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WELCOME TO E2TG V3.0
I guess call this the soft launch - trial run - pilot program for E2TG v3.0. Today, we are introducing two new features. First is the Featured Friday Playlist from Spotify. It is a playlist of recent and current music that has our attention. The list will "refresh" every Friday (give or take), so place Follow the playlist or check in here. The embed will be posted every day in case you miss it.
Next, we have our listing of Recent, Current and Upcoming Releases (singles, EPs, and LPs). This will be our primary means of spotlighting new releases. Expect some commentary to be added periodically. Please note: this is a work-in-progress. I went through e-mail submissions to compile this list then added some others that I learned about from other sources. This listing will be posted daily and updated regularly. So, if you don't see your release listed, please let me know and I will add. it.
The Shuffle has always and will always be a centerpiece of the E2TG experience. I am no longer using it has the primary means of featuring new releases. Tuesday-Friday will be akin to the old "Wild Wednesday" shuffle. New music received will be added to my phone and I will shuffle from all of the saved music. Monday will continue to be shuffled from the Music City Monday Spotify Playlist.
Whew! Don't try to remember. Just enjoy.
INTRODUCING THE 2019 E2TG BAND OF THE YEAR!
As we prepare to rush headlong into the new frontier of 2020 and E2TG V3.0, we have one last piece of unfinished business from 2019. Yesterday, we name Darrin Bradbury as our Artist of the Year. For a time, I had someone else in mind for that award, however, fortunately, that individual gave his band a name, and so made them eligible (according to my non-existent rules) for the Band of the Year honors. It is appropriate.
From the first time, I saw Ryan Sobb, I was blown away by his songwriting. Smart, funny, deep, and unlike anything I had heard. Eventually, he started playing with a band and putting some amazing songs into a high energy, power popish package. Over the course of 2019, the band has gotten better and better. They are a tight unit, but still manage to feel slightly out of control and loose (in the best way possible). They are a true power trio in the long and storied history of that combination. Chase Ballenger and Preston Cochran make a wonderful rhythm section that give further grounding to Sobb's songs that didn't seem to need grounding.
When singer-songwriters form a band, sometimes, the intimacy of the songs can get lost, but that never seems to happen with this band. Credit goes to Ryan Sobb whose delivery keeps the song at the forefront, and to Ballenger and Cochran who find their groove within the context of the song.
Ryan Sobb released a single, and a split "live" album with one-time E2TG Artist of the Year Rayvon Pettis. Word is that he has an EP coming in 2020.
And so, it is with great pleasure and high hopes, that I officially name, Ryan Sobb and The Dead Mall as E2TG's 2019 Band of the Year!
Featured Friday Playlist
