Throwback Thursday Morning Shuffle - The Fruit of Another MixA

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Hello Thursday!

Had a good time last night out at the first ever Garden Party Concert in Hermitage. They got off to a great start by having the amazing Ashleigh Flynn play. The weather was idyllic, the food was excellent, and the music was outstanding.  Seriously, Ashleigh Flynn who is from Portland, Oregon -by way of Kentucky - is a great songwriter and storyteller. It was nice to hear her do Todd Snider's "Play a Train Song" without some guy jumping on stage and singing like happened the last time I saw her at The 5 Spot.

For those of you not in Nashville, you may not know it, but this is CMA Festival Week which means a few of things...

1.  It is also Bonnaroo week
2.  The temperatures about to get ungodly hot
3.  Traffic in downtown Nashville is about to hit critical mass

In light of #3, rather than trying to get out of downtown and go home after work, I will be heading across the river for some counter-programming.  The guy who Rolling Stone named one of the Ten New Country Artists You Need to Know in May 2016 and who loyal E2TG readers have known about since at least late 2013, Darrin Bradbury, will be joining Don Gallardo ("country-rock with brains, charm and experimental impulses that are perfectly integrated into a familiar context." Nashville Scene) for Week 2 of Gallardo's residency at The 5 Spot.


Well, it is Thursday when I (and the rest of the internet) throw things back to a far more earlier time. Today's shuffle is typically unpredictable and wildly diverse.  Maybe my unpredictability is getting predictable?   The shuffle just might include at least one song that you will hear in about 48 hours on the debut Double Shot with Joe and Sue on WXNA-LP Nashville. Check out the shuffle below and then tune in Saturday and see if you can figure out to which song I am referring....

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Eight to the Bar Mix

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Mid-week has arrived. 

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!
Consider this a great big SAVE THE DATE!!!!!  May 18, 2016 9:00p.m.  The 5 Spot.  The E2TG 5th Anniversary Party with some awesome performances (to be announced soon) and a good time to be had by all.  This will be right after the R.B. Morris Residency show so you should plan on making a night of it.  MORE TO COME!!!!!


Tonight is another awesome Coverfest at The Basement East. 

The lineup:

Matt Haeck as Tom Waits
Sarah Potenza as Gillian Welch
Friendship as Bright Eyes
Darrin Bradbury as Modest Mouse
Ri¢hie as Ghostfinger
Tesla Rossa as Beck
Tin Fist Pony as Sone Temple Pilots
Doors at 8:30 Music at 9:00 

Should be a fun night!

Wednesday is the day when anything can happen here at E2TG... well any day is kind of like that, but Wednesdays are called "Wild" taken from the term "wildcard" meaning that all bets are off*... enjoy....

*E2TG and its affiliates do not advocate gambling. Void where prohibited by law. Gamble responsibly. Don't Bet and Drive. 

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - In the Middle of the Land Mix

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We are back after an unexpected day off... my late fall cold finally caught up with me.  Before I succumbed to it, I got to take in an awesome show at City Winery.  Songwriting legend (and I do not use that term lightly here) Dan Penn celebrated his 74th birthday with a nearly 2 hour solo acoustic show performing many of the amazing songs that he was written and co-written over the course of his incredible career.  Hint: If you don't know who Dan Penn is, I guarantee that you have heard many of his songs.  Read my reflections on this show here.

Dan Penn wrote his first hit song when he was still in high school.  Sammy Brue is just 14 years old, and he is widely regarded as one of the best songwriters around.  He will be making a rare Nashville appearance tonight at The Basement (the original) with Actual Wolf (who I saw during the Campfire Propaganda residency at last month). Actual Wolf will be back by a fine collection of local players.

Today's shuffle went down like this....

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Refuse to Be Your Jodi Mix

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I find myself rushed again... so, let's get to this:

1.  Jonquil Child by Tiffany Huggins Grant which we have been featuring songs off of for a few weeks has been released.  Check it out HERE. I recommend it highly.

2. There is a great FREE SHOW in downtown Nashville today on 5th between Demonbreun and Korean Veterans.  It is the CD Release show for the companion album to the Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  Lots of cool folks including some of the players from the original classic recordings.  Did I mention it is free?  Details: HERE. Gates at 5:00, Music starts at 6:00

3.  Later on tonight, Two Cow Garage are playing at the Hi Watt with Heathen Sons and Benchmarks.  Benchmarks is the new moniker for Todd Farrell and the Dirty Birds.  Should be a great show.

Shuffle: (It's a good one)....

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Get up and Do Something Mix

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So... I'm having trouble thinking of  a profound intro to this shuffle...  So... it is Friday! The weekend is upon us.  Get up and Do Something!  I snatched that song from the Soul Asylum song in today's shuffle.  Good advise, that I need to take myself sometimes...

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - No, All! Mix

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Back in the shuffle business after an absolutely incredible weekend at the 2nd Annual Safety Harbor SongFest.  Expect more detailed and official reports once I have fully recovered, but for now, let me just say I had a blast at this well-organized, artistically uplifting event and enjoyed some gorgeous weather.  Despite my peeling nose and flight delay coming home, I can strongly recommend fans and musicians alike check out this still relatively new festival.

