This month skews a bit more rootsy and folky. Spotify Playlist available here. Enjoy!
7 & 7 by the Turnpike Troubadours
I had heard some of my Americana and Red Dirt-loving friends rave about these guys but had never gotten around to checking them out for the longest time. If you’re sleeping on them like I was, the sun is high in the sky and it’s time to wake up. Some of the melodies are so amazingly catchy on their “Diamonds And Gasoline” album that I listened to almost nothing else for a solid week after discovering it. I love the chord structures as they shift seamlessly throughout different sections of the song and the vocal harmonies weave together beautifully. The lead guitar is raw enough to let a cowboy maintain his credibilty and I can’t get enough. (Check out “Long Hot Summer Day” and “Every Girl” from the same album if you dig this song.)
Tulsa Time by Don Williams
Once upon a time, a certain subset of white people figured out how to pull off their own twangy version of funk that became known as the Tulsa Sound. Exemplified by the work of such luminaries as JJ Cale and Leon Russell, this not-quite-swampy-funk-rock-country thing had just enough groove and soul to keep heads bobbing and boots scooting to meet quotas. The Gentle Giant Don Williams put his own spin on it with this tribute song of sorts. I can definitely dig it.
Alaska by Maggie Rogers
Like most of the Internet, I discovered this artist when this video started making the rounds on Reddit and Facebook. I love the combination of electronic sounds with folk instrumentation. If I can ever get my courage up to finish and release my Georgia mixtape, you’ll hear my own hip-hop influenced take on a similar idea. But anyway… I love the out-with-the-old lyrics about renewal that we all have to go through at points in our life. I wish the bass was a bit louder like in the video because I’d rather feel music than hear it but it’s hard to complain about this song too much. There is a delicacy in the breathy vocals, even stacked on top of each other like they are. I can’t wait to hear what else Ms. Rogers has in store for us.
Build Me Up From Bones by Sarah Jarosz
Lately I’ve found myself drawn to lyrics a bit deeper than your run of the mill radio love songs (I think anyway). I love the imagery in the lyric to this song of love bringing two people together to the point they are a fundamental part of each other’s chemical makeup. I think that’s what people are really searching for in this world and it’s a privilege for us listeners to hear it so succinctly and beautifully expressed in this song. Beyond the lyric, I feel like a part of my DNA hungers for airy acoustic string music descended directly from my ancestral homelands.
On The Frame by Beta Radio
Full disclosure: I know nothing about this band and have only a vague idea what the lyrics to this song are about. But sometimes atmosphere is more important than clarity in music. This song sounds like catching fireflies just after dark on an early summer night to my ears. Part of that association might be because the vocoder background vocals on the chorus remind me of Owl City. Sometimes my brain is more free-associative than logical.
Hiding Place by Josh Garrels
I am a superfan of this guy. If you only ever take one music suggestion from me, please go check out Love, War & The Sea In Between. I bought it at release, have bought everything he’s released since, contributed to crowdfunding his studio, etc. I have a hard time listening to a lot of capital-C “Christian” or spiritual music because I usually find it preachy, less than intellectually rigorous, or, in not so special cases, both. Josh Garrels is anything but. His music is a folk/trip-hop/hip-hop mashup with a message but it truly feels like the music comes first and the words are heartfelt. They are personal and don’t seem to aim for anything beyond the artist and the listener. However you relate to and know The Great Bigger-Than-Us, I feel like that’s the place we should all start then build outward.
Oh yeah… this is his latest single and is awesome just like everything else. Check it out.
Life On Mars? by Trey Songz
As anyone with a pulse knows, 2016 has been a terrible, terrible year for losing musical legends. David Bowie was one of the earliest in the year. I have to believe this was recorded and placed in HBO’s recently cancelled VINYL before news of his illness became public but this cover is extremely well done regardless. I don’t know much about Trey Songz’ music beyond this but his vocal performance on this is great and I love the bare piano-only accompaniment. I’ll have to dig deeper and get back to you.
I Just Can’t Help Believing by BJ Thomas
It’s confession time. I am a sucker for 60′s easy listening pop like this. I love the lush arrangements and the strings and guitars sound like the songs I hear in my dreams. If I ever finish Blue Roses, the project I’ve been working on since I was 13 and I feel like I was put on this Earth to make, please don’t be surprised to hear as much of that influence as I can manage. Come to think of it, these playlists have been light on Bobbie Gentry…
The Bird by Anderson .Paak
Like a lot of people, I first heard this guy on Dr. Dre’s Compton absolutely knocking songs like “Animals” out of the park. His latest solo album Malibu is full of upbeat, soulful classics. It was hard picking just one song to add to this playlist from the album but this one got drawn first out of the hat. But .Paak is such a great and unique artist, you will not go wrong with any song of his you choose to give a shot.
Work by Rihanna (feat. Drake)
I have no idea what this song is about. But I love it. The beat, the vocals, every single thing about it. This is my not-so-guilty pleasure song that i have on repeat in my earbuds at my day job. I mean isn’t that what The Man is paying me to do anyway?
Until next month. Keep your hands to yourself and your eyes turned to Heaven.
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