Monday, February 29, 2016

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - Rosebud, Too Mix



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Quick recap, I continued to lay a little low - still dealing with a lingering cold, and working on song selection for the forthcoming "Double Shot with Joe and Sue" (still no confirmed start date).

Friday:  First, it was good to see a large and vibrant crowd for the weekly Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour  (one of this town's best weekly events in my opinion).  I left there a little early and headed to Bobby's Idle Hour on Music Row for the Darkhorses of East Nashville - a collaborative round featuring the amazingly talented trio of Julie Christensen, Amelia White, and Sergio Webb.  Trading off songs and backing each other, produced several magical moments.  If they come through your town, do not miss it.


So, as I promised Friday, it seemed like a good time to shake things up here at E2TG - just a little bit.  Inspired by the success of Featured Friday, I have decided to have a "theme" playlist every for every day of the week.  The large #E2TG playlist had gotten very large and getting bigger. By having smaller playlist each day, it may provide more opportunities to feature different artists.  We shall see.

So, without much more ado, we begin this new chapter with the debut of Music City Monday - featuring music with connections to Nashville.  As you will see, this playlist features both current artists/albums and classics covering over half a century.  Non-Nashville artists: Do not be concerned, there will be many opportunities throughout the week for me to feature your music.

Friday, February 26, 2016

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!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Kingston Springs Mix



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Sorry for the inconsistency of posts the last couple of weeks... things will smooth out, but life sometimes gets all lifey...

I have been fighting with a cold all week (constantly changing weather -winter to spring and back -  doesn't help), and as a result, I have been mostly laying low this week, but I did manage to venture out (in a cold dreary rain) to The Basement (the original one) for some music.  As if the case most nights in Nashville there was awesome music going on all over town, but I just didn't feel up to venue hopping.  In fact, the Basement hosted an early show with Erin Rae and Kelsey Waldron that I totally missed, but I did get to see three awesome sets of music from three of Nashville's best "on-the-cusp" artists. 

Andrew Leahey and the Homestead played their last local show for a bit as they gear up for the release of their new album (on Thirty Tigers) in May. As they have every time I have seen them, they played earnest heartland rock and roll and did not hold back.

Michaela Anne also has an album due out in May.  Backed by her awesome band, she played her solid and gorgeous country songs. A highlight was her performance of "Me and Willie" (a CD bonus track from Emmylou Harris' 1976 album Luxury Liner) which Michaela Anne introduced by recognizing the song's writer, Laurie Hyde-Smith, who had come to Nashville from North Carolina for the show.

Darrin Bradbury closed the night with his first? full band show since his January Basement East residency (with the band that played with him for those shows).  This was an extremely fun set which included an impromptu vocal assist (from the crowd) by Jon Latham. (Do I need to mention that Darrin and Jon are the current and most recently past E2TG Artists of the Year? No? Okay, I won't then).  It was fun seeing so many familiar faces (and awesome musicians/songwriters) in the crowd.

To the shuffle:

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Shortnin' Bread Mix



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Once again, I am back with another Morning Music Shuffle! 

I was a little under the weather - so no shuffle yesterday....

So, here is a recap of some live music I experienced since the last post:

Friday - After venue hopping on Thursday, I decided  to stay put in one place (not that there weren't ample opportunities to venue hop), and it was nice because there was so much great music in one spot (Bobby's Idle Hour).  Three rounds of three singer-songwriters featuring: Round 1: Joe Nolan, Renee Wahl, and Daryl Dasher; Round 2: Jeremy Nash, Lindsay Ellyn, and Sadie Hart; Round 3: Jeremy Staubus, Lori Kelley, and Lori's sister Michelle Nielson (in town from Iceland).

Saturday - Another one venue night (Douglas Corner) for Charlie Whitten (who has been featured on E2TG), Richie Owens and the Farm Bureau, and Ted Drozdowski's Scissormen. 