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Like Charlie Sheen Mix

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Sorry there was no Shuffle yesterday, I got bit by a nasty late winter bug... I'm still not 100% but I am fighting through it...

To make up for not having a shuffle - please enjoy this video playlist tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - It Wasn't Long Ago Mix

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Had a terrific time at Music City Roots last night: Family and Friends, Matt Phillips, The Bros. Landreth, and Dale Watson.  Big thanks to the Sippy Biddys for letting me be a honorary guest biddy for the night.

On with the shuffle..

Friday Morning Music Shuffle -

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I wanted to share some news with all of my Ear to the Ground readers.  I am going to begin covering live shows at awesome Nashville venue 3rd and Lindsley for No Depression. Don't worry, #E2TG will continue to be the same hot mess that it always is, and you will also be able to read my reviews over at NoDepression.com and see that I can actually clean up when it is required (I hope).  Seriously, I am excited about this opportunity and I know that all of you have helped me to reach this place. So, thanks!  Hot Mess of Cool Tunes follows....

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Oh My and a Boo Hoo Mix

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I got those post-birthday hangover blues... hangover in the figurative sense (or is it literal???)

Anyway, some killer tunes in the shuffle - so let's get to it.

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - All for Show Mix

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Note to myself: just because it is not 4 degrees, the 20s are still pretty cold.

I wonder if I am the only person who upon encountering an unpleasant odor while out walking, thinks that I need to push the "inside air" button...

Ah, ignore me. It Friday - the end of the first full week of work in what seems like forever.

We close out the week a shuffle that includes a couple of recent tunes mixed in with some songs that I have loved for a long time....

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Fifty Amp Fuse Mix

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A short but very sweet shuffle as Nashville gears up for coming arctic blast... We've reached mid-week, let's do this damn thing!

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Sunflower/Locomotive Mix

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I am not a morning person.  It seems important to say that because I post a daily Morning Shuffle which features music I listen to between 6:45 a.m. (or so) and 7:15 a.m. (or so).  I just wanted you to know that I don't do a morning shuffle because I am a morning person, but rather by current necessity, I have to be up and about by this time, and being a non-morning person, I need a soundtrack of cool music to keep me moving....  This is my soundtrack for Monday morning January 5, 2015.

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Move over Captain America Mix

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I would like to preface today's shuffle by saying that a big pet peeve of mine are people of a certain age who loudly decry "music these days" and who pine for some different era. They usually "prove" their point by referencing some trendy pop act of today and offer up for comparisons sake some legend of a different era who has stood the test of time.  It is not only the logic that is faulty, but such statements are a sign of laziness. There is a ton of great music being made "these days" - far more than even this music blogger than cover.  So my advise to those who would rant in the manner mentioned above is either 1. Seek out music - there are far more ways to do this than there ever were or 2. Shut up and admit that you are unwilling to do so and that you prefer the music of your younger days.

All that being said,  music has a special power to evoke... music which was an integral part of the formative years of our lives does hold a special place.  It is in that spirit that I offer up today's shuffle which a total throwback to my days of yore.

Americana Music Fest - Part IV - Thursday Night

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So, I talked about struggling my way from the front of the stage of the Delta Spirit show at Live on the Green, and unfortunately not being about to stay around to see Jakob Dylan and his band The Wallflowers close out that evening, but I had my Americana wristband and a full schedule planned. 

The Basement was my first stop for a performance by the always wonderful Angel Snow.  We first wrote about Angel way back toward the beginning of this little music blog experiment.  She is a Nashville singer-songwriter with a heavenly voice, and a gift for writing really great songs.  She wrote a couple of songs that Alison Krauss recorded on her Paper Airplanes record.  Angel's songwriting partner and frequent collaborator is Viktor Krauss - Alison's brother.  Viktor was not at this show, as he was across town playing at with the great Jerry Douglas. This information would prove to be foreshadowing in a way.  The hard lesson learned is that one cannot be everywhere at once during the Americana Fest.  But more on that later.  Angel has a new album due out in early October with a return engagement at The Basement with Marc Scibilia and Matraca Berg for the CD release show.  She did a few songs off the new album and some our favorites like Coals and Water and Fortune Teller.  Even though Mr. Krauss was not present, her  band sounded great and her voice was as amazing live as it is on record.

I left The Basement with the intent to head to The Station Inn to catch Mary Gauthier and to see Richard Thompson.  My lesson learned is that if you are wanting to see Richard Thompson at The Station Inn - unless you have better connections than I do, you better show up early.  So, yeah, I reached The Station Inn to find a line outside and the likelihood of enough people leaving before Richard Thompson played not so good.  So, I punted and decided to head over to The Rutledge lest I be shut out from the Big Star tribute show.  

Now, grant it I was bummed about missing Richard Thompson and Mary Gauthier, but you know what, the real lesson learned from the evening was, when it comes to the Americana Fest, you just have to pick your venues and stick it out, and know that though you may miss some amazing shows, you are also going to see and hear some equally but different amazing music.

