Monday Morning Music Shuflle - All for Show Mix

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Over the weekend, I began working on the Featured Artists list for next month and narrowed my list from 52 down to 20.  I'm happy about this list, and I look forward to bringing you another great list of featured artists from all around the world.

 Meanwhile, in our Band of the Month voting, Black Jake and the Carnies continue to lead, while The Foresters have moved into second.

We shuffle up some music from our archives, so let's get to it.


Jeremy was the third single from Pearl Jam's 1991 debut album, Ten.  "Jeremy spoke in class, today." (see I Don't Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats)

 

The next song in our Monday Shuffle is from one of the bands that contributed to the soundtrack of my young adult years.  I had the good fortune of seeing Guadalcanal Diary live several times in the late 80s.  Watusi Rodeo is off of the Georgia band's full length debut, Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man and is a rollicking, foot stomping, rave-up of a good time. "Don't they know it's all for show..."

 

Johnny Cash released his debut album in 1955.  With His Hot and Blue Guitar included the now classic Folsom Prison Blues. In 1968, Cash would performed the song at Folsom Prison and released the classic At Folsom Prison a live album which helped to revitalize his career. "I hear that train a-coming..."

Kill the Messenger is the opening track from John Wesley Harding's under-appreciated 1992 album Why We Fight. It's a great song from an amazing album.  If you missed out on this, do yourself a favor a check it out.  Like all truly great songs, it has a timeless quality, and is not at all rooted in the year it was made.

 

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Featured Friday Music Shuffle - Rose Garden Mix

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Good morning, well we are just a few days into our October Band of the Month voting, and so far, Black Jake and the Carnies have a commanding lead. From prior months voting, however, I can tell you that things can change quickly.  So go vote and vote some more:





Today, we shuffle up a playlist of songs by this month's featured artists.


First up are the youthful Rockers from Connecticut, The Foresters.  In addition to voting for them for Band of the Month, be sure to help them earn a spot opening for Sum 41.  They have video cover of a Sum 41 song entered in a contest through the website TopBlip. Vote HERE.
While Ear to the Ground can't offer opening spots for becoming Band of the Month, we can guarantee the winner a primo spot on the bill of the first annual Ear to the Ground Fest whenever and wherever that happens.. :-) Today, we have the band's rocking tune, Rubber Band.

Here's the Band's Cover of Sum 41's Underclass Hero

Next, we have the Brennen Leigh's Just to Hear My Little Bluebird Sing from her 2010 album, The Box.

A year ago at this time Forest Mountain Hymnal released a spooky collections of songs, called Fitcher's Bird and Other Tales of the Macabre. From that release comes, Lady Margaret (Child Ballad 74). 

Here's a video promo for the album

Here is a video of another version of the Lady Margaret tale

And finally, we close out this music shuffle with a song from current Band of the Month front-runners, Black Jake and the Carnies.  Farmer Had Him Rats is just a raucous good time.  It's off the Michigan band's 2011 album Sundry Mayhems.  

 

The Band released an EPK today and here it is:

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Party Dress Mix

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 Great to hear Allison - first thing this morning on the radio - thanks Mary Brace and Lightning 100 for that. Here we go... 


Vulture Kult have recently released their second album which is called, Don't Let Rock n' Roll Ruin Your Life. Vultures from Above is a real treat, a neo-classical sounding hard rock track with strong vocals and real, live screaming guitars.  Vulture Kult, as I mentioned the last time I wrote about them, have a Psychedelic groove to their music that I like a whole lot.

Stream the album here, purchase it here.

Buddy Miller is a significant force in the Americana movement.  A singer, songwriter, producer and collaborator.  Here we have a track from his 1995 HighTone Records debut, Love and Other Lies.  That's How I Got to Memphis is a cover of a song Tom T. Hall wrote for Bobby Bare, Sr.

 

Earlier this year, Rodney Crowell put out an album called KIN: Songs by Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell. Mary Karr is a poet, essayist and memoirist. Karr wrote the lyrics for the songs on the album and Crowell put the lyrics to music.  An All-Star that includes Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill and Lucinda Williams, performs the songs.  I'm a Mess is done by Crowell himself. 

Seattle-based Hip-Hop duo, THEESatisfaction have put out an EP length mixtape called THEESatisfaction Loves Anita Baker.  Today, we have the track, Black Fact.  Check it out:

 

Here's another THEESatisfaction track

Here's Anita Baker herself....

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Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - This is a Mix Mix

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We've arrived at  the mid-point of the week. Busy, busy...  Let's get to the awesome shuffle we have for today:

First up, we have another song off the fantabulous newish album by our good friends, The Dead Exs who are back in New York after conquering the hell out of Texas.  The new album is called Relovolution and today's song is the scorching Get Over.    By the way, David Patillo of the band has created an app for Spotify called h1tcher which is pretty cool.  If you Spotify, check it out.

