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.

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.