Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Dying Light Mix

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Time keeps moving along. This is the last week in March!  It's time for our Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle.

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - AndaBuckNStuffToYouAsWell 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!)


Life sure is crazy.  I feel like I am constantly busy and never seem to get anything done.  I did manage to get some music added to my "New Music" playlist. Some of that new music shows up today - along with some older stuff - because this is Wednesday - which we call "Wild Wednesday"  It's a shuffle of all 2,500+ songs stored on my phone memory card. 

I am desperately trying to get things done this week because next week is Americana Fest week, and I know from experience I don't get much done that week.  More on that later.

Theme Thursday Morning Shuffle - Save the World Mix

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Warning: Long rant ahead...

Some facts (real facts not alternate facts):  I am the parent of a child with disabilities who has benefited from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  The IDEA (in case you do not know - which I did not until it become relevant to me) is a complex (and wonderful) federal law. To keep it simple, one of the things that the law requires is that all students with disabilities (physical, intellectual...) be provided the opportunity to learn in the least restrictive environment - which means kids with disabilities cannot simply be locked away out of sight in a basement - as they often were before this law was enacted.

Now, this President who openly mocked an individual with disabilities while campaigning (and don't even try to throw the ridiculous spin at me that tries to say he did not) has nominated for Secretary of Education someone who openly opposes many of the provisions of the IDEA and who during her confirmation hearing appeared to not even know what the IDEA was.

Furthermore, this President's nominee for Attorney General in testimony before Congress in 2000, while seeming to praise the "intent" of the law, bemoaned the fact that the law requires school systems to give students with disabilities "special treatment".  This "special treatment" is actually what the law intends. Qualifying students with special needs have a Individualized Education Program (IEP) which is developed by a team that includes educators, specialists, and parents. The idea, to put it simply, is that "special" plans/programs are needed to assure all students are given the best opportunity available.  Honestly, in a perfect world, every student should have some sort of IEP - because all kids learn differently... but that is another topic.

Just to clarify, to comments from the AG nominee should be alarming to any parent of a child with disabilities because they point to possible interpretations or modifications of the law which would undermine the intent of the law and set our education system back to some very dark times for the children who benefit from the IDEA.

This is just one, more personal, reason that I am breaking from my usual non-political comment policy. This is not political. The IDEA has long held wide-spread bi-partisan support (although the fight for full funding is another issue).

RANT OVER!

I had a good time at the opening night of Brian Langlinais' Residency at The 5 Spot. Lynn Taylor and The Bar Flies opened the night.  Really good music from a couple of Louisiana natives.  After that, I was physically pretty wiped out and had to retreat home which means I, regretfully, missed a show at The Basement which included 2016 E2TG Artist of the Year Brian Wright. From all accounts, I missed a great one - which I already knew...

Now, let's get to the music.   It is Thursday and we return to our relatively new Theme Thursday shuffle. Contrary to what I said last week, I have decided to keep going with our (unstated) January theme.  I still have songs in that playlist and it seems to be more relevant every day, Disclaimers continue... some songs are included only for their title (as it COULD be interpreted) and some for their subject matter. The interpretations are mine alone, and the inclusion of any song/artist is not intended to suggest that they or their songs have anything to do with my theme.
One more tidbit of information, I created this playlist solely out of the songs already on my phone at the time it was created.

WTF Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Planet Earth Mix

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Like many (but not all, I know) of my friends, I am devastated and saddened and confused by what has transpired.  I am kind of, but not totally, at a loss for words right now. I do know this... I am not moving to Canada or anywhere else because of what has happened. (As tempting as that thought may be). And I hope none of my friends who feel so compelled do either (although as I said, I understand the thought). The fact is that right now, the very people who feel so compelled are needed now more than ever. Anyone in a minority (racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, disability) needs us.

Here is a little truth bomb.  That factors that lead to this outcome (be that ignorance, fear, bigotry of any kind, anger) those factors did not begin with one man - they were exploited and revealed.  Those who reject all of those things... we now have a better idea of how big a fight we have.