Two wonderful night's of music with wonderful company at two venerable Nashville institutions.

#ICYMI:  The WXNA Radio Show that I am hosting with Sue Havlish, Double Shot with Joe and Sue,  has a Facebook Page for you to like.  After you "Like" that page (if you want to), it might be a good time to double check to make sure you have liked the Ear to the Ground Facebook page (link up top).  Hope to be able to announce the date of our first show, soon.

Now to the shuffle:

Friday, February 19, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Too Far Gone Mix



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Friday is upon us...

It has been a pretty crazy, stressful kind of week, so I cannot say  that I unhappy that it is almost over...

Last night was fun, though - although traffic was horrible.  I set off for Douglas Corner with a GPS estimated arrival time of 6:04p.m.  After I got stopped by a train that came to a complete stop.  After an unsuccessful attempt to find some way around (the train was blocking several main roads), I ended up back where I started, but the train had finally cleared. I finally arrived around 6:25p.m. or so and fortunately, the music had just started.  It was a songwriter's round that included Mike Cullison and a singer-songwriter named Arielle - who impressed me highly.

I left there and headed to The 5 Spot to catch the last 45 minutes or so of Paul Burch's residency show.  His outstanding band included Fats Kaplin and two bass players.

Finally, I ended my jaunt at The Family Wash for an incredible performance by Annie McCue. McCue is from Australia but surely has an honorary East Nashville membership card. 

Got to hang with some awesome folks at each of those shows.

As I was writing this, I got the official word, that yours truly and Sue Havlish will be the hosts of an hour long radio show on the brand new low power community radio station WXNA. The show (Double Shot with Joe and Sue) will be every Friday from 2:00 to 3:00p.m.  As soon as the launch date is announced, I will let you know.

Friday means, that I hit shuffle from the "Featured Friday" playlist- so without much more ado - let's get to it!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Something Nobody's Ever Seen Mix


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There was fog this morning, and for once, it was not all in my head...

Let's shuffle, shall we?

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Set Me Free Mix



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And we are back!  Life happens...  Here is a brief musical recap:

Sunday night. It was Valentine's Day and it was Sunday and it was a messy, cold and rainy night.  A relatively small crowd (relative to the Nashville crowd this show should have brought out) witnessed a text book demonstration of what Rock and Roll guitar music should be.  Brian Wright opened with an amazing band that boasted three powerhouse guitar players (including Wright himself). As I have come to expect from Brian Wright, the songs were excellent and the energy and music were intense. Easily one of the best Brian Wright shows I have seen (and I have seen some good ones).  The headliner was Dan Baird and Homemade Sin. The band fronted by ex-Georgia Satellite Baird and featuring the legendary Warner Hodges on lead guitar - tore through a set of songs that spanned Baird's lengthy catalog.  Backed by fellow former Satellite, Mauro Magellen  on Drums and Micke Nilsson on bass, the band was on point and played as though they were playing a sold out arena show.  The band tours extensively in Europe, but Nashville shows are rare.  I hope next time around, the weather and calendar aligns and Nashville will pack out wherever they play.

A very different evening last night at The Post East coffee house/juice bar/smoothie joint for East Nashville Storytellers #77 which featured renowned poet Bill Brown and Darrin Bradbury (accompanied by Megan Palmer).

Due to circumstances, I missed seeing Jon Latham, Zach Schmidt, Jeremy Pinnell, and Carson McHone on Monday night, but by all accounts it was every bit as awesome as I would expect.

On to the shuffle - since I know you got to be jonesing for one by this point...

Friday, February 12, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Not Alanis' Fault Mix



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Well, guess what? I'll tell you what, we have reached the end of this weird week... and that means it is time for the ever popular* feature here at E2TG, Featured Friday.  Where we cut out all the classic, obscure prior year tracks from our playlist and just spin songs of a more recent vintage.  These are either tracks that were submitted to me or just newer music that I wanted to feature. 

