand exactly what is going on here, but I quite like how this sounds.

“Lament (Lament for Guitar)” by Laurindo Almeida from Jazz Guitar Legends

Another that came to me via Peacefork and Valued Customer… This completely blew me out of the water.  There are hints of Latin rhythm somewhere in this composition, but overall, this is pretty hard to classify.  Undeniably brilliant, challenging in the best possible way, and a great addition to the shuffle.

“She Was a Wildflower” by Grant Peeples and the Peeples Rebublik from Punishing the Myth

I know I’ve been featuring this album ever since I got hold of it during Americana week when I got to sit beside Grant at the Wild Ponies Party at The Building, but if you do nothing else, go to his Facebook page (I will trust you to find it yourself), and read his Long Description. It is like some amazing short novel that needs to be written and probably will be, and it helps to explain to the extent possible that how this amazing music came to be so amazing.

“The Ballad of Boerne and Alice” by D.C. Bloom from D.C. Bloom

A new arrival from one my favorite music sources out of Austin (Gina Sigillito)… D.C. Bloom is from San Antonio, Texas, and all of the songs I’ve heard so far have this awesome silky smooth Texas sound… but this song – about the…ahem… shortcomings of dating over the Internet, is nothing short of brilliant.  I think I’ve found another new favorite artist.

“Julius and Ethel (Atomic Love Story)” by Darrin Bradbury from When a Car Becomes a House

Like me, Darrin Bradbury watches too much television. He watched a documentary about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg – who were the American couple who were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage by selling secrets about the atomic bomb to the Russians.  Darrin’s take away from this story is about the strength of the love that lead Ethel to refuse to divulge information which could have potentially saved her own life. It’s a beautiful song.

“I’ll Be Walking the Floor This Christmas” by Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours

How about the original E.T. with a classic Country Christmas song…. so nice…

“Our Love” by Judah and the Lion from Sweet Tennessee

Next up, we have another great track from fast rising Nashville band, Judah and the Lion. 

“Afternoon” by The Foresters from Sun Songs!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”);

And, we close out the week with the brand newish single from The Foresters which will be on their next album Sun Songs.  I may sound like a broken record, but I continue and continue to be impressed by the growth and maturity of this band of young brothers from Connecticut. There are very few traces of the Pop Punk sound of their earliest music, but if you have been following, the evolution has been steady and quite amazing.  Here’s to big, big things in 2015.

VIDEO PLAYLIST


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Friday Morning Music Shuffle – Addicted to War Mix

Last night was so much fun…  Went to the Rocking Roots Guitar Showcase at The 5 Spot.  Four trios lead by incredible guitarists.  Nick Kane, Richie Owens with the Farm Bureau, Ted Drozdowski with his Scissormen, and Mark Robinson.  Great players with distinct and unique styles falling into the blues/roots area if labels mean much.  All of them were mind-blowingly awesome in very different ways.

Ted Drozdowski getting up close and personal at The 5 Spot


After that showcase, I stuck around to see a long-time favorite of Ear to  the Ground, Pony Boy.  She was a Featured Artist in August 2012, and since then she has spent some time in Nashville, had a song featured on the ABC show named after our fair city, and last night she played a bunch of Nashville’s hottest players.  The qualities which first lead me to her music were all present – an amazing voice, great songs (the originals and covers), and a great stage presence.  It was good to finally meet her.

Let’s jump into the shuffle:

“Devil in my Soul” by Pork Chop Willie from Love is the Devil

I got to spend part of the evening talking to Sue Havlish who sent me this record early this year.  It is North Mississippi Hill Country Blues meets Brooklyn – it somehow walks a great line between traditional and modern.  Hell, it’s a great blues record.

“Libertango” by Clocks and Clouds from The Creation of Matter

Alternative rock and classical music meld perfectly here.  It’s silly, but for some reason, what came to my mind this morning was “Football Fugue” from Pete Townsend’s Another Scoop album. 

