Friday, July 22, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Blue and Red Mix



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Congratulations to Don Gallardo for his CD Release show last nigh at The Family Wash.  Great music all night from Lani Ford, Matt Haeck, Caleb Caudle, and Don Gallardo and his awesome band and guests.  His CD, Hickory, is out today in the U.S. (it has been out elsewhere for a while).  It has been great to hear Don Gallardo several times over the last month or so.

Reminder: I will be back on the radio with Sue Havlish.  Double Shot with Joe and Sue is on WXNA-LP Nashville. It is 101.5 on your radio dial in the broadcast range and streaming worldwide at wxnafm.org and via the TuneIn App.  The show starts at 11am Central Time and our theme this week is "Cocktails for Two".

We move into a Featured Friday shuffle to close out your week... by the way, I am going to be out of pocket next week... taking some much needed time off.  Be sure to stop by here every day to see if I posted anything (and to keep my pageviews up... ;-)  )


Thursday, July 21, 2016

Throwback Thursday Morning Shuffle - A Poet, A Pawn, and a King Mix



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Week 3 of the Rod Picott residency at The 5 Spot in East Nashville was last night.  Brian Ritchie (solo and not the guy from Violent Femmes) opened.  Really loved his songs and his voice.   Over the course of this residency, I have gone from being a casual fan of Mr. Picott (who I first saw at Americana in (I think) 2012) to being a huge fan.  He was backed by Tim Blankenship on drums, Duane Blevins on bass, and Sergio Webb on guitar.  As he tends to do, Sergio Webb worked some kind of voodoo magic with his instrument that blows me away every time.  Rod Picott's songs are wonderful.

A highlight for tonight is the CD Release for Don Gallardo's Hickory album which has been out overseas for some time but is finally getting released stateside.  An amazing line-up with Caleb Caudle, Matt Haeck, and Lani Ford opening. No cover with door prizes by sponsor Good People Brewing Co.

You know, I have been getting so much music sent my way recently (and I am not AT ALL complaining) that I was seriously thinking about suspending Throwback Thursday in favor of adding another "featured music" day (name not determined)... but then today's shuffle came up... and I'm like, nah, it's all good.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Wild Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - With a Microphone Mix



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I'm just going to leave this right here...



It is Wednesday... time to dive into our Wild Wednesday Shuffle....

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Fist City Mix




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Shout out to my twin daughters who turn 21 years old today.  ♥♥♥♥

It is Tuesday or as we say here at E2TG - Trending Tuesday.

I have a little extra time so I thought I would explain each day's "theme"...

Music City Monday - songs with some connection to Nashville.  Artists who live in or have lived in Nashville, albums recorded in Nashville, maybe songs about Nashville, plus artists that I mistakenly thought lived in or had lived in Nashville.  Plus songs added to the playlist in error.

Trending Tuesday - kind of an esoteric playlist... mostly new (or fairly recent music)... includes music sent to me plus (fairly) recent and notable releases plus songs connected to some notable (fairly) recent events.

Wild Wednesday - all of the above (and below) plus songs that don't really fit on any other playlist.

Throwback Thursday - songs of a certain vintage. Usually at least ten years old, plus occasionally and accidentally a recent song by a long running artist that I mistakenly think is an old song.

Featured Friday - mostly music which was sent to me.  Since I don't do many album reviews - this is my way of making sure I write something about most of the music that I receive and love.   Newer music from artists who I consider long-running "friends of E2TG", ends up on this list.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - Bad Decisions Mix



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I attended the J.R. Wyatt CD Release show last night.  J.R. sounded amazing. I have been a fan of his since I saw him perform a solo set at Logue's Black Raven (RIP).  He writes amazing songs, has a great voice, and last night he was backed by an awesome band (who all played on his new album, Staying Gold which is out now).  Expect to hear more about this album very soon....

E2TG Artist of the Year  Jon Latham went on right before J.R. playing his first full-band show one year after completing the mastering on his album Real Bad News.  He has had an incredible year. Having seen him perform many times and having been impressed many time, I feel like last night was Jon's star turn (or something like that).  Yes, his band was extraordinary - filled with great musicians and songwriters and friends (Aaron Lee Tasjan, Eli Rhodes, Sean Quinn, and Raun Shultz). and they were every bit as good as one could have expected. Still, it was Jon Latham's stage and he owned it completely.  It is truly heartening and inspirational to see the growth of his confidence and stage presence in the almost two years since I was first introduced to his music. Yeah, I'm one of those, "I knew him before..." people, and I say that with pride and joy!


