Music
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December 3 – “Happier”
December 3rd’s song for this year is “Happier” from Double Camp. Don’t know who Double Camp is? Neither did I when they opened for Sub-Radio. But, as they said, they sing sad songs to happy music. Which, can easily be my bag. And “Happier” is a song that hits its target. A lyric selection: These Continue reading
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December 2 – “Everything Will Be Alright”
December 2nd is upon us, and it’s time for the second song that has spoken to me this year. I ran across this song as the theme song to the Podcast “Delete This,” but I didn’t know it had words. Andrew Huang’s music is a mix of ambient and electronic, and it was a good Continue reading
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December 1 – “December Day”
Each day, for the month of the December, I am going to post a reflection on a song that has meant something to me this year. First, “December Day” by Willie Nelson. I’m working my way through Willie’s Catalog with the intent of teaching a class in rural ministry and country music next fall. It Continue reading
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Bless this Land
Bless this land to which we’re boundBy gravity of joyful soundFeed the hearth and feed the herdHope must stand on every word -Emily Scott Robinson “Men and Moons” This song lyric spoke to me as it closed out the concert I attended last Friday. Emily Scott Robinson wrote the song “Men and Moons” as an Continue reading
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99 – Kitty Wells: Country Hit Parade
To go from early 2000s beach country to an absolute legend with Kitty Wells’ legendary Country Hit Parade is, at first, a little jarring. The classic sounds of steel and twang are much more present in her iconic songs. Yet, the reality is, Chesney is in the same lineage, and you can see it in Continue reading
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Linoleum Tables – Chapter Finished
I’m in a hotel room about to head down to a conference on rural life and resilience in North Carolina. I haven’t written in 11 days. I worked through that in journaling and contemplation. I think it was imposter syndrome and anxiety of completing something and sending it into the world (the anxiety of releasing Continue reading
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Summertime Update
Does anyone else have seasonal playlists? I have a summertime sooth playlist filled with chill country music. I built it last year while I was tearing out walls in the basement before the basement waterproofing team sealed the cinderblock walls. It includes, of course, the song “Summertime” by Orville Peck. I discovered Orville Peck through Continue reading
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Joshua – Reviewing a 50-Year-Old Album
Dolly Parton recently reminded her social media followers that the critically acclaimed Joshua album turned fifty this week (April 12th, 1971 was it’s release date). A review in the magazine Cash Box called the title track one of the all-time best country records ever recorded. The song became Dolly Parton’s first #1 Hit on the Continue reading
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This is my song, this is my story…
I’m in the process of relocating to a new office on a different floor of the church where I serve as the scholar in residence. At first, I was hesitant to agree to move. I wanted to be closer to the rest of the staff, and, let’s be honest, the microwave. But, I’ve warmed up Continue reading
Jonathan LeMaster-Smith 