Playlist #260

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s a weird week here in Northern Virginia (they’re really all weird weeks, if we’re honest), with no school for me tomorrow due to a special election. Here’s a playlist to get us through it all.

  1. Massive Attack and Tom Waits, “Boots on the Ground”: A collaboration I didn’t know I want that uses a great extrapolation of “The Earth Died Screaming.” Love it and want more.
  2. Paul McCartney, “Rinse the Raindrops”: Realized over the weekend that McCartney went through a pretty experimental phase in the early 2000s. This song is 10 freakin’ minutes long and only features one verse, but it never sits still and never gets boring.
  3. Thundercat, “Anakin Learns His Fate”: Dude fuckin’ rips it on the bass and writes some of the smoothest jams I’ve heard in a long while. Also, he’s clearly more than a bit of a nerd.
  4. The Pauls, “Beyond Bourbon”: Buddy from work’s band doing an original song of theirs. It’s a cool little barroom weeper.
  5. Gillian Welch, “Red Clay Halo”: I’m an Okie. I know from red dirt. So does Gillian Welch, apparently.
  6. Sting, “When The Angels Fall”: I always felt like this song was a suitably epic way to end the Soul Cages album. I also think the song meant more to me (or felt like it did) when I was in college, when everything feels like it means something more than it probably really does.
  7. Wilco, “Jesus, Etc.”: Still one of my favorite songs off of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which remains one of the best albums of the past thirty or so years.
  8. Jars of Clay, “Grace”: I still go back to this album every so often, and everything from the way they structure the songs to the harmonies and instrumental solos gets me every time.
  9. Jimmy Reed, “Ain’t That Loving You Baby”: Sometimes, you just need a little dirty blues. Today is one of those times.
  10. Rilo Kiley, “I Never”: Hard to imagine this band would try to pull off some blue-eyed soul, but they do it anyway.

Playlist #259

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Happy Monday, folks! The weather here in Northern Virginia is heating up this week; we’ll be getting our first 90°+ days of the year this week (I know, Okies, y’all have already had days that hot, aren’t you special?). Anyway, here’s some songs to cool off to.

  1. Jeremy Messersmith, “Bridges”: I love this song for two things: (1) its chorus, which is depressingly sing-along, and (2) the line “I’ll break you like a promise,” which just hits right in the guts with the way it’s so tossed off all casual-like.
  2. Josh Ritter, “Getting Ready To Get Down”: The Bible College to Lesbian Pipeline should be discovered and somehow harnessed to create a vast amount of Subaru-and-carabiner-strengthened power that can be harnessed to solve, if not global hunger or something similar, at least get all the dogs adopted in your area.
  3. Bo Didley, “Who Do You Love”: It’s “whom,” actually, Mr. Didley. Just sayin’.
  4. Willie Nelson, “Come On Up To The House”: I have always kinda loved Willie Nelson as in interpreter of other people’s music, and his version of this Tom Waits song (with help from Sheryl Crow and at least one of his songs) really spotlights how good he is at it.
  5. Elvis Presley, “Run On”: Elvis in full-on gospel music I-ain’t-got-time-for-your-shenanigans mode.
  6. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Never Be You”: Even Tom Petty’s cast-offs are better than most other bands’ top songs. I will fight you on this.
  7. The Frames, “When Your Mind’s Made Up”: This song is almost 20 years old. Imma just go turn to dust now.
  8. Sonic Youth, “Teen Age Riot”: Of course, this one’s pushing 40, but doesn’t act a day over 18. Gotta love the energy.
  9. Gary Moore, “Parisienne Walkaways”: I was introduced to this one by Uncle Gert. He had me sing it for one of his “Family, Friends, and Me” collections a couple of years ago. How does it somehow feel more haunting now?
  10. Fleetwood Mac, “Storms”: Tusk is the Fleetwood Mac album that keeps giving. Sure, Rumors may have had more top singles on it and is revered as the end-all, be-all of Mac albums, but Tusk is a messy masterpiece all its own. And this quiet, powerful song is just one more reason why.

Playlist #258

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Happy Monday, folks! We’re on the home stretch of the school year now; it’s fourth quarter, when all the points matter and the students somehow still don’t care. Here’s a playlist to get us back in the swing of things.

