Playlist #251

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Happy Tuesday, everyone! Here’s a new playlist for ya.

  1. Ellie van Amerongen, “august”: Doing a duet with yourself is challenging. Doing one with yourself after two or three years on testosterone must be damn-near impossible, yet they pull it off. And it’s a Taylor Swift cover.
  2. Khatumu, “exposure therapy”: I remain impressed with every new song I hear by this singer-songwriter. This song does not change that.
  3. The Gaslight Anthem, “Biloxi Parish”: I’m not quite sure how or when Handwritten became my favorite Gaslight Anthem album, but it did and it is and this song probably plays at least a small part in that result.
  4. Daniel Johnston, “Life In Vain”: Could he sing? Not really. Was he much of an instrumentalist? No more than I am. Could he write a hell of a good song, was he a songwriter’s songwriter? You bet your ass.
  5. Wilco, “Theologians”: Theologians are often accused of not knowing anything, and I don’t really feel like that’s their fault. I mean, they chose the profession, sure, but that hardly seems like their fault. That’s just what you do with the third son. It’s not like they’ve got any land or title left to inherit.
  6. The Avett Brothers, “Ain’t No Man”: I do on occasion enjoy me some Avett Brothers. And this song in particular is fun and a little bit goofy, but I’m okay with that. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re taking things way too seriously.
  7. Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally, “Nothing Mysterious”: Technically sorta a Christmas song? But their duet is fantastic and they really do make it feel quite universal.
  8. The Association, “Never My Love”: I do like love songs, though I’m crap at writing them myself. This is one of the best.
  9. Uncle Tupelo, “Steal The Crumbs”: I really feel like Uncle Tupelo hit their stride with Anodyne. It really is too bad they broke up afterwards.
  10. Moxy Fruvous, “My Poor Generation”: I always enjoy listening to Moxy Fruvous, and every time I hear one of their songs it makes me wonder why I don’t listen to them more often anymore.

Playlist #250

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Happy Monday! I’m sure a lot of you are still celebrating the victory/mourning the defeat of your favorite sportsball team from last night, but since I don’t give two figs about football I’m up and ready to face the day with a new playlist.

  1. Carbon Leaf, “Life Less Ordinary”: Can I tell you, I’ve been searching for this song for the past, oh, ten, fifteen years? All I had to go on was one line from the chorus – “you shook the bones of me” – and it wasn’t until this weekend that I finally just typed that into Apple Music and it spit out the artist and song title for me. I probably could’ve done this with a Google search anytime in those ten to fifteen years, but that’s not nearly as much fun as searching for it yourself. I feel like searching up the lyrics in my Music app was a sign of defeat.
  2. Gin Blossoms, “Mrs. Rita”: There’s just something about the jangly ’90s sound that I will always love.
  3. Winnetka Bowling League, “My Own Summer (Shove It)”: I was never really into the Deftones, so I am quite confident in stating I never want to hear a different version of this song.
  4. Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello, “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”: Man, ’90s soundtracks just managed to get the best damn songs, didn’t they? Like, I cannot think of a a song off a soundtrack from anything in the past almost 25 years that has been half as good as anything off a ’90s soundtrack. This came from the freakin’ Austin Powers movie. Austin Powers, you guys.
  5. Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Something’s Always Wrong (Acoustic)”: Toad recently did an all-acoustic album of old songs, some off of their first couple of releases even (never thought I’d hear a new version of “Scenes From A Vinyl Recliner,” but there it is), though many of them lack the original versions’ energy and some have been changed up considerably (I’m looking your way, “Jam”). This is a good read on this one from a group of veteran performers.
  6. Bad Bunny, “BAILE INoLVIDABLE”: Did I pay for a subscription to Peacock last night just to watch this guy turn in a killer halftime show? Yes, yes, I did. And I’d do it again just to spite the MAGAts.
  7. Jenny Scheinman, “I Was Young When I Left Home”: I love this song and every version I’ve heard of it. This particular version is led by lap steel (and apparently doesn’t exist on Spotify, more’s the pity).
  8. The Ink Spots, “Java Jive”: It’s amazing the number of songs I’ve been introduced to thanks to the Little Lulu cartoons. Okay, it’s only two (this one and Bing Crosby’s “Swingin’ On A Star,” but that’s two more than I’d’ve guessed).
  9. The Black Crowes, “She Talks To Angels”: The big ballad off their first album. It’s good, I’ll grant you, as with so many of the songs off that debut. I’m sure part of that is the age at which I first heard the song.
  10. The Horrible Crowes, “Sugar”: What’s it with bands spelling “crowes” with an e? Why is that a thing? This song slaps.

