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Well - the Great American Eclipse is over... From my vantage point, we had quite a bit of cloud cover. It broke enough to see several points of the waning sun, but we missed seeing the totality. I feel fortunate, though, that I had read something about being attuned to everything going on... so for the two minutes of totality, I noticed the decrease in temperature, I was amazed by the "sunset" effect, and the sounds of cicadas.
Kind of appropriately, I went to the Basement East last night for a tribute to Darkness on the Edge of Town and other Springsteen songs. I have mixed feelings, overall, about tribute shows in general. I think sometimes that there are too many of them, and that I, personally, would rather see original artists doing their own songs. But, I do recognize the economics for venues like The Basement East, and the unfortunate reality that more people attend these type of shows than original music shows. I do also understand from talking to my friends who do these shows that there is a tremendous lift from finding common musical ground with other artists and in collaborating with musicians that you may not otherwise get to work with.
All that being said, the tribute shows I have seen at The Basement East have all been top-notch and loads of fun, and last night's show was one of the best. For starters, the band sounded amazing. Of all the shows like this I have seen, there were probably more singers I was not familiar with vs. those I knew. But, I really didn't care so much because everyone nailed their songs and the songs were the stars. Shout out to Andrew Leahey, Scott McMahan, Lilly Hiatt, Becky Warren, Mary Bragg, and Jon Latham (who stole the show - as he often does).
I could of bits of unsolicited advise from me... make sure you clearly introduce each performer. I know I am a bit of an anomaly, but when I see someone at these shows, and I enjoy their performance, I want to know more about what their own music is like. At the recent John Prine tribute, Jerry Pentecost not only introduced each artist but also plugged their latest album.
That reminds of another bit of unsolicited advice for artists in general: if you have a new (or fairly recent) release or project - and you have a Facebook Page - that project should be front and center on your page. Cover photo, pinned post etc. I don't know how often I will be writing about a song in my shuffle - and think - what's the name of the album or when is it going to be/was it released - only to go to the artist/band page and have to scroll down several posts to find the information. As I said, I am an anomaly - most casual listeners will not work that hard.
All righty then - enough with advice... it's all offered with love and admiration for the incredible talent that I am fortunate to experience daily. - It is Tuesday and time for our Trending Tuesday shuffle - new and newish music...
"Channel 224" by The Electric Grandmother
The shuffle's love affair with The Electric Grandmother and their new album Cancelled continues. This is a very brief instrumental piece. True confession time: somehow, my music player got set to repeat track. So this 14 second track kept repeating and it took me a few to figure out that this wasn't and intentional repetition.
"Trick" by Matthew Sweet
I am beyond thrilled to have the chance to feature music from Matthew Sweet's latest release - Tomorrow Forever which was released this year. The album was funded by a massively successful Kickstarter campaign. What I have heard so far reminds me of everything I love about Matthew Sweet.
"Western Wall" by SuperCrashingStar
A pointed and potent statement about current affairs... it is good to hear from our friends from New York - SuperCrashingStar - highly original music. They have undergone some personnel changes, but their new album Digital Lo-Fi is set for release next month.
"Brush My Teeth" by Gloom Balloon
More goodness from this band out of Iowa. Their album is called Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom, Underneath the Stars and the Moon. I really dig this track.
"A Ways Away" by Kingsley Flood
Kingsley Flood are from Boston and D.C. Another Other is their latest, and one of my favorites of this year.
"A Little Closer" by My Favourite Things
Brooklyn band, My Favourite Things are up next with another cool track from Fly I Will Because I Can. Dig the sound of this band,
"Raise Your Fist" by Nathan Bell
Even when I don't write about current events, I am trying to stay aware of what is happening. It all pretty much sucks, but I am glad that passionate and talented artists are rising up to speak out against the madness. This song is dedicated to Tommie Smith and John Carlos - the American runners who gave the Black Power salute from the podium at the 1968 Olympics and perhaps germane to the current protests happening in the NFL... By the way to the "shut up and sing" crowd ... well... shut up and listen.
"Channel 34" by The Electric Grandmother
Switching channels, we have our second track of the day - another channel from The Electric Grandmother (my first ever exposure to Sitcom-Core band). A longer but still relatively brief song from Cancelled.
"You Knew Me" by Matthew Sweet
And, we close things out with our second track from Matthew Sweet's Tomorrow Forever. Looking forward to writing more about this album.
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