Jason

YouTube video by Robert Randolph & The Family Band - Topic Run for Your Life

Robert Randolph & The Family Band opened for Eric Clapton in 2004, and they were the first opening act I ever heard that blew my socks off.

YouTube video by Keller Williams - Topic Gallivanting

What a musician! I can't wait for the next time I get to see Keller Williams perform. The last time was at the Arc in Ann Arbor, and there couldn't have been more than 100 people there. What a show!

YouTube video by Ben Folds - Topic Fired

As a young person, I used to say you could sum up most of my musical interests into one artist: Ben Folds. He's a rocker, but he's melodic and musical--and occasionally funny. Here's one of my favorite tracks from high school.

YouTube video by Grateful Dead Grateful Dead - Casey Jones (2020 Remaster) [Official Audio]

When I came out to my friends, I listened to GD's Skeletons From The Closet album each time. Studio Dead is not the Grateful Dead, but there was something about the title that seemed fitting: obviously the closet, but I'd been in there so long I might as well have been a skeleton.

YouTube video by Neil Young - Topic Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (2009 Remaster)

Today's workout included ol' Neil. I wanted to give you Cinnamon Girl, but it's the opening track, and Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand are too long, so here's the title track.

YouTube video by firedrich Muddy Waters - I Want To Be Loved (Hard Again)

I can't even remember buying this album, but here is a great track from it. In case you forgot, the blues got soul.

YouTube video by TheBandPerryVEVO The Band Perry - If I Die Young (Official Music Video)

Truth me told, I was pretty miserable when I lived in North Carolina, but I was able to make the best of the situation with some good friends. This song will always remind me of the good times I had down there.

YouTube video by PerryCoxPF93 Parliament - Testify

I don't even know who I was at 17 when I picked up this album. I only spun it a handful of times back then, but it was a fun find today. While I exercised earlier, I rediscovered this gem buried as track 8 in an 11 track collection.

YouTube video by Josh Barroso Ben Harper - When It's Good (STUDIO VERSION)

On the treadmill the other day, I listened to Ben Harper's Diamonds On The Inside, and it reminded me of high school--for better or worse. I remember watching Ben on Austin City Limits, and his bassist Juan Nelson just killed it. This may very well be the last time I spin this record.

YouTube video by Jeff Beck - Topic Thelonius

Listening to this album at age 19 with @eliisaguirre.bsky.social in my '89 Buick Le Sabre was one of my all-time top listening experiences ever. What a great time we had that afternoon. Times were simpler then. We definitely could not have foreseen a future the likes of which we are living today.

YouTube video by JazzBreakTV George Benson - Affirmation 1976 (Original Studio Version)

I regret turning down the chance to go to the tour for the 40th anniversary of this album. But Benson was sharing the bill with Kenny G, and I just wasn't looking for a night of that much smooth jazz. This is fusion at its best.

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen - Topic The E Street Shuffle

Today's tune comes from a mix tape I got from a music instructor named Jon at a summer music camp when I was 16 or so. And boy, was that mix tape hot! If not for Jon, I would have never been turned on to Frank Zappa. Anyway, here's the Boss!

YouTube video by JohnAndersonCountry John Anderson Swingin'

This was a fun one to listen to on the treadmill today. A year or two before the pandemic, I played this song at open mic night at Tenacity Brewing Co. in Flint, MI. I love John Anderson's voice, especially when he turns on the gravel maker.

YouTube video by Allman Brothers Band - Topic Jessica

For today's post, I wanted to pull out a deeper cut than this, but "Jessica" is probably my favorite tune by the Allman Brothers. It just has the sound. Enjoy!

YouTube video by Peter Frampton - Topic She Caught The Katy

Peter Frampton's take on "She Caught The Katy" is a great break-up song that cannot be written today: she caught the Katy (Kansas-Texas Railroad) and left me a mule to ride. Imagine trying to write that today: she caught an Uber and left me a skateboard to ride. Cant be done.

YouTube video by Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop (Official Audio)

Tomorrow night I'm going to see the rock orchestra Classic Albums Live perform Zeppelin IV in its entirety. There's nothing like live music, especially when it's the classic music that defines eras. So here's one track from the album that doesn't need to be played through 100-watt Marshalls.

Here is picture of Bob Minner and me with a well loved Gibson J-45 before the Faster Horses Festival in Brooklyn, Michigan, July 24, 2022.

YouTube video by Bob Minner - Topic Dark Across The Pond

Today's selection is "Dark Across The Pond," by Bob Minner, an flat picker best known as the acoustic player for Tim McGraw. Bob's a great player and a heck of a nice guy I get to call a friend.

I'm going to blog my album collection here, sharing single tracks as I listen to albums each day. I hope to share at least a track a week and to share something about my life as it relates to the music. I'm currently in my bluegrass era.

YouTube video by The Bluegrass Band & Butch Robins - Topic Salty Dog Blues

For your listening pleasure: "Salty Dog Blues" by The Bluegrass Band and Butch Robins.