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Well, we are in the midst of a heatwave. Heat index is expected to be over 100 the next two days. I don't have much in the way of relief to offer, but I do have some cool tunes. Get it cool... Sorry, the heat is getting to me.
Anyway, it's Monday, and we have a sweet Music City Monday shuffle - so let's go!
"Buddha Blues" by Will Kimbrough
Will Kimbrough doesn't seem to know the term idleness. When he isn't producing albums (like the Steve Poltz album we have been featuring), he is backing people like Emmylou Harris (and playing on at least two albums we have been featuring - ESOEBO and Peter Rogan's latest albums). And somehow, he found time to record and release his own album. I Like It Down Here was released earlier this year, and it is a worthy addition to an impressive discography. I have been a fan of Kimbrough's music for over 30 years going back to his band Will and the Bushmen. Our lives intersected in the 90s through our daughters, and I ran into his last week at the CD Release party for Amy Speace's new album (oh yeah, he played on that one, too!)
"Joy, the Mechanical Boy" by Self
Nashville had a thriving music scene in the 1980s - with bands like Jason and the Scorchers, Walk the West, Royal Court of China, Raging Fire, In Pursuit, Shadow 15, The Movement and more playing great live shows and flirting with national success. By the early 90's, that scene had pretty much dissipated - some folks moved on to songwriting, some moved away, and a few kept plugging away. By the mid/early 90's, Music City was due to for a revival, and to a great extent that revival came by way of Matt Mahaffey and his band Self. Mahaffey helped form Spongebath Records (with Seth Timbs, and Rick Williams), and that label became a center for music not only in the Murfreesboro/Nashville area, but for the entire South. This is the opening track from the second album by Self called The Half-Baked Serenade which was released on Spongebath in 1996.
"Little Old Town" by Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, Thomm Jutz
This years' Riverland album by the trio of Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, and Thomm Jutz was a kind of concept record about Mississippi - the river and the state. Little Old Town - from their previous release Profiles in Courage, Frailty, and Discomfort is also about a river - in this case the Stones River and about a town that now lies beneath.
"One I Love" by Kevin Gordon
Next up, we have a track from Kevin Gordon's modern classic album Gloryland. One of Nashville's best.
"Diana" by Little Bandit
Next up, we have another track from Breakfast Alone from Little Bandit. I absolutely love this album, and I really hope we have new music from Little Bandit soon!
"Crawling At Your Feet" by Aaron Lee Tasjan
Aaron Lee Tasjan has released some new songs recently from Karma for Cheap Reincarnated. This is a track from Karma for Cheap. Aaron Lee Tasjan is one of the best things happening these days both in terms of music and in terms of his humanity.
"Child of the Wind" by Michaela Anne
Next up, we have a single from the forthcoming Desert Dove album which will be released on September 27 on Yep Roc Records. Great to hear this new music from singer-songwriter Michaela Anne.
"This Girl of Mine" by The White Animals
Next up, we have another track from 3000 Nights in Babylon by one The White Animals. This band were on the front edge of the 80s Nashville scene that I mentioned earlier.
"Damian" by Sad Baxter
Next up, we have another track from Weirdy. I just found out Sad Baxter is playing with my cousin's band (Summer Cannibals from Portland, Oregon) next week at The Basement.
"Heartbreak" by Rayvon Pettis; Megan Palmer
Next, we have our first listen to Nothing Is Sweeter - the new joint effort from Megan Palmer and Rayvon Pettis. Pettis takes the lead on this track. Two of my favorites together!
"Timelessly" by Jim Hoke
And, we close things out with a track from the latest album by the multi-talented Jim Hoke - The Floating Zone was released last year, and it is really a tour-de-force for this musician/arranger/songwriter.
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