It is the start of another week, and that means it is time for a Music City Monday shuffle...
As you may or may not know or remember, I have a massive playlist of Nashville music* past and present and every Monday, I hit shuffle on that playlist and see what comes up... here is what came up today.
*Music made by people who live or have lived in Nashville (whether or not the music itself was made in Nashville or before or after the person/band was based here).
Running late... but want to get this posted. Everything is askew. I sincerely hope everyone is well. It is sad to see that the response to this pandemic which for a brief time seemed to have united us has turned into a political matter. We are for sure experiencing something that most (if not all of us) have never experienced before. To some, understandably perhaps, some actions seem extreme. As I have heard said, if were to take extreme actions and the result was that it seemed like overkill - that would have been the point of the extremely action.
This should not be political. The virus doesn't care if you are a Democrat or Republican or Libertarian or Socialist or Anarchist.
There are also legitimate concerns about how some may use the situation to seize greater control over individual liberty.
I think back to almost two weeks ago when The 5 Spot decided to close. They were not ordered to do that - that order would have come days later, but the decision was made based upon the best information and for the good of the community.
And there is the difficulty and the balance and the dilemma. For some people, it takes a government order to do the right thing. And, then there is the cries of government overreach. And then there is legitimate government overreach - like suspending Habeas Corpus - which seems to have little to do with controlling the spread of the virus.. maybe. It is all too much sometimes.
Ah - let's just play some good Nashville music!
By the way, David Olney would have been celebrating a birthday if he were still with us (and oh, how I wish he was still with us), but instead, we are remembering him and his incredible legacy.
*Note: The video playlist at the bottom of the post attempts to closely approximate the shuffle I listened to on my way to work this morning. When a video for a song was not available, I substituted another song by the same artist. When I could not find any videos by an artist, I included a related video or did not include a video for that track. This blog may reference unreleased tracks, however, no unreleased music is ever included.
Week 4 of the E2TG Residency is happening Wednesday night October 16 - with Josh Gray and Meghan Hayes providing the musical entertainment. Gray and Hayes each released wonderful new albums in 2019. Josh Gray's Songs of the Highway covers his move to Nashville in the context of these complex times in which we live. Meghan Hayes' Seen Enough Leavers deals with heartbreak and loss in wonderfully artistic and healing way. They will both be backed by full bands with come hot local players. Don't miss it!
Now, it is time for another Music City Monday shuffle!
Music City Monday is always a favorite day of the week for me. It is a great combination of new and older music that is all (somehow) connected to Music City USA (aka Nashville, Tennessee)
Back in the early 1990s, before blogs and social media, I used to change my outgoing answering machine message every day. On January 14, 1993, I used a portion of this song from the self-titled debut album by Cracker. Since then, it has become a (not exactly annual) tradition. Twenty six years after the first time I used this song, here is "Happy Birthday to Me" by Cracker. I remain, "Thankful for the Small Things Today".
I will be celebrating tonight at the Radio Cafe with a show featuring Ryan Sobb, Jeremy Ivey, and Darrin Bradbury. Three of Nashville's finest - a great way to spend the evening.
We have our weekly Music City Monday shuffle. This is a good one! Let's get to it!
All of this happened a long time ago when the world was a very different place. Of course, none of us knew that at the time. (From The Drift - A Novel by Joe Wolfe-Mazeres) Available at Amazon.com (Kindle edition also available) If you have read The Drift, please consider writing a review on Amazon. If you haven't read it, you can get your own copy through Amazon or if you are in Nashville, you can get them from me.
I am continuing to work on my Spotify playlists for E2TG. So far, I have completed seven - January - July2018. These are meant to be a cross-section of music I featured during those months - not necessarily music released in those months. If you are interested, you can check out the playlists (links below) and follow my personal profile to find out when new playlists are created.
As I predicted, last night was fun. Tim Carroll, Tommy Womack, Jon Byrd, Joe Nolan, and Andrew Adkins put on one of the best and most diverse songwriter events I have seen in a long time - at The Country. They are all excellent songwriters coming from different backgrounds and working in and out of different genres or styles of music, and together they represented well the rich tapestry of Music City.
In a rare moment of perfect timing, I had just enough time to say my goodbyes at The Country, and I made my way to The 5 Spot for Sara Syms, Carrie Welling, and Lindsay Ellyn. Sara Syms sounded fantastic as always with her excellent band.
