Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Basic Cable 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 three - January - May 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.

E2TG January 2018
E2TG February 2018
E2TG March 2018
E2TG April 2018 
E2TG May 2018 NEW


Had a great time at Dee's last night.  It is always a pleasure to see Wild Ponies - to me they are the best of what Nashville has to offer - both musically and as people.   They were fantastic last night.  Also on the bill was Suzanne Harper and Lindsay White.  Suzanne Harper is from the band Talks Like June. You may recall that about three years back, I humble bragged about getting to go to the famous Cash Cabin Studio - built by Johnny Cash and now run by John Carter Cash.  The event that brought me there was for Talks Like June. It was my first time seeing her since that day, and she was great. It was my first time (period) seeing Lindsay White. I really enjoyed her performance. Music was great, the hangs were great.

Tonight, I will make another pilgrimage to The 5 Spot for Tim Carroll's Rock n Roll Happy Hour.  The best free event (hell the best event (period)) in Nashville.

Well, we've made it to end of another week.  We dive back into our "new music" playlist.

Let's just get to it.

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:

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Emotionally Numb Mix

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On my mind... life seems to be about finding some sense of balance that works for you as an individual. At least this is true for me. Whether it is about staying in vs. going out or about finding the  beauty and joy in life vs. recognizing, exposing, and fighting against injustices. I don't think everyone's balance is the same. And to be honest, it's a little bit daunting to think I know what is best for everyone else.

Anyway, I went out last night - after working all day and then recording a Double Shot show (which will air November 4 with special guests Andy and Lee from Eight O'Five Jive). Headed to the High Watt where Allen Thompson opened for Austin Lucas and Brian Singer. I have to say (again) that I could listen to Allen Thompson sing just about every night.   Brian Singer and Austin Lucas are wrapping up their The Crooner and The Clown tour.  Brian Singer is a comedian. I love the idea of a comedian and a singer-songwriter touring together. I don't see comedians very often - mainly because I end up going to see music. Singer was really funny.  Austin Lucas was amazing as he is every time I see him. He sings with such emotional honesty and his stage presence is disarmingly genuine and funny.  Jon Latham joined him on a few songs which was cool. I was with Jon the first time I saw Austin Lucas.


It is Tuesday and time to see what is "Trending" on E2TG - as we work our way through the new music playlist - currently just under 400 songs but I have tons of e-mails and messages to go through.   It's probably close to time to clear off some songs that have lingering in the playlist for a fair amount of time (especially those from albums that have been featured extensively). Those songs will stay on my phone memory for possible "Wild Wednesday" shuffle feature....

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:

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - For Heather Mix

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Well, it sure is good to be back....

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Like many people, my uneasy mind is centered on the events that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.  I am sickened and saddened by so much. The senseless violence, the hate, the tepid response of the President... so much.  Denouncing Nazis and White Supremacists should be something that most Americans can agree upon and unite around, but it appears that is not the case. So many on the Right echo the response of the President and deflect with false equivalency or blame Obama (apparently for daring to be black and President for eight years).  Are there hate groups that are not Nazi's and White Supremacists? Sure. But that is not the topic today. As I have been saying on a regular basis since January, the current administration has placed people who hold the same views as those who lead the protests in Virginia into positions of power within the government.  Those people support this current President and believe they have his tacit approval for their actions. They seem to be correct. While I am happy that some Republican leaders are opening critical of the President's initial response (for the record, I am aware that he made some sort of speech today, but I have not had a chance to hear or read his words), but until and unless they use their positions to deal with this existential threat to our country and way of life, they are complicit in what is happening.

I do not have many solutions today. Except, I know I must speak out against fascism in any way I can, that I must work to free myself from the power of hate and fear, and that I must try my best to be a force for good in the world.

As I often write, there are many complex issues facing this country and this world. For many of this issues there is room and indeed benefit from health debate and compromise... fighting and speaking out against fascism and white supremacy is not one of this issues. A lot of good people in Germany in the 1930s remained silent. They did not actively support Hitler and the Nazis, but in their unwillingness to speak up and fight against that evil, they were complicit. I will not be complicit with the dark forces at work in our nation today.

I offer music as the only thing I know to help right now... This is for Heather Heyer.  If we allow the Nazi's to win, here name will be just the first of many victims. We cannot and must not let that happen...
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I am glad to be back, and I really needed the break on many different levels.  In clearing my head, I have a vision for E2TG going forward that I will work very hard to make real. I have given much thought and I think it is important that E2TG be what is supposed to be.  My goal is simply to do my part to help connect music with music lovers. I do so primarily through the use of my morning shuffles. I will occasionally do other types of posts, but that is not primarily what I do. I need to keep my focus and keep finding new ways to do what I do better. More on this soon.

I was fortunate to get to spend one wonderful day in Athens, Georgia at Athens Popfest. I sure wish I could have stayed longer, but what a day!  I got to see E2TG faves, The Foresters tear things up in their festival set. The band and some friends (including members of Discount Ravioli - who I have also written about - and Atticus Floyd who I have also written about) got to join The Apples in stereo on stage at the Georgia Theater.  The video showed it for the wonderful moment it was.

I also got to see another band we have featured here - The Veldt for North Carolina. Live - the completely blew me away - maybe one of my favorite live performances of the year.

Well, it is Monday and I am now short on time - so let's get to the Music City Monday shuffle....

