Playlist #130

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Happy Monday, folk! This is moving week, the week where all of my sanity leaves my body in a sudden rush and I wake up on Friday, hopefully in a new place with all of my stuff there. If not, well, I know how to cry.

  1. Paul McCartney, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”: I tell myself this one is about me. I’m not 100% convinced I’m wrong. My wife thinks I’m handsome, at any rate.
  2. HAIM, “The Wire”: I have heard exactly three (3) songs by this band in my whole life, and I’ve like all three of them. This one cops the drum rhythm from the Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight,” which is actually pretty dope.
  3. The Gaslight Anthem, “Our Father’s Sons”: It’s not a finished song. Bits and pieces of it end up in other songs off The ’59 Sound album. But the lyrics are fairly unique to this particular version, and I like those.
  4. Joe Cocker, “The Letter”: Oh, so a fast train ain’t good enough for ya, Joe? You gotta get on an aeroplane instead? I mean, I guess it makes sense, at least here in the States where high-speed rail just isn’t a thing. But if you were in Japan, you’d be rethinking that train.
  5. Amanda Shires, “Pale Fire”: I keep coming back to this song every few months. I love it. There’s a simplicity and honesty to it that I really appreciate and tend to look for in music.
  6. Patti Smith, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: If you’d told me there’d be a version of this song that features stand-up bass and a banjo and that I’d love this particular version of the song, I’d…probably have believed you, that sounds right up my alley.
  7. The Beatles, “Two Of Us”: “On our way back home.” Yeah, this one is a stealth moving song!
  8. Muddy Waters, “Goin’ Home”: If it’s good enough for Muddy, it’s good enough for me.
  9. Moxy Fruvous, “Boo Time”: I will never, until the day I die, truly understand or maybe even be able to appreciate this band’s bizarre name, but I can get behind some of their stranger songs like this one. What the hell is “Boo Time,” anyway? Is this a Halloween song? Or is it the time when you cuddle up close to your boo? I honestly don’t know, and it keeps me up some nights.
  10. Electric Light Orchestra, “Roll Over Beethoven”: The pinnacle of early ELO. I will not be taking comments about it at this time, or ever.

Quick Cases Cover Reveal and Pre-Order Live!

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My latest book, the short story collection Quick Cases, is now available for pre-order at Amazon! It’s only $3.99 on Kindle, which I think is a steal. Y’all ready to see the cover for it?

It’s pretty slick, I think. But it’s got nothing on the physical paperback version…

Wrap-around cover!

Anyway, as of the time of this writing, Amazon only shows the Kindle pre-order, but the paperback version should be available as well soon. The book goes live on November 1st, so mark your calendars and make sure your favorite e-reader device is fully charged. This is the longest Hazzard book yet, clocking in at nearly 400 pages (I wrote a lot of short stories, y’all). It also features a Foreword by my brother, Clyde, the only person who ever grocked to me borrowing Eddie’s first name from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Playlist #129: Andrew Bird

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Happy Monday, folks! We inch ever-closer to Moving Day (it’s next Thursday, the 26th, if you’re curious). I have completed the Purge of Books and Belongings. Mostly books. I owned a hell of a lot of books. But now I own about a bookcase less than I did before, so that’s progress. Here’s an Andrew Bird Playlist, because Clyde was listening to his stuff this weekend which means I started listening to him again this weekend which means I have Andrew Bird on the brain.

