Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
I need to start by saying cancer sucks... I hate it! Rest in Peace to Grant Hart (Husker Du). Along with The Replacements and Minutemen, Husker Du were part of the holy trinity of great American post-punk bands on the 1980s.
*
*
*
*
*
Whew... I am somehow still functioning (at least as good as I normally function). So far this week, I've seen somewhere close to 15 hours of live music (with 7-8 more on tap tonight), worked my regular schedule, posted my normal blog posts, recorded a radio show, run into a ton of good friends, strategically managed to drink quite a bit for a fraction of the cost ;-), posted on Instagram for the radio station, danced at 1:00am at The Family Wash, and even got to sleep - just a little.
Last night, I saw the amazing Bonnie Whitmore, K. Phillips (who co-wrote the Erica Blinn song we premiered last week), and the always enchanting Amelia White.
Tonight: As if the case almost every day/night this week, there is a ton of amazing music. I plan to start my evening at The 5 Spot. E2TG Favorite Mark Robinson Band. This is Mark's fifth year running of holding down the Thursday early slot at The 5 Spot. This year, in addition to hi stellar band, he will be joined by Dave Coleman (who I saw playing with Amelia White last night), and one of my favorite local songwriters Kevin Gordon (according to my Facebook memories, two years ago, I was attending the City Winery CD Release show for Gordon for his most recent album).
Speaking of City Winery, their lineup tonight includes, Robyn Hitchcock, Dave Alvin, Tony Joe White and more.
If all goes as planned, my evening will end with North Mississippi All-Stars and Blackfoot Gypsies at The Beast.
Meanwhile, I have Shuffle to present. It somehow is Thursday, and that means today's shuffle comes from the special E2TG Topical playlist... featuring songs from across the six year history of this blog.
Let's shuffle!
"Shit That Matters" by JENNY
We begin with the Canadian band JENNY. When Inner City Elegance broke up, I tried to keep up with the individual members. Spencer Kathrens was a part of this band that plays punk with a country edge to it. This is from their 2010 album Heavy.
"Clarity" by Pony Girl
Okay, I have to admit, the first thing that caught my eye about this (another Canadian band) was the similarity of their name to another E2TG favorite (PonyBoy - who I hope to see Sunday - if I am still standing). Pony Girl has very little in common with PonyBoy, but they do both play really awesome original music. This is a track from their album Foreign Life which we featured heavily last year.
"Bat J" by The Holograms
Strangely enough, I have written about two different bands called Holograms. This one is from New England and featured Galen Wade - whose solo work we regularly featured in the early days of E2TG. One thing I remember is not being about to find You Tube clips for this band, and at least once, I solved that by adding a video of Jem and the Holograms (the fictional animated band from the 80s cartoon show).
"Jesus Christ is Just Rock and Roll" by The Harmonica Lewinskies
The Harmonica Lewinskies were a huge part of the Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen collective out of Brookyln. I have discovered so much great music through checking out the compilations put out by MCFK. The Harmonica Lewinskies were one of my favorites. This is a track from their 2014 album Dad Rock. While recording the follow-up, they (and the MCFK community were rocked by the death of their spiritual leader Dan McClane. The band decided to press forward and complete that record which will be called #BringBushBack - as a last hurrah. Enjoy this tune a revel in how awesome this music is.
"Incipit Mutatio" by From the Outside
I have always had a penchant for experimental/ electronic music. It has never been my main thing, but it is something I like to explore every now again. This is probably one of the earliest examples of that penchant from the early days of the blog. This is a track from The Sound of Motion album which was released in 2012. They were a Band of the Week during the second year of the blog, but I had written about them even earlier than that. From the Outside are from Brazil.
"Our Lady of the Highway" by BARK
A few years ago, Tim Lee 3 bassist Susan Bauer Lee decided to learn how to play drums. As a result of that, she and her husband formed a side-project (the two-piece band BARK). With Tim Lee 3 now on hiatus, BARK has become the main musical project of these foks. This is from their 2015 self-titled 2015 EP. They are set to release the full-length Year of the Dog in October. You may recall, BARK played the fifth anniversary show of E2TG.
"Beggin' Jesus" by Ted Drozdowski's Scissormen
Next up, we have Nashville guitarist, songwriter, band leader, and journalist Ted Drozdowski and his band The Scissormen with track from their latest (2015) album Love and Life. Also, coincidentally enough, the second "Jesus" song in today's shuffle.
"The Murder Industry" by Don Ryan
It is kind of hard to imagine E2TG if I had never learned about Don Ryan. I first heard of New Jersey songwriter Don Ryan back in the first year of the blog's existence. The minute I heard his song, "This Town", I was blown away and almost immediately decided he would be a "Band of the Week". He ended up placing third in the 2011 Readers Poll for Band of the Year. Some time later, he suggested I check out his friend's band, Big Wilson River. Big Wilson River was another New Jersey band lead by Darrin Bradbury. I made Big Wilson River a featured artist, but by the time I got to listen to them, they were in the process of disbanding. A year or so later, I learned by Bradbury was moving to Nashville, and as they say, the rest was history. Beyond all that, I love Don Ryan's songs and sound.
No comments:
Post a Comment