E2TG 1/27/2020 - Music City Monday - Show preview and more - I'm Okay Mix (One Dead Peckerhead Remix)

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Show alert:

Chicago’s Joe Policastro Trio will be headlining the 9:30 PM show at The SpringWater tonight. More information at  http://www.thespringwater.com/events 

Hailed by Downbeat for its “deft analysis of choice repertoire” and by the Chicago Reader for its “diversity of approaches to all kinds of source material,” the JPT is a Chicago-based alternative jazz trio led by bassist Joe Policastro and features guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Mikel Avery. While firmly rooted in jazz, the band’s open-minded, inclusive nature draws upon a wide array of musical styles and sources while still keeping the aesthetic of an acoustic trio intact. Their fourth album, Nothing Here Belongs, focuses on the band’s original music, whereas previous releases, West Side Story Suite (2013), POPS! (2016), and Screen Sounds (2017), highlighted the trio’s ability to remake unlikely songs in its own raw, highly idiosyncratic fashion.  

Random Notes:

A quick behind the curtain (pay not attention to the man) - I am still experimenting with the new features of E2TG.  Expect some changes periodically has I fine-tune things. 

Featured Friday Playlist  (It is called Featured Friday because that is when the list for the week updates and the name is a homage to our Featured Friday Shuffle). It is available every day on E2TG for viewing and playing. Thanks to those who have followed the playlist.   The way I have been managing the list is by creating a private playlist called E2TG on-deck. As I hear about releases, I add them to that playlist. Then on Thursday night/early Friday, I check for new releases and tweak the on-deck list. I delete out the songs from the  current Featured Friday playlist and add the songs from the on-deck playing to that one. Then I delete out the songs from the on-deck playlist and start over. I try to keep the list around an hour - but I don't have a fixed number of songs. 

As with all of E2TG, I try to heavily weigh the list to "under the radar" picks, but depending on the week - so better known artists of interest may appear. 

The new release listing is and will always be a work-in-progress. I mostly add from e-mail submissions - sometimes if I see a social media post, I will sent the link to myself to add later. Please feel free to send me new release information (singles, EPs and LPs) to e2tgmusic@gmail.com.  

In the current world, the release date can be tricky. I add to the list as it is reported to me, I know sometimes albums will be added to Spotify before or after the announced date. 

I will working on adding some links and some more "First Impressions". Time is still a challenge, but I will keep plugging away. 

Today, we have a great Music City Monday shuffle - please check that out below!

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - Timeless Crawling Mix

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Well, we are in the midst of a heatwave. Heat index is expected to be over 100 the next two days. I don't have much in the way of relief to offer, but I do have some cool tunes. Get it cool... Sorry, the heat is getting to me.

Anyway, it's Monday, and we have a  sweet Music City Monday shuffle - so let's go!

"Buddha Blues" by Will Kimbrough

Will Kimbrough doesn't seem to know the term idleness. When he isn't producing albums (like the Steve Poltz album we have been featuring), he is backing people like Emmylou Harris (and playing on at least two albums we have been featuring - ESOEBO and Peter Rogan's latest albums).  And somehow, he found time to record and release his own album.  I Like It Down Here was released earlier this year, and it is a worthy addition to an impressive discography.  I have been a fan of Kimbrough's music for over 30 years going back to his band Will and the Bushmen. Our lives intersected in the 90s through our daughters, and I ran into his last week at the CD Release party for Amy Speace's new album (oh yeah, he played on that one, too!)

"Joy, the Mechanical Boy" by Self

Nashville had a thriving music scene in the 1980s - with bands like Jason and the Scorchers, Walk the West, Royal Court of China, Raging Fire, In Pursuit, Shadow 15, The Movement and more playing great live shows and flirting with national success.  By the early 90's, that scene had pretty much dissipated  - some folks moved on to songwriting, some moved away, and a few kept plugging away.  By the mid/early 90's, Music City was due to for a revival, and to a great extent that revival came by way of Matt Mahaffey and his band Self.  Mahaffey helped form Spongebath Records (with Seth Timbs, and Rick Williams), and that label became a center for music not only in the Murfreesboro/Nashville area, but for the entire South. This is the opening track from the second album by Self called The Half-Baked Serenade which was released on Spongebath in 1996.