Let's get right into the shuffle which takes some interesting twists and turns....

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Be My Enemy Mix



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It's been a weird week filled with annoyingly insignificant snow "events", a day off, a significant life event, just one (so far) live music night, and some pretty cool shuffles...

Shuffle.... pretty cool....

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Tune from a B-Side Mix



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It's been a rough day.  I have a very late and very short shuffle.

First of all, I had the very wonderful opportunity last night to attend an early round at the legendary Bluebird Cafe which featured David G. Smith (who I have featured here on E2TG), a  couple of wonderful singer-songwriters named Anne E. DeChant and Nathan Bell, and a very rare and delightful appearance by my friend Karen Leipzinger (backed by Andy Ellis on guitar).

Now to the short shuffle,,,,

Monday, February 8, 2016

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Salted Joints, Cannibalism, and Andre the Giant Mix



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Another week... this is gonna be a weird one.  But, whatever...

Friday:  Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour - always a good time. 
Cross the river to The Country for The Tangled Hearts and Saint Luke's Drifters each providing a different take on a rockin' country sound.

Saturday:  So, I have been reading this book called Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville by Michael Streissguth.  (Thanks Pat and Kelsie). It is a very interesting book not just about the origins of the Outlaw Country movement but also about what Nashville was like in the late sixties and early seventies.  I am drawing some interesting parallels to what I have been observing in Nashville in recent times.  Anyway, Saturday night on the stage of Douglas Corner, Peter Cooper, David Olney, Tommy Womack, and Chris Gantry played an in-the-round show (swapping songs and stories).  Peter Cooper writing is referenced several times in Streissguth's book,  David Olney is mentioned in a quote from Rodney Crowell (and he shared a story that referenced that time period), and Chris Gantry's name came up several times in the book, and he, too, shared some stories from those days.  The songs, of course, were out of this world, and it was a pretty magical night.

Onto the shuffle:

Friday, February 5, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle - All Over Before Mix



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I have seen the dystopian future of Buck Owens tribute bands, and it's name is Buck N Stuff!

Okay, let me start from the beginning...  So, I ended up spending almost the same amount of time at The 5 Spot last night as I did at work yesterday.  No wonder I am tired today...

Paul Burch and the WPA Ballroom began their February residency with special guest Kevin Gordon who played lead guitar all night.  The band was hot, the songs were great, and the vibe of cool.  The only thing missed were the people.  Come on Nashville!  You got three more week of this residency.  You gotta get there!

The late show, kicked off with Darrin Bradbury  doing a pretty rare solo set and pulling out some chestnuts like "Zoey" (aka the ka-ka-cool song), "Conversation with Superman", and "Yardsale".  Jon Latham was up next accompanied by Sean Quinn.  Latham picked up on shoeless singer-songwriter mantle from Darrin Bradbury (who now wears shoes usually) and he did not hold back - making the pain of "Hand Me Down Heart" palpable. A highlight was his extended riffs on "Take It Easy" and "Boys of Summer" into his rendition of his summer anthem "Major Key".

Next up, were two singer-songwriters that I was not familiar with:  Elli Perry who is in town working on a record, delivered a loose and awesome set with Robbie Crowell of Deer Tick playing drums and producer Adam Landry on bass.  For the last song, Crowell and Landry switched instruments. That last song was a soulful, slow motion dirge that was wildly unexpected and disorientingly awesome.

Chris Watts is a Louisiana born singer-songwriter - whose back story includes being shot in the leg while serving with the National Guard at the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina. Watts played with a stand-up bass player and a drummer - injecting pep and good humor into his songs.  He has a new CD coming soon, and he will be playing a CD release show in March at The City Winery.