Time for a Music City Monday shuffle:

The Ubiquitous Howard Rabach



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(Howard Rabach with The Grey A. Nashville CD Release Show at Stone Fox 9/12/2014)

When I started writing Ear to the Ground in the spring of 2011, I didn't know what to expect. I did not know if anyone would ever read it, I didn't know how long I would keep it up -heck I didn't even know what it was going to be....  At the very, very beginning, the blog was posted on a now extinct site called Posterous.  Unless you count the hundreds of hits from Russia, the first person who ever read and responded to E2TG was Howard Rabach.  He was about my age with very similar musical interests.  We connected in that weird internet way through music.  He was an educator and a musician. He had a band called Ubiquity Machine which seemed to distill so much music that I loved in a very interesting way.  They were one of my early "Bands of the Week" (which was a feature I had at the beginning of the blog).

At the end of 2011, I decided to do this massive on-line poll to the select a "Band of the Year" and included all of the "Bands of the Week" in the poll.  Ubiquity Machine lead for much of the polling period only to fall to second place after what was surely widespread voter fraud.  Still, I has happy that the finished so high in the poll.  When I made my first (and so far only) Ear to the Ground Presents compilation, I included a song by Ubiquity Machine (that song is embedded below).

Fast-forward a couple of years to the fall of 2014, and Howard decided to pursue music full-time and he had joined a band called The Grey A.  I reviewed the band's album and posted the review on No Depression, and that review made it onto the home page of the site. The album was recorded in Middle Tennessee and featured some local musicians, so they had a CD Release show here in Nashville.  So, I finally got to meet Howard and see him work his bass magic.

So, I hear Howard is rapidly approaching a landmark birthday. Therefore, it seemed like a good time to tell him how important he is to me and to E2TG. I have no doubt he will ROCK this new decade of life!




Friday, July 15, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Hipster Girl in the Old City Mix



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There are two parts of everyone of us.... well maybe more than two...

At this point, I can't see beyond this moment... one more time, one more time... it really makes no difference where or why.  There is an ugliness - I guess it has always been there... That ugliness does not discriminate. It really doesn't! Even though it may seem like it does.  The personifications of that ugliness - they discriminate - it is what they do... but the ugliness deep inside does not.  What I mean is that we all have some of the ugliness inside of us - the hate, the fear, the selfishness, the judgments.

Here's the thing... there is much beauty in the world... not just in special places or certain people. It is everywhere.  We all have the beauty inside of us - the love, the courage, the selflessness, the compassion.

The choice we have each day, each moment is to decide which of those we want to show to the world and more importantly which we want to manifest in the world.  Speaking for myself, I make those choices many, many different times every single day. Sometimes, I make what I think is the right choice and I show the world the beauty and I try to manifest that beauty.  Way too often, I fall short and little bits (or more) of the ugliness comes out.

So, today I am thankful when I allow the beauty to be what the world experiences.  But, I also have to thankful when I reminded that the ugliness is there, too.  Because, I  think that forgetting that I have that ugliness inside of me is far more dangerous than those moments when I show the world that ugliness.

Be good to one another -  I will try.

Anyway, I like sharing beautiful music of all kind.

Quick recap, I had a nice evening at The Country.  I was great to see Russell Thompson play for the first time in several months and to be reminded the beauty of his wonderful songs.   It was also great to experience Maynard and the Musties for the first time.  Really loved their sound and their songs.

Now, it is Friday and we shuffle songs from the Featured Friday playlist on Fridays.  Enjoy!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Throwback to Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - It Was Real at the Time Mix




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It was great to see the East Nashville music community coming together to support one of their own last night.  Rod Picott turned week two of his July residency at The 5 Spot into a benefit for Megan Palmer who is recovering from surgery following a diagnosis of breast cancer.  In addition to medical bills, she recently released an amazing new album and is unable to tour in support of it.  The show was live streamed on Concert Window.  If you were not able to attend or watch, you can still help.  Visit the GoFundMe page and give what you are able.

As for the music, it was - as could be expected - nothing short of spectacular.  Picott opened with his awesome band for a few songs.  Then, he did a round with Wild Ponies and Amy Speace.  After that, Tim Easton, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Allen Thompson did a round.  Amazing music all around.

Highlights (among many) - Aaron Lee Tasjan's "East Nashville Song About a Train" complete with train whistles provided by Rod Picott and Stacie Huckeba (one of the organizers of the event) and new East Nashvillian, Steve Poltz who absolutely killed it with his song, "Folksinger".

