Articles Tagged with music

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In 1972, deep in the generational culture wars, Will the Circle Be Unbroken was released as a 3 LP set. A that time I was a budding 14 year old banjo player. It was refreshing to hear the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fusing their hippie sensibility with the mastery of more mature musicians like Earl Scruggs and Vassar Clements. It opened up a world of possibilities I hadn’t heard before.

To this day their take on Soldier’s Joy remains my favorite banjo song to play or listen to. IMHO all other versions pale in comparison.

Scruggs was both a master craftsman and a transformational musical innovator, a very rare combination. Bluegrass simply wouldn’t be what it is without him. Be like Earl and goodness will ensue.

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3274488888_43e04bc6e5Last week at EdNet Charlene Blohm was whinging about how I hadn’t posted some tunes in a while. Here are 25 of my favorites from this past few months.

iTunes no longer allows you to embed mixes outside of their service – so you will need to click through to hear the songs in this mix.

There is a bit of everything in here – americana, jazz, afro-pop, classical, bluegrass, classic rock, and a visit from GlaDOS. Enjoy

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Been fighting the crud since Saturday. The best I can muster so far this week is an overdue iTunes Mix for your listening pleasure.

I found a couple of particularly good new artists (for me) – Richard Shindell (also in Cry, Cry, Cry), and Pink Martini. Thanks to Rich Geist at Winsor Learning for the Pink rec. Shindell was an iTunes rec.

A thread that runs through these songs are strong and unusual story lines – better than your average batch of “love ya/miss ya/can’t wait to kiss ya” that makes up most pop. A marine captain drowns in the Mississippi, hippie band camps by the river and wins the town over, a tempestuous Russian/Italian love affair, Geronimo’s Cadillac, and Guantanamo Bay all grace this list.

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Its time again for a mix of my favorite tunes from the past few months. There was an unusually large crop of great music this summer – and whittling it down to just 20 songs was tough.

This mix is pretty rootsy although there is some rock, jazz, and folk tossed in there. I also listened to a lot cello this summer – but somehow it just didn’t fit with the other stuff.

A theme many of these songs share is the banjo – but it is a subtle background texture not the in your face bluegrass style (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I really enjoy seeing the instrument – and in particular the old time style which I play – finding a new niche. Check out Heart of Sawdust, Wind in the Wires, Big Bird in a Small Cage, and Hey Joe (yes Hendrix) in particular.

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