I’m always happy to see Jonathan Byrd on the Top 20 list, especially at no. 1 as he is this month. He’s the sort of contradiction that makes music resonate for me ~ a literate, lyrical poet with a beautifully natural, rootsy sound.
The Tom Waits album I stumbled across last month, The Early Years, is similar in that way. But as much as I loved The Early Years, I did hesitate to add so many songs to the Acoustic Pie stream. I don’t think the songs were intended for public release and there are serious pitch problems, especially with the guitar! But I took the leap and I was happy to see that none of you hit the “Don’t Like” button or changed the channel during the Waits’ songs. I hope that you found, as I did, that the songs are astonishingly beautiful despite (or because of?) the raw performances. “I Want You” (the song voted in at no. 6 this month) has to be one of the simplest yet prettiest love songs on the stream.
San Diegans always claim Tom Waits as one of our own. The credentials are a little sketchy but I’ll accept the precedent and say that he’s joined this month in the Top 20 by San Diego’s highly credentialed and in-residence artists The Donnis Trio (no. 17).
Thanks for listening and thanks for all of the holiday greetings, too! I love hearing from you!
~Kelley
AcousticPie.com
Artist ~ Song ~ Album
1. Jonathan Byrd ~ The Law & the Lonesome ~ The Law and the Lonesome
2. Patty Griffin ~ Heavenly Day ~ Patty Griffin: Live from the Artists Den
3. Mark Erelli ~ Hope Dies Last ~ Delivered
4. Karla Anderson ~ Hold On ~ King Easy Radio Sampler, Volume 5
5. Ellis Paul ~ Hurricane Angel ~ A Summer Night in Georgia
6. Tom Waits ~ I Want You ~ The Early Years
7. Deb Talan ~ Rocks and Water ~ A Bird Flies Out
8. The Chapin Sisters ~ Drop Me ~ Lake Bottom LP
9. Brian Vardigans ~ Springhill ~ Springhill
10. Tom Kimmel ~ Pages ~ Light of Day
11. Peter Mulvey ~ Road to Mallow ~ Kitchen Radio
12. Patty Griffin ~ Tomorrow Night ~ 1000 Kisses
13. Krista Detor ~ Recklessness & Rust ~ Chocolate Paper Suites
14. John Spillane ~ Soon Child ~ Will We Be Brilliant or What?
15. Jennifer Leonhardt ~ Dido ~ Minstrel’s Daughter
16. Emily Kurn ~ If I Am an American ~ Things Change
17. The Donnis Trio ~ Bound to Find My Way ~ All Directions
18. Cheryl Wheeler ~ Since You’ve Been Gone ~ Defying Gravity
19. B. W. Stevenson ~ On My Own ~ Lead Free/B.W. Stevenson
20. Matt Nathanson ~ Angel ~ At the Point
The Acoustic Pie Blog 