STUFF I DIG 02
More Chuck Prophet! Kim Richey! Aaron Lee Tasjan! Kevn Kinney! Dancing with the Dead!
CHUCK PROPHET!
In this post from September 9, 2024, I shared the video for Chuck Prophet’s “Sugar into Water” and said it was my favorite of the three singles he has released so far from his upcoming album Wake the Dead. I love the track to death. It’s an instant classic. It sat firmly at the top of The Droge Hot 100 chart. But then the next single, “Red Sky Night” came along and BAM! Straight to number one!
I was thrilled to learn that Chuck co-wrote the song with my pals Kim Richey and Aaron Lee Tasjan. (ALT for short.) Three of my favorite songwriters pooling their greatness? What a treat for us all! And as an added treat, Kim and ALT have released stellar albums of their own this year.
KIM RICHEY!
One of the many highlights from Kim’s Every New Beginning is “Joy Rider,” which she co-wrote with ALT. Here they are together knocking this infectious gem out on a couple of acoustic guitars. Be sure to seek out the album version, too. It’s super cool. The whole record is a masterclass. Kim never disappoints.
AARON LEE TASJAN!
Stellar Evolution is the latest from Aaron Lee Tasjan. It’s hard to pick a favorite. He’s just so consistently great. But if I had to narrow it down, I’d go with the album closer, “Young.” It’s lovely. As much as I dig the new record, nothing’s gonna knock “Up All Night” out of my all-time favorite ALT songs spot. If Tom Petty had recorded this piece of pop perfection for Full Moon Fever, he would have had yet another smash on his hands. In the music video below, you can hear the song in all of its glory, thanks to a kick-ass mix by John Congleton. To hear ALT strip the song bare, hop on over Instagram.
KEVN KINNEY!
Also on the ‘Gram look for ALT singing a cover of “Broken Hearts & Auto Parts” by another master songwriter, Kevn Kinney of Drivin’ and Cryin’ fame. It’s the latest single from an epic project that pays tribute to Kevn’s body of work called Let’s Go Dancing - The Songs of Kevn Kinney.
Here is the blurb from their website:
“What began as a 60th birthday surprise video during lockdown, is now an INCREDIBLE compilation sure to go down in history as one of the most unique and impressive ever produced. Elite artists of all ages, stages, genders and genres coming together to celebrate one of the world’s most important yet undersung heroes, national treasure Kevn Kinney.
Kevn’s catalogue of hundreds of songs (both as lyricist/frontman of Drivin n Cryin and solo) has been pared down to an even 100 beloved gems to be covered by his friends and colleagues.
Kevn’s wife, artist Anna Jensen is creating a painting for EVERY single as well as the album covers! She also produced the whole affair and started Tasty Goody Records in order to put it out. A love letter for the ages…”
The list of contributors is mighty impressive: Jason Isbell, Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey, Shovels & Rope, Violent Femmes, Wreckless Eric, Peter Case and many more. My old Sinners bandmate Peter Stroud joins B3 master Ike Stubblefield to put their spin on one of my favorite Drivin’ and Cryin’ tunes, “Underground Umbrella.”
DANCING WITH THE DEAD!
Finally, if you are in the mood for cinema, I recommend you check out Dancing with the Dead: Red Pine & the Art of Translation. This wonderfully meditative feature doc is available online until October 6, 2024 via Show & Tell.
Shout out to Ward Serrill (Director/Editor), D.D. Wigley (Executive Producer) and Eric Frith (Consulting Editor) who are all subscribers to this very newsletter. Great work y’all!
Here is a brief description from the film’s website:
Bill Porter, who goes by the pen name Red Pine, is a renowned translator of ancient Chinese poetry. He has published over thirty books, including Road to Heaven, his quest to find hermits in the Zhongnan Mountains that reignited a movement in modern China to seek enlightenment through poetry and mountain solitude. Bill is a living gateway to ancient Chinese history and culture.
The film follows Bill’s adventures as a child of a bank robber, raised in a gilded household, who turned his back on American devotion to materialism and went off to live in monasteries and mountains in Taiwan. He pursued a fascination with Buddhism and poetry and traveled to remote regions of China to rediscover an ancient tradition of mountain hermits vital to Chinese culture.
I hope you can carve out some time this week to check out the Red Pine film and dig into all this great music. Until next time.
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
PS: Tickets are on sale now for The Triple Door show in Seattle on November 7, 2024.