  1. Los Lonely Boys, “Heaven”: I remember when this song came out. I remember most of this entire album. I heard it at the time, but who do I know who had the CD? I don’t think it was my dad, who hasn’t listened to new music since 1989. Maybe Uncle Gert? Probably Uncle Gert. It’s his kinda music. It gives “we have Stevie Ray Vaughn at home” vibes, which ain’t a bad thing.
  2. The Byrds, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”: I feel like the Byrds really lean into the country side of this Dylan number. Which, I mean, was kinda their thing for at least a couple of albums.
  3. Calexico, “Guero Canelo”: Google Translate tells me this means “Fair-Skinned Redhead,” and I mean, I get that. I’m down with a redhead, generally-speaking. Just not the sort of thing I thought this song was about. What did I think it was about? A canal.
  4. Ben Harper & the Blind Boys of Alabama, “Well, Well, Well”: This is a Bob Dylan/Danny O’Keefe number, and these guys absolutely kill it. Love this song.
  5. AC Newman, “Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer”: Where’s our new AC Newman album? The last time he put out a solo album was 2012. There’ve been, like, five New Pornographers albums since then. Five! And while I’m not one to ever complain about new New Pornographers (still the winner for worst band name twenty years running now), I love the man’s solo work and want him to do another solo album. C’mon, Carl, get on it!
  6. The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Do You Believe In Magic”: While out thrift shopping with the family in Ohio last week, I came across a Lovin’ Spoonful Greatest Hits CD for, like, two bucks. I bought it, of course. You don’t just leave a bargain like that sitting on the shelf, even if there’s only one song you recognize by the band on sight.
  7. Paul Westerberg, “Dirty Diesel”: It’s a song about a train! I love train songs. Actual trains? Less so.
  8. The Eels, “I Like Birds”: There’s something beautiful in the simplicity of this song. And who among us doesn’t like birds, huh?
  9. Elk Eyes, “It Goes Dark”: When I imagine my brother’s work (as the Gray Charlies), this is sorta what I hear in my head. Except it’s a guy singing rather than a girl.
  10. Elliott Smith, “Oh Well, Okay”: If ever there was a song title that summed up Elliott Smith’s rather somber outlook on the human condition, this would probably be it.

Playlist #257

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Happy Monday, folks! I’m off on Spring Break, somewhere in Ohio as we speak, but the content mills wait for no one. Therefore, I’ve prepared this in the past for the future! Ain’t the internet great sometimes? Here’s your playlist.

  1. Florence + the Machine, “Queen of Peace”: Florence (and the Machine, natch) show they started out strong and anthematic, their signature sound already in place from the very beginning.
  2. The Wild Feathers, “Help Me Out”: The latest in the long list of “songs I heard in a store and though sounded good.” That particular track list hasn’t failed me yet.
  3. Brian Fallon, “Proof of Life”: When I die, I want this song played at my funeral. “As long as you know how I loved you/That will be the proof of life when I am gone” is just one of those lines that you wish you’d written yourself, but you’re also kinda glad someone else wrote it because now you get to sit back and just appreciate it.
  4. David Gray, “Mr. Bennett”: I dunno quite what I think of the new David Gray album yet. It feels…underdone, I guess. Unfinished. This is one of the songs I’ve liked the most so far, but even it doesn’t really reach me the way some of his older stuff does.
  5. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive) (Live)”: I do enjoy hearing how songs transform in a live setting, even if they don’t change much. This one feels more powerful here, more energetic, and I can dig that.
  6. The Wallflowers, “Here He Comes (Confessions of a Drunken Marionette)”: Went through a Wallflowers run earlier in the month. Rebel, Sweetheart, remains a favorite, and this song is pretty great.
  7. Tracy Bonham, “Mother Mother”: The Wife hates this song. No idea why. It seems like the PJ Harvey-esque sort of thing that she’d love, but it just rubs her the wrong way for whatever reason. I think it slaps.
  8. The Black Crowes, “Hard To Handle”: You can’t go wrong covering Otis Redding.
  9. Lapdog, “I Don’t Mind”: I’m glad that Toad the Wet Sprocket started working together and recording again, but I do wish we’d gotten more Lapdog albums along the way. They were different enough from Toad and I loved their vibe.
  10. Leo Sayer, “More Than I Can Say”: It’s ’70s soft rock at its yachtiest. Sometimes you just need some ’70s Velveeta.

New Single Out Now!

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Happy Friday, everyone! It’s the end of the month, the end of the 3rd quarter, my birthday, and new single release day! I feel like we’ve put a lot of pressure on this March 27th to perform this year.

Anyway, I’ve released a new single, “When I Say Your Name, Only Silence Answers.” It’s a preview of the forthcoming full-length album, Yesterday’s Bright Frontiers, which will be out…um, later? Yeah, let’s go with that.

You can stream the single on your platform of choice, including the ever-popular Spotify and Apple Music. Go give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Playlist #256: The Setlist

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s my birthday this week. You can help me celebrate by listening to the new song I’ve got coming out this Friday, “When I Say Your Name, Only Silence Answers.” You can pre-save it on Spotify, if that’s your thing. For this week’s playlist, I’ve put together a setlist of covers I’d play if I were playing a show, because why not?

