E2TG 10/27/2020 - Vote Angry - End of the World Mix (Rainy Day Remix)

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I, like a lot of people I know, are feeling a variety of emotions today about the appointment of an unqualified judge to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court mere days before the election.  

My words today are a reminder to vote, if you haven't. In Tennessee, we have until October 29 to early vote - take advantage of that opportunity.  If you don't early vote, election day is one week from today - make a plan and vote. 

If you are angry - vote angry.  Just vote.  You may be demoralized or depressed or scared - all valid emotions but vote anyway - vote your conscience and vote from a place of hope and love - even as you are feeling contradictory emotions. 

Don't let anything stop you from voting. If you, like me, are in a "Red State" which seems likely to vote for certain people - still vote. I believe as young people become part of the voting population and as demographics change - the state will change - be an inspiration to those future voters - do teach them that voting doesn't matter.

Since I brought up "Red States" and "Blue States", I need to say, I do not want to ever hear another U.S. President use those terms. In my opinion those terms should be reserved for the maps on television on election night. Using them as absolutes, just further pushes the American people apart. Every state is populated by people who hold a variety of positions on a variety of issues. Not to mention that demographics across a state can vary.  It is hard to think about at a time when our divisions seem so stark and so wide, but we have to envision a path where we go back to finding common ground and negotiating our difference to find a common solution. 

Onward - 

Our recap of this Week's Featured Friday Playlist continues with songs 16-20

16. "More Than an Icon" by The Plastic Pals

Our favorite Swedish twin guitar psychedelic garage paisley powerpop band back with a new single. We have been following this band for a while, and they are awesome. 

17. "Ooh Child" by A.J. Croce

Nashville's A.J. Croce just released this song ahead of his covers album By Request - due out next February. This is a cover of a 1970 song by Chicago soul group The Five Stairsteps. Croce is the son of the legendary Jim Croce.

18. "Precipice Forgiveness (Flow is On)" by Raveis Kole

Next up, we have a really incredible sonic experience courtesy of the bicoastal duo Raveis Kole.  Their new release is called 3D Immersive which as the title suggests promises intense and immersive auditory experience. This opening track begins with Middle Eastern sounds and goes on the encapsulate the duo's diverse range of influences. I highly recommend checking this out.

19. "Blindfold" by Cellarscape

Our friend Paul Terry who is known for his innovative film music work as well as his band Cellarscape who we have featured previously via his album Exo Echo - is back with a new single. Great to hear some new music from an old favorite. 

20. "Lookout Mountain" by Andrew Weiss and Friends

And we close out this segment of music with the title track from the new EP by Long Island native Andrew Weiss and his friends. Solid songwriting and a great sound. A nice place to leave off our recap until tomorrow. 

Tomorrow - we will pick up with songs 21-25 

 

    Featured Friday Playlist

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Me in the Corner Mix

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Well, it is Friday! Finally!  We are in the midst of a horrible heat wave here in Nashville. And between that and life and world things, I am zapped.  But, hey it is Friday, and I still have music...

On Friday, we feature songs from our New Music playlist.  Let's jump in!

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - Helps the Flowers Grow Mix

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ICYMI: E2TG premiered a brand new song from Flying Buffaloes earlier this morning.  You can check that out HERE.

Keep your ear to the ground for more premiere's as I begin to dig myself out from my backlog which developed during my Residency last month.

In other news, a release date has been set for Lifers - Jon Latham's follow up to Real Bad News. The album will drop on September 1 on Cafe Rooster Records. I plan to take the day off from work and listen to the album in the parking lot of a local Taco Bell.  You should make similar arrangements.

Speaking of Cafe Rooster Records, the line-up that graced us with their appearance in week 4 of the E2TG Residency will be down in Georgia on July 1 at Eddie Owen Presents in Duluth. If you are within driving range and able to make it there, it is highly recommended.

All week (and next), we have been playing songs which populate our "New Music" playlist.  These are primarily albums/songs that were submitted to E2TG for play plus some old friends and favorites that we added even if not specifically submitted.

Anyway, let's shuffle....

