Stuck in Sheboygan - Caitlin Glennon

As a bonus track to the recent geography-inspired theme, I am featuring a song about my hometown, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Caitlin Glennon lives in the Bay area and has just released her first full-length album, "Heard Learned Truths." The album is a great blend of catchy tunes and great lyrics, and she captures the essence of Sheboygan - by what it doesn't have - extremely well.

(But I must clarify, while there are no tapas bars, there is indeed at least one microbrew.)

Happy listening!

Caitlin Glennon – Stuck in Sheboygan

Song of Wyoming - Chris LeDoux

So with this last song, we have visited all 50 states.  A lovely, fitting end to about 12 weeks of songs.

Happy listening!

Chris LeDoux – Song Of Wyoming

Oh, Wisconsin - Locksley

#49 is an homage to the state of my origin. Hooray!

Locksley is an indie power pop band from Madison. They are self-released on their own Feature Records label and claim that their songwriting is "heavily influenced by early British Invasion bands with an instrumental style based more on early American punk bands and modern garage rock groups. The band describe their sound as doo-wop punk." (from Wikipedia. So it must be true.)

Anyway, this song is just wicked fun.

Happy listening!

Locksley – Oh, Wisconsin!

Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia - Emmylou Harris and Mary Black

A beautiful song by two legends brings us to the state of West Virginia.

Emmylou Harris has earned 12 Grammys in her years as a musician; Mary Black is an Irish folk singer. (This song is part of a tribute album to Utah Phillips.) The rest of this album is pretty good too...

Happy listening!

Emmylou Harris and Mary Black – Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia

Washington Post March - John Philip Sousa

Alas, it is the Sousa march - the bane of French Horn players everywhere. The reason for this is that in just about every march written, horn players have exactly the same part: they are the "pah" of the perpetual "om-pah."

Sousa actually began his career playing violin and eventually was enlisted in the United States Marine Band as an apprentice in 1868. After departing the band in 1875, he eventually learned to conduct and compose. From 1880 until his death in 1932, Sousa wrote marches, earning him the nickname "The March King."

He also developed the sousaphone - making the modern marching band possible, much to the delight of those tuba players who switch to this much lighter instrument for the fall marching season.

Happy Listening!

John Philip Sousa – Washington Post March

Meet Virginia (Acoustic Version) - Train

Almost through all 50 states!  Only 5 left!

The San Francisco based band Train came into the public eye back in 1998 with their self titled first album, which was self produced for a mere $25K. From that album came this song, a tribute to Virginia - who the band admits is modeled after someone they knew in real life.

Happy listening!

Train – Meet Virginia - Acoustic Version

Moonlight in Vermont - Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson is certainly well known, be it for his exceptionally long music career, his activism around marijuana reform, or for the $24M IRS scandal of the 1990's. One thing that you might not know is that he has does great covers, including covers of Coldplay and Pearl Jam, as well as music by country artists like Merle Haggard and Patsy Cline.

Here is a very unusual cover of the classic standard.

Happy listening!

Willie Nelson – Moonlight In Vermont

Utah - Phone Calls From Home

OK, Phone Calls From Home is a really interesting group. They have very little information about themselves on the web, and it seems that they make music as a bit of a hobby, not so much as a career.  This is from their self-written description:

"We play music with the intention of helping people. We have found that a lot of bands have hopes of being rich and famous, or hope that they can play their instrument as a career. We have higher hopes than that. We want to use any fame or success we get to influence people in a positive way. Teens today have a hard time growing up. They struggle with boredom, depression, peer pressure, their parents, and themselves. They look for happiness in any outlet they can find and try too hard to fit in. We want to make it easier for them by giving them someone they can relate to and understand. Through our music, our advice, and our lives, we want to teach our fans to be happier and help them find more purpose in life."

I haven't ever read a musician statement quite like that - it really caught my attention.

Happy listening!

Phone Calls From Home – Utah

If You're Gonna Play in Texas - Alabama

Early in the 20th century, country bands were popular.  The widespread development of the recording industry in the middle part of the century saw the rise in popularity of the individual recording artist, and the "band" became nothing more than the accompaniment for an artist.

Borrowing from the trend in rock and pop, Alabama was the group that brought the country band back into popularity. With harmonies that echoed of the traditional bluegrass days, they ushered in a new, fresh sound, helping to bridge the gap between rock and country for many crossover listeners.

Happy listening!