Carrie Welling (who I had seen once before) has some great songs and an amazing voice. She was backed by a guitar player.
It has been a little while since I had seen Lindsay Ellyn doing a full band show, and it was every bit as good as I remember it. Her song, "Glory, Glory" became a joyous sing-a-long.
Beyond all the hype, the truth remains that there is a ton of great music going on just about every night in Nashville.
Tonight , I recommend Darrin Bradbury at Little Harpeth Taproom, Fats Kaplin with guest Paul Burch at The 5 Spot, Beet Root Revival at The Basement, and The Cordovas at The Family Wash. While, it is logistically impossible to hit all of these shows, I highly recommend any of them.
Quick recap, I continued to lay a little low - still dealing with a lingering cold, and working on song selection for the forthcoming "Double Shot with Joe and Sue" (still no confirmed start date).
Friday: First, it was good to see a large and vibrant crowd for the weekly Tim Carroll Rock and Roll Happy Hour (one of this town's best weekly events in my opinion). I left there a little early and headed to Bobby's Idle Hour on Music Row for the Darkhorses of East Nashville - a collaborative round featuring the amazingly talented trio of Julie Christensen, Amelia White, and Sergio Webb. Trading off songs and backing each other, produced several magical moments. If they come through your town, do not miss it.
So, as I promised Friday, it seemed like a good time to shake things up here at E2TG - just a little bit. Inspired by the success of Featured Friday, I have decided to have a "theme" playlist every for every day of the week. The large #E2TG playlist had gotten very large and getting bigger. By having smaller playlist each day, it may provide more opportunities to feature different artists. We shall see.
So, without much more ado, we begin this new chapter with the debut of Music City Monday - featuring music with connections to Nashville. As you will see, this playlist features both current artists/albums and classics covering over half a century. Non-Nashville artists: Do not be concerned, there will be many opportunities throughout the week for me to feature your music.
Sorry for the inconsistency of posts the last couple of weeks... things will smooth out, but life sometimes gets all lifey...
I have been fighting with a cold all week (constantly changing weather -winter to spring and back - doesn't help), and as a result, I have been mostly laying low this week, but I did manage to venture out (in a cold dreary rain) to The Basement (the original one) for some music. As if the case most nights in Nashville there was awesome music going on all over town, but I just didn't feel up to venue hopping. In fact, the Basement hosted an early show with Erin Rae and Kelsey Waldron that I totally missed, but I did get to see three awesome sets of music from three of Nashville's best "on-the-cusp" artists.
Andrew Leahey and the Homestead played their last local show for a bit as they gear up for the release of their new album (on Thirty Tigers) in May. As they have every time I have seen them, they played earnest heartland rock and roll and did not hold back.
Michaela Anne also has an album due out in May. Backed by her awesome band, she played her solid and gorgeous country songs. A highlight was her performance of "Me and Willie" (a CD bonus track from Emmylou Harris' 1976 album Luxury Liner) which Michaela Anne introduced by recognizing the song's writer, Laurie Hyde-Smith, who had come to Nashville from North Carolina for the show.
Darrin Bradbury closed the night with his first? full band show since his January Basement East residency (with the band that played with him for those shows). This was an extremely fun set which included an impromptu vocal assist (from the crowd) by Jon Latham. (Do I need to mention that Darrin and Jon are the current and most recently past E2TG Artists of the Year? No? Okay, I won't then). It was fun seeing so many familiar faces (and awesome musicians/songwriters) in the crowd.
After some extended time away, we are back with an honest to goodness Morning Shuffle. Louisville, Kentucky based My Morning Jacket are up first with Librarian from their 5th Studio Album - Evil Urges.
The late, great June Carter Cash wife of the late, great Johnny Cash wrote the song Ring of Fire which was made famous by her husband. Since then, numerous covers of the song have been recorded including Social Distortion, Wall of Voodoo, Eric Burdon and the Animals and others. Today, we have June's own version:
Lou Reed released his third solo record Berlin in 1973. Caroline Says Iis from the first side of the record.
And finally, Rage Against The Machine from their 1999 album, The Battle of Los Angeles with Guerilla Radio. And we are out!
