It seems like almost my entire Facebook timeline is about John Prine, which would indicate that I follow my kinds of people.
John Prine's death at the hands of COVID-19 hit hard in my community and for me personally. First of all my thoughts go out to his family and close friends. For the rest of us, this was a hard loss in season of hard losses.
One thing I have learned about grief over the past nearly four months is that grief comes in waves and that subsequent losses aren't measured by a comparison of how close you were to the person who you lose. Rather, each loss is a ripple that compounds with the previous losses and sometimes the emotions of one loss (which may seem out of proportion to your relationship) are actually reflections and amplifications of other losses.
I don't know if that made sense, but I know what I am trying to say, but what I am trying to convey is that we all need to prepare for more losses over the next few weeks and to be prepared losses which hit harder than you might otherwise expect.
Stay safe everyone. We are getting through this and we will get through this.
The other certainty is that we will all be changed by this experience. It seems like a lot of out of our control. But, we can effect change on our new world. Will that new world reflect love and compassion and a priority on things that bring joy and newly honed commitment to priorities which match our values and greater self-sufficiency combined with a renewed understanding of our interdependence on each other.
It is all too much to take in all at once. So take it all one at a time and breath and focus on your breath and be gentle with yourself. Productivity within this crisis is admirable perhaps but it is not a competition and it is not mandatory. Stay connected even as you are keeping a safe distance and self-isolating.
As John Prine didn't sing, "It's a Happy Enchilada and you think your gonna drown..."
We venture forth into this brave new world... separated by distance and physical isolation, but trying to keep it together and stay connected by all of the technology that we both despise and rely upon...
I'll be honest, I am feeling disconnected and unfocused and fearful and lonely and confused and uncertain and unmotivated... but I am keeping on with E2TG as best as I can. I am behind on adding songs and updating the new release schedule. I am still working regular hours - just from home, but time is not the problem. Maybe it never was...
Anyway, thanks for sticking with me. One day, this time of quarantine and self-isolation and safer-at-home will pass. And while it still uncertain when that will be or what the next, next will look like, I will be here doing what I can.
Show alert! Two time E2TG Artist of the Year Darrin Bradbury will be at 3rd and Lindsley Sunday Night for a show hosted by a radio station that is not the one I am associated with... Excited every time I get to see Darrin perform live...
It is Friday, and time for another edition of the Featured Friday Playlist on Spotify. See below. 17 songs in the playlist this week. This week's playlist includes new and recent music by Nashville artists Evan P. Donohue (a founding member of Diarrhea Planet), The Singing Butcher, Party of Shine, Kyshona Armstrong, Irene Kelley, and Victoria Woodworth, Plus music from E2TG favorites Joe Goodkin, DateMonthYear, Sammy Brue, Tiny Fighter, and Christopher Paul Stelling. Plus, some newer "discoveries" like Kat Hamilton, Emily Zuzik, Chicago Farmer, Surrija, Wynnm, and HMS Morris. Check it out and give the playlist a follow on Spotify.
Featured Friday Playlist Brand New List Today!
Friday Shuffle:
Time to close out the week. It was a snowy morning commute. As usual, a delightfully eclectic mix of music.
"One Wish" by Habit of Mine (from Habit of Mind)
A first listen to this Los Angeles based alternative rock band. This came to us via a direct inquiry last month. Great sounding tune.
"Peggy Gordon" by Ricko Donovan (from Full On)
One-time Nashville resident, hammer dulcimer player, songwriter, and birthday brother Ricko Donovan is up next. Hope he makes it back to Nashville soon.
"Unfortunately" by Warming (from Warming)
"Horizon part.2" by Lions'Den (from Songbird)
"Sunken Aspects" by Claudio Conti (from Garnet Dusk)
"Rambling" by Moonshine Booze (from Desert Road)
"Trouble and Time" by Chris Carroll (from Trouble and Time)
I think there are over 5,000 songs saved in my phone memory, and a random shuffle brought up two songs this week from this 2014 album by the Texas singer-songwriter. We have been featuring her latest album Good Farmer (a collaboration with her husband Adam) recently.
"Remember the Love" by Heather Powell (from A Haze of Grays and Blues)
Speaking of defying the odds. Apparently, this song was save to my phone twice and came up on two consecutive days. The album was released in 2015, and yes, this track features Kevin Jenkins (for some reason he was credited on the track that came up yesterday but not on the track that came up today - I am sure they are the same track).
"Miles of Broadway" by Maynard and the Musties (from Cheap Cigar)
Nashville by way of Brooklyn band - with a track from an album released while they were living in New York.
"Salvation Jane" by INXS (The Best of INXS)
"Let the Four Winds Blow" by Warren Storm (from Taking the World, By Storm)
A cover of a 1961 Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino by legendary swamp pop pioneers Warren storm - on a album produced by Yvette Landry.