Here's another Relovolution song from the Texas tour

Chicago-based Joe Pug writes great songs.  His album, The Great Despiser came out in April on Lightning Rod Records, and today we have Hymn #76 from that record.

American Football was an Illinois-based band active in the late 1990s to 2000.  They are described as an emo band.  The song we have today is called Never Meant which was on their self-titled album but which we culled from a Polyvinyl Records compilation.  By the way, you know how Europeans and others get irritated when American's call their football, soccer? Why don't they turn around and call American Football soccer?  Just curious....

I've just recently been introduced to the New York duo Walking for Pennies.  They are self-described as folk americana/pop with bluegrass and motown influences. I have to say the whole bluegrass and motown thing grabbed my attention, and I'm glad it did.  Walking for Pennies has some really great music, and I am looking forward to hearing and sharing more of it in the weeks to come.  For now, we'll start off with a song from their album Forget About Wonderland which just came out at the beginning of this month, and a song about my town - Nashville.

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Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Discarded Detritus Mix

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Have you voted yet?  No? Well, go VOTE!  Yes? Well, go VOTE again?  Not sure, well VOTE!  I guess I'm saying - it's that time of the lunar cycle... no not that time... the time when we ask you, loyal reader, to take part in a demonstration of out-of-control competitiveness and to help determine the Band of the Month for October 2012. Look, music is what matters, and all of the voting etc. is just an excuse to put the music out there again, plus, if two or three bands really get into it, it can be tons o' fun.  So go VOTE!
 Oh yeah, and for our U.S. readers, there is some sort of election thing happening soon, and you should probably vote in that, too.

We have a packed music shuffle today, so let's get to it.


The Imperial Rooster keep it concise and to the point with this track from Decent People. 45 Seconds of Blood delivers just what it promises (actually the track clocks in at 48 seconds, but the blood only lasts for 45 of those).

 
Here's The Imperial Rooster from this year's CXCW fest (anti-fest?)

San Diego Indie Rock band Future of Forestry released an album in July called Young Man Follow.  Today we've got Would You Come Home. There is a certain lushness to this record that I'm really digging. Check it out:

Tipi Valley have been on our radar for a number of months.  We've had them as a Featured Artists and several of their songs have appeared in Morning Music Shuffles.  In July, Tipi Valley released an acoustic-leaning EP called In the Woods. Now, they are back with the follow-up, Beautiful Sunrise, on which they plug in, power up and offer 4 great new songs including Needle For Your Love which is part of today's shuffle.  Man oh man, I love this song.  Obviously, I'm a fan of Tipi Valley, and I've been impressed by the diversity of music they've offered.  Needle for Your Love offers a sonic blast reminiscent of Husker Du/Bob Mould with some Beatlesque hooks and enough fuzzy goodness to maintain the band's shoegaze rep (I still don't know what shoegaze means by the way).  Check out the latest from Tipi Valley.


Next, we continue digging into Marvin Etzioni's excellent and epic double album, Marvin Country!  Lay It On the Table features the lovely and talented Lucinda Williams joining Marvin for a Sam Shepard worthy tale of broken love and fractured hearts.

 

Here's a video of Marvin, Lucinda and friends playing together.

And finally, The Dixie Hummingbirds are a Gospel group who have been making music for more than 80 years.  They perform a version of You Are the Light on Marvin Country!  Here we have When the Dollar Rules the Pulpit which we pick up off on of the albums to come out of the Occupy movement.

 

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Band of the Month Polls are Open

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Read up on the October Featured Artists and then vote below:




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Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Free Fallin' Mix

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 After a long fall break, it's back to school for the kids which means back to early mornings for me.  Man, by the end of last week I was feeling all kinds of grateful for the amazing things happening with the blog.  I'm looking forward to sharing all of them with you in time.  But, suffice it to say, whatever expectations I had when I started Ear to the Ground have been exceeded many times over.

A great shuffle today:


First up, we have Austin Texas band The Raindoggs with a funky, jazzy instrumental from their One Armed Bandit album.  Black was a great backdrop for the walk up the hill on this cloudy Monday morning.  Also, check out The Raindoggs website and click on the "Friends of Ours" tab and look who's at the top of the page!

 

Here's a video for another song by The Raindoggs

 

 


Next up is a timely number by South Carolina band Loner's Society. The A-side of their latest single on King City Records is called Pinstripes. Apparently, it's about some baseball team for the East Coast baseball club who have apparently done well historically up to and including this season.  

 

Our final song today comes from the 2010 album Come Around Sundown, which was the last we've heard from Kings of Leon (as of today). There were rumblings about a new album being in the works as recently as August of this year.  I can't say that I'm a huge Kings of Leon fan, but Back Down South is one of my favorites.  It makes me think about hanging out in the woods, bonfires, swimming holes and... wait, that's the video...

 

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