E2TG 1/23/2020 - First First Impressions - End of the World Mix (Night Growls Remix)

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First Impressions

So I started a new thing on E2TG called first impressions.  It is exactly what the name implies, which is me listening to an album or song and giving you my initial impressions of what I am hearing and what ever else the music brings to mind. I will be doing this fairly often I hope and cover as much ground as I can. These will be separate posts and I will link to them on the Release Calendar next to the related entry. In case you missed the first, here is the LINK. But come back here because we have more goodies. 

Other goodies

Please tune in to my WXNA radio show this Saturday (Double Shot with Joe and Sue on WXNA). Our theme will be Before They Were Stars, and we will our special tribute to our friend, hero, and one-time fellow DJ, David Olney.  You can catch us Saturday morning beginning at 9:00am on 101.5FM in Nashville or at wxnafm.org   If you can't catch the show live, you can check out the archives at the same website. We will have some early recordings from some E2TG favorites like Meghan Hayes, Darrin Bradbury, Adam Kurtz, and Adrian Krygowski (pre-Adrian+Meredith).

Also, please keep checking back with our NEW RELEASE calendar below. I am adding to it almost daily, and I am starting to add links to where you can pre-order, buy, hear/stream the music. I will be fine-tuning that who experience soon.

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Ooom Ba Pa Room Mix

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Onward and upward.  It is Wednesday, and that is the day things tend to get "wild" at E2TG. I call it Wild Wednesday - just because the shuffle comes from all of songs saved to my phone.  That means you might hear recent music that we have been featuring, past featured music, songs from my personal collection, random music files I got through various sources, plus some songs from the earliest days of E2TG, and sometimes songs that I have no clue how they came to be in my possession.   Let's jump right in!

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - It Won't Bend On Its Own Mix

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Just a heads up, I will be taking a week off from regular E2TG posting next week. Be sure to follow our Facebook page (link above) as I may be posting some flashback shuffles from prior years, and keep you eyes out at the end of next week for a very special Video premiere.

Meanwhile, this week still has some life in it, and we might just have a song premiere later this week - so don't touch that dial.. or mouse...

It's Wednesday and you know what that means!  Time to get wild!  Let's shuffle!

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - Sue was a Charmer Mix

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Sometimes I have random thoughts about society and life and I think, gee, I wish I had a place to share these thoughts besides as  Facebook Status Updates. Then, I remember, hey! I have a blog that I post to every day.  That being said, please feel free to skip my self-indulgent rambling ahead.

*START SELF-INDULGENT RAMBLING*

Lately, there is something I have been pondering. Namely, why so many people seem to devote so much energy to music, movies, books, art, celebrities that they don't like. (For this purpose, I am excluding criticism of current government leaders - however, there is possible still some relevance). I have seen instances were an article appears about a particular band or artist or whatever, and rather heated debate ensues between those who like said artist and those who despise said artist. What is interesting to me is not the debate or posts themselves but the amount of thought and attention that goes into the comments of those who don't like... nee hate... the said artist. Like they offer detailed explanations that demonstrate a deep familiarity with the said artists work. And it seems clear that they devote a significant amount of time, energy, and head-space to the despised artist's work. And, they seem invested in trying to convince fans of said artist that they are "wrong." 

Don't get me wrong, I encourage anyone to listen to music before  dismissing an artist or album whole cloth, but I just can't understand. There are certainly bands and artists that I really do not like. I gave a listen and decided it just wasn't my thing. I don't feel compelled to "straighten out" people who actually like them. I have neither the time, energy, or inclination to dissect and analyze all the reasons I don't like their music. I get if a professional journalist is tasked with this, but as an amateur and more importantly, as a music fan, I don't understand it. There is more good music being produced than I can possibly take in (and arguably I spend more time than the average person listening to new music). If I spend time on the bands I hate, I would have even less time for the bands I love.

And yes, I do recognize the irony of using time and blog-space to even write about this. 

*END SELF-INDULGENT RAMBLING*


Speaking of new music!  I loaded even more new music into my phone last night - including a couple I am really excited to feature coming up soon.

Today is Thursday and it is time to dive back into the "2019 Trending Playlist" of the newest of the new arrivals at E2TG,

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - True or Not Mix

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I know some people may get tired of me saying this... and I freely admit, Nashville is the only music town I know really well... and I know there are extraordinary music makers all over the world...however, I continue to be blown away by the depth and breadth of the musicians and music here in the Music City.

Last night, I arrived at The 5 Spot at 6pm and left a little after midnight.  During that time, I saw five different bands.  Jim Hoke - who I think is the most inventive and creative minds around - highlighted songs from his new album backed by an incredible collection of musicians, singers, and guests. Interspersed throughout the good sized crowd, was a veritable who's who of Nashville songwriting and musician greats.  Jim Hoke is the mastermind behind the visionary group Aqua Velvet and he is also a multi-instrumentalist who backs many other talented folks.

