Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Hambones and Spider Queens Mix

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About 2/3 of the way through American Aquarium's set at The Basement East last night, I had a thought. I was thinking about all the people (many of them people about my age or older or younger) who say things like "Music these days sucks." or something and then they will usually compare some classic band from an earlier era to some disposable pop star of the moment (as if there have not always been disposable pop stars).  My thought, my message to those people, is turn off top 40 radio and go out and see live music. I know I am very spoiled by living in Nashville, but I also know that there is great music (crossing all genres and styles) being made every night and every day all around world.   Cordovas opened for American Aquarium, and as I have come to expect from that band, they totally destroyed.  Seriously, Cordovas are a band I will never get tired of seeing live.

American Aquarium leader B.J. Barham has gone through some major changes in the last two and half years (which is about the time I first really got into the band).  Among those changes was the departure of his entire band.  He has a newly formed band, and they were incredible last night.  Most of the band comes from Texas (Barham is a North Carolina native) and also includes Nashville's own Adam Kurtz (Buck n Stuff) on pedal steel.  I may be bias, being a big Buck n Stuff fan, but I think Kurtz was one of the stars of the night.  As of Barham, he seemed energized and he seemed to be enjoying himself - bouncing around the stage and engaging with the band and the audience.  He speaks hard truths with love, and explores his own life with honesty. 

This show came after taking in the early show at The 5 Spot - which local Sarah Clanton and a band that included the bass player from The Barefoot Movement.  Clanton plays the cello and I had just recently been turned on to her by my DJ partner Sue.   After Clanton's set, Heather Mae from D.C. took the stage. She injected some much needed positive energy into my soul. I am a fan, now. Turns out she knows my friends in FuzzQueen - proving just how small the music world is, Tom Goss closed that early show, and I dug his music, too. 

I hate that I missed Benchmarks at The 5 Spot - as it turned out, I probably could have seen most of their set....  also last night E2TG 2015 Artist of the Year Jon Latham made his debut on Music City Roots with his killer band.  I am looking forward to catching the video of this.

Anyway, from my point of view, the state of music is just fine - the business/money side of it may be a different story, but that is a topic for another time.

Today, we jump back into our exploration of E2TG history.  E2TG began in May 2011.  A vast majority of my posts are the monring shuffles like this one.  The basic premise is, "Hey, I heard some cool music this morning on my way to work, let me tell you about."  So, let me....

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Set the Dial to Black and White Mix

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Still reeling from Saturday night's Raging Fire reunion at Exit/In.  So many memories stirred, the band sounded so good, and the songs were still as awesome as always.  My (perhaps) unique perspective.  I was a huge fan of the Nashville music scene in the mid to late 1980s, but just a fan and mostly at a distance.  I only made it to Nashville on the rare occasion I could round up people to go with me. I was lucky enough to see some of the great bands of  that era, but I didn't know anybody.

That being said, the music was important to me, and WRVU and The Metro and later Fireplace Whiskey Journal were my lifelines.  So, it was a pretty cool experience to be at this show and to actually know some of the people involved.  And speaking of WRVU, when Adam Dread fist bumped me during the Raging Fire set... my eighteen/nineteen year old self suddenly felt very cool.

And to be redundant, Raging Fire absolutely killed it. Melora Zaner is still one of the best and sexiest rock vocalist around, Mark Medley kept the whole thing in perfect time, bassists John Reed, Les Shields (and the other one I didn't know) were awesome.  The very large shoes of the late Michael Godsey were filled by not one but two of the scenes very best - Joe Blanton (The Enemy, Royal Court of China, The Bluefields) and Jeff Cease (Rumble Circus, Black Crowes). They were perfect for the role, having known Michael and having been present...

We jump into a Monday Morning shuffle....

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Long Black Train Mix

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Okay - two quick announcements.... 1.  I am going to put the Events Page on hiatus until I am able to make some changes.  It was an experiment, and to be honest the effort/effectiveness ratio of the current format wasn't really working for me.  I am going to look into some alternative formats etc., and look to re-launch hopefully sooner than later.

Last nights, Traveler show was amazing. Traveler is Cory Chisel, Robert Ellis, and Jonny Fritz.  They brought out Dave Rawlings for one song. The whole show was fabulous.  The always awesome Aaron Lee Tasjan opened.

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Upon My Liars Chair Mix

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Visit Our Events Page Ear to the Ground Events!

I hope you have had a chance to check out the Ear to the Ground Events Page (link above).  I made some updates last night around 9:00p.m. Central Time.  I will try to make updates throughout the week, but I'm not able to constantly update.  If you have an upcoming event, either invite me on Facebook or send me the information.

We have a short but sweet shuffle today... 5 of the 6 songs have a Nashville connection (6 of 6 if you get really loose and creative in making connections)... read on....

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - H.S.K.T. Mix

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Well here we are... late, but I did listen to this shuffle this morning.  Been on the road most of the day, so I'm just posting it now.   I got to keep it brief, but check out the great music.