Over the weekend, I began working on the Featured Artists list for next month and narrowed my list from 52 down to 20. I'm happy about this list, and I look forward to bringing you another great list of featured artists from all around the world.
Meanwhile, in our Band of the Month voting, Black Jake and the Carnies continue to lead, while The Foresters have moved into second.
We shuffle up some music from our archives, so let's get to it.
Jeremy was the third single from Pearl Jam's 1991 debut album, Ten. "Jeremy spoke in class, today." (see I Don't Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats)
The next song in our Monday Shuffle is from one of the bands that contributed to the soundtrack of my young adult years. I had the good fortune of seeing Guadalcanal Diary live several times in the late 80s. Watusi Rodeo is off of the Georgia band's full length debut, Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man and is a rollicking, foot stomping, rave-up of a good time. "Don't they know it's all for show..."
Johnny Cash released his debut album in 1955. With His Hot and Blue Guitar included the now classic Folsom Prison Blues. In 1968, Cash would performed the song at Folsom Prison and released the classic At Folsom Prison a live album which helped to revitalize his career. "I hear that train a-coming..."
Kill the Messenger is the opening track from John Wesley Harding's under-appreciated 1992 album Why We Fight. It's a great song from an amazing album. If you missed out on this, do yourself a favor a check it out. Like all truly great songs, it has a timeless quality, and is not at all rooted in the year it was made.
As promised, time to get current on the music shuffles. It was a kind of dreary, drizzly morning but the harder rain stopped by the time I was walking up the hill. The shuffle today was a great mix of awesome songs from up and coming artists and new and old songs from a couple of legends.... Los Angeles based James W. Lynch recently posted the songs from his EP Old Souls on ReverbNation. Summer's End is a beautiful and evocative song which for me really fit well with the somber, dreary morning. James Lynch has an amazing voice and a unique sound. Check him out:
Found a different video from Old Souls
Next, we have another track off of Bob Dylan's latest Tempest. Soon After Midnight is more of Dylan being Dylan. Take that as you will....
Ballad of a Teenage Queen was a number one hit on the Country charts in 1958 for the late, great Johnny Cash. It's a great story of girl meets boy, girl meets Hollywood producer, girl becomes star, girl misses boy, girl gives up her new life, girl remeets boy.
And finally, we close things out with a great song by Redneck Jedi (who I think is the sworn enemy of the Hick Siths - but I digress.) Third Chance from the Unplugged and Underground album tells the story of a singer trying to make his way in the world. Redneck Jedi are from Texas and from what I've heard so far, they are a whole lot of fun.
Due to circumstance beyond my control, I didn't have to walk up the hill to work today, so I didn't get to listen to my Morning Shuffle. I decided to do a hypothetical shuffle of some of my favorite songs.
First up. Canadian singer, songwriter has been active musically since 1967. His first studio album was released 42 years ago. Our song today is If I Had a Rocket Launcher from 1984's Stealin' Fire. By the way, during a 2009 trip to Afghanistan to visit Canadian troops including his brother, Cockburn performed this song and was temporarily presented with a real rocket launcher. No sonofabitch died.
Next, we have a song which dates from the time of Mr. Cockburn's first album. The Revolution Will Not Be Televisedby the late poet, artist, author Gil Scott-Heron reflects the turmoil of the times and despite some dated references is still relevant today.
Next, we take a one-song break from political posts to feature a song from 1969. The most famous version was recorded during Johnny Cash's February 1969 performance San Quentin prison. A Boy Named Sue was Cash's biggest hit on the Pop Charts spending three weeks at #2.
And finally, we have the hip-hop classic from 1982 - The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Featuring Melle Mel and Duke Bootee). "Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge..." try not to get that legendary line stuck in your head. I distinctly remember hearing this song on the radio while on a family trip during the summer of 1982, and it was a transitory experience. There is a chance it was not the summer of 82 (which would have been very shortly after the song was released), but I know I heard it during a summer family trip.
Did you know that the name Music City did not originate with the Grand Ole Opry or with the record companies along Music Row or with the fact that Ear to the Ground is based here in Nashville? I know right! It actually came about when Queen Victoria heard the Fisk Jubilee Singers perform. I know right!
