Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - High Fives All Around Mix

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So yesterday when I left work, the temperature in Nashville was right at 80 degrees. This morning it was in the low 40's and tonight it is going to be near freezing. In other words, it is early spring in middle Tennessee and for some reason I'm talking about the weather...

Two album release shows tonight (both albums I have - and will be -featuring on E2TG), and fortunately they are timed out perfectly so I can make both.  First up, is Mark Huff's release show for his new album Stars for Eyes. That show starts at six pm at The 5 Spot.  Then, the release show for The High Cost of Living Strange  the new album from Ben de la Cour. It kicks off at nine at The Basement. Chris Moyse and Becky Warren open that show.

We slide into the mid-week as we do almost every week with a "Wild Wednesday" shuffle. We have a pretty cool mixed bag of goodies for you today.  Let's shuffle:

Featured Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Runnin' and Tryin' Mix

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Last night's Music City Roots: On the Road was a total East Nashville experience. Held at The Basement East - with special guest host Derek Hoke, and featuring four of the best artists/bands in on that side of the Cumberland River.

Little Bandit opened the show. Led by Alex Caress, Little Bandit has quickly become one of my favorite bands. I was admittedly late to the party, but I'm happy to be here. Alex's voice and the wit and heart in his songs shines. My friend, Jamie Timm (of Microwave Mountain) joined on guitar and sounded fantastic.

Next up was Elise Davis. This was, I believe, my first time seeing Davis (at least outside of a tribute show), and I was impressed by her songs and her voice. I definitely want to hear more.

Next up was E2TG Artist of Eternity - Darrin Bradbury making his third appearance as a guest (fourth overall appearance - he did an original and hilarious take on the Vietti Chili song his first time there) used the occasion to give MCR listeners/viewers a peek into his loud music past. With an awesome band - Laur Joamets on guitar, Cameron Carrus on bass, and Matty Apples on drums - Bradbury played a solid mix of older and newer songs with an a markedly rock approach. Songs like "Exile on Myrtle Beach" and "New Ownership Blues" were given new arrangements which made me think of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue era.

Finally, Allen Thompson closed out the night with a very large band  (I think I counted twelve people on stage) including a horn section and backup singers. It was a rollicking set that garnered a standing ovation.

Everyone joined ATB on stage for the jam of the Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want".

All in all a wonderful night of music. There was decent crowd which I can't help thinking would have been bigger but for the fact that half of East Nashville is in Austin for SXSW.

Tonight, I'm heading to The 5 Spot for Tim Carroll's weekly throw-down and then sticking around for Maxwell Putnam's CD release show for his new album Ode to a Tinhorn with guests Justin and the Cosmics (who we played earlier in the week) and Mark Fredson.

By the way, I don't do a whole lot of cross promotion, but in case any E2TG readers don't know, I co-host a weekly two-hour radio show called Double Shot with Joe and Sue (me being Joe and my dear friend Sue Havlish being Sue) on WXNA - Nashville's Community Radio Station. It's on 101.5FM in Nashville and can be streamed world-wide at wxnafm.org or via the TuneIn app. Double Shot hits at 11am Central Time (currently Daylight Savings Time)  on Saturday.

Well... it is Friday and let's see what we have to feature today!

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Sasquatch Mix

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First off, I wanted to give out a show alert for tonight.  The late show at The 5 Spot in East Nashville will feature a CD Release show by Erica Blinn for her new album Better Than Gold. You may recall, we premiered her song, "Dance with the One (Who Brought You Here)" last September.

Closing the night will be another local favorites, Andrew Leahey and the Homestead.

Opening the show will be Memphis based and Fat Possum recording artist Liz Brasher - who I read is making her Nashville debut. I may be wrong about that.   Here's some information about Liz Brasher - NPR says, "Good-God-Hallelujah... Brasher shouts, rocks, rolls, and tears it up on stage; her music will dig down deep to touch your soul." A Memphian of Dominican descent who grew up singing in Spanish in the church, Brasher synthesizes the sounds of of '60s garage, girl group sounds, dirty blues, holy roller church music, and Bob Dylan into something completely her own.  And below is a video for her song "Body of Mine"  


Should be a great night of music.

Today is Wednesday so let's get "Wild" and shuffle from all the songs on my phone memory.

I'm am just a bit rushed, so bear with me...

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - What Have I Become? Mix

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Well... here we are at the penultimate shuffle of the year, and the penultimate Earie post (not counting the "Golden Earier" posts. 

