Into the Morning with Tom Russell and the Norweigen Wind Ensemble and “Nina Simone”
It was late, I was on the way home from Target, the iPhone was on shuffle and then I heard sound of the Norwegian Wind Ensemble with Thad Beckman, and soon Tom Russell and I were traveling, we were in San Cristobal and listening to Nina Simone on the jukebox…… Tom surely can paint a picture with his words and music…..I love songs that provide a “sense of place” and songs that move me, This song does both of those things very well….at least for me! So let’s all go into the morning with Tom and his song “Nina Simone” from the album Tom’s latest album Aztec Jazz…..
Today in Music History – 1943 – Happy Birthday Steve Miller!
Born on this day in 1943, was Steve Miller aka .”The Gangster of Love”. I became a Steve Miller fan with his second album Sailor and followed his career on vinyl until the album six Rock Love which was released in 1971. I think I had The Joker on 8-track! After that, I followed his career on the radio, until his 2010 and 2011 releases Bingo and Let Your Hair Down, which are both really fine albums! From Steve’s Press Release Biography
Hi Ho Hi Ho! It’s off to Work I Go! With the Progressive Rock Sounds of Royal Hunt
So tonight the soundtrack for the whole 30 minute ride to work and back at Target will be from the Danish progressive rock band, Royal Hunt, Show Me How To Live. the band’s 2011 release. Based upon what I’ve heard so far, I don’t think it will be too long before I try to hunt down their latest release….A Life to Die For! Some background for you and me!!
Life’s Soundtrack – A Positive Run and some Americana Music from Markus Rill!
So last night after work I ran. After the run I finished my post about Steve Strongman, I showered, went to the store, and then ate dinner. All the while I was thinking that I would write about the run in a few minutes. So as the minutes passed, my energy slowly slipped away and before long I was closer to sleep than coherent thoughts and writing!! Which is why I’m sitting here on Friday afternoon writing about it! I maintained a pretty fast pace (for me) throughout the run and my pace time continues to go down. There was one time during the run that I checked my pace and it was 9:06, so I sped up a little and sure enough the pace went under 9 minutes!! Unfortunately, I could only keep up that pace for a minute or less!! My pace, however, through the first three miles was just and shade over 10 minutes per mile!! And overall I ended the four-mile run in a time of 40:19 for an average pace of 10:05. I was a tired but happy camper!!! 
Now I couldn’t think of or find a Prog Rock album to use as the soundtrack for the run, so I selected an Americana album that I’ve been listening to over the last few days, My Rocket Ship from Markus Rill I really like this album. It’s full of great songs, husky, gravelly vocals from Rill and some fine music from his backing band The Troublemakers. Here’s some press from Markus’ website: “If voices were highways, Markus Rill’s would be gravel … like Steve Earle, Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams, Rill excels at songwriting” – PureMusic/USA “Europe’s premier Americana artist” – Rootstime/Belgium Yes, you read that last quote correctly, because… 
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Today in Music – 1948 – Happy Birthday, Duke Robillard!!
After reviewing a couple of the birthday lists, that I usually check in the morning, I didn’t see any names that really caught my attention, so I decided that I’d search for any “today in jazz'” birthday sites. I found a list at All About Jazz and as I scrolled down the list there weren’t many names that I recognized (Can anyone tell me if there’s someone I should check out on the list) until I arrived at the Ds and there I saw blues guitarist Duke Robillard‘s name! Now you may say what’s a blues artist doing on a list of jazz musicians. Well that’s because Duke’s music ofttimes resides in that common ground that jazz and blues share! From Wikipedia:
“Into the Night” with more Canadian Music! – Some Blues from Steve Strongman!!!
Today in Music – 1950s style – Two Blues Greats! Stevie Ray and Keb’ Mo’
OK everybody all together now – whose birthday is it today – what’s that you say?? Keb’ Mo’?? Well, you are correct. He was born in 1951 (a familiar year) but does that look like Keb’ Mo’, at the top of this post? No it does not! This is Keb’ Mo’, 
Of course the other blues man who was born on this day, but in 1954, is one of the best blues rock musicians, as opposed to the acoustic blues of Keb’ Mo’, and one of my favorites Stevie Ray Vaughan….from Wikipedia….
Night Owl Music: The Trip from The Folk Sinner to Sonny Landreth’s “Z Rider”
Ok so Sonny Landreth is one of those musicians whose music is included in my library, but gets lost in the midst of the 18,000 plus tracks on my iPod! But yesterday, when I paid a visit to YouTube and watched the video that closes this post. I was blown away by Landreth’s slide playing!! Words like you “doofus” and “idiot” came to the forefront of my mind, as I castigated myself for not listening to more of Sonny;s music!! You maybe asking yourself, now., how did he get around to listening to Sonny Landreth yesterday?? Wasn’t he listening to Lee Harvey Osmond’s The Folk Sinner???? Well, even if you didn’t pose that question to yourself, I’m going to tell you the answer anyway!!