  1. “Minor Stab”: Did you know Andrew Bird played in the band Squirrel Nut Zippers back in the mid- to late-90s? He did! And the album this song is from sounds just like a Squirrel Nut Zippers album. He even gets their singer, Katherine Whalen, to sing on one of the songs.
  2. “Fake Palindromes”: A man. A plan. A canal. Panama.
  3. “Imitosis”: I’m always amused/confused by the lyrical topics of Andrew Bird songs. Sometimes, they’re fairly straightforward love songs, while other times they’re about…um…cell division? Man, I don’t even know.
  4. “Nomenclature”: And other times they’re all about how we name things? It’s eclectic, is what I’m getting at.
  5. “Orpheo Looks Back”: Ostensibly about the tale of Orpheus from Greek myth looking back at his wife while escorting her out of the Underworld, the one thing Hades told him not to do. Always follow the rules in the Underworld, kids.
  6. “Three White Horses”: Horses are oddly popular in music. I’m not just talking about country music or cowboy music, either. Dylan has a couple of songs about horses (mostly “All the TIred Horses” and “Pony”), as does Bruce Springsteen. Maybe they just all want to be cowboys?
  7. “So Much Wine, Merry Christmas”: This whole list could have just been the Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of album, and I’d have been perfectly happy with that. I like this song in particular for that lead guitar break.
  8. “Roma Fade”: If this doesn’t describe Julius Caesar’s haircut, then what even is the point of music?
  9. “Sisyphus”: Ah, the story of Sisyphus! Forever rolling that rock up the hill, only to have it roll back down and have to start the whole process all over again. I think Sisyphus ought to have picked a better place to stop rolling, possibly a flat spot or one that’s got a little dip so the rock can roll back down the hill.
  10. “Atomized”: I didn’t intend for this list to go in chronological order, but it did and it’s fine. Reducing everything to atoms, though? Yeah, that sounds like an Andrew Bird song.

Playlist #128

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Happy Monday, or Indigenous People’s Day as we call it around here. If you wanna celebrate that Columbus guy, go get lost in the spice aisle at the Kroger.

  1. Wreckx-n-Effect, “Rump Shaker”: My wife was not familiar with this song, somehow. Even I know this song, and I spent the 90s in a virginal haze of video games and Pink Floyd music.
  2. The National, “Terrible Love (Alternate Version)”: I prefer this version because the drums are better than the original.
  3. The Mountain Goats, “This Year”: Never not good.
  4. David Gray, “Stella the Artist”: Somehow, over the years, Hold the Line became my favorite David Gray album. I know there aren’t too many people with a favorite David Gray album, but I have one. It’s Hold the Line.
  5. Richard Thompson, “Beeswing”: Just such a beautiful song.
  6. Glen Phillips, “Everything Matters”: A heartfelt love song that encourages me on dark days.
  7. Van Morrison, “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven)”: The rave up we deserve. If more Van Morrison songs were like this, the world would be better.
  8. Murder By Death, “Creep”: You just have to listen to this one to full appreciate it. It’s not the Radiohead “Creep,” and it’s not the Stone Temple Pilots “Creep.” No, it’s the other one. The one you wouldn’t think a crusty-sounding white dude would sing.
  9. Moxy Fruvous, “Greatest Man in America”: Who doesn’t love a song that just gives the middle finger to Rush Limbaugh? Fuck that dude, even if he is dead already.
  10. The Who, “A Quick One, While He’s Away”: If I asked for an orchestra, and the suits told me no, I’d probably have just sung the word “cello” instead of hiring a cellist out of my own pocket, too.

Playlist #127

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The packing continues unabated. We have electricity and water at the new place. And I have a new playlist for you.

  1. Shemekia Copeland, “Clotilda On Fire”: Sure, I came to this song because Jason Isbell plays lead guitar on it, but I stayed for the absolute baller story of a slave ship burning.
  2. Jason Isbell, “Relatively Easy”: I was realizing over the weekend that Jason Isbell might be my current favorite musician. His songs are just so damn good.
  3. Owen Danoff, “Never Been Kissed”: Haven’t heard much from this guy lately, which is a shame. He’s a solid songwriter.
  4. Ram Jam, “Black Betty”: Bam-a-lam.
  5. Ringo Starr, “Photograph”: It’s easy to crap on Ringo. The dude just seemed happy to be there most of the time. But he’s a fantastic drummer and had a good ear for songs early on in his solo career (the less said about Ringo the 4th, his abysmal foray into disco, the better). It helped that some of the songs, like “Photograph,” were contributed by former Beatle bandmate George Harrison (the same album had songs from John and Paul as well).
  6. Van Morrison, “And The Healing Has Begun”: That spoken word interlude always drives me up the wall. Just sing, Van. Just sing.
  7. The Grass Roots, “I’d Wait A Million Years”: I just love this song. I love the Grass Roots. I wish they’d done even more music than they released.
  8. Glen Phillips, “Men Just Leave”: I still really enjoy the sound and style of Glen Phillips’ first album. I wish he’d pursued this style more instead of the more polished, Toad the Wet Sprocket-esque stuff he did afterwards.
  9. Gillian Welch, “Revelator”: My introduction to this song was the Glen Phillips cover. Her original version is better.
  10. Electric Light Orchestra, “Twilight”: Was still on an ELO kick last week, and ended up listening to Time. It’s still an interesting latter-day ELO album, filled with interesting ideas and quirky musical directions.

