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And then it was Thursday...
Last night, after work, I headed down to The Country to check out Ben de la Cour and Gaelynn Lea (who you read about in Collins' guest post earlier this week). (if you missed it, click the link).
Ben is one of my absolute favorite songwriters.
Gaelynn Lea (who won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest) is nothing short of brilliant. Playing traditional fiddle music and originals using a loop pedal and her unique playing style, she makes otherworldly and music that is at once dark and beautiful.
After that, I headed to Kay Bob's to hang out with some of my fellow WXNA DJs. Every third Wednesday, Kay Bob's hosts WXNA Night and donates 15% of all sales to the station. It's a fun hang with good food and a great beer selection.
Then, I crossed the river in time to catch Brian Milligram at The Crying Wolf. I was reminded about how much I love his music. Folk-punk delivered with passion. And he can pull off a sad song pretty well, too.
Today being Thursday, we return to our special Topical playlist - said topic being self-referential and we delve into the history of E2TG. It's an interesting history (if I do say so myself) covering a wide swath of musical styles. From the beginning, my approach to E2TG has been to write about music that moves me without much regard to the relative notoriety (or lack thereof) of the artists. To that end, some bands I have written about have gone on to achieve greater notoriety and others have seemingly disappeared - at least from social media. I take no credit and accept no blame from either. In my estimation, the value of the music itself is not really affected at all by what happens next for the artist. But, that's just my take...
Without further ado, here is the Topical Thursday (E2TG-centric) shuffle....
"Talkin' Nashville Co-Write Blues" by Brian Wright
As I previously wrote, Brian Wright was one of the hardest working performers at Americana Fest last week, and he, deservedly, got some great attention for that. He is one of my favorite artists to see live (whether solo acoustic or with a full band) and I always love his shows, but his showcase performance raised the bar even further. He was probably one of the better known Artists of the Year at E2TG when I bestowed that title at the end of 2016, but to me, he was the obvious choice. Artist of the Year, as I see it, is both a reflection of the work done in the year just ending and the potential for what the upcoming year has in store. On both of those counts, I have no regrets about my decision. This is a track from Cafe Rooster Sessions Vol. 1. Vol 2 was just released and features new music from Wright, Darrin Bradbury, Jon Latham, Ladies Gun Club and more.
"Modern Atlas" by The Gypsy West
Next up, we have the title track from the most recent album by long-time E2TG favorites The Gypsy West. They came to us via a recommendation from 2013 Band of the Year, The End Men. At that time, The Gypsy West were based out of Brooklyn, and they were in the midst of their Accomplices trilogy of EPs. Subsequently, primary member Alex Giorgetti relocated to Boston.
"Swan Jeremy" by The Foresters
One of my favorite songs from the 2015 album Sun Songs by another long-time E2TG favorite band - The Foresters. You may hear this on an upcoming Double Shot show.
"Strange World" by Space
One cool thing that has happened since starting E2TG is that I have been hooked up with some really awesome publicists who direct really cool music in my direction. Including this long-running Liverpool band. This is the title track from their 2015 album. I dig this a bunch.
"Vans (Down by the River)" by Hayden Coleman (THC)
Hayden Coleman is a Nashville based artists, rapper, producer who were first wrote about back in the earlier days of the blog. Lately, he has been popping up one some pretty high-profile releases. Check out the video playlist for his work with Morgan Bossman on her "Runaway" single (and look for Hayden among the runners in the video). This track - which references a Chris Farley SNL sketch is from a collection of beats that was made a full decade ago (2007). I have always loved this beat.
"Fuck On" by Christopher Aaron Slade
When Christopher Aaron Slade first approached me, he described his music - if Blondie threw a party with Scissor Sisters and AC/DC crashed it. It worked, I listened and I loved the music. Unfortunately, I cannot find any track of him or his music on-line anymore. I couldn't even find the videos I previously posted. Still love this music, though. If you can find it, have a listen.
"Don't Let the Demagogue Get You Down" by Strange Majik
For the second time this week, we have Strange Majik - this from his first release of 2017 - Soul Crisis. Good, if not easy, advise for the times in which we live. This song was released just after the inauguration and unbelievably things have only gotten worse.
"Radio" by Kristen Ford
We close things out with this snappy song - one of my favorites from Nashville's Kristen Ford off of her Rend and Render album. Got me dancing into the office this morning.
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