And for the record, to me, this is not about politics. I understand and respect that we all have different out looks.  I may not support fiscal conservatism, but I understand it and accept that it is a valid viewpoint. What I cannot understand or accept as a valid viewpoint - is misogyny, mocking the disabled, xenophobia, homophobia, racism, etc.).  Maybe, I am an eternal optimist, but I choose to believe that the majority of people who voted for that candidate (who opening displayed and supported those things) did not do so for those reasons directly - but rather for reasons I cannot begin to fathom but which I could at least accept on some level.

I also understand that not everyone who reads E2TG will agree with what I have just written. E2TG has always been and will continue to be about music and the power it has to uplift and move and comfort and to transform.

So, again, I turn to music.... I have not created (and may not create) a "Wild Wednesday" playlist.  Rather, today's shuffle includes every single song currently residing on my phone memory card.

Also, just for today, I changed the name of the shuffle... because, seriously, WTF!

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Am I a Shadow Mix

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A couple of East Nashville's finest songwriters crossed the river last night for a casual show in the front room at the recently reopened 12th and Porter. Joseph Robert Krauss writes really good songs, has a great voice, and his mildly self-deprecating humor hit the right notes, too.

The thing that struck me about Darrin Bradbury last night is that he is a true performer (dare I say entertainer?)  My appreciation for his songwriting is well documented, but last night, his talent as a performer really hit me.  Having seen him in a variety of settings (from band shows at his well-attended January residency to Saturday's impromptu performance for a handful of people under a canopy in the rain to last night's loose/casual solo performance in front of  relatively small crowd), what I noticed and realized last night is that regardless of the circumstance or setting, Darrin performs and performs well.   For me it was great to hear some older songs which he does not play very often.

Also, Brock Zeman and Blair Hogan are returning to Nashville with shows tonight for $2 Tuesday at The 5 Spot and tomorrow night at Bobby's Idle Hour.

Time for a shuffled peak into what is currently trending at E2TG:

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Wrecks the Body and Destroys the Mind Mix

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Last night, I made my first visit to Little Harpeth Brewery (I love their beer) which located just about five minutes from where I park for work.  It was a fun night of good beer, cheap friends, and music (to paraphrase an obscure Darrin Bradbury song lyric).  Speaking of which, the music for the evening was provided by the aforementioned Bradbury and Hushabye Baby (who I saw for the first time and really liked).

It is Friday! Time for some Featured music... via the shuffle function...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Nine Monkey Years Mix

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Let me preface what is likely to be another gushing  paragraph or so about what an amazing time it is to be a music fan in Nashville with the following:  I write a bunch about Nashville's live music scene because that is where I am and it is what I am experiencing. I do know that there are some amazing pockets of awesome musical stuff happening all over the world. Through writing this blog, I have been fortunate enough to "discover" tons of great music from all over and get a peak into some of these pockets of creativity and collaboration.   In that spirit one of my goals for E2TG in 2016 is to forge some partnerships with other writers so that this site can dig deeper into more of the great music happening.  Truth be told, I cannot even adequately cover Nashville's music so I would like to also forge some partnerships here in town.  I will be posting more as I move forward, but if you read this and have some ideas or interest, please contact me at e2tgmusic@gmail.com.  Be sure to put E2TG2016 as part of the subject line to make sure I see it.

For the last three weeks, iconic Nashville musician/singer/songwriter Jason Ringenberg (Jason and the Scorchers, Farmer Jason) has been doing a residency every Wednesday at The 5 Spot.  For me this has been a fantastic combination of the music I listened to in my musical formative years and one of my favorite haunts of this later phase of my life. The music has been fantastic, the guests have been spectacular, and there have been wonderful surprises every week. Last night, Jason was joined by Tommy Womack - one of the best this town has to offer. Tommy Womack played some music from his forthcoming new album, some of his timeless classics, and a pretty darn cool Jason and the Scorchers cover.  Jason played a great mix of songs from his long history, an awesome Tommy Womack cover, and then the two of them played some songs they wrote together. 

If you've missed the first three week, you have one more opportunity to catch Jason at The 5 Spot. Next week, he will be joined by Fats Kaplin and Kristi Rose for what should be a wonderful finale.