Playlist #249 – Black History Month Edition

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Happy Tuesday, everyone. Finally back in the school today, though of course with a two-hour delay. Not that I’m complaining. Anyway, February is Black History Month, and the 100th Anniversary of said month, so here’s a playlist to celebrate that!

  1. Louis Armstrong, “Mack the Knife”: I don’t think any discussion of the impact of African Americans on American music can be considered complete without mention of Louis Armstrong. From his distinctive voice to that great trumpet playing, Satch left an indelible mark on popular music of the 20th century. Oh, and his version of “Mack the Knife” is far superior to the Bobby Darrin version, regardless of what my wife argues.
  2. Tracy Chapman, “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution”: Look, we all love “Fast Car.” Everyone knows and loves “Fast Car” because it’s a cold banger, alright? But Tracy Chapman is more than just “Fast Car.” I feel like this song gets at what she was always talking about in her music even better than “Fast Car” does. She’s about that revolutionary change, that paradigm shift, that emphasis on the people who go unnamed and unnoticed. And she will not sit quietly.
  3. Mon Rovia, “Heavy Foot”: I was thinking of putting together a Contemporary Protest Songs list for today instead of this playlist, but I can always do that later. This song would belong on both playlists regardless. Though the melody and instrumentation feel light and airy, folky even, the lyrical contents are heavy and weighty. The government’s on the heavy foot, and that foot was made for stepping on the necks of the people.
  4. Aretha Franklin, “Chain Of Fools”: Beyonce can call herself Queen B all she wants, but I know who my queen is.
  5. Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come”: That voice, man. The longing, the depth, the yearning for a better life for everyone. It doesn’t get any better than this.
  6. Ray Charles, “(Night Time Is) The Right Time”: I haven’t been able to listen to this song the same way since I saw the Ray Charles biopic and saw the way he got those backing vocals from the female singer. I mean, damn, That was pretty brutal.
  7. Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “I Need More Love”: Blues rock combined with sacred steel (a pedal steel guitar style) equals a banger of a song. Give it a listen and you’ll understand what I mean.
  8. Rhiannon Giddens, “The Angels Laid Him Away”: American folk from someone who understands who the originally folk musicians really were.
  9. Robert Johnson, “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues”: The OG Delta Bluesman, the guy who went down to the crossroads to meet with the Devil and forever had hellhounds on his tail afterwards. This guy innovated (or at least popularized) much of what we think of as blues music today.
  10. Blind Willie McTell, “Dark Night Blues”: Twelve-string twelve-bar blues. The man makes the twelve-string guitar sound like an effortless instrument to play (which is no easy feat).

Playlist #248

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Happy Tuesday, folks. Here in Northern Virginia, it’s freezing and icy outside, but inside it’s so warm I’m starting to sweat and I blame the Brancos. Here’s a playlist to help you make it through the snow days you’re almost assuredly going through if you live in the United States.