“Caves” by Brown Bird from Fits of Reason

There is a persistence to this song that I really like… repetition with progression…

“War” by The End Men from Odds and Ends

The End Men joined by Dion Freewheelin Troubadour Power from London.  A song which unfortunately seems more and more timely every day.  Sunday Night!  Did you hear me? Sunday Night – The End Men – reigning E2TG Band of the Year, and all around awesome people will be melting faces at The Basement under Grimey’s.  There will be music there from 1pm until… come early, come often, but come on down around 9 or so to have your faces melted.  Seriously come!  There is a great line-up including Tim Easton, Blackfoot Gypsies, and Bebe Buell.  $2 draft pints.

“Twin Void” by The Grey A from My Country

I can’t believe it’s been a week… Was so glad to see the Nashville CD Release show for this album.  This song, lyrically, is one of my favorites.  And! We have now have a video for “My Country Song”.  If you are in D.C. and reading this, the band is playing their hometown CD Release show tonight at Comet Ping Pong.  The Grey A is also the newly elected Band of the Month from Washington Deli Magazine.

“Time is Not Your Own” by Solomon Grundy from Solomon Grundy

This one is from the August Feel Bad for You mixtape via the awesome Too Much Country from here in Nashville.  Solomon Grundy were a hard rock/psychedelic band from Washington state featuring Van Conner who was a co-founder of the legendary Screaming Trees. 

“Somebody Love Those Girls” by Lindsay Ellyn from Shores EP

I was fortunate enough to hear Lindsay Ellyn sing with Darrin Bradbury at Fran’s this week.  She has an amazing voice.  Glad to have this wonderful song in today’s shuffle.

“Da Doo Ron Ron/I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Dollyrots from Barefoot and Pregnant

This incredible mash-up was included as a pre-order bonus track on the fifth and most recent album by The Dollyrots.  The Crystals meet The Ramones…. lots of fun.

“Addiction” by The Foresters from Living Hold!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”);

This week marked the fourth anniversary of the brothers’ Nork buying their first instruments. They have come a long way in four years, and as proof – I offer this song from their latest album Living Hold.

VIDEO

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Lose Your Teeth Mix

We have a great shuffle today with tons of E2TG favorites and a couple of cool songs….

Jump!

“Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” by Bob Dylan from Time Out of Mind

Robert Zimmerman’s 30th album… we grabbed this off the latest Feel Bad for You mixtape.  You should, too.  The video features a cover version of the song by Ms. Lucinda Williams.

“Julie Sue” by The Foresters from Living Hold

Recently, we have seen The Foresters stretch into some exciting new musical territory.  On this track from their latest album, they return to their pop punk roots with a  rocking song.  The video

“Dead Mans Cause” by The Grey A from My Country

The more I hear from the forthcoming The Grey A album, the more I like.  This is a really awesome song.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1913716850/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/package=3941800323/transparent=true/

“The Rider” by Dirty Old Town from Dirty Old Town

Dirty Old Town is from Denmark, but he rides a familiar dark, folk road, and he rides it well. 

“True Love” by Darrin Bradbury from True Love

You’d think I would be embarrassed by having a Darrin Bradbury song in the shuffle almost every day… you’d be wrong.  He has been releasing tons of great music over the past several months, and I’m loving almost all of it.   True Love is the title track from the album of the same name which shares the title with this song.  The album was released in February, and he has released two other records since then.

“Lone Star Souvenir” by Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray from Lean into the Wind

One of my favorite songs from the remarkable Lean into the Wind by Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray.  There is a folky theme running through many of the songs in the shuffle.  This is a great folky song.  The video we found is Miss Shevaughn by herself doing this song.

“The Great Jester” by The Danbury Lie from The Great Jester (single)!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”);

The Great Jester is the magnum opus from the elusive and awesome The Danbury Lie. Over 11 minutes with several movements which run from baroque sounding folk music to discordant metal and back again.  It seems cheap to try to summarize this amazing song in a couple of lines. Fortunately, you can experience it for yourself – see the video, follow The Danbury Lie Facebook page for more clues about The Great Jester… Then download the hell out of the song, and if you can, throw some $ in the virtual hat. 