Playlist #126

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It’s a Tuesday following a holiday on a Monday, which makes it a Playlist day! The next Eddie Hazzard book, a short story collection titled Quick Cases, is up for pre-order! I’ll post the cover reveal as soon as I have it back from my illustrator.

  1. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, “Death Wish”: Isbell’s latest album, Weathervanes, continues to drill deep into my soul.
  2. Pearl Jam, “Corduroy”: Was Vitalogy the last truly great Pearl Jam record? Or was it Vs?
  3. EL VY, “Happiness, Missouri”: This is a two-minute shot of adrenaline right in the arm.
  4. The Raconteurs, “Carolina Drama”: Who is Billy’s daddy? Is it the priest or the milkman?
  5. Rhett Miller, “The El”: The most romantic song written about a public transit system since…um, ever, I guess. I can’t think of any other romance songs based around public transit.
  6. Yola & the Highwomen, “Hold On”: No, it’s not a Wilson Philips cover, sadly. It’s still a good song, though.
  7. Fun., “Carry On”: It’s a fun song by Fun. I’m always a bit suspicious of bands that include punctuation in their name. I’ve got my eye on you, band that hasn’t released an album since 2012.
  8. Foo Fighters, “These Days”: Hey, it’s a Foo Fighters song I can play on guitar! What fun!
  9. Florence + the Machine, “Shake It Out”: Every Florence + the Machine song feels like running an anthematic marathon, and I am exhausted at the end of it.
  10. Electric Light Orchestra, “Eldorado”: I had an argument (or a debate or whatever) with my brother over the weekend in regards to this album. I claim it’s their most consistent album, thematically and stylistically. He argues that the point of ELO is that Jeff Lynne had so much more diverse inspirations than your typical ’70s rock band and that cohesion was never the point. I think he’s just mad about “The Whale” on Out of the Blue).

Book Seven is with the Editor!

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I finished the initial draft quite some time ago, but I finally got Book Seven sent off to my editor this past weekend. She’s giving it the once-over as we speak, so I should probably have the edited text back within a week or so.

Of course, before I can publish Book Seven, I want to publish the short story collection I’ve put together. That will probably come out in November, and Book Seven will come out in spring of 2024. I’m excited for y’all to read the next chapter in Eddie’s story, which is a bit of a culmination of the whole kit and kaboodle.

In other creativity news, my brother has started mixing the songs for the next album, tentatively titled Middle Aged Heartthrob. It’s the coffeehouse album that I’ve definitely always had in me.

Playlist #125

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Happy Monday! It’s a gorgeous day here in Northern Virginia, and it sounds like the weather will continue to be beautiful for the whole week. Too bad I have to spend it all inside teaching.

  1. Better Than Ezra, “Desperately Wanting”: I’ve been on a Better Than Ezra kick this past week for reasons I cannot even begin to explain. I think it’s because most of their songs are so easy to play on the guitar, which my cowboy chord heart really appreciates.
  2. The Record Company, “Control My Heart Blues”: I like these guys, though they suffer from the most generic band name I think I’ve ever heard. I mean, short of “The Band.”
  3. The National, “Laugh Track (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)”: Oh, look, the National surprise dropped a brand new album today. It’s very good, though this might be my favorite song on it.
  4. James Gang, “Funk No. 49”: I feel like, if you’re having to number the funks, you might have too much funk.
  5. John Hartford, “In Tall Buildings”: I refuse to live anywhere above the first floor from now on.
  6. John Prine, “Spanish Pipedream”: Comical stories of topless dancers telling you to go find Jesus aside, this song has always and will always be awesome. The Avett Brothers do a good cover of it, too.
  7. Kaiser Chiefs, “I Predict a Riot”: That’s right, I’m gonna riot if I don’t get what I want! Okay, maybe not riot, per se. Maybe just grumble and complain under my breath for a while.
  8. Langhorne Slim & The Law, “Put It Together”: I will never tire of this song. It just hits something primal in my soul and gets it all hyped up.
  9. Mark Knopfler, “Donegan’s Gone”: A skiffle-esque tribute to the guy who brought the musical form to the shores of Merry Ol’ England.
  10. Mike Doughty, “Fort Hood”: Best song that features the coda from the 5th Dimension’s “Age of Aquarius” as a chorus? Yes.

