Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Mexican Eagle Mix

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I am back.  I had an extra extended long weekend - to recuperate from whatever it is I need to recuperate from.    I am back and it is Wild Wednesday.  We have a pretty wild one today.

By the way, some behind the scenes technical information.  I got a new phone over the long weekend, and so this was officially the first shuffle off the new phone.  I did have to recreate my playlist. So the Trending Thursday shuffle tomorrow will be the first from the new Trending playlist.  I had to recreate it from memory.

I have not tried to recreate the Featured Friday playlist, and I am thinking of taking a different approach with that one. More on that later.

Let's get right to the shuffle!

 Tim Henderson @ Kerrville Folk Festival Photo: Bill Nash

Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Down by the River Mix

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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....

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Puff Until You Burst Mix

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Greetings from Tuesday! 

First of all, I have to say how amazingly proud I am of Darrin Bradbury who played the first night of his month-long Monday Residency at the Basement East.  I know I may sound like a broken record about this, but even at the end of last year, when I named Darrin my Artist of the Year, the idea of his playing a month-long residency at the largest club in East Nashville would have been almost inconceivable (unless you stopped to consider the trajectory he was on). And yet, here he was playing before a sizable crowd filled with some of the best songwriters and musicians in this town.

I was struck once again by Darrin's skill as a songwriter.  Back in November of 2013, when a mutual friend (Popa Tune's) told me that Darrin was moving to Nashville, I checked out his music (I had written about his old band Big Wilson River a year earlier, but did not know much about Darrin's solo stuff). Around the time, I started listening to Darrin's songs, a friend of mine posted something on Facebook about how they don't make songwriters like they used to... or something like that. And, I remember thinking that Darrin may be the best pure songwriter I've heard in a long, long time.  And, he has only gotten better since then. 

Darrin was backed by the kind of band that may only be possible in East Nashville:  Laur Joamets (Little Joe) from Sturgill Simpson's band on guitar, Megan Palmer on fiddle, Cameron Carrus on bass, Aaron Shafer-Haiss on drums.

The always amazing Aaron Lee Tasjan opened the night, playing some new tunes and sounding awesome even when he forget the lyrics to a song and sang it out of order.

2015 E2TG Artist of the Year, Jon Latham played next - confirming the wisdom of my selection.  By the way, Jon was just named Local Artist of the Week at Nashville Independent station Lightning 100.  His song "Anesthesia" will be in rotation this week and he will play a free show Friday at Soulshine Pizza.

For me (in kind a full circle kind of way), a highlight of the evening was Darrin leading the band through a cover of the Merle Travis song made famous by Johnny Cash, "Nine Pound Hammer". This song had been Darrin's warm-up song for all of those Wednesday night Fran's shows back in the day.

On to the shuffle....

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Put the Blame on VTR Mix

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Songs of the Road is a pretty awesome concept - take a songwriter on a relatively short road trip, have them write a song along the way, and then record the song and play it live that same day.  SongCraft Presents and Acoustic Café have teamed up with Ford Motor Company to make this happen.  I had the great pleasure of premiering the latest session on No Depression this morning.  I really hope you will check it out.  HERE.  Ear to the Ground readers may recognize SongCraft Present's Ben Arthur - who works with the featured songwriters.  Ben's own music has been featured here several times.  Matthew Hendershot of our very good friends, The End Men also works on the video side of the project. 

Today's shuffle is a real mixed bag...  so let's get to it....

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Every Minute Mix

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So, I'm back after a few days of R&R. It was much needed, and I'm ready to do this thing!

A couple of things, I returned to Nashville on Saturday in time to catch Ted Drozdowski's Scissormen deliver a powerful performance at their album release celebration.  Then, I headed to Bobby's Idle Hour to see Amelia White, Renee Wahl, and Rich McCulley trade wonderful songs for a couple of hours.  After that, my long day caught up with me.