Reflecting on 2017 some more (although really ready to see it in my rear-view mirror), and I see ups and downs - as with most years. To me there is a fundamental shift that happened this year. Perspective and perception are everything, and so I don't always know when my experience of something  (a year perhaps) is mine alone - or if it is shared. I can say, though, that I have heard enough people talking about this year to know that I am not alone my outlook.  That shift - is not for the best - IMHO, nor is it a permanent shift. Already, I see signs of hope.  It seems like every year, I enter the year filled with some sense of hope that I will do more or better or at least different. This year, I'm not sure I have hope, but I think I do have resolve. I don't make resolutions at New Years - I don't have much luck with those, but I do tend to see the cycling of the calendar as an opportunity to revisit and change things that aren't working. 

This is the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year. Hanukkah just ended, Christmas is coming up as is Kwanzaa. And the end of the calendar year in the west. And so, I send out well wishes to anyone who is reading this - no matter what you do or do not celebrate. In a divided nation and a divided world, I send out thoughts of reconciliation and peace and harmony.

This is just my tiny corner of the internet, but I am so grateful for all of the wonderful people I have met because of it. 

Let's shuffle:

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Mad Dog Wine Mix

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Hey all - I got to be quick.  I spent my lunch hour at the Southern Festival of Books - checking out Jon Byrd - so I didn't get to finish this post.

It's Friday - here is what we are featuring today:

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - Was it An Accident Mix

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So much on my mind these days... good stuff and not so good stuff and really bad stuff...

I am so happy that WXNA was voted Best Radio Station by the Readers of the Nashville Scene. Even if I did not have a show on the station, I would be a listener and a supporter. Thanks to the incredibly hard work of the Board (all former DJs at Vanderbilt's WRVU), a huge gap in the Nashville landscape was filled in June 2016.  Just yesterday, on my way home from work, I was listening to the station and it occurred to me how much I love listening to shows that play music outside of my "comfort zone" for want of a better term.  The variety of music and talk on the station is incredible.

As for the not so good stuff  and the really bad stuff... well, you can probably guess some of it. #Resist #Persist 

It is Thursday - and it is our recent tradition to do Topical shuffles on Thursday, but to try to get through the many songs in my "new music" playlist- I am devoting Thursday's to new music for the next couple of months.

Shuffle!

Mondo Monday Music Shuffle - Werewolf with No Hair Mix

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Today, I have a very heavy heart about the mass shooting in Las Vegas.  That it occurred at a music concert makes it doubly difficult. At this point, I do not know all of the facts about this shooting - and even if I did, I do not claim to have all of the answers about these recurring tragedies. I have beliefs and I know others have different beliefs when it comes to the various issues that surround situations like this. My wish is that we could, as a nation, step up and say, this is a horrible thing and we must commit to do whatever we can to prevent or at least minimize the chance of this happening again. And from there, we should all have an open mind and respectfully discuss the various issues and ideas and find where we can reach common ground.  Too often, we begin with division and polarization and things go downhill from there. 

Our leaders, who we elect to serve us, must be help accountable... they are the ones that must make the hard choices.  They need to be making the best choices for the nation as a whole -  not the best choices for the billion dollar industries and individuals who funnel money their way. (side note: Citizen United - Orwellian Doublespeak, if I've ever heard it, must be overturned)

Is it too soon after the tragedy to have these conversations? Maybe. But these events seem to happening so often lately that it is always too soon. 

Right now, I will leave it at this:  as in most issues, there are more sides than A or B - there are more than two possible solutions to consider.  It is not us vs. them - it is us vs. us, and it should be us with us. 

Sending love to Las Vegas and all who are hurting or angry or scared or confused. We, as a nation, can do better and we must do better. Again, I do not know all of facts about this shooting - and as is usually the case, there are many different issues at work here. I do believe that we are a resourceful people who can solve the underlying issues. The question is, will we?
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As I always do, I turn to music as a source of healing and a shelter from the storms of the world.

On Monday, we usually feature Nashville connected songs, however, due to the large number of "New Music" songs and the rapid approach of the end of the year, I have decided that for 4 of the 5 days for at least the next month, I am going to shuffle from the new music playlist.  Wednesday will be Wild Wednesday - but every other day will feature "new music" 

Besides, there is a  bunch of Nashville-based music in the "new music" playlist - and some of those came up today.

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Drivin' Nails Mix

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As a music fan, I am aware of how amazingly fortunate I am to live here in Nashville. There is, of course, far too much live music going on every single night of the year for me to even see a small fraction of it all. On a given night, you may see up and coming (and established) singer-songwriters, world-class musicians, and incredibly talented bands.

