MY FAVORITE MUSIC LINKS

It's more practical to have a single link on my blog to a post with all my music links than it is to put all the links on the blog template. I hope you'll find enjoyment and new musical worlds with some of these links:

Favorite Radio Stations

My Profile and PlayLists on finetune: This isn't a radio station but the playlists are what my radio station would sound like if I did have a radio station. Since I put the playlists together, it's my favorite "station" and if it gets stale, I have the power to make the needed changes.

WXPN, Public Radio from the University of Pennsylvania--This is a radio station that offers a wealth of possibilities when you explore their site. They have tons of links to archived shows like World Cafe program and you get to hear tons of current artists who produce far better stuff than 90% of the pop-rock-rap junk on the airways.

WUMB Folk Radio of Boston/University of Massachusetts--In this case folk covers a very wide range. You can get the oldies from the 1960's, Celtic folk, and folk that goes all the way to artists like Ryan Adams, David Gray and some bands that I would consider more in the broad Alternative category. These aren't all mixed together, you get to pick the style you want and then you play that feed--web based radio offers a lot of flexibility.

Phantom Radio from Dublin, Ireland--This is a regular broadcast with the DJ's, Dublin traffic reports, updates on the Irish soccer games, and reports on the local concerts. It's kind of fun to drop in on another part of the world, and they play great rock from both sides of the Atlantic.

Studio Brussels--This is a Flemish speaking station out of Brussels that is on the cutting edge of rock music, playing both American and European music but maybe with a little more of the techno, pushing-the-envelope type songs. I find it an interesting change of pace for a couple of hours.

Mons, Belgium--Mons is a Belgium town near the hometown of my grandparents, so close that Mother can see the radio towers of this station from her apartment in Belgium. I happen to enjoy the combination of American and French music and the commentary and commercial in French--it's a throwback to sounds from my childhood.

CoolFM from Belgium--An eclectic radio station from Belgium with basically an all-English playlist. It might be listed as a blend of adult contemporary, adult classic, pop-techno-disco-dance-R&B, and a few other things. It is great background music when you are working at your computer.

Radio Station Locator--A very simple looking website that allows you to locate radio stations by country, state, format, etc. It would take a long time to explore all the stations available from this site.

World Wide Radio Guide--I probably should have put this link at the top of the list. This isn't the slickest looking site but it will take you a long way if you want to explore the music from around the globe. Pick a continent, pick a country, then pick a station--why would anyone put up with the pitiful offerings of local radio when so much more is available?

Windows Media Radio Guide--Here's a fairly mainstream site that is probably geared mostly for American stations--I can't say that I've explored this site to any great degree, but it seems to have plenty of potential.

People and Bands that I Like

Listed in no particular order, here are links to lesser known bands that I like, both for their music and because in most cases I know or have known someone in the band. I think all of these sites have sample tracks to listen to:

The Hypsys: Okay, being a regular blog reader does get your son's band moved to the top of the list. Anne's son David plays in this self-described "Progressive/Jazz/Rock" band. I don't know a lot about progressive jazz but they sound really good to me.
Jackson Jones Band: Really loyal blog readers get two of their son's bands listed. This is David in a rock band, which may no longer exist. Such is the ebb and flow of musicians trying to make it at the entry level of the music industry. Listen to "Hard to See It" and I think you'll be very impressed.
Passenger Jones: I have friends with talented kids. This band includes the son of one of the guys I meet with on Wednesday night. I've known the son for years and knew he played some in clubs and at parties, but was surprised by his talents when I heard him sing at his father's birthday party.
The Tim Lee 3: Tim Lee and I go back a long way. I was the college kid helping with the youth group and Tim was the preacher's son with the rock band. I became friends with the entire Lee family and Tim carved a niche for himself in music, with one of his bands once being listed by "Rolling Stone" as one of the top-10 college campus favorites. He moved away from Jackson and music so I've seen him in a long time, but he has revived his music career and I enjoy hearing his music once again.
Taylor Grocery Band: I coached band member Justin Showah for 5 years in soccer. A very smart guy, Justin went to Ole Miss on one of the top academic scholarships they offer, I'm not sure if Justin will be one of the rare few who makes it big on stage with his music, but I could see him going very far in the music business.
Owen Beverly: Another former soccer player and very smart guy, this guy has the ability to make it big if he can get that elusive big break that seems necessary to convert talent into success in the music industry. He writes smart music, probably too smart for success on the FM dial. It's a shame that "For Mia" and "Absalom" don't play and haven't played for months--I get the feeling that a lot of bands set up a MySpace page and then neglect it.
Charlie Mars: A singer who was based in Oxford, MS for a long time, maybe still is, and he has been on the brink of becoming big in the past. You'll like the new song "Bangin On Your Door" and "Gather the Horses" is a great song but the problem for Charlie is that it has been his signature song for several years.
Cary Hudson: Here's a Millsaps graduate who was somewhat of an Alt. Country star back in his days with a band named Blue Mountain. Justin often played with Cary and Cary often played with the Taylor Grocery Band, so I've heard him play often over the years and he's very good. Blue Mountain has gotten back together recently and it will be interesting to see if that goes on to a bigger national presence for Cary.
Dragline: Dragline is apparently the new name for "Exit 72", the Raleigh, NC band that I know about because their lead guitarist Todd was reading this blog back when it was more about losing weight and I was reading his blog about his efforts. That's Todd in the forefront of the photo on the left so it looks like he has kept his weight off from the starting point of 250--Congratulations Todd if you ever see this post.
Big Wolf Pappa: And for something totally different, here's a band that seems just a little too weird on the surface but I love their music enough to have actually bought 2 CDs, quite a statement in this day of simplistic piracy. I've link straight to their music page and they certainly offer a wide array of free samples.