VIDEO PLAYLIST
Recent and Upcoming Releases:
Recent: 11/20 Brock Zeman - Hey Tom (a collection of Tom House Songs) (LP)(E2TG First Impression) 12/2 - Terry Klein - Live at KOOP (LP) 12/29 - Them Jones - "The Woman is a Poor Child" (single) 12/31 - Blackfoot Gypsies - Live at The Basement (LP) 1/06 - Francesco Mariano - "Room 107" (single) 1/07 - The Singing Butcher - "Top 40" (single) 1/08 - Luis Mojica- Shaman Food (LP) 1/10 - Palm Ghosts - "Wide Awake and Waiting" (single)(E2TG First Impression) 1/10 - Mary Bragg and Drivin' N Cryin' - "Don't Walk Away" (cover) (single) 1/10 - Them Airs - "Food Pyramid" (single) 1/10 - Lilly Hiatt - "Brightest Star" (single) 1/10 - Strange Majik - "Lo-Fi Hi" (single) (E2TG First Impression) 1/10 - Dean Fields - "Armadillo" (single) 1/10- Chicago Farmer - "All in One Place" (single) 1/10 - Surrija - "Nothing Love" (single) 1/10 - RB Morris - Going Back to the Sky (LP) 1/10 - Guided By Voices - "Volcano" (single) 1/10 - Sunshine Boys - "Infinity Girl" (single) 1/11 - Dolour (Shane Tutmarc) - "The Snake Eye" (single) 1/12 - Francesco Mariano - "Nine Lives" (single) 1/13 - Lauren Anderson - "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (cover) (single) 1/14 - Drive-By Truckers - "Thoughts and Prayers" (single) 1/16 - Margo Price - Stone Me (single) 1/17 - Mark Hummel - Wayback Machine (LP) 1/17 - Jonny Polonsky - "The Weeping Souls" (single) 1/17 - Them Airs - Union Suit XL (LP)(E2TG First Impression) 1/17 - Innocence Mission - See You Tomorrow (LP) 1/17 - David Dondero - The Filter Bubble Blues (LP) 1/17 - MONO INC. - "Warriors" (single) 1/17 - Damen - "Americana" (single) 1/17 - The Singing Butcher - "Circus Girl" (single) 1/19 - Merrill Beach - "Geen"/"Marimba" (single)(E2TG First Impression) 1/21 - Broads and Milly Hirst - "Happisburgh" (single) 1/22 - Davis Raines - Turquoise and Silver (LP) (E2TG First Impression) 1/24 - Kailey Nicole - Kailey Nicole (LP) 1/24 - Mrs. Henry - Live at the Casbah (LP) 1/24 - Aeronautical Pioneer - "Hop High" (single) 1/24 - Three Rivers Project - Confluence (LP) 1/24 - MONO INC. - The Book of Fire (LP) 1/24 - Dispel - Lore (LP) 1/24 - The New Nostalgia - "Nothing is New" (single) 1/24 - The Heliocentrics - "Burning Wooden Ship" (single) 1/24 - Electric High - "Harder to Justify" (single) 1/24 - J. Luke Cloutier - Drown (LP) 1/26 - Nik West - "Tears" (single) 1/28 - Motihari Brigade - Power from Below (LP) 1/29 - Remington Super 60 - NEW EP (EP) 1/31 - Eric Brace and Last Train Home - Daytime Highs and Overnight Lows (LP) 1/31 - Nick Pagliari - Midway (LP) 1/31 - Black Paisley - "Dreams" (single) 1/31 - Jolie Holland - Esconidida (Vinyl Reissue) (LP) 1/31 - John Dennis - Mortal Flames (LP) (E2TG First Impression) 1/31 - Emma Hill - How Could I Have Been So Wrong (EP) 1/31 - Ryan Sobb and the Dead Mall - Concrete Feelings (LP) (E2TG First Impression) 1/31 - Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten) + Danielle de Picciotto (Crime and The City Solution) - The Current (LP) 1/31 - Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling (LP) 1/31 - Kristen Englenz - "Rebound" (single) 1/31 - Damen - "Disco" (single) 1/31 - Tinsley Ellis - Ice Cream in Hell (LP) 1/31 - The Singing Butcher - "Coming Home" (single) 2/01 - Glenn Jones - Ready for the Good Times (LP)
2/02 - Karabas Barabas - Degenerate National Anthem (LP) 2/04 - Mayflower Madame - "Vultures" (single) 2/05 - Joseph Mooradian - "We all Work Too Much"/"Dash My Dreams" (single)