Last night was such a night.  It began with the second week of the Fats Kaplin Gang's two week run at The 5 Spot. Fats Kaplin was recently seen in the PBS show American Epic playing alongside Jack White and others for the American Epic Sessions.  He has played on stage along side White and many others, but there is something special about seeing him do his own stuff on The 5 Spot stage. Joined by his wife - powerhouse singer Kristi Rose - along with the supremely talented Wes Langlois and Justin Amaral.

Next, I headed to The Family Wash to check out Stuffy Shmitt accompanied by Parker Hawkins.  They sounded awesome. After that it was week one of the Jon Latham and Andrew Leahey residency.  Their set started with a cover of Marshall Crenshaw's "Cynical Girl" (one of favorites) and continued with more great covers plus originals from both Latham and Leahey - all backed Jon's killer band Sean Quinn, Cory Nichols, and Raun Shultz.

This was an great night of music featuring supremely talented people, and it was in it's own amazing and unique and wonderful way just another night of music in East Nashville.

On with the shuffle. It is Featured Friday!

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - Which Way to Jump Mix

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To me the biggest danger to as the weeks and months go by, is that the insanity that we are seeing will begin to seem "normal".  It is human nature, I think, to survive regardless of the circumstances. And sometimes to survive it becomes necessary to accept the unacceptable on some level just to make it through the day.  The fact is (I must repeatedly remind myself of this) that there is so much about the current administration that is not normal, is not "okay". From the fact that white supremacists still have a seat at the table of power, to the attacks on the press, to the attacks on science... it is not normal, it is not okay.
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We have reached Thursday... and we continue to work our way through the "New Music" playlist.  Let's jump to it!

Manic Monday Morning Shuffle - Calculus Mix

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Well, it's July 3.  Tomorrow is American Independence Day.  I imagine many of us are not feeling much like celebrating.  After all, our government has been hijacked by people who seem intent on destroying the basic principals on which this nation was founded... or at least that is how I feel about it.  But, maybe it is important to celebrate...I've always had an uneasy relationship with the Fourth of July.  There is a fine line between patriotism and jingoism. Right now, it is unclear if the American experiment is failing or just in the middle of a very difficult test.  This year, I choose to celebrate the people who have and who are fighting for our freedom.  All of our freedom.  In the face of corruption and greed and fear and hatred and violence and boorish behavior and misogyny and homophobia - I celebrate those who practice and demonstrate love and compassion and acceptance.
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We are officially into the second half of 2017.  As I promised last week, I am continuing this week to shuffle from the "New Music" playlist.  Next week, we will go back to our regularly scheduled programming.  But, as a compromise, I have added a bunch of new music to the playlist...


Let's shuffle!

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - T-Rex Mix

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It seems like there was a time when we could disagree about many things, but there were certain basic truths that we could agree upon.  Like "The sky is blue and therefore we need to do ____. "  "No, the sky IS blue, but we should do ____."  Now, it seems like it is more... "The sky is blue and therefore we need to do ______."  "No!  It is the fake media that has you convinced that the sky is blue.  The sky is red and therefore we MUST do ______."

I am short of solutions right now.  It seems like all of us are so far apart.  Common ground seems to be a lost concept. I guess I am thinking about the Congressional testimony yesterday, and how differently people can view it. I always want to try to understand on some level how those who think differently than me see the world, and on some levels I can, but regardless of the circumstances and experiences that lead a person to hold a particular set of beliefs.  There SHOULD be some points on which almost all people can agree.  Shouldn't there?
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We have reached the end of a another week... time is a raging river... The Foresters new album is out today,  Listen for me twice on the radio tomorrow - Double Shot's 1 year anniversary show and then right after that I will be filling in out Nashville U.  Gina will be interviewing Rayvon Pettis who will be playing a few songs, and I will be spinning some Nashville tunes from the past and the present.

It is Friday, and on Friday, we bring you a shuffle from our "New Music Playlist".  We call it Featured Friday - as these "new music" tracks are artists, albums, or songs that we are featuring.

Shuffle!

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - My Dark Sense of Humor Mix

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How goes it? A bit overcast here in Nashville with some cooler temps on the way...

Tonight is week 2 of David Olney's month-long residency at The 5 Spot in East Nashville.  Interested to see what he has up his sleeves this week after last weeks excellent start.

Let's jump into the shuffle---