Playlist #124: Home

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Happy Monday, folks. By tomorrow, the wife and I will be homeowners (and the sister-in-law)! We’ve been renting the same townhouse for almost 14 years now, so it’ll be strange to leave it and call some other place home. There’ll be new traffic patterns to learn, a new (slightly longer) route to work, and I’m sure a whole host of challenges and foibles associated with moving into a new place. But I’ll have music to keep me going there, including this week’s playlist.

  1. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, “Our House”: We’ve only got the one cat, and she won’t really be allowed out (we don’t really have a yard, per se. We’re moving into a condo), but this still feels fitting.
  2. Hem, “Home Again”: Our intention is to move into this place and just settle in. I don’t see us moving again for a very, very long time, if ever.
  3. Iron & Wine, “Walking Far From Home”: I’m hoping to find some walking trails or something close by so I can start exercising again. I will miss having the park right across the street where I could go do that.
  4. Norah Jones, “Long Way Home”: As I mentioned above, this new home will put us slightly further out from work, but that was the trade-off: live further out, find a place you can afford.
  5. Eric Clapton, “Back Home”: We really do like the place. It’s got plenty of very usable space, it’s in a nice neighborhood, and I think we’ll settle in very well there.
  6. Sheryl Crow, David Alvin, Phil Alvin, & Taj Mahal, “Home Again”: This is from the Ghost Brothers of Dark County original soundtrack, that stage play that John Mellencamp and Stephen King collaborated on.
  7. Healthy White Baby, “Home”: Great band, absolutely terrible band name.
  8. Simon & Garfunkel, “Homeward Bound”: A classic.
  9. Jack Johnson, “Home”: If our homes feels as comfortable and laid back as a Jack Johnson song, I’ll be content.
  10. Aretha Franklin, “Bring It On Home To Me”: God, this woman could just SING.

Playlist #123

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Happy Tuesday! We spent Labor Day going through our Dining Room in preparation for moving next month. It was a bear. Here’s some songs!

  1. Smash Mouth, “Walkin’ On The Sun”: The lead singer for this band died over the weekend. I think we can all agree that this one and “All Star” are both fun. I prefer this one of the two.
  2. Jimmy Buffett, “Margaritaville”: Jimmy Buffett also passed away over the weekend. “Margaritaville” might be the most obvious choice for a Buffett song, but it’s still one of my favorites (though it’s no “Cheeseburger in Paradise”).
  3. Hall & Oates, “You Make My Dreams (Come True)”: Heard this one at the diner during family dinner yesterday afternoon. It’s still a banger.
  4. Husker Du, “Sunshine Superman”: Who doesn’t love a hardcore cover of a Donovan song?
  5. Slowdive, “andalucia plays”: Just heard about these guys over the weekend. They’re pretty cool, in a shoegaze-y sort of way.
  6. Better Than Ezra, “At The Stars”: This song will never not be good to me.
  7. Pixies, “Where Is My Mind?”: The soft/loud dynamics of this band were trendsetting for a reason. This song rocks.
  8. Peter Gabriel, “Intruder”: You know that ’80s gated reverb drum sound? The one that dominated ’80s music? It starts with this song.
  9. Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”: The slow burn of this song, the build…it’s just so damn good.
  10. Merle Haggard, “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink”: Someone recently pointed out that country music from back in the day was all anti-authoritarian, anti-rules, pro-individuality, and contemporary country is all about licking authority’s boots. They’re not wrong.