Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Why? 1K Mix

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I'm not sure what it is about round numbers... zero is a round number.  We all seem to like lots of zeros.  Why zero? Why not nine? or eight?  Ah well, who am I to blow against the wind?

So this is post number 1000* for Ear to the Ground.  Quite a milestone, I suppose, and I am really thankful for everyone who has read, shared, commented over the years. I am been introduced to a lot of great music and met a bunch of really awesome people as a result of this blog. I certainly did not expect that happen when I began.  I mean I hoped someone, somewhere would read theses rambling posts, but it has been a great ride so far.

*1000 posts on Blogger.  The first six or seven months of Ear to the Ground were on Posterous. A few entries were cross-posted but some were not.

Ear to the Ground is for one thing, a way for me to share my experiences with the music of my life.  From the beginning, I knew that I could not cover all of the music being made - that I would  not compete with the Brand-X music blogs with their top ten lists and clickbait headlines... In my daily shuffle, I strive to keep a good mix of old and new music from a variety of genres and movements. 

I cannot really say for sure why music has become such an important part of my life. I just remember the joy of discovery I experienced when music like Velvet Underground or The Jam or The Clash or Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen first came into my consciousness.   Music is filled with connections and if you follow those connections you often are lead down rabbit holes and find yourself in places you never could have expected. I think life can be like that, too. I hope I never lose that spirit of discovery - again. I lost it once, and I was lucky enough to have it revived.

Been in a nostalgic mood... last night I took the Music City Roots bus from The 5 Spot in East Nashville to The Factory in Franklin for a special Music City Roots show. It was a benefit from Tommy Womack who was seriously injured in an automobile accident earlier this year. The show was filled with iconic figures from the Nashville Rock music world that I first experienced (from the perimeter) back in the mid to late 1980s.  Dan Baird opened his set with "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" which became a massive hit single for Baird's old band, The Georgia Satellites. Beginning in February 1985 and ending sometime in early 1993, I kept a journal which basically would have probably been a blog or at least a Livejournal in a later time.  Just random thoughts, and I quoted song lyrics quite often.  From the moment I first heard, "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" - it made it's way into my brain and I quoted it often in my journal. It was almost surreal watching the song move from this (sort of) local college radio song to the top part of the nationwide singles charts.  Dan's set included material from his brand new record as well as a way too cover of Springsteen's "Johnny 99" from Nebraska - which by the way was the first album I ever bought on CD.

Webb Wilder - so many great shows over the years, and his set was filled with songs from his brand new album.  Will Kimbrough - I remember a sput-of -the-moment drive to Nashville with my friend Boyd to see Will's old band Will and the Bushmen. I remember Bill Lloyd joining them on stage that night.  Lloyd was there, too last night. 

Jason and the Scorchers tore up the stage and 30 something years later - Jason Ringenberg and Warner Hodges still defy gravity and still careen around the stage like an out of control whirling dervish. I first saw the Scorchers live almost exactly 30 years (give or take a few weeks) ago, and "Broken Whiskey Glass" still gets me every time.

So - let's get on with our shuffle for post number 1000.  It isn't a shuffle of a specially prepared playlist.. like almost all of my posts - the music player shuffle  picked the tunes and placed them in a certain order... and here we go.


"The Return of Jimi Hendrix" by The Waterboys

I love music that references other artists and their music.  I love songs that are about dreams. I love The Waterboys and I love Jimi Hendrix.  This song is from The Waterboys 1993 album Dream Harder and the version I heard was from the 2005 live album Karma to Burn.

"The Old and the Young" by Midlake

Midlake are a folk band from Denton Texas.  This song is from their fourth and most recent studio album Antiphon.

"All Along the Watchtower" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Speaking of Hendrix... the recording I heard was from the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1970.  Bob Dylan has indicated that when he plays this song (which Dylan wrote) he performs it as a cover of the Hendrix version.

"Enjoy the Rise" by Saint Cole

We have a sneak peak of from forthcoming album Within the Skin from this electronic dance/indie pop band from the UK.  Great sounding, accessible electronic music.

"Waterfalls" by Crow and the Canyon

Crow and the Canyon are an acoustic folk band from Portland, Oregon.  I love this song.

"Hoka Hey" by Dan Martin

We close out this milestone post with the opening and title track off the current album by Oklahoma musician Dan Martin. Maybe my favorite song on the album, and I dig all the songs from Hoka Hey - the album.

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