Throwback Thursday Morning Shuffle - Big Brass Bed Mix

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Burning the candle at both ends...  so, last night, I went home after work, and I feel asleep (after having not slept much the night before), and I work up just before 7:00.  I looked at the time and immediately jumped up - still groggy and thinking that I had fallen asleep on the couch and slept through the night, and that I was now way far behind getting ready for work.  After a bit, my head started to clear, and although I had to get ready fairly quickly for Stone Cupid at The High Watt, I was not actually too far behind.  Needless to say, I had to punt on all of the other awesome stuff happening last night.  Stone Cupid (the full band!!!!) were incredible.  Julie Christensen is a force of nature, and man they can all play.

Stone Cupid at The High Watt 5/25/2016 

Photo and effects by: Joe Wolfe-Mazeres

Thankfully, I am now well-rested and ready to take on the last day and a half before a three day weekend!

It is Thursday which is when we throw it back... E2TG style...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - What We Want to Be Mix

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Okay - posting late.  Life happens sometimes.  Here's some stuff:

Coming soon, the 1st Annual #E2TG Awards 2015 - which I am calling The Earies (tagline: The Earies, it sounds strange, but it's not really).  Watch for this beginning after Thanksgiving.

Last night, an awesome show at The original Basement.  Actual Wolf  killed it with the kind of band that really only happens in Nashville  (Adam Kurtz, Jerry Pentecost, Paul Niehaus, Stephanie Dickinson with Nellie Clay joining on bgvs)    After that 14 year old wunderkind Sammy Brue had the audience enraptured with his incredible songs.

Really proud that my review of Dan Penn at City Winery in on the front page of No Depression right now.  Check it out, if you haven't.  Nodepression.com

Shuffle (short descriptions)

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Why Do You Care? Mix

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I'm back after a day off.  Still tons going on.  Check out my review of the re-release of the self-titled only album by Haynes Boys.

Also - at press time, my review of Friday night's Matthew Sweet show at City Winery Nashville is on the front page of NoDepression.com.

On to the mid-week shuffle:

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - I Was Never There Mix

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I am reasonable certain that late teens early 20s me did not give a whole lot of thought to what I would be doing 25-30 years later. I'm pretty sure, though, that that kid would be surprised to find out that I was going to ride a bus to Franklin, Tennessee to watch Webb Wilder, Bill Lloyd, Warner Hodges, and Government Cheese, and that I would be able to drink free beer on that bus. Not to mention that the whole show was going to be broadcast to the whole world over something called the Internet.  I'm not even sure what part of that would be most surprising... Nevertheless, that is what I will be doing - riding the Blackstone Bus to Music City Roots to see some true living legends who I have been listening to and watching for over half my life. It's gonna be good.  http://musiccityroots.com/  - Tune in at 7:00pm Central Time and click the Watch Live button.

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Misery Loves Company Mix

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Back at the shuffle game after an extended weekend....  Let's do this thing!

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Rivers of Suggestion Mix

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Just a heads up... there will not be a Morning Music Shuffle tomorrow.  Plan accordingly...  So this will be the last shuffle of the week, and we have a good one...

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Paramours and Thieves Mix

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Welcome to the working week!  We start off what is shaping up to be a challenging week with a pretty diverse shuffle.... let's jump right in...

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Who Knows? Not Me Mix

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It's apparently some holiday which you should celebrate as you see fit... 

In honor, today's shuffle hits only high points...

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - This is Definitely Not Offensive Mix

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Some pretty remarkable things have been happening in regards to me music writing.  I can honestly say that I see completely overwhelmed sometimes (in the best possible way), and that I truly feel humbled. In the last day or so, I have seen words that I wrote showing up on Facebook posts and websites and other places, posted by people I respect a whole bunch. I am continuing to find my place in the crazy mixed up circus that is the Nashville/East Nashville music world.  I just recently got invited down to Safety Harbor Songfest this weekend in Florida to hang out with awesome people and hopefully write some words.  Gratitude is a overused, underappreciated emotion, but one that I am feeling in abundance today.  I am not going to name names simply because I will leave people out, but I know for a fact that none of this would be possible but for some of the people who read this blog in the early days and connected with me so that I knew I was not writing into an abyss (or to the disproportionate number of site visitors from Russia in those early days). Nor, would I have continued with the encouragement and concern expressed by some when I had to take an unexpected break from blogging. Nor would any of these good things be happening with the friendship and support of those who helped me through one of the roughest patches of my life. 

To think this whole vast empire (sarcasm intended) was built on the foundation of a random shuffling of songs...   Let's shuffle, shall we...

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Just Another Story Mix

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#CXCW15 wrapped up this weekend....  Day 6, 7, 8 featured tons of great music... I feel like I am certain to leave some out, so please consider this a partial recap...  visit couchbycouchwest.com to experience or re-experience the whole thing. Anyway, some of the highlights of the last three days included: Nikki Sue and the Bad News, Young America, Modern Day Poets (which includes members of the now defunct band Cupla), Joe Nolan, Darrin Bradbury, Two Cow Garage with Todd Farrell, and a second video of Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray doing a Superchunk cover.

Way more great music than I could keep up with, but the good news I can go back and try to see what I missed, and so can you...  apologies to any FOE2TG (friends of ear 2 the ground) that I missed in my recaps...

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Stand in Line to Die Mix

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Greetings... I am in a much better place than yesterday.  Still a little rushed, but I can get through this shuffle...   

First up my recap of CXCW15 Day 5:  I am way behind on my couchin', but there was an awesome Irish showcase that featured the legendary Glen Hansard.  Plus videos from my friend Eli Rhodes who plays with Todd Farrell and the Dirty Birds  and also writes some amazing songs of his own.  Look for a solo record soon.  #E2TG favorites Tim Lee 3 return to the couch with another great video, and the closing video of the day came from Nashville's own Will Kimbrough playing a song he wrote with Sam Baylor from Will's legendary band Will and the Bushmen.  Sam passed away this week.  Life is short, ya'll...

Thursday Morning Music (Covers) - Pride & Joy Mix

Day 3 of no morning music: the crisis continues.  Today is  the day, I would normally be presenting some interesting covers songs, and  but so, I was thinking about Covers on my way in to work - what makes a great cover, a good cover, a failed cover or a pointless cover.

Of course it is all subjective, but here goes my take on that subject at least for the time being:

A great cover can happen when a great artist takes on a great song and owns it.  In many cases, over time, some people may even forget that the song is a cover - take Janis Joplin's definitive version of Kris Kristofferson's Me & Bobby McGee.  Or this cover:




Another situation which can produce a great cover occurs when an artist you love deconstructs some over-produced popular song of the day.  I recently heard Ryan Adams version of the Ratt song Round and Round.  But, one of my all-time favorite examples is this track:




Of course,there are also some really cool deconstructed versions of some really cool songs.  Case in point, Grant Lee Phillips outstanding album nineteeneighties which features tracks like this one:






Here are some tracks mentioned or referenced in today's post:














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The Best Cover Songs The Best Cover Songs

Under The Covers: Classic Lookout! Records Cover Songs Under The Covers: Classic Lookout! Records Cover Songs