Out Today!: 2/07 - Palm Ghosts - Wide Awake and Waiting (EP) 2/07 - Emily Zuzik - "Trouble" (single) 2/07 - Chicago Farmer - Flyover Country (LP) 2/07 - Surrija - "Barcelona" (single) 2/07 - The Flyin' A's - No Holds Barred (LP) 2/07 - Harry Stafford - "She Just Blew Me Away" (single) 2/07 - Christopher Paul Stelling - Best of Luck (LP) 2/07 - HMS Morris - "Babanod" (single) 2/07 - Tiny Fighter- "Strangest Thing" (single) 2/07 - Wynnm - "Fire on the Moon" (single) 2/07 - The Golden Cage Society - Mira (Mini EP) 2/07 - Alienbaby Collective - "Degenerate Moon" (single) 2/07 - Eric and the Anti-Vaxxers - Timeshare Girlfriend (EP) 2/07 - Sammy Brue - "Teenage Mayhem" and "Crash Test Kid" (singles) 2/07 - Lucille - "Kerikeri" (single)
Upcoming: 2/14 - Grant Peeples - Bad Wife (LP) 2/14 - The Heliocentrics - Infinity of Now (LP) 2/14 - Johanna Kuvaja - "Back for Good" (single) 2/14 - Sarah Reynolds - "I Need Love" (single) 2/14 - Afterimage - "Six Seconds" (single) 2/14 - Kalee Smyth - "Bring Our Love Down" (single) 2/16 - Kas Havoc - "Light'em Up" (single) 2/21 - Sarah Morris - All Mine (LP) 2/21 - Kindergarten - Iphigenia (Reissue) (LP) 2/21 - Hot Club of L.A.- Cinema Swing (LP) 2/21 - MUUK - Balbuceo (LP) 2/21 - Aaron Beckum - Songs from a Triangle Room (EP) 2/21 - Every 13 Days - Étant Donnés (Reissue) (LP) 2/21 - Seablight - High-Rise Mannequins (EP) 2/21 - Various Artists -Typical Girls Vol. 5 (LP) 2/21 - 12xPretty - 12xPretty (LP) 2/21 - Arkane Skye - "Don't Ask Me Out" (single) 2/28 - Kristen Englenz - Ingenue (LP) 2/28 - Close Lobsters - Post Neo Anti... (LP) 2/28 - The Heliocentrics - Infinity of Now (LP) 3/?? - Strange Majik - 20/20 (LP) 3/04 - Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion - Chameleon (LP) 3/06 - Surrija - "Sylvette" (single)\ 3/06 - Dean Fields - While the Baby Was Sleeping (LP) 3/06 - Broads and Milly Hirst - Ollust (LP) 3/06 - The Mastersons - No Time for Love Songs (LP) 3/06 - Ghostwood Development Project (Feat. Kool Keith) - "Gulley" (single) 3/13 - The Flatmates - The Flatmates (LP) 3/13 - Kleenex Girl Wonder - Ponyoak (20th Anniversary Edition) + BLP (demos and out-takes) (LP) 3/13 - Sandwick - Reconstruct (LP) 3/13 - Foley and the Fire - "Springsteen on the Radio" (single) 3/13 - Kalee Smyth - The Ceiling (EP) 3/20 - Matt Wilson and His Orchestra - When I Was a Writer (LP) 3/20 - Chris Moyse - Bitter Ballads and Cynical Prayers (LP) 3/27 - Lilly Hiatt - Walking Proof (LP) 3/27 - Mayflower Madame - Prepared for a Nightmare (LP) 3/27 - Alienbaby Collective - F I S H B O W L / T E R R E S T R I A L (Double EP) 3/27 - Mairena - "Weird All the Time" (single) 3/27 - Lucille - Come on,Fly (LP) 4/03 - Surrija - Surrija (LP) 4/10 - Eliza Gilkyson - 2020 (LP) 4/10 - Dan Montgomery - Smoke and Mirrors (a phonographic memory) (LP) 4/10 - Pokey LaFarge - Rock Bottom Rhapsody (LP) 4/17 - Paul Burch and WPA Ballclub - Light Sensitive (LP) 6/12 - Sammy Brue - Crash Test Kid (LP)
*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.
This is my last day to remind you to make a donation to the WXNA Pledge Drive, but the drive runs through Sunday.
Time is marching on, and I am getting ready for a soft launch of E2TG version 3.0 soon. I am going to make some decisions over the weekend about the timing of the changes. December is historically the month we review the year that is winding down - which we do in the context of our annual awards - The Earies (tagline: They sound odd, but they really aren't)
*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.
ICYMI yesterday, we are in the midst of the Fall Pledge Drive for WXNA Nashville. I could go on and on as to WHY you should want to support WXNA (I just did on Facebook), but if you already know you want to make a donation, the HOW of it is really simple. Visit wxnafm.org. The info you need is right on the homepage - including details of the various levels of giving and the related premiums being offered. While at the website, you can livestream the station, check out the schedule and archives, and read more about the things that make WXNA a community resource.