  1. Lucinda Williams, “How Much Did You Get For Your Soul”: Lucinda cuts right to the point with this one, a solid rocker and protest song of the old school.
  2. Khatumu, “matador”: More songs should reference bullfighting.
  3. Cat Power, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: I am a sucker for a Prince cover, or a cover of Sinead O’Connor doing a cover of Prince. I’m not picky.
  4. Drive-By Truckers, “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac”: There need to be more songs about how little bullshit Carl Perkins was willing to listen to.
  5. The Mountain Goats, “Training Montage”: Of course it’s the Mountain Goats coming up with a song that’d sound great under a training montage. And that line at the start of the chorus? “I’m doing this for revenge” is just one of my all-time favorite lines from anything.
  6. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, “King Of Oklahoma”: It’s been a minute since I listened to this song and I somehow forgot how much I absolutely love it. I heartily recommend digging through your own old playlists and finding some hidden gems among them,.
  7. Van Morrison, “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In HeavenWhen You Smile)”: This song sounds absolutely nothing like anything else on this album, but I love it and the other songs on that record still. That’s a talent.
  8. David Bowie, “The Next Day”: I someday hope to have even half the chutzpah David Bowie possessed so I can remix the cover to one of my most beloved albums and reuse it for a latter-day masterpiece.
  9. Michigander, “Better”: I always look forward to anything this guy does because his songs are so well-constructed and hit the right spot in my brain every time.
  10. Dan Auerbach, “Shine On Me”: Today is a day that needs sunshine. This song is audio sunshine.

The Creativity Business

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I ran across a Van Morrison quote this morning that’s had me thinking. To be honest, I’d been thinking about this stuff for a few days already, mostly following a conversation about music and marketing with my brother the other night.

Anyway, the quote says, “Music is spiritual. The music business is not.”

And, yeah, that quote kinda speaks to my very soul.

I am, or at least like to think I am, a creative person. I make things: books, stories, drawings, music, the occasional scarf. I am not, nor have I ever been, someone who is good at marketing himself. I just don’t have the business brain. I can make music; hell, I could do nothing but write and record songs and write books from now until I die. But I’m pretty piss-poor at the marketing and selling side of things. It just does not come naturally to me.

I’m not really sure why. Dunno if it’s just imposter syndrome rearing its ugly head (which it often does anyway) or I just don’t speak the lingo. I don’t have the pater. And so every time I try to market my work, or announce something new I’ve created, it feels an awful lot like I’m just shouting into the void with only my own echo coming back.

I know part of it is a law of averages thing. You have to really put yourself out there in front of thousands and thousands of people in order to get dozens to even give your stuff a try. And that’s pretty disheartening. You go to all that effort for such a small return.

And it’s not like I don’t think the things I create have some inherent value. I’m a firm believer that art has intrinsic value, worth in and of itself that is completely separate from any monetary value it may or may not possess. And I like to think that the stuff I make is enjoyable and worthwhile, that other people would enjoy reading or listening to it. It’s just real hard getting it out there in front of enough eyeballs to get any sort of return on investment.

I’m not an artist because I think it’ll make me big bucks. I have no illusions that my DIY novels or bedroom recordings are going to set the world on fire. I do think I have an audience out there, somewhere, probably still undiscovered. And if the only way to find them is to become better at marketing, I guess I need to start figuring out just how to sell myself.

Playlist #247

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Day today, so I’ve been sitting at home becoming increasingly concerned that the world Dr. King imagined will never come to pass. Yeah, I’m a cheerful sort today. Let’s get to the playlist.

  1. Rose Betts, “Doodles”: I learned of this Irish singer/songwriter through Facebook, of all places. There’s a certain type of singer/songwriter and a certain type of song that they write that tickles all the right spots in my brain; this is that songwriter, this is that song.
  2. Florence + the Machine, “Ship To Wreck”: The rhythm section for this song is just absolutely amazing. It slaps. Hard.
  3. Yarn, “Don’t Break My Heart Again”: String band doing string band things. Good times.
  4. Calexico, “Sunken Waltz”: Was talking with my brother about this song the other day, and he pointed out how difficult it is sometimes to understand what, exactly, a given Calexico song is really about. I mean, is this song about a carpenter who throws money randomly over his shoulder or what? Damned if I know. I just know it’s a good song.
  5. The Family Crest, “Beneath The Brine”: Speaking of songs I have no idea what they’re actually about…
  6. Birdy, “Wings”: I love this song and it especially amuses me that a musician who goes by “Birdy” named a song “Wings.”
  7. The National, “Ashamed Of The Story I Told”: One of the best covers I’ve ever heard by a band that just…got it.
  8. Phosphorescent, “Storms”: A nice little Fleetwood Mac cover. One of Stevie Nicks’s best compositions.
  9. David Gray, “Dead In The Water”: This was the song that inspired my novel The Armageddon Seed. Or at least the title, which was based on a misremembered lyric from this song (I remembered “The Armageddon seed” instead of “that Armageddon sky.” Easy mistake).
  10. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “About To Give Out”: I just love when Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers cut loose and just have fun with a song.