The theme for the evening at The Rutledge - a decent sized club on 4th Avenue, which unless I'm mistaken is where one of Nashville's first modern era Coffee Houses, Blue Sky Court was located - was Memphis music.  Around 11:00, the Bo-Keys took the stage.  They were introduced as a modern take on the classic Memphis sound.  Lead by bassist Scott Bomar, The Bo-Keys opened with a couple of really boss instrumental songs which sounded amazing.  Then, they brought up their featured vocalist Percy Wiggins, who dressed to the nines had the look of a legendary soul singer, and that is exactly what he is.  This was truly classic Memphis Soul-stew sound with a face forward and anchored solidly in the present time.  

The band includes the sole surviving member of The Bar-Kays who were killed in the crash that took the life of  the great Otis Redding, the drummer was part of the Hi Rhythm Section which played on many of the classic Stax recordings.  Other members of the band included guys who had played with Al Green, Rufus Thomas and Bobby "Blue" Bland.  I have to say, I'm not an expert when it comes to this part of the Memphis sound, though, like you I've definitely heard it, but I do know great music when I hear it, and The Bo-Keys make great music.  

For me, the highlight of the night - heck, of the festival, of my life as a music fan, was the closing set of the night.  I had been talking about the All-Star tribute to the music of Big Star ever since I heard about it.  All I knew going in was that the show was going to feature Chris Stamey of The Dbs, Mike Mills of R.E.M. and original Big Star member Jody Stephens plus...  Hell even without the ... that was good enough for me, and the mind reeled as to who the ... could be...

As it turned out, the ... did not disappoint:  Gary Louris (The Jayhawks), Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs), John Davis (Superdrag), Ken Coomer (Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Clockhammer), Bill Lloyd (Foster and Lloyd, solo), Byron House (Band of Joy etc., etc., etc.), Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi All-Stars) and several young North Carolina-based musicians including Skylar Gudask and Brett Harris and I'm probably missing some amazing people... 

So, what I can tell you is that a Big Star tribute with that cast would have been amazing no matter what.  Even if it had been sloppy and hastily thrown together, it would have been legendary.  But... honestly, the reason this show was so amazing to me, was not the stellar band and guests, it was the music.  Big Star, I honestly don't know how to adequately write about how important a band they were.  How much of the music I grew up listening to and enjoying owes a huge debt to this Memphis band.  The late Alex Chilton, Chris Bell and Andy Hummel along with Jody Stephens to me, redefined what this music  (progressive, avant-garde, alternative, whatever) could be.  

So this show and what made it so amazing for me.  This band which at times included a full string section (which sounded amazing) brought the songs to life in a way I never could have anticipated.  I can't even begin to give you a blow by blow, song by song account, but here are some highlights:

Mike Mills vocals on September Gurls

Bill Lloyd on In the Street

Skylar Gudask on Thirteen
The whole crowd on Thank You, Friends
and so much more...
great moments like Luther Dickinson whose father, the late Jim Dickinson produced Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers album talking about hearing some of the songs in a rough version when he was just a kid.

So, yeah, I was completely blown away, and all sense left me which I think is what Big Star's music is supposed to do.  I left the club exhilarated and exhausted and flying on a musical high.... and this was just my first night of the Americana Music Festival....

  

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Thursday Morning (Covers) Music Shuffle - Heartache to Heartache Mix

Editorial Aside - Once again the state of my birth and residency has become a focus of the world's derision. I would say laughingstock, but it's not funny.  Just a few weeks after the suicide of teen who was bullied repeatedly about his sexuality, the state legislature (I refuse to capitalize it) is proposing a measure which essentially legalizes bullying of gay students by "christian" (again I refuse to capitalize this word and I deliberately put it in quotation marks) students. At the same time, through gerrymandering, the progressive State Capital city has been politically neutralized. Can a city secede from a state?  I'm finding it hard to say how ashamed I am of this state. As a Christian (though not one of those "christians") and as a Tennessean (Nashvillian) I beg for forgiveness and pray this evil law does not pass.

So, on to the covers...

COVER #1

The Coverer: A ok kid don't surface too fast or you know what will happen...

The Coveree: ironically named? the old order - guess that gloom was for real....

The Covered Song: "All my failings exposed."

Who did the cover? (Coverer), Who did the original? (Coveree), What is the song? (Original ) (cover)

COVER #2

The Coverer:  he's a big star who started on the top


The Coveree: parliamentary cantautore

The Covered Song: "Nel blu dipinto di blu"

Who did the cover? (Coverer) Who did the original? (Coveree)
What is the song? (Original) (contains the cover)

COVER #3

The Coverer: ex-driver + get down stay down-er

The Coveree: fire away - she's a heartbreaker

The Covered Song:  "Do I stand in your way, or am I the best thing you've had?"

Who did the cover?  (Coverer) Who did the original? (Coveree) What is the song? (Original) (Cover)


COVER #4

The Coverer: hangin' with mr. cooper - season 2 soul man

The Coveree: desperadoes checked in but can't leave

The Covered Song: "(try to keep you head, little girl)"

Who did the cover?  (Coverer) Who did the original? (Coveree)
What is the song? (Original) (Contains the Cover)


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