Monday, January 27, 2014

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Real Live Wire Mix



Okay - how many #E2TG readers watched the Grammys last night?  What did you think? Were there parts you liked? Was it all utter crap? How well did it represent the state of music from October 2012 - September 2013?  Seriously? Really? Was it worst than you could imagine or better than you expected?

So here's the thing, for as long as I can remember, The Grammy's have been completely out of touch with the music I like. Or at least a decade too late. That being said, there were a few parts of last nights broadcast that were okay.

Here's the thing, regardless of your opinion of the Grammys, the fact is that every night of the week in clubs and small venues all across the country, indie artists are creating memorable moments playing a huge variety of music. Many of these bands and artists do not get the hype or press that your Grammy "caliber" performers get. Nonetheless, they aren't that hard to find. Take the time, seek them out, and regularly read music blogs like Ear to the Ground (or just read Ear to the Ground if I may ever so humbly suggest.)


Anyway, we have a shuffle filled with interest music that you may or may not have heard about.  Check these artists out and see what appeals to you...

Friday, January 24, 2014

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Passion Fruit and Holy Bread Mix



If you've been reading Ear to the Ground for any length of time and ever wondered about the subtitles for each shuffle (like Passion Fruit and Holy Bread Mix* today), I thought I would provide a little historical context.

When I started writing Ear to the Ground (May 2011), there was a local blog that posted a news round up post almost every day, and each one was titles something like News Roundup (probably not that but you get the idea) - something edition.  I thought it would be cool as a homage to that site** to add subtitles to my daily shuffle.  I actually used the word "edition" before I changed it to the more music oriented "mix".

These often obscure or even meaningless subtitles are derived from a variety of sources: Current Events, events from my life, overheard phrases, and sometimes they even have something to do with the music contained in that days shuffle.

* As I wrote this, I realized the unintentional humor of Holy Bread Mix (which I suppose could be used in a Holy Bread Machine.

** Homage is just a fancy way of saying blatant ripoff, right?

Anyway, I have had fun this week using part of lyrics of some of the more well known songs in each day's shuffle as the source of the subtitle.


Anyway, no extra charge for all that useful information.  Let's shuffle....

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Hypnotized and Fascinated Mix



It's the final couple of days of voting to help #E2TG 2013 Band of the Year The End Men win a slot on Mountain Jam Festival and other prizes.  Let's do this thing.  It just cost you an e-mail address (you can opt out of receiving other mail from GTR Store, and you can vote once a day - so today and tomorrow). Let's do this thing!  VOTE HERE

To the shuffle:

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Pure and Noble Breed Mix



We press on...

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Beautiful and Stoned Mix



Okay... first of all - have you seen this?!



Second,

I need to acknowledge that two of the most badass rock and rollers share a birthday which happens to be today.  Now, I know that I don't often acknowledge birthdays, but the combination of the shared birthday with the utter badassery represented... well I had to. So Happy Birthday to Matthew Hendershot of the The End Men, and Greyson Anderson of Dogs of Oz.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know The End Men, but if you joined us with the last several months, you may have missed out on Dogs of Oz - so here is a aural/visual reminder of each of the bad ass birthday boys. 




Also, as a birthday gift for Matthew (and The End Men)... why not head over to the GTR Store website to help The End Men when a whole bunch of cool stuff plus an slot at Mountain Jam 2014 in Woodstock, NY.

Whew... now we still have a Shuffle to put on...  Jump

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Wheels of a Cadillac Mix



Lovely to see you....


We have 11 songs in our shuffle today....

Shall we?  Let's....

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Orange Crepe Paper Mix




Continuing a tradition that dates back to January 14, 1993...

We have a great shuffle to help me celebrate... ;-)


Monday, January 13, 2014

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Rainy Days and Mondays Mix




We have arrived at Monday.  It's a dreary day here  in Nashville, but we have the antidote.  We've loaded up with a bunch of music which we have been saving up since we started our Year End Review last month.  The songs added are a good combination of new music, new to us music, the return of some old friends, a first meeting with what we hope are some new friends, plus the usual collection of the classic, the weird, the obscure, and the unexpected.
Today's mix is a good cross-section of this new music - plus a couple of hold outs from the previous month's playlist.