  1. Tom Waits, “Chocolate Jesus”: This is my “weird” song, though the guitar chords really aren’t that different from just about any other song on the list. But Waits’s stuff just always comes across as weirder. It is seasonally appropriate, at least.
  2. Langhorne Slim, “House of My Soul”: This one is just fun to play. I like songs that are fun to play.
  3. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Built to Last”: Tom Petty always writes such simple, heartfelt songs. It’s hard not to want to sing along with a Tom Petty song.
  4. Wilco, “Handshake Drugs”: I don’t know if I could tell you what a handshake drug is. Is it the kind that fits in your hand so you can exchange it when you shake hands with the dealer? Did I just crack the code on this twenty-something year-old song?
  5. Bruce Springsteen, “Stolen Car”: It’s only two chords, but that’s all the Boss needs to tell a heartbreaking story of survival and desperation.
  6. Led Zeppelin, “Hey Hey (What Can I Do)”: The Zeppelin song I can play. And play pretty well, I might add! Though I do struggle with the intro bit, which is tricky for a chord player like myself.
  7. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop the Rain”: I love playing CCR songs. They’re just fun, and as I said earlier, I like playing fun songs.
  8. Hank Williams, “Move It On Over”: I have an affinity for this version that I never really had for the George Thorogood version.
  9. Bob Dylan, “Tell Ol’ Bill”: The latest in my long line of Dylan songs I will play over and over until my ears and fingers bleed.
  10. Gin Blossoms, “Pieces of the Night”: I feel everyone needs a ’90s song that can pull out of their back pocket on a spur of the moment, and this one’s mine.

Playlist #255

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Happy Monday, folks! We’ve got a three-hour early release due to a Death Storm headed our way this afternoon. How about some tunes to get us through the tornados?

  1. Bedouine, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Waxahatchee, “Thirteen”: I swear, I think I have more covers of this song than just about any other. There’s something about it that just attracts musicians to it like honey. It is a fabulous song, mind, and every version I’ve ever heard of it is just different enough from each other and the original to be worth listening to. I guess Big Star is the Velvet Underground of power pop.
  2. Bruce Springsteen, “A Rainy Night In Soho”: A Pogues cover that makes Bruce Springsteen sound like Tom Waits. I can dig that.
  3. The Gray Charlies, “Nothing Matters”: Alright, lemme brag on my brother for a minute: Clyde has put together an EP of songs that are phenomenally crafted and expertly recorded. They sound remarkable. I wrote the lyrics for all of them, but don’t hold that against the band. This is the first single, available now, and I recommend you go give it a listen. It’s gorgeous!
  4. Gordon Lightfoot, “Sundown”: Canadian crooner compels compatriots to cease convening conveniently close to his casa.
  5. Lord Huron, “The Night We Met”: Apparently the song the band is most famous for, thanks to its inclusion in some teen drama on CW or something. I dunno, it’s a great song off a great album.
  6. Neko Case, “This Tornado Loves You”: Someone was asking me about the difference between a Tornado Watch and a Tornado Warning this morning, as we’ll be under at least one of those this afternoon. A Watch is when conditions are suited to the formation of a tornado, and a Warning is when tornados are imminent or possibly already making touchdown nearby. In either case, listen for the sirens and get someplace safe if you hear ’em.
  7. Jimi Hendrix, “The Wind Cries Mary”: There’s a chance of high winds even without tornados this afternoon, though I hear they’ve been downgraded from “hurricane-strength” to merely “Oklahoma breeze.”
  8. Tom Waits, “A Little Rain”: This was the sort of Tom Waits song I was talking about above when I was talking about that Bruce Springsteen song. It’s great.
  9. Calexico, “Not Even Stevie Nicks”: Man, not even Stevie Nicks? Not even her? Not even with all the scarves and diaphanous pieces of fabric draped across everything? Fuck.
  10. Stabbing Westward, “Violent Mood Swings”: If this doesn’t get your blood pumping, please check that you still have a pulse.

Playlist #254

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Happy Monday, folks. The weather outside is warming up, so it seems winter is now behind us. I know lots of folks are happy about that, but personally I could’ve done with another few weeks of colder weather. Here’s a playlist.

