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So yesterday, as I worked, I would look out the window and sea picture perfect day while I watched the temperature on my phone rise through the seventies into the low 80s. It was the first day of Spring, and it felt like it. I hustled home and changed into shorts, grabbed a beer, and sat out on my back deck reveling in the sun and just right temperatures. And the the clouds began to roll in, and in less than a hour it was storming. I guess that is Spring, too.
You know, like a lot of people, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the state of the world and this country, and our government. Sometimes, as I react to some new revelation, some new affront to decency, some new outrage... I find myself questioning if I am overreacting. Or perhaps more to the point, I find myself wondering if I am reacting to the right things. As I have said before, I NEVER intended, E2TG to be a forum for my political beliefs. I have always and still believe that this country is made great not by a uniformity of opinions and tenets and beliefs, but by the differences. I believe it is possible that not every belief or philosophy of mine is 100 percent correct 100 percent of the time. Or that the "other side" is 100 percent wrong 100 percent of the time.
So, in the past two months, I have struggled to differentiate the "normal" political issues (some of which are very important) and this new "not normal" world in which we find ourselves. It is a difficult thing to do because the two are often intertwined. The current administration's ties to Russia and white supremacists - their outright lies and attacks on the press... these and more should transcend (D) vs. (R) or virtually any other artificial division.
I don't have a neat wrap up... these are just some things that have been on my mind. ****************************************************************************
On Tuesday - we shuffle up our "New Music" playlist - that is filled with (fairly) recent (including not yet released) music that has come to me by variety of mediums and people. It is today's glimpse at what is "Trending" on E2TG.
"Radio" by Kristen Ford
I - first saw Kristen Ford perform a couple of years ago at The Basement, and I remember being really impressed. She has since relocated to Nashville, and I got the chance to see her again a couple of weeks ago at $2 Tuesdays. Ford is a one-person band who uses loop effects to flesh out her sound. She also writes great songs - like this one - which happens to be one of my favorites. It is a track on her most recent album Rend and Render. If I am not mistaken, I believe a heard talk of a new album in the works. I hope to catch her around town.
"Sweet Sugaree" by David Olney
David Olney's brand new, Don't Try to Fight It, album is less than two weeks away, and his CD Release Show - which will feature the album's producer and E2TG favorite Brock Zeman - is set for one week from this coming Saturday.
"I Can't Deny" by The Maxx
The Maxx are an Atlanta band that have been in existence since 1976. This is a track from their most recent album Funk Box - which just recnetly came to me. This is our first listen, and I am digging it.
"Don't Know Where to Turn" by Clint Morgan
Next - we have another track from Scofflaw - which we have been featuring for some time. Clint Morgan is from the Pacific Northwest.
"Drunkard's Grave" by Tim O'Brien
I was absolutely thrilled to find Where the River Meets the Road in my mailbox yesterday. The new CD from multiple Grammy winning bluegrass musician Tim O'Brien will be released March 31. Our first listen is a take on a Bailes Brothers song - warning about the dangers of drinking.
"Here I Am" by Ivas John
Next, we have another track from Good Days a Comin' by this Missouri by way of Illinois based blues/soul artist.
"Where Love Lives" by Gabrielle Louise (with Jefferson Hamer)
Next we have our final song to feature from one of my favorites of 2016 - If the Static Clears. Here Colorado singer/songwriter Gabrielle Louis is joined by songwriter/guitarist Jefferson Hamer (who is a member of Murphy Beds and who released a 2013 album with Anais Mitchell. This an absolutely lovely song. If you have not yet checked out If the Static Clears - I highly recommend it.
"Thursday Morning" by The Soul of John Black
And we close today's shuffle with one of the 2017 albums that I have been enjoying. The album is called Early in the Moanin'. The Soul of John Black is from Chicago but currently based in L.A. Soulful blues music or bluesy soul music?
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