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Okay - false alarm. I'm still on my old phone for at least one more day. I did get my new phone, and I'm excited about it, but it was not quite ready to go this morning. My old phone is not doing well, but hopefully it will last long enough....
I'm just going to jump right into the Featured Friday shuffle - we have all sorts of things today: a bamboo harvester, a wolf, space pants, pistols, an inflatable duck, and a row boat and more...
Friday, October 6, 2017
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Sanctified Mix
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Well, I managed to keep my phone alive for one last day before the new phone arrives.
It's kind of big deal for E2TG when I change phones. The blog is based upon the songs and playlists I shuffle on my phone during my morning commute. Every time, I change phones I wonder how the new music player will work. And I worry that the new "upgrade" of whatever will decide that everyone streams so why have a way to play your own music. Or what if it doesn't support playlists or what if I somehow lose all of the music... Yeah, I worry a lot.
Anyway, this could be the last shuffle on the old phone. And the last from the current "New Music" playlist which stands at 465 songs after today's songs are taken off..
Anyway, it's been a hell of a bad week and music and work have kept me busy.
In the shameless self-promotion category, I have been furiously working all week on the final details of publishing my novel, The Drift. I've been trying to write the text for the back cover of the book. For some reason, I really struggle with writing about myself and my work in this way. Type, backspace, type, backspace, undo, cut, type, paste, backspace, undo, new file, type, reread, get up and walk around, backspace, type, type, save, reread, get up again....
It's shuffle time - let's go!
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
Well, I managed to keep my phone alive for one last day before the new phone arrives.
It's kind of big deal for E2TG when I change phones. The blog is based upon the songs and playlists I shuffle on my phone during my morning commute. Every time, I change phones I wonder how the new music player will work. And I worry that the new "upgrade" of whatever will decide that everyone streams so why have a way to play your own music. Or what if it doesn't support playlists or what if I somehow lose all of the music... Yeah, I worry a lot.
Anyway, this could be the last shuffle on the old phone. And the last from the current "New Music" playlist which stands at 465 songs after today's songs are taken off..
Anyway, it's been a hell of a bad week and music and work have kept me busy.
In the shameless self-promotion category, I have been furiously working all week on the final details of publishing my novel, The Drift. I've been trying to write the text for the back cover of the book. For some reason, I really struggle with writing about myself and my work in this way. Type, backspace, type, backspace, undo, cut, type, paste, backspace, undo, new file, type, reread, get up and walk around, backspace, type, type, save, reread, get up again....
It's shuffle time - let's go!
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Lost in the Shuffle Mix
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TFW the President of the United States cannot meet the basic standards of human decency let alone the qualification of the job of President of the United States of America.... when will this madness end?
********************************************************************************
A couple of notes:
1. Even though I am focusing on the "New Music" playlist for at least the next month, I have decided to keep Wild Wednesday intact. It is a good opportunity to dig into the subbasement of my phone's memory to pull out gems which might have slipped by. These may be "new music" or "Nashville based" or #E2TG related, or they may be classics from my collection or unusual recent discoveries (that don't fit the other categories)
2. My phone seems to be dying. I have ordered a new phone which means I will be transferring the music to that device when it arrives. In my experience, transferring the songs is fine, but I will likely lose all my playlists. If that is the case, I will begin by rebuilding my new music playlist to the best of my ability (and I may take that opportunity to thin out some older songs from that list). If for some reason, I don't have time to set up the playlist, expect Wild Wednesday shuffles until I get that done.
Now, back behind the curtain... here's the shuffle!
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
TFW the President of the United States cannot meet the basic standards of human decency let alone the qualification of the job of President of the United States of America.... when will this madness end?
********************************************************************************
A couple of notes:
1. Even though I am focusing on the "New Music" playlist for at least the next month, I have decided to keep Wild Wednesday intact. It is a good opportunity to dig into the subbasement of my phone's memory to pull out gems which might have slipped by. These may be "new music" or "Nashville based" or #E2TG related, or they may be classics from my collection or unusual recent discoveries (that don't fit the other categories)
2. My phone seems to be dying. I have ordered a new phone which means I will be transferring the music to that device when it arrives. In my experience, transferring the songs is fine, but I will likely lose all my playlists. If that is the case, I will begin by rebuilding my new music playlist to the best of my ability (and I may take that opportunity to thin out some older songs from that list). If for some reason, I don't have time to set up the playlist, expect Wild Wednesday shuffles until I get that done.
Now, back behind the curtain... here's the shuffle!