In other news, it is release day for the long awaited new album by long-time E2TG faves, Valued Customer of Toronto. The album is called Hugecup, and I have heard it and it is easily added high on my list of favorites for 2016. More to come from me about this album soon. Valued Customer are playing a release show in Toronto - if you are reading this and happen to be in that city - here are the details.

It is Thursday and we throw it back like usual - just not as far as usual.  We throw it back to Monday and shuffle up the Music City Monday playlist...

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Music City...um Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Sidewalk Used to End Mix



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Tonight, some of Nashville's best will gather at The 5 Spot in benefit for Megan Palmer.  It is part of the Rod Picott Residency and the event will be live streamed on Concert Window.

Almost simultaneously, some of the best songwriters around will be playing an amazing round at The Country.  Renee Wahl, Joe Nolan, Julie Christensen, and David Olney.  

Oh to have wings and a time machine... or at least a clone.

Okay... here's the deal... due to different circumstances, I have missed the last two Music City Monday posts, so I decided to call an audible and so, for the next two days, I will be spinning tunes from the Music City Monday playlist.  I tried to think of  clever name for this anomaly, but alas...

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Thin Ice Mix



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Ugh...  a summer cold got to me yesterday, but I am back at it today...

For the record, this is not a "gym" and there are no pokey's or man's or whatever here... we just have some cool tunes.  No app needed... just enjoy.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - This One Last Hope Mix



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These are hard times. These are tense times. These are scary times. These are sad times. These are disheartening time.  The issues are systemic and complicated and cannot and should not be reduced to memes. But that is what we do.  This is not a political blog or a social issues blog. This is a music blog, but I am a human being writing this and I notice things.  I do not propose solutions to all of the world's ills. But I do have a modest proposal..

STOP! RIGHT NOW!  Stop treating everything as an either/or, black/white, pro/con issue. My opinion is that very few things in this world work this way.  There is a philosophy that I used to be a proponent of (and sometimes still am) that our choices are either love or fear. In other words, in any given situation we can choose to react out of love or react out of fear. Honestly, I think as a way for me to evaluate my own reactions, it is a good philosophy. The problem is when I start using that to evaluate another persons motives is where I get into trouble. It's where I fall into that either/or trap.

I don't think either side is exempt from falling into this trap and it cuts across just about every issue. Guns, abortion, gay rights, police shootings, terrorism, even silly things like the Beatles vs. the Stones.   This idea that if I concede even a small minor point that I am now an enemy of a cause I consider myself a supporter of... It is how "Gee, maybe we might want to consider looking into how this thing is being done" is interpreted "so, you want to scrap the whole way of doing things?"

Or more pointedly, "There is a systemic problem of how some law officers interact with people of color." is heard as "So, you hate all cops?"

On social media, this attitude just creates fruitless and frustrating flame wars.  In life, it has deadly consequences as we have seen over the last couple of days.  So, I think we all need to STOP.  It is possible to support the good work that law enforcement officers do on a daily basis AND to demand that when one or some of those officers do wrong that they not be given a pass.  And to realize/admit that those bad apples are more than just aberrations (even if they may be in the minority), to realize that there are systemic and societal issues of race that we need to have honest conversations about. But, we cannot have those vital conversations if we approach it from a position of protecting our view of either/or.  Being willing to listen and to try to understand another viewpoint is not the same as agreeing with or giving into that viewpoint. But, it does, I think, demand a willingness to concede small points while standing firm on others.

I have no idea if any of what I have said makes any sense. I am frustrated and sad and scared and disheartened. I just feel like in our discourse we need to find some small point of agreement and build from that.  Sadly, I do not think this happens very often in our world.

But, this is a music blog.  I love music, and I believe that love is ultimately the answer to everything.  Love with hard work, love with compromise, love with actions, love with heart-felt disagreements, love in all of it's complicated versions and varieties.  As I said, I love music - so for today, I will share the love by sharing some music. Some of it you may like, some of it you may not, but I send it all out with love.

Speak powerfully against hate and fear, but speak powerfully out of love. Combat hate and fear with love not with more hate or fear.

So... music!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Throwback Thursday Morning Shuffle - The Horses are on the Track Mix




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Well, Nashville has had more than its share of rain the past few days.  I got a pretty good soaking walking back to my car yesterday.

Another incredible residency show started last night at The 5 Spot. Rod Picott began his month-long series with Jon Byrd opening.  Both singer-songwriters were backed by an incredible band: Sergio Webb, Tim Blankenship, and Duane Blevins.  A really amazing show for $5 that could get you home before 9:00pm.  I would love to see Nashville/East Nashville showing a lot more support for these early shows.

