Counting down! We are less than a month away from the first night of the E2TG 7th Anniversary Residency at The 5 Spot! I am super-stoked to have Clark Paterson playing a full-band set to open the night. Then, The Big Dumb and Rayvon Pettis are cooking up something special. This will be a night you do not want to miss! It's going to a jam-packed night of music so make plans to get there early so you don't miss a minute. Doors should open sometime around 5:30-5:45pm and the music should get going around 6:15.
This amazing night is just night one of four - every Thursday in June. Ted Drozdowski's Psychedelic Circus, The End Men, Brian Milligram, Microwave Mountain, The Coal Men, Eli Cook, Bee Taylor, Joanna Barbara and more are all on-tap for this residency. I am hoping to have a few copies of my novel The Drift to sell.
It is Wild Wednesday - a virtual potpourri of musical selections.... Let's shuffle!
Well, I have to say yesterday was much better than last Monday. A week ago, I had spent 7.5 at the dentist office. Yesterday, I took in an afternoon baseball game, recorded a future Double Shot show, found out my proof copies of my first novel The Drift will arrive today, and I got my ticket in the mail for next week's Kris Kristofferson show at The Basement East.
Let's dive into the New Music playlist for what we like to call Trending Tuesday. As usual, we have a crazy eclectic mix of music. These are all relatively new releases or in a couple of cases recent to E2TG that we wanted to feature.
My day is going to be a bit rushed - so I'm going to jump right in and post this morning's Music City Monday shuffle - 'cause it's a great one! Minimal descriptions due to time - but check out the video playlist, and if you hear something you like - buy the music!
Week 1: Rayvon Pettis, The Big Dumb, Clark Paterson
Week 2: The End Men, Ted Drozdowski's Psychedelic Circus, (Special Guest TBA)
Week 3: Microwave Mountain, The Coal Men, Brian Milligram
And finally, for our fourth and final week, E2TG is pleased to announce that our guests will be!
Eli Cook: Hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia, Eli Cook's latest album High Dollar Gospel has been getting rave reviews. He is fresh off some dates opening for the legendary Robin Trower. E2TG is thrilled to have him help close out our 7th Year Anniversary Residency!
Bee Taylor: One of Nashville's most electrifying artists, Bee Taylor, will be joining us - backed by her stellar band! Described as a cross between Amy Winehouse and Tom Waits - if you've never seen Bee Taylor live - you have to experience to fully appreciate her power!
Joanna Barbera: Opening our final week will be one of my favorite local songwriters. Joanna Barbera recently had a song prominently featured in the CBS television series Criminal Minds. Her most recent EP Imago is a favorite of mine. Get there early to catch her set!
Now, it is Friday and time for our Featured Friday shuffle. Guess what, we have another wildly diverse set of songs... so let's do it!
In case you missed the last two posts, E2TG will be celebrating our first 7 years with a Residency every Thursday in June at The 5 Spot. These EARLY shows kick off at 6:00pm, and we have stacked line-ups every week, so you will want to get there early.
Week 1: Rayvon Pettis, The Big Dumb, and Clark Paterson
Week 2: The End Men, Ted Drozdowski's Psychedelic Circus, plus a special guest opener TBA
Onto Week 3! I am stoked to get the opportunity to present two of my favorite bands and one of my favorite songwriters in one incredible night. I am especially excited to be able to showcase the diversity of talent making music in this city.
Microwave Mountain: With raucous energy and rocking good vibes, Microwave Mountain are red hot right now. On the heels of the 4/20 - release show for Sick Licks, Jamie Timm and company will be playing a pretty rare early show. You will not want to miss this.
The Coal Men: Led by guitarist, songwriter, producer extraordinaire Dave Coleman, The Coal Men have been making music together since 1999. Their latest album is called Pushed to the Side. They are definitely one of my favorite local bands - great songs and a great sound. Editors note: The Poster above erroneously lists "The Coal Men" has "The Coalmen" - I apologize for the error and will be fixing the graphic as soon as I am able.