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Quiet Songs Mix

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It's a day early, but tomorrow night, David Olney kicks off his 4 of 5 Wednesday night residency for August at The 5 Spot.  (By the way the 5th week features Scott Miller).  Olney's shows are always incredibly good, and his residency shows tend to be filled with epic moments of poetry, song and surprises.  Late night tomorrow, is another edition of Joanna Barbera's Songs Not Silence showcases benefiting Thistle Farms.  This time around Barbera herself will perform!  Great time, great cause. Also at The 5 Spot.

Tonight: Tommy Womack (who we featured yesterday) will be playing The Family Wash as part of the weekly Short Sets series.  It is also Pint and Pie night. So yeah!

Here we are at Tuesday when we take a look at what the Shuffle says is trending...

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Pounding My Life Away Mix

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I am getting really excited about the E2TG 5 Year Anniversary Party!  I was looking at the line-up and thinking, man, I would go to this show even if I was not hosting it.  The link below will take you to the Facebook event.  Go ahead and make a commitment (or at least a 'Maybe') so that you can in the know about updates.  Although I have no specific reason to believe that we are going to reach capacity, if you are concerned, I recommend you arrive early and catch the RB Morris residency show immediately before out big to-do. Hell, I recommend the RB Morris show even if you are not concerned about a capacity crowd. But, I certainly hope you stick around.

MAY 18th at THE FIVE SPOT (East Nashville) - E2TG 5 Year Anniversary Extravaganza!!!!

Back to normal posting schedule for today... Featured Friday has arrived! (Most likely the final post of April!)

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Alright, Alright Mix

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Good day, hepcats!  Had a blast seeing Matt Phillips and The Philharmonic out at Charlie Bob's last night.  The band sounded fantastic and it was great hearing how much Matt's sound has evolved since I saw him last year at Music City Roots (which was awesome, too by the way).  I hope he makes it back to Nashville for a more extended visit. 

Lots on the horizon, trying to keep all those juggles balled... no wait, that is not it...

It's Tuesday!  Time to find out what we have "Trending" on E2TG. 

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Grand Coulee Dam Mix

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Okay... so I feel like I am limping (battered and bloody) into the weekend, but it is Friday...

Friday is the day when we randomly shuffle songs from our Featured Friday playlist which is a playlist of songs we want to feature. 

Did I mention it's Friday?  And that we have some songs to feature? I did? Good! I think that cover it.  Shuffle after the jump

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Steal Away Mix

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Welcome to 2016, #E2TG Style!  Well, the "Earies" are over, and no more "Red Cup" songs to be played.  We are back to a good old fashioned Morning Music Shuffle...

First a brief recap of the what has transpired since I last posted, and a sneak peak of what is to come.

New Year's Eve Eve - I headed to The Family Wash to see Wild Ponies  open for Don Gallardo. It was an amazingly Nashville-typical night of awesome music.

I posted a mega-Video Playlist "Earies" wrap up.  New Years Eve, I headed to the legendary Exit/In to ring in the new year - no frill style with some good friends and cool music.  Aaron Lee Tasjan and his killer band which included #E2TG Artist of  the Year Jon Latham knocked it out of the park (or some other sports metaphor).  Chris Knight was awesome, and he really could have cared less about midnight.

New Year's Day was a Friday which meant a trip out to The 5 Spot to ring in 2016 with another outstanding Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour. 

After that, I kind of dug in and did some writing - the results of which will be out soon.

Tonight!  Tonight!  The month-long Darrin Bradbury Residency kicks off at The Basement East.  The kick off should be out of this world amazing.  With 2014 Artist of the Year Bradbury being joined by 2015 Artist of the Year Jon Latham and Artist of the Always Aaron Lee Tasjan.  Darrin will be backed by an amazing band.  Seriously, this is a "Don't Wanna Miss" event.

Now onto the shuffle...

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Great and Powerful So and So Mix

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Here we are!  The final regularly scheduled shuffle of 2015. (I'm not ruling out a shuffle tomorrow but no promises).  But first, we have one final bit of business to wrap up the debut edition of the "Earie" Awards.  Remember: The "Earies" it sounds strange, but it's not really.  The final award is the Golden "Earie" Award (aka the E2TG Artist of the Year). 

Since we have a bunch of new readers, I thought I would indulge in a brief history of the award.