Anyway, I didn't make it home before 9:00pm, because I hung around for the late show which was the monthly Songs Not Silence benefit for Thistle Farms (which is an incredible organization), and which featured a lot of awesome music.  I was happy to get to see Nellie Clay perform before she heads out on a series of out-of-town gigs.  Also good to get to see Megan Palmer play before she takes some time off to take care of some medical issues.  By the way, today is Megan's birthday! So, Happy Birthday Megan!

Well, this short work week has been kind of weird, but it is Thursday and so we push forward with some throwback tunes and noise and stuff...

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Icing on the Cake Mix



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Look, there are a lot of music blogs and music sites. There is even another one called Ear to the Ground (but we don't talk about that around here).  One thing I learned from all those business classes I look, is that you have to find your niche. Here at E2TG, the niche I have carved out is playing mixes of songs that no one else is or would play.  Sometimes that means mixing up genres and styles and eras of music that generally do not get along to well.  My philosophy is that music all springs from the same source and that it (and we) are all connected - however remotely.

To put it another way, here is a pretty wild ass mix of songs that you will not see in the post on any other site (guaranteed or your money back)...

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Who Needs a Song Mix



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I hope everyone in America had a happy fourth of July.  I know that other countries don't celebrate the fourth of July - I'm not sure, but I think it just jumps from July 3 to July 5 in those other countries... ;-)

I had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating Nashville's independent spirit as embodied by the amazing folks of WXNA-LP. The Family Wash and Garage Coffee was a great host location.  From all indications the event was a complete success.  I was there for nearly twelve hours and got to meet so many wonderful folks.  The night ended with a group of us lighting sparklers in the parking lot and watching the downtown fireworks from an East Nashville alley.  WXNA DJs were spinning cool tunes all day, and it was wonderful to see so many friends and supporters come out.  Hopefully a few Family Wash patrons learned about the station.

In the one month that WXNA has been on the air, it has been really exciting to see the energy level surrounding the station, and I am more than proud and pleased to play even a small part.  A gap has been filled and Nashville has been improved. I've heard people talk about buying a radio or downloading the TuneIn App (including some who never download apps).

If you haven't had the chance, tune in to 101.5 FM (inside the Briley - as I have heard people say) or via wxnafm.org or via the TuneIn app.  There are 52 original, local programs playing music selected by the individual DJs - not selected by a marketing firm or a corporate entity. The music runs an amazingly wide range of styles, genres, eras, etc.

Onward, it is Tuesday.  We play songs that come from the Trending Tuesday playlist.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Six Pack and a Bottle of Gin Mix



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Well, the weather has moderated somewhat in Nashville, and it was a very nice night to hang out on the patio at Drifter's in East Nashville and hear Tim Carroll and Luella play some cool tunes.  Tim, Luella, and the band (Toby Caldwell and Cameron Carrus) will be at The 5 Spot tonight for Tim's weekly Rock 'n' Roll Happy Hour show (no cover (mind the tip jar) and cheap drinks). It is always one of my picks of the week, and this week in particular they will have the incredible Reeves Gabrels sitting in on guitar.  Reeves played with David Bowie for several years, and he is currently the guitarist for The Cure who have been touring the US. I have seen him play with Tim and band before and he is awesome.  Unfortunately, I cannot make it, but I do highly recommend it if you are able.

Before I went to Drifter's I caught some of the last week of Don Gallardo's month-long residency at The 5 Spot. His guest was Carey Ott, who was amazing.  Don Gallardo and How Far West are simply one of my favorite bands around.   Don Gallardo will be having his CD Release show in July at The Family Wash.  More details will follow.

I should also mention that the radio show I co-host with Sue Havlish (Double Shot with Joe and Sue) will be on the air tomorrow morning at 11 (central time). Our theme this week, is "One Hit Wonders" and includes some folks that I bet you do not think about as one hit wonders (and some you may).

On Monday which is July 4, The East Nashvillian will be hosting Independence Day - a benefit for WXNA-LP (where Double Shot airs).  The benefit will be held at The Family Wash in East Nashville and will run from Noon - 11:00pm.  There is a $5 suggested donation, and music will be provided by various WXNA DJs - while others of us will be hanging out.  Come spend the or an hour or so with us.  Sue and I will be there at least from 12-2 (and I will likely be there most of the day).  More info at the Facebook Event Page (HERE)

For the first time in over a week, I made time to add some new tunes to the playlists and a couple of those new tunes came up today.  It is Featured Friday - for this first day of July.