VIDEO


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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle – Can of Carrots Mix

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Back with a shuffle, but short on time… thanks for stopping by…

“Far and Slow” by T. Rogers from Simple Life

Some great modern blues music.

“Half Life” by Marla Mase from Half Life

The always amazing Marla Mase with the title track from her latest release.

“Pierce the Night” by Clocks and Clouds from The Creation of Matter

A band I’ve just become aware of – some pretty cool sounds… classical sounding alternative music.

“Loveletting” by Sons of an Illustrious Father from Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen: Section 5/Single (b-side)

First of two in a row from the Funky Kitchen of Mama Coco. Thoroughly original modern music rooted in all the cool shit you love…

“Can of Worms” by Ex-Pet from Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen: Section 5/Green Accent

#2 from the “kitchen” some awesome psyche-power pop stuff….

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3956879306/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/

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“Flying” by Kevin Jenkins from Step Inside

Creates the sensation of gliding over the world…  some really smooth, cool soulful jazzy music from True Groove Global Soul artist Kevin Jenkins.

“Cinco Minutos Con Vos” by Elvis Costello and The Roots from Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs

Collaborations either work or they don’t.  They usually don’t work when one artist’s style and sound over powers their collaborator or if the result is a messy mixture of different voices that just don’t gel.  The Roots are champions at collaborations, and in this case the result combines the funky, hip-hop inspired Roots music which some classic Elvis vocals and a latin vibe to boot. I can’t really explain why it works, but it does.

“The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1” (Neutral Milk Hotel cover) by The Foresters from Download

I am so glad to the see the young Nork brothers expanding their musical vocabulary.  In an amazing short time, they totally nailed the pop punk/punk pop sound that first got them into learning to play, and now, especially over the last few months, they are showing a remarkable range and incredible growth.  I dig this Neutral Milk Hotel cover, and I think you will, too.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2155100740/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/

Video:



Monday Morning Music Shuffle – Dust Off Mix

Back after a day off from blogging.  We have eight cooler than necessary tracks…  let’s jump to it!

“Instant Crush” by Daft Punk from Random Access Memories

Everyone’s favorite robot-helmeted French electronic musicians with a song from their powerhouse 2013 album. This song features Julian Casablancas from The Strokes.

“Digital” by Rewpart from 1/2

Some cool music from London and Rewpart who I met through the about.me website.

“Foolish Pride” by Tipi Valley” from Blue Moon EP

More great music from long-time E2TG fave Tipi Valley from Wales.

“Away” by Ben Pagano from Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen: Section 5/Robot Jazz

Seriously, if you haven’t downloaded the Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen: Section 5 album yet, what are you waiting for.  While you’re at check out the Robot Jazz album by Ben Pagano, too.  Do it! I’ll wait.

“Brushed the Dust Off (Lean into the Wind)” by Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray from Lean into the Wind

I needed to hear this song today…  Any shuffle that includes Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray has to be good.

“Way Up High” by The Foresters from Living Hold

More good stuff from the Nork brothers of Connecticut!

“Cliff Bar” by Darrin Bradbury from The Almost Great Crepe’s (Demos)

Darrin Bradbury turns a phrase about as well as anyone I can think of, and I can think of a lot of people who can turn a phrase pretty darn well…    We’ve included a video sneak peek of the forthcoming new EP due out tomorrow called Motel Oatmeal…

“Could We See” by Grounded from untitled

Close things out with a former E2TG featured artist from back when we had featured artists.  Grounded are from Florida, and I’m not sure if the album is titled “untitled” or if is actually untitled, but it has some cool music on it – including this one.

Some VIDEOS:

MUSIC TO DOWNLOAD:

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2212506376/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1694579463/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3637827404/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/

http://astore.amazon.com/e2tg_dust-off_8-04-2014-20
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