I’m putting up the FRT half a day early; tomorrow is the first anniversary of my Dad’s death, and a Friday Random Ten doesn’t feel right. I may post about other things.
It is the last day of spring or the first day of summer, and in the midst of grief there is room for robust joy. The song titles suggest I’m in a, uh, frisky mood. #1 is a splendid Ryan Adams track, it’s a satisfying one to sing along to; Christian singer Derek Webb shows up twice here with two fine cuts he recorded for Itunes. That #9 and #10 should have the same theme makes me chuckle a bit. Julie Miller is Buddy’s wife, and a fabulous singer and songwriter in her own right, #4 is among my favorites of hers. When the Millers open for Emmylou Harris, as they often do, it’s sublime. #7 I sing out loud — even once on a car trip with my youth group kids. #3 is my favorite Joel song, and Rosie Thomas is a pretty cool folkie I’ve recently been introduced to. The bonus tracks weren’t picked at random — just two songs I played a lot this week on my Itunes as I graded papers.
1. “Come Pick Me Up”, Ryan Adams
2. “Nothing is Ever Enough”, Derek Webb
3. “Summer, Highland Falls”, Billy Joel
4. “Broken Things”, Julie Miller
5. “Cry Love”, John Hiatt
6. “Young Lust”, Pink Floyd
7. “I Touch Myself”, Divinyls
8. “Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn”, Emmylou Harris
9. “Wedding Day”, Rosie Thomas
10. “Wedding Dress”, Derek Webb
Bonus Track One: “Dead Flowers”, Rolling Stones
Bonus Track Two: “Virginia, No One Can Warn You”, Tift Merritt
‘Wedding Day’ is SUCH a beautiful song. All of Rosie’s albums are lovely, and the new album with Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer is sublime.
Agreed, Steve. And I only discovered her in the past few weeks. It’s always such a rush to find something/someone new.
Definitely - I love it!
Here’s one for you - http://www.julielee.org/ - Julie Lee is an amazing bluegrass/nu-grass singer/songwriter. She wrote two songs on Alison Krauss’ new album, and has opened for Alison too - she’s amazing. I think you’ll dig her…
Ryan Adams is one of my favorite singer/songwriters and Come Pick Me Up is wonderful. It was first introduced to me through Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown,” and quickly fell in love with it.
I’d forgotten that song was in that movie — it’s the one Cameron Crowe movie that completely let me down. After the thundering high of “Almost Famous”, I was devastated by the waste of “Elizabethtown”, particularly with what ought to have been a can’t-miss cast.
I agree…”Elizabethtown” was quite disappointing.
Divinyls…hehe, always great during karoake nights.