Playlist #246

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Happy Monday, folks. It’s my anniversary this week, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t answer any calls or whatnot tomorrow. Yeah, that’s right, I know when my wedding anniversary is. Take that, Boomer comedians! Anyway, have a playlist.

  1. Matt Berninger, “Blue Monday”: Is this the most obvious cover of all time? Possibly. Is it still a pretty great cover? Most definitely.
  2. Peter Gabriel, “Been Undone”: New Peter Gabriel, and we’re gonna keep getting new Peter Gabriel twice a month all year? I’m here for it. i/o was excellent, and o/i already seems like it might be just as good.
  3. The Faim, “Ease My Mind”: Poppier than what I usually listen to, but still a fun little number.
  4. Bob Weir, “Only A River”: Bob Weir passed last week, meaning the remaining Grateful Dead are now one fewer. While I never really cared much for the Dead or their jam band-y meanderings, I recognize their influence and lasting importance. Weir was a good songwriter and guitarist, and this track off of a solo album he released a few years ago remains very affecting.
  5. The Magnetic Fields, “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing”: My song with The Wife. We have a poster with the lyrics on it hanging up in the living room that she bought for me last year. She is excellent at coming up with thoughtful gifts.
  6. Mon Rovia, “Bloodline”: I dig the short, simple songs these guys create. There’s a sincerity and honesty to the music that comes through in their arrangements and excellent vocal harmonies. I want more.
  7. David Bowie, “Five Years”: Is Ziggy Stardust an album about a weird singer, or is it a prophetic warning about the end of the world? Por que no los dos?
  8. Mark Knopfler, “Cannibals”: Cannibals and dinosaurs and hurricanes, oh my!
  9. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “Remember The Mountain Bed”: Just one of the sweetest – and somehow saddest – songs I can remember hearing in the past twenty-five years or so. Absolutely perfect, no notes.
  10. Cat Power, “The Greatest”: A song about a boxer, maybe, or maybe just a song about striving. It’s great either way.

Playlist #245

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Good morning and happy first Monday of the new year. Yes, the government took some extrajudicial actions down in Venezuela over the weekend, and we’re all scrambling figuring out how to deal with that, but in the meantime I’ve got some songs for you.

  1. The Cranberries, “Salvation”: A blistering blast of punky energy and the occasional horn? Yes, please.
  2. Lyle Lovett, “Lungs”: An old Townes Van Zandt song that, according to Lovett, Van Zandt said ought to be “shouted rather than sung.” Lovett sings it here anyway. It’s good, as Van Zandt songs tend to be.
  3. Rufus Wainwright, “Chelsea Hotel No. 2”: There’s just a…sadness to this song that I’ve always felt an affinity for. Maybe it’s the line, “You told me again you preferred handsome men/But for me you would make an exception.”
  4. George Harrison, “Marwa Blues”: Just a beautiful instrumental number off Brainwashed with some absolutely perfect slide guitar from George.
  5. Tom Waits, “(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night”: I think of this one as the flipside to a Bruce Springsteen song from about the same era: there’s a yearning there, like in Bruce songs, but a bitter sadness as well, not just a sense that there is no escape from this life but that even trying to escape from this life isn’t worth the effort.
  6. Better Than Ezra, “Desperately Wanting”: Drugs are bad, m’kay?
  7. Counting Crows, “Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes to Hollywood)”: A lot of the songs on this particular list deal with longing and loss, I think. Did I do that on purpose? Man, who even knows anymore.
  8. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “When The Roses Bloom Again”: Going off to war always sucks. Always. And there are always unintended consequences.
  9. Brian Fallon, “Forget Me Not”: Brian Fallon remains one of my favorite songwriters of the past twenty or so years. There’s some Bruce in there, some doo-wop, and a lot of joy at just making music. And I will always dig that.
  10. Richard Thompson, “Beeswing”: Again, drugs are bad. The “white horse in her hip pocket” is a less-than-subtle reference to heroin, after all.