Brian Milligram: Opening the night will be one of my favorite songwriters here in town, and one that many of you may be seeing for the first time. Be sure to get their early - Milligram brings a punk spirit to his songs. His sometimes caustic nature belies a tenderness that comes through his lyrics.
Tomorrow, we will reveal our guests for the 4th and final week. Stay tuned!
On to our shuffle for this Thursday!
I'm not sure if I have ever been as excited about the line-up of artists in my "New Music" playlist as I am right now. So much new music from new artists and veteran performers - covering just about every genre and style of music imaginable. Today's shuffle is a good cross-section of that diversity!
Time to reveal our guests for Week 2 of the E2TG 7th Anniversary Residency at The 5 Spot. This one will be held Thursday June 14, 2018. That's Flag Day, so if you bring a gently used flag, you can get in for just $5.00. Otherwise, the admission is $5.00.
Ted Drozdowski has been a favorite of mine, since the first time I saw him leave the stage, use a wine glass as a slide, and generally take Hill Country blues into the stratosphere. I once saw him walk off the stage at the old Family Wash, do the aforementioned wine glass trick, walk out the front door, come back in the side door and get back on stage will playing the whole time. He has a new configuration called Ted Drozdowski's Psychedelic Circus, and I am thrilled to have them for my show!
The End Men. If you have been following E2TG for awhile, you will recognize the name The End Men. Led by Matthew Hendershot and Livia Ranalli, Brooklyn, New York band The End Men have their own unique and rocking take on blues music. In late 2011, early 2012 - when Ear to the Ground was just an infant music blog, I was introduced to their music. Getting to know them and their music was a key factor in my continuing to press on through those early days. They were the E2TG Band of the Year in 2013 (the first Band of the Year that I selected myself). The End Men last played Nashville (I believe) was in September 2014 (at The Basement for the all-day post-Americana show that The Basement put on. It is high time they came back! You do not want to miss this!
Opening the show is TBA! I've seen TBA several times, and every time it is a completely different experience. Kind of like Sour Du Jour. Seriously, I can't tell you yet who the opener is going to be, but I guarantee it will be good! Plan to get there early!
On to the Wild Wednesday Shuffle! Remember, on Wednesday, our shuffle comes from all the songs I have stored on my phone. So, it can be new music, classics, from the E2TG archives etc.
At long last, I am ready to start revealing the line-up for the E2TG 7th Anniversary Celebration. Like last year, we are hosting a residency. This year, it is every Thursday in June! There are four weeks in June and four more days in this week, so the plan is to reveal the line-up for a different week each day. I thought we would be linear and start with Week1 - June 7, 2018!
Rayvon Pettis is the reigning E2TG Artist of the Year, he is great guy, and an incredible songwriter. I am so stoked to have him as part of my residency. Yesterday, when I was on my way to my epic dental appointment, I listened to the title track of his awesome album, Dying Light, and it straight up gave me goosebumps.
Rayvon will be backed The Big Dumb. The Big Dumb features Javi Jones, Anna Harris, Griffin, Stephen Nicholas Roberts, and Daniel Dolive. Besides being great musicians and a super tight backing band, The Big Dumb features several great songwriters and they are one of my favorite bands. They stay pretty busy backing other people and doing other cool things, but when they play their own set, they totally rock. So, I am thrilled to have The Big Dumb doing a set of their own.
When I first heard about Clark Paterson, all I knew was that he was really tall (keep in mind I'm not really all that tall, so most people are tall to me) and he had a big beard. On his album The Final Tradition, he cuts a pretty intimidating figure. When I finally met him, he turned out to be a really nice guy. As for the album, it is among my favorites. I am excited to have him and his band opening the night.
The line-up is stacked and full, so we will try to start close to on-time - so make plans to arrive. Thursday June 7, 2018 6:00pm, at The 5 Spot.
On to our shuffle! We start with a #TwoferTuesday which we do every time it Tuesday and our random shuffle brings up two songs in a row by the same artist.
