Rhett Miller Tickets

First of all, thanks to those who were listening to my show on Deep Ellum Radio last night. Your support means a lot to me. I must admit, however, by being disappointed by one particular event. At the end of the show, I did a giveaway for tickets to Saturday's Cystic Fibrosis Benefit Show at the Granada Theater featuring Rhett Miller, Sarah Jaffe, and The O's. You'd think there would be a long list of people attempting to win the tickets. You know how many email entries I got last night? None. Nada. Zilch.

So, here I am, with two pairs of tickets to give away instead of one. So here's what I'm going to do: the first two people who can email me the name of the Old 97's song I played yesterday in my radio show (by the way, it's my all time favorite song of theirs) win the tickets. I'll even give you one more big hint: the version of the song I played was found on Wreck Your Life, but it was also featured two years later on Too Far to Care. For those in the know about the Old 97's discography, that narrows it down to exactly one song.

So the first two people to email me at ghostofblindlemon@gmail.com with the correct song title in the subject line are the winners. Good luck to all!

The Lucky Thirteen: 11/1/10

Standard playlist disclaimer: any artists, record labels, etc. who do not wish to be on the playlist for any reason whatsoever, email me at ghostofblindlemon@gmail.com and I will gladly remove the track. And if you'd actually like to be on the playlist, you can use the same email addy to email me mp3's, and if I like the song then odds are it'll wind up on a playlist.

Also, it's worth mentioning that I'm now adding links to the websites of any artists featured in the Lucky Thirteen. If you like what you hear, then go to their site and learn more.

1. "Go On", The Shapes
   I've only been waiting for the debut album of The Shapes for about six years now. For those unfamiliar with the band, here's the Cliff Notes history: when Sons of Sound ended (click here for the Cliff Notes on them), Josh McKibben formed The Upsidedowners. Josh disbanded that group in early 2004. The remaining members, not ready to quit, formed The Shapes. And six years later, the album comes out. I hear their follow-up should be released sometime in early 2017.


2. "Ma'mma Jamma", The Virgin Wolves
   Since I did the covers themed playlist last week, this song had to wait because I just (finally) got their CD. This song combines a 50's boogie beat with the rocking style heard in their song "Virtue and Vice". This is a CD you need in your collection.


3. "House of All We Left Behind", Air Review
   I was originally going to share an acoustic version of "Chasing Corporate" on the Lucky Thirteen, but the Grooveshark website stated that the frequency of the file was too low or something like that. Oh well. Check out the band this Friday when they play Trees along with Radiant* and The Orange.


4. "Calistoga Blues", Les Americains
   Speaking of shows, this band will be at Double Wide on November 12th, celebrating their LP release. I'm not sure if there will be a CD to be purchased. Frankly, I was kind of hoping they'd put it out on 8-track, but no such luck.


5. "Supernatural", Rahim Quazi
   Mr. Quazi has told me on several occasions how excited he is for his next album to be finish and released. That makes two of us. In the meantime, here's the title track to his 2008 masterpiece.


6. "Mind in Trouble", Oil Boom
   I've gotten a few tweets from this band, so I figured that at the least, I should give them a listen. This song is a nice piece of bluesy rock, and I'm curious to hear more from the band.


7. "Mama Don't Like Me", The Roomsounds
   For some reason, Grooveshark insists on calling this song Mama192. I'm very anal about correct song titles, but I didn't want to not share the song just because of Grooveshark's error.


8. "Your Wife, Your Kids, Your Family, Your Friends", Analog Rebellion
   I must confess, I didn't really get into PlayRadioPlay, but I must say that Daniel Hunter's self-proclaimed "stadium lo-fi" is really winning me over.


9. "Fishbowl", Rhett Miller
   Call it a hunch, but I doubt Mr. Miller will be performing this or any song from his 1989 debut, Mythologies.


10. "Within the Flame", Anna Thomas
    Ms. Thomas will shortly be releasing her Break Apart EP, a collection of songs that would be mature and impressive for a thirty year old woman. The fact that she's thirteen makes it almost unbelievable, but in a very good way.


11. "To Whom It May Concern", The Burning Hotels
    Can someone explain something to me? Why is it that at a Burning Hotels live show, when the band announces "this is a song about Texas", barely anyone applauds? I mean, I thought that was supposed to be the one guaranteed way to get applause from an audience. And it's a good song too, so what's the deal people?