The night ended (well past midnight) with the aforementioned Buck N Stuff.  This power trio lead by Adam Kurtz and featuring Cameron Carrus and Lemuel Hayes play nothing but Buck Owens songs, and they play them like you have never heard Buck Owens before.  This was their second ever live show (following a $2 Tuesday gig that I missed last week), and I am so glad I did not miss this one. The styles flew wildly from Reggae to Hard Rock/Punk to Cosmic Country - lots of echo-y vocals and looped guitar parts and Adam Kurtz bouncing all over and off the stage like the madman genius he is - all the while, Carrus and Hayes held the whole glorious mess together.   Hands down among the most fun sets I have seen a while.

Tonight, I will take in some of Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour and then head over to The Country for The Tangled Hearts and Saint Luke's Drifters. 

Oh, and we still have a featured Friday shuffle to get to....

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Suffered for Your Sanity Mix



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I had a fun time last night.  Jeff Blaney and band started a month long residency at The 5 Spot.  Renee Wahl was the special guest the first night. She was backed by Daniel Seymour and Patterson Barrett.  Her songs and her voice were as spectacular as always.  Jeff Blaney's band included Seymour, Justin Amaral, and Chuck Foster on keyboard.  They sounded great.

Before that show was over, I had the great opportunity (thanks Mary) to get a sneak peak at the newly renovated 12th and Porter which is set for some Grand Opening shows this weekend with shows by Chuck Mead and Humming House.  The venue had a long history in Nashville, and it was good to see it ready to open once again. The free food and drinks were nice, too.

Back to The 5 Spot in time to catch the tail end of the beginning of the Whiskey and Women night with Michaela Anne.  Also on the bill, Joanna Barbara, Lauren Farrah, and Jesse Lafser.   Quite an amazing night of music.

Tonight, The 5 Spot is the place again to settle in for the night...  It is night one of another residency, this one featuring the great Paul Burch and the WPA Ballclub. Burch was one of the artists who helped to revitalize lower Broadway in Nashville in the early 90s. Burch and the WPA are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year with the release of Meridian Rising (about the life of Jimmie Rodgers) on Plowboy Records (featuring Jon Langford, William Tyler, Billy Bragg, and Tim O'Brien).  This residency is a don't miss kind of Nashville event. Special guest tonight is another of Nashville's finest songwriters, Kevin Gordon! 

A last minute cancellation set the stage for a pretty killer late night show featuring 2014 E2TG Artist of the year, Darrin Bradbury; 2015 E2TG Artist of the Year, Jon Latham; Chris Watts, Elli Perry, and Buck N Stuff (a Buck Owens tribute band that features East Nashville stalwarts, Adam Kurtz, Cameron Carrus, and Lemuel Hayes). 

I am looking forward to tonight!

On to the shuffle:

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Just Fine Mix



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I don't have a whole lot to say today... let's jump into the shuffle...

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - I Don't Care Mix



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My sincere hope is that a large number of people saw John Moreland on Colbert last night and became instant fans. I realize that the possibility of seeing Moreland at The 5 Spot or the backyard at Fond Object may be less likely, but in my opinion this is important music that needs to be heard. One thing I try to do (both for myself and others) is just appreciate that someone discovers great music for themselves and not worry about when they made that discovery.  For me, I am glad I discovered John Moreland's music when I did (which was somewhat before anyone who discovered him last night and somewhat after a lot of my songwriter friends).

Let's move on into the shuffle:

Monday, February 1, 2016

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Indonesian Fog and the Rain Mix



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Friday, another fun night at Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour.  Just about the best hang, I know with some kick ass rock and roll music to boot.

Saturday,  David Olney killed it at Bobby's Idle Hour, and Patrick Kinsley and a Fistful of Dollars, Cataline Crime, and Zach Schmidt put on a hell of a show at The 5 Spot.

Tonight, one of the finest songwriters of our time is making his debut on Colbert. America, prepare to be blown away by John Moreland - as I have every time I have seen him perform.

I cannot believe it is February already...  To start off the week and the month, we have a random shuffle that makes no sense whatsoever, but which was a whole ton of fun to hear during my commute.