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Thanks to everyone who donated to the Spring Pledge Drive at WXNA! We reached our goal! Also Happy Birthday to WXNA which is now two years old!
We are now just a few days away from the E2TG 7th Anniversary Residency at The 5 Spot. It all begins THIS Thursday June 7 at 6:00pm. Clark Paterson will play a full-band set, followed by Rayvon Pettis and The Big Dumb. The Big Dumb are Pettis' amazing backing band, but they are also one of my favorite bands - featuring quality players and boasting four amazing songwriters among their members. I have compiled a woefully incomplete video playlist featuring some of the folks playing on Thursday.
Also, I will reading a short excerpt from my novel The Drift and I will have copies for sale $10. I hope you will come out if you are in Nashville - it promises to be a fun night of great music.
Music City Monday has proven to be one of my favorite days here on E2TG. It's a great opportunity to highlight some of the incredible artists who make or have made Nashville home. It's a lively cross-section of songs from different decades and different genres. It is also an opportunity to showcase musical heroes and musically talented friends - and heroes who have become friends and vice-versa.
Let's shuffle!
"Do You Wanna Dance" (Live) by Walk the West
Back in the mid to late 80s, Walk the West was one of my favorite bands to see live. High energy, enthusiastic country-flavored rock and roll. I'm happy to say that their music has held up. This is their totally not creepy song about picking up a seventeen year old from school... This live recording comes from Return to Elliston Square: Live 2008 which was recorded at The Exit/In at a celebration of the release of the Return to Elliston Square album - which highlighted great local music from 1979-1989.
"Silver Linings" by Andrew Leahey and the Homestead
Andrew Leahey is currently on a solo tour in Europe - most recently playing in Norway. He recently released the first single from his forthcoming album with this band The Homestead. This one goes back to his 2016 album Skyline in Central Time. Definitely among the best, Nashville has to offer.
"Invisible" by Bebe Buelle
Bebe Buelle's story is the story of rock music since the early 1970s. It is a oft-told story - but maybe lost in all of the albeit "fun" details, is the fact that she has a deep love for and understanding of rock music. She has been making music from many years - stopping at times to manager her daughter Liv Tyler's career and to do many other notable things. A few years ago, Buelle made the decision to move to Nashville, and Nashville is the better for it. She just released Baring it All: Greetings from Nashbury Park - which finds Buelle at the top of her game. I was fortunate enough to write a review of a 2015 show at 3rd and Lindsley that she hosted. She will be back at that venue next month (July 5).
"River Runs Dry" by Ghost Town Remedy
To me - as a huge music fan, the exciting thing about Nashville - as we power through growing pains - is the wealth of talent coming here. Whether it is seasoned professionals like Bebe Buelle or young (but still seasoned) musicians like the members of Ghost Town Remedy. Their most recent album, Caffeine Dreams, was released in 2017. This is our official first listen - but they have been on my radar for a while.
"Think About Me" by Mary Bragg
It would be easy to put together a killer all-star band of Nashville artists, musicians, songwriters who are from Georgia. Mary Bragg would definitely deserve a prime spot in that line up. This is a track from her latest album Lucky Strike - which was her first to be recorded in Nashville. The title track to the album won the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (country category) at Merle Fest.
"Love Like Blood" by John Hiatt
Riding with the King has always held a warm spot in my heart. It was the album that introduced me to John Hiatt. The 1983 album was actually Hiatt's sixth. Despite Hiatt's decades long association with Nashville - Hiatt moved here when he was 18 years old - this album has very little to do with Nashville. The album was recorded in San Francisco and London. Musically and lyrically rich, the album locked Hiatt in as one of my all-time favorite artists.
"Seeker" by Idle Bloom
Nashville Indie Rock band Idle Bloom are up next with a track from their latest album Little Deaths. The band formed in 2014 out of the ashes of the band Fancytramp. Like Bebe Buelle, I reviewed a 2015 Idle Bloom show at 3rd and Lindsley when I was covering that venue for No Depression. Their show was a Nashville Sunday night show where they opened for Turbo Fruits. Since then - and in no surprise to me - Idle Bloom have been on a roll, and I consider them one of the best bands in Nashville today.
"Weed and Wine" by Promised Land Sound
I first say Promised Land Sound at a show in the parking lot of Grimey's several years back. I honestly can't remember if it was a Record Store Day show or an Americanarama show. Doesn't matter. They were amazing - heirs to Nashville's long history of taking country-flavored music in bold new directions.
VIDEO PLAYLIST
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