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Free Fallin' Mix
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Well.... yesterday was pretty much an all-around crappy day. Waking the news from Las Vegas and the finding out about Tom Petty.
There is much I want to say about Tom Petty - some of which I have heard other people say better than I could.
As a writer, music has always inspired me. First writing fiction, a line from a song would trigger a story. I remember once, being stuck on a short story I was writing, and then going to see some songwriters play and getting lost in their music and suddenly the story coming together in my mind - no so much a direct reaction to a song or a line, but just some cosmic inspiration reaching out of the melody and telling me how the story needed to go.
"Free Fallin'" I can't say that it is my favorite Tom Petty song - but I do confess to loving it - but back around the turn of this century, I was in the midst of writing 365 short, short stories based upon secondary (and incidental) characters from my novel, The Drift (I ended up writing 388 stories) and a whole series of these stories was inspired by "Free Fallin'" - "All the vampires walkin' through the valley/ Move west down Ventura Blvd./ And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows/ All the good girls are home with broken hearts"
Music is important to me. And yesterday was a hard day, but music will ultimately heal. I find myself saying this quite often, but it is what I believe to be the truth.
It would have been easy to just stay in last night, but I chose to go out and listen to people make music. It was just what I needed. Thanks to Brian Milligram, John Dennis, Jason Erie, and Josh Gray for being what I needed. There was not much to smile about yesterday but hearing Josh Gray singing The Dead Milkmen's song, "Punk Rock Girl" (for the second time) made me smile.
So, I'm moving on... with some Trending Tuesday music for this third day of October 2017
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
Well.... yesterday was pretty much an all-around crappy day. Waking the news from Las Vegas and the finding out about Tom Petty.
There is much I want to say about Tom Petty - some of which I have heard other people say better than I could.
As a writer, music has always inspired me. First writing fiction, a line from a song would trigger a story. I remember once, being stuck on a short story I was writing, and then going to see some songwriters play and getting lost in their music and suddenly the story coming together in my mind - no so much a direct reaction to a song or a line, but just some cosmic inspiration reaching out of the melody and telling me how the story needed to go.
"Free Fallin'" I can't say that it is my favorite Tom Petty song - but I do confess to loving it - but back around the turn of this century, I was in the midst of writing 365 short, short stories based upon secondary (and incidental) characters from my novel, The Drift (I ended up writing 388 stories) and a whole series of these stories was inspired by "Free Fallin'" - "All the vampires walkin' through the valley/ Move west down Ventura Blvd./ And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows/ All the good girls are home with broken hearts"
Music is important to me. And yesterday was a hard day, but music will ultimately heal. I find myself saying this quite often, but it is what I believe to be the truth.
It would have been easy to just stay in last night, but I chose to go out and listen to people make music. It was just what I needed. Thanks to Brian Milligram, John Dennis, Jason Erie, and Josh Gray for being what I needed. There was not much to smile about yesterday but hearing Josh Gray singing The Dead Milkmen's song, "Punk Rock Girl" (for the second time) made me smile.
So, I'm moving on... with some Trending Tuesday music for this third day of October 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
Mondo Monday Music Shuffle - Werewolf with No Hair Mix
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Today, I have a very heavy heart about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. That it occurred at a music concert makes it doubly difficult. At this point, I do not know all of the facts about this shooting - and even if I did, I do not claim to have all of the answers about these recurring tragedies. I have beliefs and I know others have different beliefs when it comes to the various issues that surround situations like this. My wish is that we could, as a nation, step up and say, this is a horrible thing and we must commit to do whatever we can to prevent or at least minimize the chance of this happening again. And from there, we should all have an open mind and respectfully discuss the various issues and ideas and find where we can reach common ground. Too often, we begin with division and polarization and things go downhill from there.
Our leaders, who we elect to serve us, must be help accountable... they are the ones that must make the hard choices. They need to be making the best choices for the nation as a whole - not the best choices for the billion dollar industries and individuals who funnel money their way. (side note: Citizen United - Orwellian Doublespeak, if I've ever heard it, must be overturned)
Is it too soon after the tragedy to have these conversations? Maybe. But these events seem to happening so often lately that it is always too soon.
Right now, I will leave it at this: as in most issues, there are more sides than A or B - there are more than two possible solutions to consider. It is not us vs. them - it is us vs. us, and it should be us with us.
Sending love to Las Vegas and all who are hurting or angry or scared or confused. We, as a nation, can do better and we must do better. Again, I do not know all of facts about this shooting - and as is usually the case, there are many different issues at work here. I do believe that we are a resourceful people who can solve the underlying issues. The question is, will we?