LIVE MUSIC ALERT!!!!!!  I've announced this on Facebook (if you haven't already be sure to give us a "Like" - you can get there via the link up top.  The next "Like" should be number 300 and a surprise is in store for that lucky follower.  Anyway, two days from now or Wednesday August 19, we will be kicking off what I hope will be a long running series of shows.  We will start off at The Building in East Nashville with local favorites Lindsay Ellyn (plus her awesome and well-dressed band) and Russell Thompson (one of my favorite songwriters) plus all the way from North Carolina, we have George Terry McDonald.  It should be a fun night, and I hope if you are nearby that you will come on out.  (Here is the Facebook Event Page).

I think I have mentioned before the role that college radio and specifically (WRVU) played in the development of my musical interests and passion. As you may know, WRVU went off the air a few years back after Vanderbilt sold the license to the local public radio station.  Some of the people who made WRVU what it was and some of the people who loved what it was are in the midst of raising funds for a new Community Radio Station called WXNA.  They have a Kickstarter campaign going and could use some support.  So much of media is in the hands of a few large conglomerates who are "tryin' to anesthetize the way that you feel" (Elvis Costello, Radio Radio).  Community Radio is the voice of the people, and it is a good thing.  If you can support WXNA, you should. Here is the link to the Kickstarter (Give and/or Share this).  Who knows, someday, you may hear me on the radio... but only if you support the station.

On to the shuffle:

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Five Cent Deposit Mix

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One of the reasons I love Nashville, is the fact extraordinary musical moments can feel down right ordinary.  For instance being at cool little dive bar on the East side for an early show that just happens to feature Kevn Kinney (drivin' and cryin') playing with a band he introduced as Sun Tangled Angel Revival (S.T.A.R.) which is a project he started in 2002.  The band just happened to feature Sadler Vaden (currently in Jason Isbell's band), Bryan Howard (of Cracker), and current drivin' and cryin' drummer, Dave V. Johnson. The band sounded great, and then a little more than half way through the hour and a half show, Audley Freed (Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow etc.) took the stage and there was some amazing guitar magic. Freed and Vaden together was simply out of this world.

After hanging out a bit at The 5 Spot for a little while, drive across the river for the Patrick Kinsley and a Fistful of Dollars album release show.  I hope by now you've read my review of For a Thousand Miles and grabbed your copy.  A singer-songwriter named James Roquemore opened the night, and I really like his songs and sound.  Look for some music from him coming soon to the shuffle.  Anthony Adams and the Nite Owls were up next and they brought the party to the party, they were followed by Kinsley and his band who sounded great, and the show was capped by local band Furious Primates - who I finally heard for the first time, and who I now consider myself a fan. 

Well... I've run on at the mouth a bit, so let's get to this morning's shuffle....

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Hot Where We're Going Mix

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ICYMI,  I posted my review of For a Thousand Miles, the new album by Patrick Kinsley and A Fistful of Dollars which was released today.  You can read it by navigating to the last entry on this blog or read it at No Depression.  The No Depression piece leaves out some information of interest to Nashville readers - namely that the Album Release Show for this album will be tomorrow night (7/15) at 8:00 p.m. at the original Basement.

The shuffle today is ready, so let's get to it!

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Pain in the Butt Mix

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Let's jump right into the shuffle... some music for a  rainy Thursday morning here in Nashville....

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Sleeping in the Monkey House Mix

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After posting about the heat yesterday, things inexplicably cooled off a bit yesterday evening (don't worry it is hot again today).  While it was cooler, I took the opportunity to sit out on my deck and get some writing projects complete. 

1.  You may have seen The Ghoul Goes West in the shuffle over the past couple of months or so. And, you may have wondered just who is or are The Ghoul Goes West.  Well, wonder know more. I did an extensive interview this Chris S. (chief Ghoul) and you can read it on No Depression right now. 

2. Any time there is new music from an Ear to the Ground artist of the year, it is cause for much excitement around here.  Darrin Bradbury, the reigning Artist of the Year, just released a new EP called The Story of Bob, and I have written a review of that album (hint - you should own it now!)

Tonight, if you in Nashville, I highly recommend heading to the Basement East around 7:00.  Two of our country's best songwriters are appearing together and it should be a great night.  Kevn Kinney (Drivin' and Cryin') and Peter Case in one night and the same stage.  Epic!

We have a short but pretty darn sweet shuffle today - thanks to a quick commute and an eight minute instrumental song in the mix.