Alabama – If You're Gonna Play In Texas (You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band)

Girl Named Tennessee - NEEDTOBREATHE

Another band with roots in from South Carolina, NEEDTOBREATHE is a very interesting band with a very interesting story.  Started by brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart, who learned to make music in their youth and carried it into adulthood, NEEDTOBREATHE is a heavily southern rock influenced ensemble.

With a high level of creativity and music-making passion, they craft some fresh rock anthems and ballads that might just bring back the road trip. If you like this song, check out some of their other music - Their newest album is well worth exploring.

Happy listening!

NEEDTOBREATHE – Girl Named Tennessee

Souix Falls, South Dakota - Lemming Malloy

We have made it all the way through teh states to South Dakota.  And I have no idea who this Lemming Malloy guy is, but he has some wicked facial hair.  I could only find a few MySpace references.  It looks like he hails from Chapel Hill, South Carolina, but that's about all I know.

Except that this song is fun.

Happy listening!

Lemming Malloy – Sioux Falls, South Dakota

South Carolina - The Flirtations

You sometimes have to travel far for success.  The Flirtations found that out firsthand.  They were a R&B group that had very little luck here in the US. After a few years of struggling to make the musical career work, the group packed up and went to England looking for a new start.  After signing with Parrot Records in 1968, they toured with with Parrot's star act, Tom Jones, on his European tour.

With some significant success in Europe, this group faded into obscurity until several of their songs were rediscovered and revived in dance and disco versions in the 2000's.

Happy listening!

The Flirtations – South Carolina

Rhode Island is Famous for You - Blossom Dearie

Blossom Dearie (yes - actually her real name!) was an American jazz singer and pianist, famous for the bebop genre she espoused in her music and remembered for her light and girlish voice.  She recorded a massive amount of music over her years as a performer, and had a very distinctive sound (which you will hear if you listen to the link below...)

A well known mainstay in the performing stage, she continued to perform well into her early 80's.

Happy listening!

Blossom Dearie – Rhode Island Is Famous For You

Pennsylvania Polka - Frankie Yankovic

Yup.  Pennsylvania.  Polka.  Does it get better than America's Polka King?  I think not.

Happy listening!

Frankie Yankovic & His Yanks – Pennsylvania Polka

Eugene Oregon - Dolly Parton

On to the state of Oregon!

Dolly is one of those musical icons that has transcended a particular genre - everybody knows her and loves her. Pretty impressive feat, especially for someone who has not really ever sought a crossover. A great little tune by this country queen.

Happy listening!

Dolly Parton – Eugene Oregon

Oklahoma - Movie Version

No song is quite as iconic as this one, and nothing but this song would do as we continue the journey across the 50 states.

One of the most memorable and well-known Broadway shows, Oklahoma was the very first musical written by the partnership of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It was a surprising box-office smash and actually won Rodgers and Hammerstein a Pulitzer.

Happy listening!

Gordon Macrae – Oklahoma

Ohio - Over The Rhine

I first heard Over The Rhine last summer at Wild Goose Festival.  It was a thousand degrees, I was being eaten alive by ticks, and I was on day three of camping.  And I was just told that the band - the latest in three days of bands - was coming up (Over The Rhine) and they were pretty good.

I sat mesmerized from their first song to their last song. This veteran group of musicians were polished, skilled poets who wrote and sang beautiful songs about all sorts of things from their lives. It was one of the loveliest live music experience I've ever enjoyed. I am genuinely grateful that in the midst of bugs and heat, sitting with a bunch of new friends, I stuck around to hear this amazing group.

Happy listening!

Over The Rhine – Ohio

North Dakota - Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett has been an active songwriter, singer, and actor (although I don't recognize a single movie that he was in), and he has released a boatload of studio albums to date, earning him four Grammys. He was also married to Julia Roberts for a short while, which I don't think I had previously realized.

Here is his tribute to North Dakota from his album Joshua Judges Ruth. It definitely reminds me of his soulful performance as a singer and songwriter.

Happy listening!

Lyle Lovett – North Dakota

North Carolina - The Poets of Rhythm

So, these guys are not actually from North Carolina.  They are a German funk band that started in the early 90's in Munich.  Heavily influenced from their exposure to the funk music from the 60's and 70's, they have made a name for themselves in Europe, but haven't become recognizable in the United States.  

Happy listening!

The Poets Of Rhythm – North Carolina