Tunesday X

Not much to write that hasn't been said already....

This tune has been in heavy rotation here for a few years now.

Citizen Cope Son's Gonna Rise

Vol. VIII

Jackie Greene has been on my radar since his 2006 release American Myth. Early in his career, he was saddled with the unfortunate expectation of "the next Bob Dylan." Those who know me know that I am very much a Dylan fan. However, labeling some 23 year-old who happens to reveal that he has written a few good songs, who musically resides in that folk-rock-country-blues universe that houses so many others and which Dylan helped create, and who plays harmonica as the next Dylan? Come on. Buy a thesaurus. He does look a little like Dylan, circa Highway 61 Revisited, though....

I recommend his new release, and you can listen to most of it (free) here. I even more strongly recommend checking out "Just as Well" and "Never Satisfied" from American Myth. For a sampling of "Uphill Mountain" off his new release:


View the video for "So Hard to Find My Way" here.

Though it isn't one of my favorite songs by Greene, "Mexican Girl" contains a guitar solo that shows the artist can work the ax. Watch it.

Now, listen to something good.

Vol. VII

TunesDay



I am no Amy Winehouse fan, but my opinion is largely a reflection of my own bias and not of her talent. I occasionally put on Macy Gray, Dusty Springfield, and Donna Summer. I often listen to Sarah Vaughn and Etta James. Now, I must say that I am listening to Aimee Anne Duffy quite a bit. Her debut release (not including her real debut release - an ep in Welsh), Rockferry was released March 3 of this year and is approaching one million in sales.

Duffy is 24, has a more-mature-and-sexier-than-Hilary-Duff look, embraces the old school Motown sound and does her own thing with it. I especially like Warwick Avenue, the first video below. However, I recommend that you go here for the official video, as embedding has been disabled. The official video is simple and moving.



The title track from Rockferry is my next favorite:



Then, for a real treat, play this. If you are bored with the studio chatter, advance to the 1:23 mark and catch a load of Syrup & Honey. Trust me.



Finally, her first single, Mercy, is more upbeat but still displays her great range and raw emotion.



I am interested in your opinions of Duffy's music. Also, please feel free to recommend artists you think I'd enjoy. Meanwhile, listen to something good.

Vol. V

For a list of all the TunesDay posts and the artists covered, see the sidebar.

I prefer more the songwriter than the performer. I gravitate more toward the deeper meaning than the easy dance step. That said, I enjoy me some ol' school. I love the Commodores, James Gang, Brownsville Station, the Ohio Players... even AC/DC, Madonna, Justin Timberlake... Anyway. My enjoyment of music does have boundaries, but it is a vast, barely-chartered wilderness within that fence. Today, I give you Matt Wertz, a Missouri-born Nashville resident with a nice sound for these breezy, late spring days.

Mr. Wertz has a little of Jack Johnson in his sound. Check out 5:19 and Counting to 100. You can hear more at his MySpace page. His songs have been featured on shows like "Brothers and Sisters", "Kyle XY" and "Wildfire." His music is more "pop" than I generally listen to, but gravitas is so 2004.

Vol. IV

A few months ago I saw Amos Lee open for Elvis Costello who opened for Bob Dylan. I own seventeen Dylan albums, so I am a fan. I like a few Costello tunes but think he is overrated, unlike his lovely wife, who I think is much better. As for Amos Lee, I would have gone to the concert just to see him. I mentioned him a year or so ago, and Lime listened and became a fan. Now, it's his turn for a Tunesday spotlight.



Lee's third studio release will be coming out soon, and, based on the first two, I will pre-order it. His sound is mellow folk-pop-blues-country. Whatever. He writes simple tunes with decent lyrics. His melodies are smooth and tight. I like his voice. As I said the first time I wrote about him, it says a lot that Dylan picked him to open his tour - and this before Amos Lee's first release had time to hit the shelves. Odds are you have heard him. His tune "Sweet Pea" is used in an AT&T commerical, and some of his songs have been used in various television shows, including House, Brothers & Sisters, Six Degrees, and Grey's Anatomy.



Check out these tunes & videos.



Shout Out Loud

Music Video:COLORS (by Amos Lee)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

Truth



Careless



Skipping Stone



Keep it Loose, Keep It Tight ~ one of my faves ~



Now, go listen to something good.

Vol. III

...a new soul, in this foreign world, hoping to learn a little....
Israeli songstress, Yael Maim brings a smile to my heart.

Cocoon does the same. Not the movie, mind you, although I love that Don Ameche-Hume Cronyn-Jessica Tandy flick... No, I am speaking of the band behind "On My Way" and this nice acoustic cover of "I Don't Give a Shit." Try not to laugh.