The late show - featured four bands. Lakehouse Boys went on first, I was very impressed by their pop-oriented sound and on-stage humor. The band features one of the regular sound men from The 5 Spot as wells as a member of the band Boy Named Banjo.  Born Animals was next. Despite some technical problems that shortened their set time, I really liked their high energy punkish sound.   Timothy George aka The Singing Butcher was next - backed by an amazing band. George is one of my favorite songwriters in town, and it has been a little while since I have seen him with a full band.  E2TG Band of the Year, The Big Dumb, closed the night with a typically manic/amazing set of songs. I have already said a lot about them this week, so suffice it to say, I was not in the least bit disappointed by last nights show.

Now, it is time to dig back into our newish "Trending Playlist" - some of the more recent additions to the E2TG playlist. Let's do it!

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - The Resistance Mix

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E2TG moves into 2019. 

First of all I know I still owe you all two posts for 2018.  I have a Earie wrap-up post mostly done and then the all important Golden Earie Awards. Realistically, it will be this weekend before those get done. 

However, last night, I got caught up on a ton of new music that has come my way over the last month or so. I loaded over 300 songs into my phone.   For 2019, I have created a new "Trending" playlist for Trending Tuesday and Trending Tuesday. This is all music received since around November 2018 or later. That playlist stood at 313 songs at the beginning of today.

The previous "New Music" playlist has been re-dubbed the "Featured" playlist. This will be a constantly expanding playlist of music that has come my way. It has all the music from the previous New Music playlist plus some music accumulated in November and December that wasn't submission. (For example, I got a CD from a gift exchange and I got an annual mix CD from a friend) - those went into the "Featured" playlist but not the "Trending" playlist.  However, I should point out that all the music added to the "Trending Playlist" went into the "Featured Playlist".

So today, is Thursday so the shuffle came from the newly created "Trending playlist"

Bottom line, it's all good.  Listen to music!  Let's shuffle!

2018 E2TG Earie Awards - # 11 - Recap November 2018

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The Drift - A Novel by Joe Wolfe-Mazeres Available at Amazon.com (Kindle edition also available)


Playing catch-up. Here is the final Shuffle of 2018. This was the music I listened to on December 21. It is a recap of the music featured on E2TG in November 2018.

Coming soon: Some wrap-up comments, a few extra Earie Awards, and the 2018 Bands and Artists of the Year. Wednesday, we begin 2019 with our first shuffle of the new year.

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - To the Bone Mix

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Words No Music A Reading coming Thursday, November 15, 2018 6:30pm Radio Cafe Nashville. No Cover, tips accepted and books will be for sale. We have an incredible line-up featuring David Olney,  Rod Picott, Luke Powers, Rebecca Weiner Tompkins, and yours truly. All but me are incredible musicians and songwriters, but for this show - they will let their words speak for them without music.  I will be reading from The Drift plus some selections from a forthcoming book.   FACEBOOK EVENT HERE!

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 nine - January - September 2018.  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.

JUST ADDED!  August and September 2018 Playlists!

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


I'm back. I was off work yesterday for Veteran's Day.  So, we are back with a Trending Tuesday shuffle of our "New Music" playlist.  Today's shuffle is heavily weighted with singer-songwriters - with some "not singer-songwriters" rounding out the shuffle.  To me that is what is fun about the random shuffle - the same mix of songs/artists/albums can produce such wildly different shuffles. Another day, we might have virtually no singer-songwriter type songs - and instead the shuffle may be more electronic/experimental/punk oriented.  Well... let's see about today's shuffle!

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - My Mission Today Mix

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ICYMI:  Earlier today, we posted our first ever E2TG Election Day Special with some new election day releases from Paul Maged and Flying Buffaloes. Read it HERE.

Words No Music A Reading coming Thursday, November 15, 2018 6:30pm Radio Cafe Nashville. No Cover, tips accepted and books will be for sale. We have an incredible line-up featuring David Olney,  Rod Picott, Luke Powers, Rebecca Weiner Tompkins, and yours truly. All but me are incredible musicians and songwriters, but for this show - they will let their words speak for them without music.  I will be reading from The Drift plus some selections from a forthcoming book.   FACEBOOK EVENT HERE!

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.

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!)
E2TG September 2018  (coming soon!)
E2TG October 2018  (coming soon!)


Well, it is Election Day 2018.  I hope you checked out our Election Special post (link up top of this post).

I'm definitely going to need music and lots of it to get me through the anxiety of the day...

Let's start with a shuffle filled with tons of first listens (including some new releases from some E2TG faves).  Plus some returning favorites.