Forward to the shuffle...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Adventure and Fun Mix

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This crazy time of year... Here I am posting this on a Thursday evening.  Circumstances, blah, blah, blah... Any way, let's get to it...

Last night, I had a blast - another great show at The Basement (the original one).  "Earie" Award winners, Richie Owens and  the Farm Bureau put on another outstanding show that included a version of "Can't Be Satisfied" featuring Richie Owens on the lap steel.  Bassist John Reed and stand-up drummer Brian O'Hanlon were in fine form.  I also got to see Saint Luke's Drifters for the first time.  They called their sound Rockified Country. Songs ranged from high energy rockers that brought to my mind the Scorchers to some very honky-tonkish country songs. Vocal duties were shared and each singer brought something unique to the band's sound.  I really enjoyed myself, and I hope to hear much more.

So, by my rough count, there will be seven more regular E2TG posts before the end of the year - not counting any weekend or holiday bonus posts.  My plan is to hand out "Earies" each of those days with Wednesday December 30, being reserved for the 5th Annual Ear to the Ground Artist of the Year. Which I will for the first time dub, the "Golden Earier" Award.

But, I am getting ahead of myself.  We have some "Earies" to give away today.

Prologue:  I have been having a really good time handing out these awards.  Even though the categories are sometimes a bit silly, the sentiment behind them is very real.  I really want to write about and honor artists who have made a big impression on my in 2015 (and before in some cases). I could have just made a list or handed out awards without giving them names, but really, this is more fun isn't it?  I say all this to preface the fact that I have struggled a bit with what to call this next award.  Flippantly, I thought about the Six Degrees Award - as my having met these remarkable people has moved me up a few degrees of separation from some of the my all-time favorite artists (and some of the most famous in the world). But, really that name would only serve to diminish the extraordinary artists they are in their own right.

So - I hereby name this award the "Legends in Their Own Right" Award.  And I am going to just get to it before I overthink it and decide to change the name again....

1.  Reckless Johnny Wales -  The first time I encountered Reckless Johnny, I did not know who he was, but I suspected (correctly it turns out), that I was in the presence of someone remarkable. The next time, and when I finally got to meet him, I was standing on what can only be called Hallowed Ground - namely the Cash Cabin recording studios... if those walls could talk... and even though I did not hear the walls talk that night (although it would not surprise me if some who have been there have heard stranger things than that), I did get to hear some of Reckless Johnny's stories about meeting Johnny Cash and many others.  More importantly, as a result of that meeting, I received a copy of Reckless Johnny Wales' American Heart, and any doubts that I might have had (I didn't really) were tossed out the window.  The music on that album demonstrates that the remarkable storied life (lives?) can and were translated into some memorable music.  I have a full review in my plans for early 2016, so I will stop here for now.

2.  Bebe Buell - Speaking of a life filled with stories...  As perhaps one of the world's most famous groupies, Bebe Buell experienced first hand some of the defining moments of the rock and roll era. I will leave it to you to read more about her remarkable life, but for me the most important thing is happening now.  Throughout all of those interactions with rock and roll royalty, Bebe Buell was paying attention.  Having relocated to Nashville a few years ago, Buell is now focused on her own music pursuits. I first saw her performing Tom Petty songs with the amazing Long Players, and then I saw her own show at 3rd and Lindsay, and I was impressed by her music and her stage presence. That night and again at the end of October, I also saw that she is still the ultimate rock and roll fan - which is obviously when she talks about and dances to the music of the Blackfoot Gypsies.

3.  Julie Christensen (Stone Cupid) - Julie Christensen is another fairly recent transplant to our fair city.  Christensen's musical career includes being a part of one of the pioneering Country/Punk bands, The Divine Horsemen with her husband at the time, Chris Desjardins founder of the legendary Flesheaters - a band whose membership history reads like a role call of the very best of Los Angeles music of the late 70s to early 80s.   Later, Christensen spent several years as a featured background singer with Leonard Cohen.  She reunited Cohen for the now legendary I'm Your Man concert film and album.  Upon, relocating to Nashville (and even before), Julie Christensen began working with some of the finest writers and musicians this town has to offer.  Her band, now called Stone Cupid, features an incredible line-up.  Sergio Webb and Chris Tench are two of the finest guitar players in a city that has a few... and the rhythm section features Steve Latanation (Agent Orange) and Bones Hillman who was member of Midnight Oil throughout there was most successful years. (UPDATE: There is reason I do not usually post late, I totally forgot to mention Stone Cupid's new album The Cardinal which will officially be out early in 2016.  And I wanted to mention, that Stone Cupid played during the final week of the original Family Wash, and that show was one my favorite live shows of the year.)

