Song of the Day

**2/16/10

The Derek Trucks Band - Down in the Flood

------------Apart from witnessing firsthand that the Perfect Brownie pan really does, in fact, make a perfect brownie every time, nothing too exciting or brand new happened to me today. While avoiding the bag full of work that lay beside me in my favorite java stop, I picked up a 1991 "Rolling Stone" mag from a Rubbermaid bin underneath a table. It was The Hot Issue, an annual edition of RS that steamily features the best of the smoldering best for that year. And who was in it but a tiny Derek Trucks, snickering about how playing guitar gigs on schoolnights really made him feel like a badass.

Little Trucks may have felt proud of his prepubescent rebel self then, but it can't be anywhere near his renegade, modern guitar-god status that he's acquired over the years. Today's song, "Down in the Flood," evokes memories of an early rock n' roll blues man who made the house rock back in the day. The song's current flows swift and true, and Truck's six-string talents are, for his standards, demure, but powerful. It's from the album Already Free.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrA6NB2TxHM

Song of the Day

**9/11/09

Bo Diddley - I'm a Man

--------------He's gotta spell it out for you. Bo Diddley's proud and provocative "I'm a Man" is rooted in American blues, bringing a sensual and shouting howls up and over harmonica and sharp, jagged guitar. For those unfamiliar with Bo Diddley, he's known as "The Originator" for transitioning blues to rock and roll - not a small milestone in America's social history book. To say that Bo Diddley's music was instrumental in the material of Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, and Eric Clapton is an understatement. Takea listen to a few of his songs - you'll discover the foundations of what has influenced generations and generations of rock n' roll. Get "I'm a Man" from Bo Diddley's 1958 self-titled album.

Song of the Day

**7/2/09

Clutch - (Notes From the Trial of) La Curandera

---------------Amid a smoke and beer-filled Tremont Music Hall, I saw the southern dirty rock band Clutch when I was the tender age of fifteen. The show was eye opening (I discovered how creepy the male population of Charlotte's rock scene is) to the outlaw rock that pisses on power chords and expells the usual rock resume. Clutch's "La Curandera" channels a mysterious muse through pounding drums, intense guitars, an the muscled-up, growling voice of Neil Fallon. Clutch has been called funky, bluesy, and even hardcore punk over their nineteen years together. There's something for every ear in this band, particularly "La Curandera" from their 2004 album, Blast Tyrant.

Song of the Day

**3/13/09

Alicia Keys - Fallin'

----------If you can't listen to Keys' vocals in the first few seconds of "Fallin'" without getting chills, you need some soul searching. "Fallin' " sways with gospel tones and tugs at heartstrings with sweeping vocals. The classically trained pianist/R&B wonder made her relapse into romance a Billboard, radio, and MTV sensation. Her 2001 debut album Songs in A Minor sold a staggering 11 million copies, got her five Grammys, and flaunted her talents as an accomplished vitruoso.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=712cMG7DYY0