  1. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, “This Must Be The Place”: I discovered only this weekend that this is a Talking Heads cover. It feels so thoroughly Iron & Wine coded that it took me a second to believe it.
  2. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Black Jack Davey”: Hearing this band as a folky delta blues thing is kind of a trip. They do a good take on this traditional tune.
  3. Matt Berninger & Roseanne Cash, “Who Loves The Sun”: Who doesn’t love a Velvet Underground cover? It’s exactly what you think a Matt Berninger covering Lou Reed song would sound like, and that’s not a bad thing.
  4. The Head and the Heart, “Time With My Sins (Ghost No. 1)”: I kinda like the short album this song is from. It’s primarily acoustic guitar and singing, with lots of the harmonies the band is known for, but it doesn’t feel spare or sparse or “folky.” It just feels right.
  5. Jesse Malin, “You Can Make Them Like You”: I guess this week is just a little heavy on covers, ’cause this is a great Hold Steady cover that he usually closes shows with.
  6. Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time”: I’m not really sure how or when or why it happened, but I’ve really kinda come to love Cyndi Lauper. The woman wrote some amazing songs, including and especially this one. I heard her perform a solo version of this once on the dulcimer, which I wasn’t aware (1) she could play or (2) was still an instrument that anyone could play. It was incredible.
  7. Lake Street Dive, “Bad Self Portraits”: I know this song is pretty far removed from the sound the band has nowadays, but I still love it and I think opening their debut album with it was a smart move.
  8. Neko Case, “Hold On, Hold On”: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood turned twenty a few days ago? Well, I’ll just go ahead and crumble into dust now, if y’all don’t mind. This song still sounds as fresh and vital as it did the day it came out.
  9. Brian Fallon, “Forget Me Not”: It just seems right to me that Brian Fallon screams out the name “Stacy” every time in this song. It fits. I love it.
  10. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “Battle of New Orleans”: It’s a three-chord celebration of Andrew Jackson’s glorious victory over the British in (technically after) the War of 1812. Another cover, if you can believe it.

Playlist #253

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s 2026, and a Republican president has started a war in the Middle East. Again. How long do we think this one will last? Here’s some songs.

  1. Bill Callahan, “Another Song”: I’m never really 100% sure what a Bill Callahan song is about. It’s about songwriting, maybe? But probably not, really. It’s just a good, very spare song.
  2. Old 97s, “Wreck of the Old 97”: You can’t go wrong with the Old 97s covering Johnny Cash, especially if the song is this self-referential in retrospect.
  3. Iron & Wine, “In Your Ocean”: New Iron & Wine is good. Whole new album, very good. Go listen.
  4. Andrew Bird, “Capital I”: At this point, I’m not even sure calling it “the song that became Imitosis” is 100% correct. Maybe it still is? I dunno, feels like it’s taken on a completely different identity all its own by this point.
  5. Roy Acuff, “Wabash Cannon Ball”: Sometimes I just like songs about trains, okay?
  6. Radiohead, “The National Anthem”: I would get up and gladly sing along if this was the national anthem.
  7. Temple of the Dog, “Hunger Strike”: Did you see a hungry person stealing bread? No, you did not, ’cause you are not a fuckin’ narc.
  8. Green Day, “Brain Stew”: That chunky guitar riff could help me coast the rest of the way through this day. I hope.
  9. Dire Straits, “Romeo and Juliet”: You’d feel bad for Romeo if his come-on line was better, I think. I mean, even I — a man who is known for having 0 game — can come up with something better than, “You and me, babe, how about it?”
  10. The Decemberists, “Sons and Daughters”: Sometimes you just need a song sung in the round. It’s true.

Playlist #252

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Happy Monday, folks! Seems like winter wanted to give us one last snow day this season, so I’m sitting at home enjoying an extra day off. Here’s a playlist for you to while away those hours.

  1. Jason Isbell, “Songs That She Sang In The Shower”: Southeastern is filled with great story songs, and this is one of the best on there. I always wonder how autobiographical songs are, and can’t help but feel this one comes from personal experience.
  2. Boygenius, “Not Strong Enough”: These three write and perform some of the best songs I’ve heard in the past several years. I’m so glad they decided to form a supergroup and bless us with songs as good as this one.
  3. Brandi Carlisle, “Turpentine”: Brandi Carlisle remains one of the unsung treasures of country-tinged Americana. If she’d only ever written just this song, that’d still be the truth. But she’s done several albums’ worth of songs that are all just as good. It’s kinda wild.
  4. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “It’ll All Work Out”: I heard a remix of this song the other day on the Tom Petty Radio SXM station that emphasized the acoustic guitar over other instruments. I kinda low-key love it the way I love the album version I’ve heard dozens of times.
  5. Iggy Pop, “The Passenger”: Did you know you can make a five minute rock song playing the same four chords over and over in the same patter the whole time? ‘Cause Iggy Pop does.
  6. Led Zeppelin, “Hey Hey What Can I Do”: It’s the Led Zeppelin song that I can play on the guitar! Hurray!
  7. David Gray, “First Chance”: I feel like every song on the Draw the Line album is just fantastic.
  8. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, “Born Secular”: One of the best songs on one of the best albums ever.
  9. Rage Against The Machine, “Killing In The Name”: “Some of those who work forces/are the same that burn crosses.” Just as relevant and accurate today as it was the day this song released over thirty years ago.
  10. The Rolling Stones, “Mixed Emotions”: Man, no one escaped the ’80s unscathed.