It’s been tough to find songs to highlight from my sister Amy’s list of favorites because most of them have shown up on the blog already, many of them a decade or so back.
I bet Amy’s list would have looked almost exactly the same 15 years ago, which says something about how often she explores new music. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Today’s track was chosen as a favorite by Madison. ‘Orpheus’ appears on Sara Bareilles’ 2019 Amidst the Chaos and features a lyric that gave the album its title.
Amidst the Chaos was inspired by the 2016 election and its aftermath, and this song is an aching plea for optimism and love in the face of all that Trumpian ugliness. It feels great to feature ‘Orpheus’ a week after Trump slithered away, smaller than ever, and the country celebrated the inspiring inauguration of President Biden.
This song on frequent commenter Dana’s list of favorites jumped out at me as a real blast from the past. I haven’t listened to Billy Pilgrim’s debut album in years, and that’s a shame because it’s wonderful.
That 1994 self-titled debut is one of the best first albums ever by a band that went absolutely nowhere. Billy Pilgrim was dropped by their label three years and one studio album later, with Kristian Bush going on to find success with Sugarland and Andrew Hyra joining the lesser-known Smokin’ Novas.
This is the third Mindy Smith track featured on the blog, all three on Random Weekends. Smith is a country rock artist who was born in Long Island and raised in Tennessee by a Protestant minister. The only album I own of hers, 2004’s One Moment More, is filled with allusions to her Christianity.
The song ‘Come to Jesus,’ her biggest hit, showed up on the blog seven years ago and led to a pretty good discussion about satire, with commenters Dana, Amy and Andrea all chiming in.
This is the second time Heather Nova has appeared on the blog, and the first in 10 1/2 years.
Nova is a Bermudian singer-songwriter who spent most of her childhood living on a sailboat in the waters of the Caribbean. That has nothing to do with this song, but it’s a pretty interesting fact. She has been releasing albums for 27 years now, including her latest — Pearl — just two years ago.
Meet Me In Montauk 