...and to keep on with today's Music-that-makes-me-smile theme, the video for "On My Way" :



If you feel like a liar
If you're about to leave me
If you can't sleep at night

If my bed songs upset you
And if my arms can't warm you
You just have to try

I am such a coward
I could win an award
You may not believe me
But it would be ok

Did you know you're still crying
Did you know that we all did
Is it paradise?

I'm just waiting for the day
That I will find a letter
On the bedroom door

I am such a coward
I could win an award
You may not believe me
But it would be ok

* * * * * * * * * * * *

You may know of Jason Mraz (Mr. A-Z) for songs like "The Remedy," "Curbside Prophet," "I'll Do Anything," "Wordplay," and "Geek in the Pink." He is an incredible wordsmith. Seriously. Way, way seriously. If you love words and a turn of the phrase, purchase Mr. A-Z or Waiting for My Rocket to Come. Meanwhile, I wrote of this following song a year or so ago, as I really love Mraz and have a little crush on Tristan Prettyman. Tristan's debut release Twenty-three is a solid recording which I like a lot. Tristan and Jason wrote a song together, and it is on Tristan's debut. Here is the video. If you like music and enjoy watching really talented musicians, you should like this.



Now, go listen to something good.

Vol. II

Ok, so Ryan Adams probably thinks more of himself than any fan could ever dream to. Nevertheless, his old band, Whiskeytown, is a steadfast favorite of mine, and rumors of them reuniting excite me. Below are two samples from their Pneumonia release. Also, check out "16 Days" and "Factory Girl."

Now, go listen to something good.

First Tunesday: Joe Henry

Given that music resides in the anteroom of any space I inhabit, I introduce a new feature to Stripped: Tunesday. On Tunesdays, I will ramble a bit about a favorite musical artist or three, or a genre, or something musical that means something to me. While I lean heavily toward the folk, alt-country, and blues genres in my day-to-day, my tastes are much more eclectic than a surface glance, or listen, may reveal. Today, I am bringing Joe Henry. Say "Hi."

In 1994, on my way back to South Carolina from Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia, I was listening to a folk show on public radio. A Norman Blake tune played, and I really enjoyed the sparse sound of a folk song about the industrial revolution. Then "She Always Goes," by Joe Henry, came on. I was captured by the voice, the lyrics, the song. The next morning, I bought The Fields of November, Norman Blake's double cd release, and Joe Henry's Kindness of the World. I had a light day as far as classes (I was in law school at the time), so I skipped all of them and listened to music instead.

I am partial to artists who write their own songs, and to lyrics that are more literate than the pablum on most radio stations. Here are some Henry lyrics which for over a dozen years have taken their places among my all-time faves, right up there with the ubiquitous Dylan lyrics.



One day when the weather is warm, I'll wake up on a hill and hold the morning like it was a plow and cut myself a row, and follow it until I know better by God than I know now.

There was no taste of spring in the breath you blew away and nothing of a color left in your face and no way I could keep the faith you lost in me, and nothing I could raise up in its place...
~ from "One Day when the Weather is Warm"

Sometimes I like to say that I'm a different man today, not the one that she recalls. She never really knew me at all. Then other times I might pretend we're both the same as we were then. I see here wearing my old clothes, but in the end she always goes.

You can call it what you will, but a story's yours until the one who knows it well as you says she's got a story too....
~from "She Always Goes"

Well, sometimes at night I pretended to be sleeping, just to hear what it is that you say when you talk to yourself and the darkness is keeping the hateful morning a goodnight away.
~from "This Close to You"

Bury every hope you ever dreamed of, deep enough so that no dogs come around...
And if you catch me leaning back, I had some leaning back to do...
If I took the liberty of your voice you left ringing in my ear and I gave buckdancer's choice to myself for all to hear, well, I'd tell myself all the things that you never would and would forgive all you never could...
If only this time I was wrong, if only you were here, if I was only half as strong, if just tonight a mile was only half as long, then I could walk from here....
~from "Buckdancer's Choice"

The Kindness of the World was recorded when Henry was perched squarely in his folk/alt-country phase. He has moved on to alternative, ethereal jazz-tinged rock, and more. Fuse, released in 1999, was much more a rock, alt-rock recording, featuring Jakob Dylan and others. Fuse, in fact, has a lyric that I love: "Her fingers on your lips are like a penny for a fuse..." If you're young, maybe you aren't familiar with using a penny in the place of a fuse. Think about it.

Henry has been married for over twenty years to Madonna's sister. One of Henry's songs ("Stop") was sent to Madonna by her sister, and Madonna recorded it. You may have heard it, although she calls it "Don't Tell Me."

If you are a Joe Henry fan, let me know. If you decide to check out Joe Henry, let me know what you think. Meanwhile, listen to something good.

Griffin House

Griffin House has long resided at the top of my list of favorite singer-songwriters. I strongly suggest that you listen to "The Guy that Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind." For now, check out "Ah, Me."

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