On a personal note, having met them all, I am I find myself more interested in the people they are and the music they are making now than I am in their remarkable past.  But, to be honest, I will not walk away from a great story about some of the most important musical giants of our time...

To the shuffle (before it is Friday): (a regular shuffle - we'll hop back into the season music next week).

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Just Can't Win Mix

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After today, there are only nine work days left in 2015.  Which means no more than nine more days of the "Earies"  (unless I hit panic mode and start posting on weekends which is not out of the question).

So the next award...

I call this one the "Far From East Nashville" Award.

The premise:  I had a funny moment a while back when I was introduced as someone who writes an East Nashville music blog.  It was meant as a compliment, and I took it as such, but it did give me pause. When I started writing Ear to the Ground (on a lark and with no experience writing about music) back in May of 2011, some interesting things began to happen.  For whatever reason, when I wrote about Nashville bands and artists, I was generally ignored, but when I wrote about band's from elsewhere, it seemed more likely that my posts would be acknowledged, appreciated, and shared. This is not a criticism of Nashville musicians. My take was, honestly, that the folks in Nashville knew that I wasn't one of the "big players" when it came to music writing in Nashville. Meanwhile, folks from other places maybe didn't know that and so they gave me a chance.  I am forever grateful for the music and wonderful people I discovered and met during that period of Ear to the Ground, and my ear continues to be open to great music from any locale. But, in a very unintentional way, I have been able to meet and hear some of the amazing talents this town has to offer. Over the past year, in particular, I have noticed and maybe you have, too, that more and more Nashville artists (East or not) have been showing up in my posts. However, as I said, I still keep my ears open to wherever I am lead, and so this award goes out to International Artists who have been a big part of E2TG.

The Awards Go To:

1.  Start closest to home:  Brock Zeman has been on my radar for a while, but in 2015 he released, Pulling Your Sword from the Devil's Back.  I also was fortunate enough to see him three times this year. Once in an amazing round at The Bluebird Café, and later on subsequent nights at The Family Wash and The 5 Spot.  Shoot, I almost consider Brock and his musical partner Blair Hogan to be honorary Nashvillians.  Nevertheless, they are from Canada.

2.  Also from our neighbor to the north: Velodrones/Bosveld. Again, Velodrones which is Stopmo Turt Darren has been on our radar for a while.  In 2015, his project Bosveld released Veldbrand a very beautiful and unique collection of songs that combine several different and divergent music styles and wonderfully original way.

3.  From a bit further away, Jeremy Gluck.  You may recall back in the Spring or so, I think we had a Jeremy Gluck song in the shuffle for what seemed like weeks.  We were spinning tunes from Memory Deluxe: I Knew Buffalo Bill 2 which was actually release in 2014.  The album was a follow up to his 1987 album, I Knew Buffalo Bill - an album that featured Jeffery Lee Pierce of The Gun Club, Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks, and others.   Gluck was in the band The Barracudas, and more recently has been working on a project called Plasticon (and some other projects). 

4.  Getting further away:  Artur U and  The New City Limits. From Helsinki, Finland.  Artur U and the New City Limits released their full length debut, Holiday from Eternity early this year. I fell in love with the high energy grooves. They are very closely connected to some of our friends at True Groove in Brooklyn.

5.  The farthest from East Nashville award:  The Transcendents.   From Christchurch, NZ.  I first connected with this band via their self-titled debut which was released late in 2014.  In 2015, they released two EPs, Lay Where You Collapse and Common Ground.  I really love the way this band creates unique and challenging soundscapes that still remain rooted in the kind of awesome pop music that I grew up listening to.

Congrats to the winners:

To the shuffle (I'm low on time!)