Playlist #244: End of Year Wrap-Up

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Happy last Monday of 2025, folks! It’s been a helluva year, I think we can all agree, and I’ll be glad to see the back of it. But there were a lot of songs I listened to pretty much on repeat this year, such as the following:

  1. The Wallflowers, “It’s a Dream”: I love the rhythm of this song and the interior rhymes Jakob Dylan throws into it. And that’s a great chorus, too.
  2. Lord Huron, “Meet Me In The Woods”: I apparently have listened to this song about 50 times this year, and I only first hear the album in…August? September? Geez.
  3. Langhorne Slim, “House Of My Soul (You Light The Rooms)”: This song lights to rooms in the house of my soul.
  4. Matt Berninger, “Little By Little”: I loved this album and I love this song. It just has such great momentum and a catchy melody that I can’t stop humming to myself.
  5. Bob Dylan, “Red River Shore”: Why does this song feel more like a relic of a past century than something Dylan penned in 1997? And yes, I realize 1997 was last century, but you know what I mean. This feels like a song that has always existed, not one Dylan conjured from the aether while working on Time Out of Mind.
  6. Mon Rovia, “Heavy Foot”: It’s a simple political song masquerading as a stomp-clap-hey song.
  7. Chris Smither, “Origin Of Species”: Satirical look at the ascent of man through a warm, folky groove.
  8. Glen Phillips, “Go”: Just one of the most affecting songs I’ve heard in recent years. It’s beautiful and haunting and moving.
  9. Bob Dylan, “Boots Of Spanish Leather”: One of the saddest early Dylan songs, if you ask me. There’s no bitterness in it; the bitterness came later, I think. There’s just a resigned sadness in it.
  10. Hurray For The Riff Raff, “Snake Plant (The Past Is Alive)”: It’s amazing what you can do with just two chords.

Playlist #243: Holiday Playlist

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s the week of Christmas, so here’s a playlist full of some of my favorite Christmas songs.

  1. Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”: Just the absolute best Christmas song ever. You can keep your Wham! and your Mariah Carey, just leave me Darlene Love.
  2. She & Him, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”: This song seems like it was tailor-made for this band. Zoey Deschanel just has a lovely voice made for this kind of song.
  3. The Eagles, “Please Come Home For Christmas”: The guitar work in this song always gets to me. It’s very well-done and Don Henley sounds particularly impassioned.
  4. The Royal Guardsmen, “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron”: Is it technically a Christmas song? Not really. Is Christmas the only time I listen to it because it was on a tape of Christmas songs we listened to constantly when I was a kid? Yes.
  5. Elvis Presley, “Blue Christmas”: I’m not much of an Elvis fan, but I really dig this song. It’s just fun.
  6. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Christmas All Over Again”: Speaking of fun Christmas songs, of course Tom Petty turns in one for the books. It’s just a good time from start to finish.
  7. Neko Case, “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”: “Charlie, I’m pregnant,” the song begins, and just gets worse and sadder from there. Neko doesn’t even try to sing it like Tom Waits, instead making it all her own and turning this into one of the absolute saddest Christmas songs I’ve ever heard.
  8. My Morning Jacket, “X-Mas Curtain”: Just what, exactly, is a Christmas Curtain? I imagine something involving snowmen and giant snowflakes and maybe a Santa Claus, but I honestly don’t know, and I’m not sure this song makes it any clearer.
  9. Andrew Bird, “So Much Wine, Merry Christmas”: I love playing this one on guitar, and have even halfway managed to play the solo for it. It’s lovely.
  10. The Pogues, “Fairytale of New York”: It’s a dreary picture of a dreary town in a dreary decade, but it feels hopeful despite all that. Kinda reminds me in a small way of the Mountain Goats’ “This Year,” with its defiant tone and resistance to the turning of the world.