12. "Just Incase", Year of the Ox
    Fans of quality hip-hop and rap, take note: listen to The Indie Verse every Tuesday at 4 pm for Nic Hernandez' show "The Breeding Ground". Click here to check out his site. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to the show yet, but from the songs I've heard from his playlist, this man could be to local hip-hop music what Mark from the Local Edge is to local rock music. And that's no tiny compliment.


13. "You're No Good", Pale Horse
    I'm ending this playlist with this song, because, well, it's awesome. Yeah, that about sums it up..

MySpace Playlist: 11/8/09

1. "Patricia Lynn", The Crash That Took Me
   Last night's TCTTM CD release show bordered on being a true force of nature. My props go out to Sons of Hermann Hall and whoever was doing sound that night, because every instrument could be heard by the audience member crystal clear. More importantly, super enormous props to Dylan Silvers and the rest of the band for putting on one of the most rocking shows I've seen all year; every member of the band is a first rate musician. If you haven't picked up Chlorine Colored Eyes, run, don't walk, to your nearest quality CD store and buy it; this is Mr. Silver's best work to date. I could rave on and on, but I'll shut up for now.


2. "I Can't Make You Happy", Ronnie Fauss
   I'm not sure I've heard a song with a bare bones minimal melody work so effectively. The verses consist of one note repeated over and over, and what should be repetitive and annoying is instead haunting and memorable (in a good way). This overly simple melody also serves another purpose even more important: it draws the attention of the listener to the emotionally frank (and well written) lyrics. Bonus points to Mr. Fauss for referencing my favorite Bob Dylan song.


3. "Saturday", Baboon
   I really wanted to add "Lush Life" to the playlist instead. Oh, the limits of MySpace. This is still a great song, and if your computer speakers aren't cranked up to full blast, then it's too quiet.


4. "Come Hell", Matthew Bridgman
   The first time I saw Mr. Bridgman perform, my car has just broken down over by Bill's Records, and my mind was only half on the performance. I saw him play this Thursday at The Pearl Cup, and was amazed by how good his performance was. The songs on his MySpace, like this one, only give the slightest indication of the level of talent he possesses.


5. "Echo and the Pass", Hendrick
   Speaking of Mr. Bridgman, he was once a member of this band. He talked about how he thinks lead singer Josh Hendrick is a fabulous songwriter. All of the songs off of Exhale are indeed great songs, expect for this track, which there are no words in the English language to appropriately describe how amazing and beautiful this song is. Please, please, PLEASE listen to this song. I can't imagine anyone being able to listen to this song and not just falling in love with it.


6. "Have You Ever Been Down?", THe BAcksliders
   Friday the 13th is your lucky day. With THe BAcksliders and Spector 45 performing at Double-Wide, how can it not be a good day?


7. "Change Gon' Come", Dem Southernfolkz
   Of course, for those who feel that Friday the 13th is bad luck, Friday's show at Trees could be used as evidence. No, I don't say that because the show is a bad show, quite to the contrary. Dem Southernfolkz will celebrate their EP release (which you can download for free here), and Dove Hunter, Mo Brown, and They Were Stars will round out this great lineup. Why is this bad luck? You can't be at Double-Wide and Trees at the same time.


8. "I'm on Fire", The Farstar
   The band's first full length CD, produced by Salim Nourallah, will be released next year. In the meantime, enjoy this catchy tune from their recently released Strange Kids EP.


9. "Maureen's House", The Marfalites
   Another band working with Mr. Nourallah is The Marfalites. Catch them Saturday night at City Tavern as they open for Grant Jones and the Pistol Grip Lassos.


10. "Meteor Shower", Rhett Miller
    I normally don't add Rhett Miller's solo material to playlists since he's been based out of LA for almost a decade now. Still, the man was born in Dallas, and I'm really looking forward to Saturday's Granada Theater show, which will be a benefit for Cystic Fibrosis. Salim Nourallah, The O's, and Shibboleth will also perform. Get your tickets now, because you don't want to miss out on this one. Short on money and can't afford tickets? Keep your eye on the blog this week; I just might be able to help you out...