I began writing the blog in May 2011. That year, I named a "Band of the Week" every week.  As the end of the year approached, I thought it would be fun to have a Readers Poll to select a "Band of the Year".  So, I created an on-line poll that included all of the Bands of the Week.  Being new to on-line polls, the poll was wide open meaning you could vote as many times as you wanted.  The polling was spirited and fun with several artists really getting into it.  At the end of the poll, The Mobbs (a UK band) flooded the ballot box and were named Band of the Year.  Howard Rabach's band Ubiquity Machine finished second and Don Ryan from New Jersey finished third.

Because the poll was so much fun (and brought a lot of page views to the blog), for 2012 I decided to have a Band of the Month poll - which I did.  At the end of 2012, all of the Bands of the Month plus some "Wildcards" competed for Band of Year.  The now defunct but totally awesome Skeletons in the Piano from upstate New York were the second Band of the Year.

By 2013, I had kind of grown tired of the polls. It seemed like some artists were more into it than others plus I kind of decided it was a distraction from what was really important - being the music.  When 2013 year end came up, to me there was one obvious choice for Band of the Year.  The End Men, of Brooklyn, remain to this day the most tagged artist on #E2TG. Beyond that they are really wonderful people.  They had a big 2013 and (as I expected) they had an even bigger 2014. 

In 2014, once again the choice was obvious.  Darrin Bradbury emerged from a Wal-Mart parking lot and began to conquer Nashville. He dominated Ear to the Ground - at one point I think there was at least one DB song in the shuffle everyday for almost a month.  In 2014, I probably saw Darrin play life on average 2 or 3 times a week.   Also, as expected, in the year that followed (2015), he continued to excel and made me very proud to have him as my Artist of the Year (I had to rename it because he wasn't a band).

Which brings us to the 2015:

The choice this year became pretty clear to me early in the year.  my anticipation of Jon Latham's debut album was so high.  But, anticipation does not equal awards.  Real Bad News managed to exceed my very high expectations. My review can be read HERE.  And the album alone is almost enough to make Jon a lock for Artist of the Year.  But, there were several great albums released in the past 12 months.  But wait, there is more!  Jon is one of the kindest people I know. Some people may say that has nothing to do with music, but I would disagree.  Grant it, there is long list of really amazing artists who happened to be assholes, however, in the case of Jon Latham, his kindness comes through in just about every song.  Beyond that, Jon's knowledge and interest in a wide variety of music is almost encyclopedic.  Again, at least in the case of Jon Latham, that depth of knowledge is, I think, crucial to his craft as a songwriter. 

As 2015 rolled along, people began to take notice of Jon Latham.  The Sin City vs. Guitar Town Eastside Throwdown was a turning point.  Jon Latham backed Aaron Lee Tasjan in one of the most electrifying sets I have seen all year.  Playing acoustic guitar and singing bgv, people took notice.  Since then, Jon has opened shows for Aaron Lee and for the legendary Malcolm Holcombe.  Real Bad News has garnered international acclaim and made some best of 2015.

You have one more chance to see the 2015 Artist of the Year in 2015. Jon will once again be joining the incredible Aaron Lee Tasjan in an opening slot for Christ Knight at the Exit/In on New Year's Eve.   On Monday, you can catch 2014 Artist of the Year Darrin Bradbury as he kicks of his residency at The Basement East.  2015 Artist of the Year Jon Latham is on the bill for that night.  I, for one, am excited!

Basically, those who get it, will understand right away why Jon Latham is my Artist of the Year.  If you don't get it, check out the video playlist below and you probably will.  Some of Jon's best moments (plus if you look closely in one video  you will see the jean shorts clad leg of 2014 winner Darrin Bradbury).  A couple of bonus clips that I came across: one is a clip I had heard about but not seen, Jon doing a song that does not often make it to his playlist these days.  The touching and tender, "Put It in Your Butt" plus so that we didn't end on that note, a rare clip of the Latham Family Band doing a Dawes cover.





Congratulations Jon!  Terry Rickards take note: 2013 Band of the Year, The End Men played the 2014 Post-Americana all-day marathon show at The Basement, 2014 Artist of the Year, Darrin Bradbury, played the 2015 Post-Americana all-day marathon show at The Basement East.  I'm just sayin'  American Fest will be here before we know it.


Now the last shuffle of the year.... a short commute and walk, and some longish songs means only 5 songs in the shuffle