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Leave it on the Shelf Mix

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Tentatively emerging from a blue funk I've been in, and a wonderful night of live music definitely helped out with that.

It started at The 5 Spot with Philly band Lady HD.  I really loved their sound. They said they were on their first tour and apparently the bass player was a fill-in from Nashville, but they sounded really tight.

Next up was Sean Quinn and the Tremblers. This version of the Tremblers featured Robbie Crowell on bass. Quinn is one of my absolute favorites.  His original songs reach a kind of pure power pop heaven for me.  He covered Chris Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" which I have heard him do before but last night the song just seemed to pop.

Kristen Englenz was up next with Sean Quinn sitting in.  This was my first time seeing her perform since week 2 of my residency and the first time with a full band. She sounded great. I only wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to hot-foot it over to the Basement East.

It was a night of the songs of John Prine -sponsored by Prine's label Oh Boy Records. It was a benefit for Jessi Zazu (Those Darlins) who is fighting cancer. The show was a sell out. The lineup included Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Ruby Amanfu, Lilly Hiatt, Elizabeth Cook, Cory Branan, Colter Wall, Caitlin Rose, The Whiskey Gentry, John Prine's son Tommy, Andrew Leahey, plus two E2TG Artists of the Year - Jon Latham and Darrin Bradbury (and more).  A great band backed several of the performances - led by drummer Jerry Pentecost and featuring Adam Kurtz of Buck N Stuff fame who played pedal steel, mandolin, and bongos.

I know I am biased but in my opinion (besides Jessi and John Prine's songs), the star of the show was Darrin Bradbury.  I say that because he performed solo and later with the band, he joined Elizabeth Cook for a fine rendition of "In Spite of Ourselves", and he ended up singing the last verse of the last song, "Paradise".

Overall, the music and the show was just about perfect and hopefully raised a lot of money for a great cause.  If you couldn't make it last night but want to help out Jessi, you may do so by visiting her You Caring site.



Whew!  And it is now Friday and the heat has at least temporarily broken... and we have a fine playlist of Featured Friday songs...  Now!

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!

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!

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....

Manic Monday Music Shuffle - Punchline Mix

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Hello Reader!

Well - I had the realization that we have just two weeks of shuffles left and then the first half of 2017 will be over.  It's been a busy year so far. I know New Years is the traditional time to make life changes (or at least to talk about it), but I like to think of June 30 as kind of halftime for the year.  In my limited knowledge of football, it seems like teams that are good at making halftime adjustments tend to do better (overall).  Okay sports analogy over.  Anyway, as I sit here on the verge of the 2nd half of 2017, I noticed I have over 300 songs in my "New Music" playlist. All (with one or two exceptions) represent music that was submitted to me in one form or another in relatively recent months.  I also noticed that some recent additions have been underplayed - the nature of the random shuffle, and there are also some stragglers (one or two songs from albums nearly or over one year old). It seems like a good time to tidy up the playlist, but before I do, I thought I would dedicate the next two weeks to just playing songs from the "New Music" playlist to clean it out a little naturally.

This would normally be Music City Monday - but as I suspected over half of the songs in this shuffle would have fit that playlist, too.

Let's shuffle!

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Sleepless in Nashville Mix

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Honestly, I try to keep my commentaries at least semi-cordial - not that the current administration does that not even necessarily deserves it, but there have been so many straws.  Seriously, how more reprehensible can this administration be?  I can't believe this will go on for four more years.  I just can't.  About "covfefe" - you know if you are someone who cares about other human beings - then this year has been horrendously painful. You got to get your laughs when you can. Every once in a while, I will visit the Facebook page of one of the handful of "T-Rump" supporters I am friends with  (I generally do well with muting these posts from my newsfeed). Anyway, I wanted to check in to see what they were saying about "covfefe" - and there is actually a  (now debunked) piece that claims the "word" is a translation of an Arabic term meaning We Will Stand or some such.  By debunked, I mean the original article has some convoluted Google Translation that seems to indicate the meaning. It is based upon a false use and reading of Google Translate. Which means, even if the president intended to use it in this way, he was basing the usage on a erroneous source (not the first time there).  But, it got me thinking about a bigger issue... let's say the translation had been correct and that had been the intent of the "Tweet"... imagine if it had been President Obama who had tweeted an Arabic term - can you even imagine the outrage from the right?  Ugh!  Look, I don't care about weird tweets, I worry about the damage being done to this nation's reputation and standing in the world.  Honestly, I would be among the first to tell you that the Democratic party is less than ideal, and I hope they will improve and make some adjustments in policy and strategy, BUT,  the situation now is so dire that I feel even some options I previously viewed as odious are looking better,,,,,
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Anyway, it's Friday and we have some Featured tunes for the day!  I love that even my "New Music" playlist is so diverse. It's easy to get pigeonholed and I have worked hard to keep E2TG as wildly inclusive as possible, and the variety of submissions I get reflects that I am succeeding on that count - at least.

Shuffle!

E2TG Reviews: Never Meant to Last - Sean Quinn and The Tremblers

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“Summer loving is so typical, for the first time it feels like it’s reciprocal. I saw you dancing on the side of the stage, trying so hard not to act your age.” 

So, begins “Later Days” which, after a short, sultry instrumental "Prologue", kicks off Never Meant to Last - the debut album by Sean Quinn and The Tremblers. This is pure, kick ass, sweet, ballsy pop music. Bringing to mind music from several decades before, but refreshingly original and catchy as hell.