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I feel like the week is just starting and now it is over. :-)
I still have a ton of submissions to dig through, but I already have a large "New Music Playlist". So, let's knock some songs off that list.
Just some housecleaning/reminders: Most days, the shuffle comes from MP3s of songs I have saved on my phone. It's what I listen to on my way to work. (Monday - I used a special Music City-centric Spotify playlist.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday are dedicated to featuring songs from my "New Music" playlist. These are almost always music that was sent to me through various channels (directly from artists, through publicists, etc).
I do not often do album reviews (I would love to, but time ends up being an issue). By featuring music like I do through shuffles - it gives me a chance to write about albums in-depth over time. It's kind of my thing.
I do, on occasion, do video and song premiers - when opportunities and time allows.
I'm not super picky about submission methods. I accept CDs and/or downloadable links/files. MP3 (320) would be my preference for electronic submissions. The problem I have with WAVs is that either have to convert them to MP3 or I don't have complete meta data, and I end up with files I can't identify.
I am located in Nashville, Tennessee - and in recent years, there is a definite Nashville leaning but I welcome submissions from anywhere, and I try to be as diverse as possible - so I have no limits on genres or styles. Over the years, I have covered about every genre I know of and a few I didn't even know about. And I love hearing new things.
Here you will find a fair amount of "Americanaish" music - roots-influenced, blues, folk, country. But, you will also hear punk, metal, experimental, hip-hop, shoegaze, shitgaze, power pop, rock (of various flavors), electronic music, instrumental music (of various flavors), and more.
I believe in connections - both obvious and obscure. I tend to focus on more under-the-radar type artists. Lately, I have had the good fortune to get some new music from higher-profile artists (at least in my limited realm).
Oh, and I create a YouTube playlist to match each day's shuffle. The purpose is not specifically to showcase music videos, but it provides a simple for readers to stream the music they are reading about. I used to be able to embed the Video Playlist directly into my post, but You Tube "improved" that feature away, so now I provide a link.
When I cannot find a video for the specific song featured, I try to substitute a relevant video by the same artist. When possible, if a video for the song is not found, but I can find a link to stream the song being featured, I will include that in my post (like I did today)
That's enough... let's shuffle!
"Mother Earth" by Red's Blues
Red's Blues are a Sacramento based blues band led by Richard W. (RW) Grisby and Beth Reid-Grisby. They play authentic blues music, and I was happy to get their most recent album, You Knock Me Out. This is the last song on the album, and you can listen/buy the album at the link below.
"Rocket to Love You" by Life in a Blender
Next up, we have another track from the latest album by Brooklyn-based band Life in a Blender. This band features Rebecca Weiner Tompkins - who E2TG readers know from Conrad y Skordalia. The latest album from Life in a Blender is called Happy Enough.
"Ghost Town" by Matt Tanner
Next, we have another track the forthcoming self-titled album by Matt Tanner. The album was recorded in Nashville. This came to me via a chance encounter with Matt when I was at The 5 Spot with my DJ partner Sue.
"Coal Black Water" by Nathan Bell
According to the Facebook's On This Day thing, it was two years ago today that I first say Nathan Bell perform. It was a round at the legendary Bluebird Cafe - along with David G. Smith and Karen Leipziger (who is a publicist as well as a songwriter and who sends me lots of great music). I, then, saw Bell at The Family Wash (which is now closed - either temporarily or permanently, not sure). I was so happy to get a copy of his latest album, Love > Fear: 48 Hours in Traitorland, which has some wonderful and pointed words about a variety of subjects - including this (penultimate song for us to feature) about the environmental costs of mining coal.
"All We've Got" by Jeryko
Next, we have our first listen to an interesting artist from New York City. Jeryko's music is both familiar and exotic. The video for this single is actually the second part of a two-part video that began with his video for another song we have in our playlist, "Fighting For" - so you may want to view that video before watching the one for this song.
"My Peace" by Caroline Cotter
Next, we have another track from Home on the River - which is out as of today. This track is the final song on the album, and it is a lovely a cappella version of a Woody Guthrie song. Cotter will be celebrating the release with upcoming shows (beginning to tonight) in Arkansas and St. Louis - before heading to Folk Alliance in K.C. next week.
"Feathers." by Ugggy
I know I go on quite a bit about Toronto's multi-talented artist Ugggy, but I am drawn to his amazing and unique creativity. As I mentioned previously, he just completed a year-long project of releasing new music on the first of every month. Of late, he has been working on some really amazing collage art pieces. Expect to see and hear much more from Ugggy - who we first met several years ago through a band is a part of called Valued Customer. This is a track from the penultimate release in that year-long series. The Amnesia Tapes dropped on New Year's Day. (listen below)
"He Took Her Hand" by MJ Bishop
Next we have another great track from Give it Away Again from Nashville singer-songwriter MJ Bishop. Turns out, MJ and I have many mutual friends (including some who played on this album), and I guess it was inevitable that we would meet - which we did at The Family Wash during Americana Fest. That is when I got a copy of this CD. CDs are kind of like business cards in Nashville but when I get a CD I really listen.
"i hear them 2" by Ugggy
One more Ugggy track to close out the day and the week... this is from the October release The Odditoriun. WARNING: Album graphic contains clowns which may be frightening for some readers....
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