****************************************************************************
As I always do, I turn to music as a source of healing and a shelter from the storms of the world.
On Monday, we usually feature Nashville connected songs, however, due to the large number of "New Music" songs and the rapid approach of the end of the year, I have decided that for 4 of the 5 days for at least the next month, I am going to shuffle from the new music playlist. Wednesday will be Wild Wednesday - but every other day will feature "new music"
Besides, there is a bunch of Nashville-based music in the "new music" playlist - and some of those came up today.
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
Today, I have a very heavy heart about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. That it occurred at a music concert makes it doubly difficult. At this point, I do not know all of the facts about this shooting - and even if I did, I do not claim to have all of the answers about these recurring tragedies. I have beliefs and I know others have different beliefs when it comes to the various issues that surround situations like this. My wish is that we could, as a nation, step up and say, this is a horrible thing and we must commit to do whatever we can to prevent or at least minimize the chance of this happening again. And from there, we should all have an open mind and respectfully discuss the various issues and ideas and find where we can reach common ground. Too often, we begin with division and polarization and things go downhill from there.
Our leaders, who we elect to serve us, must be help accountable... they are the ones that must make the hard choices. They need to be making the best choices for the nation as a whole - not the best choices for the billion dollar industries and individuals who funnel money their way. (side note: Citizen United - Orwellian Doublespeak, if I've ever heard it, must be overturned)
Is it too soon after the tragedy to have these conversations? Maybe. But these events seem to happening so often lately that it is always too soon.
Right now, I will leave it at this: as in most issues, there are more sides than A or B - there are more than two possible solutions to consider. It is not us vs. them - it is us vs. us, and it should be us with us.
Sending love to Las Vegas and all who are hurting or angry or scared or confused. We, as a nation, can do better and we must do better. Again, I do not know all of facts about this shooting - and as is usually the case, there are many different issues at work here. I do believe that we are a resourceful people who can solve the underlying issues. The question is, will we?
****************************************************************************
As I always do, I turn to music as a source of healing and a shelter from the storms of the world.
On Monday, we usually feature Nashville connected songs, however, due to the large number of "New Music" songs and the rapid approach of the end of the year, I have decided that for 4 of the 5 days for at least the next month, I am going to shuffle from the new music playlist. Wednesday will be Wild Wednesday - but every other day will feature "new music"
Besides, there is a bunch of Nashville-based music in the "new music" playlist - and some of those came up today.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Space Jam Mix
Tweet #E2TG
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Well, we've reached the end of another week and another month of shuffles...
Temperatures have cooled off in Nashville - it actually is beginning to feel like Fall.
There is much to mourn, there is much in the world that needs to change- and which will only change if people of good conscience fight for that change.
There is also much good in the world, much beauty, and a great need to help share that good and beauty.
It's Friday, and on Friday E2TG plays songs from the "New Music" playlist which is currently just under 500 songs long - and includes songs received as recently as this week and songs added many months ago. Perhaps I will move some of the older songs off the playlist... maybe. Most of what I feature on E2TG will be new to someone who reads.
I am feeling more comfortable being me and doing what I do. I still have a tendency to want to please everyone, but I have learned that when I try to do that I usually end of pleasing no one - least of all myself.
That last is true on so many levels about so many different parts of my life.
Let's just shuffle- 'cause that is one thing that I do...
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
Well, we've reached the end of another week and another month of shuffles...
Temperatures have cooled off in Nashville - it actually is beginning to feel like Fall.
There is much to mourn, there is much in the world that needs to change- and which will only change if people of good conscience fight for that change.
There is also much good in the world, much beauty, and a great need to help share that good and beauty.
It's Friday, and on Friday E2TG plays songs from the "New Music" playlist which is currently just under 500 songs long - and includes songs received as recently as this week and songs added many months ago. Perhaps I will move some of the older songs off the playlist... maybe. Most of what I feature on E2TG will be new to someone who reads.
I am feeling more comfortable being me and doing what I do. I still have a tendency to want to please everyone, but I have learned that when I try to do that I usually end of pleasing no one - least of all myself.
That last is true on so many levels about so many different parts of my life.
Let's just shuffle- 'cause that is one thing that I do...