"Little Old Town" by Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, Thomm Jutz

This years' Riverland album by the trio of Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, and Thomm Jutz was a kind of concept record about Mississippi - the river and the state. Little Old Town - from their previous release Profiles in Courage, Frailty, and Discomfort is also about a river - in this case the Stones River and about a town that now lies beneath.  

"One I Love" by Kevin Gordon

Next up, we have a track from Kevin Gordon's modern classic album Gloryland. One of Nashville's best. 

"Diana" by Little Bandit

Next up, we have another track from Breakfast Alone from Little Bandit. I absolutely love this album, and I really hope we have new music from Little Bandit soon!  

"Crawling At Your Feet" by Aaron Lee Tasjan

Aaron Lee Tasjan has released some new songs recently from Karma for Cheap Reincarnated.  This is a track from Karma for Cheap.  Aaron Lee Tasjan is one of the best things happening these days both in terms of music and in terms of his humanity.

"Child of the Wind" by Michaela Anne

Next up, we have a single from the forthcoming Desert Dove album which will be released on September 27  on Yep Roc Records. Great to hear this new music from singer-songwriter Michaela Anne. 

"This Girl of Mine" by The White Animals

Next up, we have another track from 3000 Nights in Babylon by one The White Animals.  This band were on the front edge of the 80s Nashville scene that I mentioned earlier. 

"Damian" by Sad Baxter

Next up, we have another track from Weirdy.  I just found out Sad Baxter is playing with my cousin's band (Summer Cannibals from Portland, Oregon) next week at The Basement. 

"Heartbreak" by Rayvon Pettis; Megan Palmer

Next, we have our first listen to Nothing Is Sweeter - the new joint effort from Megan Palmer and Rayvon Pettis.  Pettis takes the lead on this track.  Two of my favorites together!

"Timelessly" by Jim Hoke

And, we close things out with a track from the latest album by the multi-talented Jim Hoke - The Floating Zone was released last year, and it is really a tour-de-force for this musician/arranger/songwriter.  

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - A Hundred Times Yeah! Mix

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We are back!  Let's see... Friday, I headed to Tennessee Brew Works to catch a pair of Kerrville New Folk Festival winners: Aaron Smith from Arkansas and Justin Farren from California as they kicked off a run of shows up the East Coast. Great beer, great food, and great hangs with new and old friends.

From there, I headed to The Basement to catch Matthew Paige (of Blackfoot Gypsies) - I believe my first time seeing him solo - he was fantastic, then Darrin Bradbury, and then Jeremy Ivey (recently signed to ANTI records (as was Darrin) with his band The Extraterrestrials. A wonderful night of music and another reminder of why Nashville is still a cool place to be a music fan.

Now, it is time to jump into another week of shuffles, and as always, we kick things off with shuffle from my Music City Monday Spotify playlist - compromised of new and older music from people who do or did once call Nashville home.

Let's just shuffle!

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - Trying Not to Barf Mix

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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)

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.

E2TG January 2018
E2TG February 2018
E2TG March 2018
E2TG April 2018 
E2TG May 2018
E2TG June 2018
E2TG July 2018
E2TG August 2018 (coming soon!)

Well another Americana Fest is in the books.  Once again, it was a wonderful experience (and there are so many ways to experience it). It is overwhelming, but when you accept that you can't do everything and just enjoy what you can do, it all works out.  I am still recovering and have not yet processed everything, but I can say, it was great to meet some out of town friends, see and hear some E2TG favorites - including four past E2TG Artist/Band of the Year winners: Brian Wright, Darrin Bradbury, Jon Latham, and Ladies Gun Club. I also saw some potential 2018 artist/band of the year contenders.

It's time to get into the shuffle. It's Monday, so we dig into our Music City Monday playlist to get a random shuffle of great artists who do or have called Nashville home.  Let's go!

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - In the Mail Mix

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Okay! It is Monday, and it's time for the first Music City Monday in a few weeks. Since it has been a while, I'll explain.  Unlike the other shuffles I post (which come from music saved to my phone0, Music City Monday comes from a constantly in progress  Spotify Playlist that I created. The purpose is to showcase music from Nashville's past and present, and to cover the many genres and styles of music that have originated in Nashville. It is not at all complete, and I am regularly making additions to the playlist.

If you want to check out the playlist for yourself, HERE IS A LINK

Let's just get to the music....