I have to say, being a music fan in Music City is an interesting endeavor. Historically, when people hear Nashville, they think first about the slick, country music coming out of the high-end studios on Music Row or maybe the good-natured Hee-Haw folks or else the Grand Ole Opry. And yes, all of those things are part of Nashville - a big part. Nashville, though, has always had more to offer musically speaking. Lately, the other side of Nashville music has gotten some high-profile faces. With Jack White and the Black Keys relocating to our fine city.
In years past, artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan have lived and/or recorded here.
I grew up musically on Nashville Rock in the 80s. (There is a site for that!) It was a thriving and diverse scene, and perhaps like many other local scenes of the day, seemed perpetually on the verge of breaking big. The legacy of that scene lived on with a number of artists from that time making a living as staff songwriters and/or still slugging away - doing their thing.
Over the last couple of years, we've tragically and sadly lost a number of local musicians from my youth/young adult years. Paul Kirby (Walk the West, Cactus Brothers), Perry Baggs (Jason and the Scorchers), Michael Godsey (Raging Fire), Tim Krekel (The Sluggers) among them.
So, yeah, Nashville has been, can be, and is a great city for music. It can also be difficult and political and cynical and over-produced and all of that. Still for all the crap, Nashville is a great place to be a music lover and a music blogger.
I put together a playlist of artists who have (at least at some point) called Nashville home. I came up with 100 songs (limit one per artist) and probably missed a few, and it's an amazingly diverse group of amazing bands, artists and songs.... here we go...
First up is one of my all-time favorite songs. I can't listen to Jason and the Scorchers classic Broken Whiskey Glass without picturing the acrobatic leap from the drum riser on a later summer night on West End Avenue in 1985. (To be honest, I've reenacted that leap myself on a number of occasions when listening to the song when no one else was around). Broken Whiskey Glass was released on the band's full-length debut, Lost and Found.
Johnny Cash was an original. He began his music career recording at the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, had a prime time television series, and in his later years made some landmark recordings (his American series) which included notable covers of Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode among others.
In 1969, Cash recorded a now legendary show at San Quentin Prison, at that show which was later released as At San Quentin, he performed a version of a song written by Shel Silverstein called A Boy Named Sue.The song became Cash's biggest crossover hit reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Finally, we have a song by Mikey Wax who was our 10th Band of the Week just about one year ago. Since then, he was released a new record called Constant Motion which features the song Counting on You which happens to be the third and final song in today's shuffle. Although he grew up on Long Island and currently lives in New York City, Mikey makes this playlist because he attended Vanderbilt University here in Nashville. Counting on Youwas featured just last week on the Fox Television show So You Think You Can Dance. And I'm absolutely sure, his having been Band of the Week on Ear to the Ground played apart in getting the song on the show... (wink, smile)
Reminder: Voting for the March Band of the Month ends at 8:00pm Central Time on Friday April 13. Vote now. The poll is on the sidebar to the left. Here are the details.
Where is the Band of the Week? Due to the holiday, the Band of the Month, a top secret project and general laziness. I made an executive decision to forgo the Band of the Week post for this past week. It's certainly not from lack on great bands. I just wanted to be sure to give the selected band the attention they deserve. Look for a Band of the Week post after the Band of the Month poll closes.
Record Store Day is now just 10 days away. Go here to find the participating location near you. Here in Nashville Grimey's New and Pre-Loved Music has a pretty killer line-up of live music. JEFF the Brotherhood, PUJOL, Langhorne Slim, The Grenadines, Kansas Bible Company and Lovedrug have been announced so far.
To the songs for today:
First up, POP ETC is Morning Benders. Got that? We posted a link to the Morning Benders up top. The first album as POP ETC is due out later this year, but right now, you can grab a free download of a Mixtape from the band's website. The song we have today is from that mixtape and it is called Halfway to Heaven.
After that, we have two rather interesting cover songs.
The first song is a cover of Willie Nelson's Time of the Preacher a track from the Red Headed Stranger album. The cover is by the late, great Johnny Cash from the Twisted Willie tribute album.
Finally, a cover of one of the "lost" songs by the Velvet Underground which was finally released in the mid 80s on VU (which was when I had my mind opened and blown by Lou Reed and company). Foggy Notion is covered by Echo & the Bunnymen on volume 2 of the Heaven & Hell Velvet Underground tribute series. The Heaven & Hell series of albums was compiled as Unpiecing the Jigsaw.