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Hambones and Spider Queens Mix
Tweet #E2TG
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
About 2/3 of the way through American Aquarium's set at The Basement East last night, I had a thought. I was thinking about all the people (many of them people about my age or older or younger) who say things like "Music these days sucks." or something and then they will usually compare some classic band from an earlier era to some disposable pop star of the moment (as if there have not always been disposable pop stars). My thought, my message to those people, is turn off top 40 radio and go out and see live music. I know I am very spoiled by living in Nashville, but I also know that there is great music (crossing all genres and styles) being made every night and every day all around world. Cordovas opened for American Aquarium, and as I have come to expect from that band, they totally destroyed. Seriously, Cordovas are a band I will never get tired of seeing live.
American Aquarium leader B.J. Barham has gone through some major changes in the last two and half years (which is about the time I first really got into the band). Among those changes was the departure of his entire band. He has a newly formed band, and they were incredible last night. Most of the band comes from Texas (Barham is a North Carolina native) and also includes Nashville's own Adam Kurtz (Buck n Stuff) on pedal steel. I may be bias, being a big Buck n Stuff fan, but I think Kurtz was one of the stars of the night. As of Barham, he seemed energized and he seemed to be enjoying himself - bouncing around the stage and engaging with the band and the audience. He speaks hard truths with love, and explores his own life with honesty.
This show came after taking in the early show at The 5 Spot - which local Sarah Clanton and a band that included the bass player from The Barefoot Movement. Clanton plays the cello and I had just recently been turned on to her by my DJ partner Sue. After Clanton's set, Heather Mae from D.C. took the stage. She injected some much needed positive energy into my soul. I am a fan, now. Turns out she knows my friends in FuzzQueen - proving just how small the music world is, Tom Goss closed that early show, and I dug his music, too.
I hate that I missed Benchmarks at The 5 Spot - as it turned out, I probably could have seen most of their set.... also last night E2TG 2015 Artist of the Year Jon Latham made his debut on Music City Roots with his killer band. I am looking forward to catching the video of this.
Anyway, from my point of view, the state of music is just fine - the business/money side of it may be a different story, but that is a topic for another time.
Today, we jump back into our exploration of E2TG history. E2TG began in May 2011. A vast majority of my posts are the monring shuffles like this one. The basic premise is, "Hey, I heard some cool music this morning on my way to work, let me tell you about." So, let me....
Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
About 2/3 of the way through American Aquarium's set at The Basement East last night, I had a thought. I was thinking about all the people (many of them people about my age or older or younger) who say things like "Music these days sucks." or something and then they will usually compare some classic band from an earlier era to some disposable pop star of the moment (as if there have not always been disposable pop stars). My thought, my message to those people, is turn off top 40 radio and go out and see live music. I know I am very spoiled by living in Nashville, but I also know that there is great music (crossing all genres and styles) being made every night and every day all around world. Cordovas opened for American Aquarium, and as I have come to expect from that band, they totally destroyed. Seriously, Cordovas are a band I will never get tired of seeing live.
American Aquarium leader B.J. Barham has gone through some major changes in the last two and half years (which is about the time I first really got into the band). Among those changes was the departure of his entire band. He has a newly formed band, and they were incredible last night. Most of the band comes from Texas (Barham is a North Carolina native) and also includes Nashville's own Adam Kurtz (Buck n Stuff) on pedal steel. I may be bias, being a big Buck n Stuff fan, but I think Kurtz was one of the stars of the night. As of Barham, he seemed energized and he seemed to be enjoying himself - bouncing around the stage and engaging with the band and the audience. He speaks hard truths with love, and explores his own life with honesty.
This show came after taking in the early show at The 5 Spot - which local Sarah Clanton and a band that included the bass player from The Barefoot Movement. Clanton plays the cello and I had just recently been turned on to her by my DJ partner Sue. After Clanton's set, Heather Mae from D.C. took the stage. She injected some much needed positive energy into my soul. I am a fan, now. Turns out she knows my friends in FuzzQueen - proving just how small the music world is, Tom Goss closed that early show, and I dug his music, too.
I hate that I missed Benchmarks at The 5 Spot - as it turned out, I probably could have seen most of their set.... also last night E2TG 2015 Artist of the Year Jon Latham made his debut on Music City Roots with his killer band. I am looking forward to catching the video of this.
Anyway, from my point of view, the state of music is just fine - the business/money side of it may be a different story, but that is a topic for another time.
Today, we jump back into our exploration of E2TG history. E2TG began in May 2011. A vast majority of my posts are the monring shuffles like this one. The basic premise is, "Hey, I heard some cool music this morning on my way to work, let me tell you about." So, let me....
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