To it.... we go... jump...

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Life if Hard Mix



Things are heating up here in Nashville. It's above freezing and expected to be near 60 on Saturday.  But enough about the weather.

I have a lot of big plans for Ear to the Ground in 2014, but I am going to need some help.  I have a few bullet point requests/offers/informative bits of information (unnecessarily repetitive and redundant in an intentionally purposeful way).

  • I am working on a decorative piece of wall art for personal use.  If you have any spare stickers or other flat promotional art that you'd be willing to send me, hit me up via e-mail (to follow)
  • Last month, I made a joking comment about giving an E2TG prize pack to my 1,000th Twitter Follower.* Then, I got to thinking that it might be cool to put together a prize pack for some promotional reason (still undetermined).  If you have any thing you might be willing to donate - again hit me up via e-mail (to follow)
  • I think it's well past time for Volume II of Ear to the Ground Presents.  I did a compilation download of some of my favorite bands from the blog way back in the spring of 2012 and released it in conjunction with Record Store Day.  Rather than doing direct solicitation, I thought I would through it open.  If you or your band would like to be featured on Ear to the Ground Presents: Volume II - let me know.  You can either let me know the preferred song and/or shoot me an MP3.  I may do some direct solicitation if responses are not sufficient or if some key players are missing.  If it's finished I may release prior to Record Store Day, but I still plan to promote at the event at Grimey's and will provide links if you want to promote however you want.
  • Speaking of Record Store Day at Grimey's.  The store always has a table filled with free promotional items. If anyone wants me to, I can get this stuff to Grimey's to be on the table. Hit me up as we get closer to the date (It's the third Saturday in April by the way).
  • Don't forget, it's a good time to start working on your 2014 CXCW videos.  If you don't know about Couch by Couchwest visit their website for details.  It's a fun time.
  • Finally, I am working on creatively releasing some of my fiction, and I would love some help promoting it.  Details will follow.
E-Mail about any and all of the above to jpwm14@gmail.com. Use the subject line Ear to the Ground.

Let's get to today's shuffle


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Ziggy, Elvis, and Rex Mix



January 8th!  E2TG sends out a heartfelt Happy Birthday! to four individuals who helped shaped my musical tastes.  Elvis Presley and David Bowie need to introduction.  Rex Silo and Ron Ruelle were by my side through many of my musical adventures and shows in the late 80s to early 90s. They remain good friends and I hope they will both raise an Old Bru (mentally add umlauts) today.

On to the shuffle which does not include Elvis or Bowie, but in honor of Rex and Ron (and purely by happenstance) does include several artists I know he likes....)

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Arctic Vortex Mix



Short on time, and I have a ton of songs in the mix today.  Let's!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Cold Start Mix



Well here we are.  It's a new year. 2014 is shaping up to be a good one with new music promised from The Foresters, Humming House, The Lucky Jukebox Brigade, and Taco Land just to name a few off the top of my head.

I haven't finished adding new music to our playlist, but we have some sweet music - new and old already queued up so let's jump to it.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Shoot Out the Lights 2013 Mix



Bang! And with this post, #E2TG closes the door on our extended recap of some of our favorite music of the past 12 months.  The Video Playlist ends up at just over 100 videos. Our Amazon Web Store comes in at 54 items.

Monday - we jump right into 2014 and hit the ground running....

Further ado avoided...

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Unfinished Business 2013 Mix



Well, it's a brand new year, and I already have some great stuff queued up to get 2014 off to a good beginning.  But, before we dive headlong into the new, there is some unfinished business - namely more 2013 favorites I wanted to offer up.  So today and tomorrow, I will wrap up the end of 2013 Mix and then Monday January 6 -  E2TG will kick off 2014 with a rousing start.

I've decided that the subtitle of this end of the year wrap-up should be: "If you think music sucked in 2013, then you were listening to the wrong music." 

I humbly offer #E2TG has your antidote to the bad music blues....